Technical Interview 9

Question 1

What are the components that make up a fuel plan for a minimum-fuel trip?

Answer 1

Minimum fuel required is taxi, trip and reserve fuel, which is divided into contingency, alternate and final reserve.

Additional and extra are not always required.

Question 2

What is an orographic cloud?

Answer 2

Its a cloud which forms when air is forced to rise by high ground.

As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds.

Question 3

If you where picking up 10.000 litres of fuel in Newfoundland (cold weather), and 10.000 litres of fuel in Lima, Peru (hot weather), where would you have picked up the most fuel?

Answer 3

In Newfoundland, cold weather means the volume of fuel gets less, therefore the density per litre goes up.

Question 4

With 10 minutes to go to the destination, you’re being advised by ATC that you will have to hold.

What 3 things should you consider immediately?

Answer 4

Fuel, speed and holding entry.

Question 5

What can you tell about occluded fronts?

Answer 5

Occluded fronts are created when the cold and warm fronts merge.

If the cold front goes over the warm front, a warm occlusion is created. If, however, the cold front undercuts the warm front, a cold occlusion is created.

Weather is usually bad, a mixture of clouds can occur like Cb embedded in Ns.

Question 6

What is Point of No Return (PNR)?

Answer 6

The point during a flight at which an aircraft is no longer capable of returning to the airfield from which it took off due to fuel considerations.

Beyond this point the aircraft must proceed to some other destination.

The point of safe return (PSR) is the farthest point along a route from departure to destination aerodrome from which an aircraft will be able to return to its departure airport with its fuel reserves (alternate and final reserve fuel) intact.

Question 7

What pressure does a pitot tube measure?

Answer 7

Total pressure (static and dynamic pressure).

Question 8

Regarding point of equal time and point of no return, do you think Ryanair pilots should be concerned about these?

Answer 8

Yes, especially since Ryanair is a low cost airline and every extra kg on board means more weight, which means more fuel is required which costs money.

Question 9

What is the Critical Point?

Answer 9

Also called Point of Equal Time, is a position on the planned track from which it takes the same time to fly to the destination as it would to return to the departure point.

Question 10

What sort of weather would you find at an occluded front?

Answer 10

Weather is usually bad, a mixture of clouds can occur like Cb embedded in Ns.

Question 11

Name the different aircraft categories, speeds and on which speed these categories are based.

Answer 11

Approach category speeds are based on VAT - the indicated airspeed (IAS) over the threshold, which is the higher of the following 2 IASs:

• 1.3 x VSO - the stalling speed in the landing configuration at maximum landing mass; and
• 1.23 x VS1G - the stalling speed with gear down but no flap at maximum landing mass.

A <91
B 91-120
C 121-140
D 141-165
E 166 - 210

Question 12

Approach category speeds are defined by which formula?

Answer 12

Approach category speeds are based on VAT - the indicated airspeed (IAS) over the threshold, which is the higher of the following 2 IASs:

• 1.3 x VSO - the stalling speed in the landing configuration at maximum landing mass; and
• 1.23 x VS1G - the stalling speed with gear down but no flap at maximum landing mass.

Question 13

Can you explain what a coastal breeze is?

Answer 13

SEA breeze is a surface wind blowing from sea to the land. It occurs as a result of rapid land surface heating during afternoons, especially during summer months with clear skies and anti-cyclonic conditions (HIGH pressure predominating).

LAND breeze is a surface wind blowing from land to the sea. It occurs during the night when the land surface cools down more rapidly than the sea surface => sea surface becomes warmer than land surface => pressure gradient is created => wind starts blowing.

Question 14

Why do you need contingency fuel?

Answer 14

Contingency Fuel is carried to compensate for deviations:

• From the expected fuel consumption data.
• From the forecast meteorological conditions.
• From the planned routing and/or cruising levels/altitudes.

Contingency Fuel is the higher of A and B below:

• 5% of the planned trip fuel, which may be reduced to 3% provided that an en-route alternate is available; or
• An amount to fly for 5 minutes at holding speed at 1500 feet (450 m) above the destination aerodrome in standard conditions.

Question 15

Why are airplanes wary of windshear?

Answer 15

Airplanes can get uncontrollable during windshear.

Question 16

What is radiation fog?

Answer 16

Caused by loss of heat from the Earth’s surface at night, in conditions of calm or very small wind and clear sky. Air in contact with the ground is cooled by conduction. If cooled to below its dew point, the water vapour in the air will condense into water droplets, and fog will form.

Question 17

Explain the Fohn wind.

Answer 17

A Fohn wind is a warm dry wind that blows down the lee side of a mountain.

Initially, the air temperature cools dry-adiabatically (3°C/1000 ft), until its dew point temperature is reached. Condensation occurs as the air is further forced up the mountain range, resulting in the air cooling saturated-adiabatically (generally considered in the mid-latitudes to be 1.8°C/1000 ft). Clouds and precipitation form. When the air mass reaches the top of the mountain range it has lost a significant amount of its water content and so has a much lower dew point temperature.

As the air then begins to descend down the lee slope of the mountain the compressed air is initially heated saturated-adiabatically, and in effect the direct reverse to the cooling effect on the windward side occurs. As the air continues leeward and downward from the mountain range, the air, now no longer saturated, is heated dry-adiabatically.

The resultant wind is dry and warm giving clear conditions at airfields on the lee side of the mountain range.

The Foehn Effect also may be associated with mountain wave activity.

Question 18

Why do the fuel gauges read in kg, but fuel is delivered in litres?

Answer 18

Because the specific gravity can change with temperature.

Question 19

What is advection fog?

Answer 19

Can form rapidly, by day or night, when warm, moist air moves across a cold surface. The temperature of the surface must be such that the air moving over it is cooled below its dew point. For this to happen, the wind speed must be around 15 knots, and the air must have a high relative humidity. The cold surface can be either land or sea.

Question 20

What are SOP’s? And why do you think Ryanair and other companies have SOP’s?

Answer 20

Standard Operating Procedures are common procedures established by an airline which supports pilots in operating an aircraft safely and consistently.

Ryanair and other companies have SOPs because they provide safety and efficiency to aviation operations, following established procedures can reduce the probability of accidents and errors. SOPs ensure that tasks are completed correctly, in a specific order, and in the same way by different people.