In this episode Matt and Andy talk with Tino from Easy Memory Item about the importance of Memory Items and how you can improve your learning of them.

To download the app, search easymemoryitem in the Apple App Store or on Google Playstore. 

For more information visit www.easymemoryitem.com 

In cooperation with "Easy Memory Item" we are giving you a 10% discount on the A320 Lounge. Use the following code: EASYMEMORY  at checkout. Visit www.A320Lounge.com to sign up.

In this episode Matt & Andy discuss the reasons behind this procedure and tells us the risks if you don't do it.

This week Matt & Andy continue discussing PBN.

In this episode Matt & Andy discuss UPRT. This is a new part of the regulatory recurrent syllabus so they thought it a relevant subject.

This week we take a look at engine issues at various stages of flight, what to look out for and how to handle these scenarios 

This Week Matt & Andy look at Low Visibility Operations

All the figures and procedures in this week's episode are from EASA and Airbus' own SOP's so be sure to check your own company manual and procedure.

This week Matt & Andy take a look at the ECAM system and how to run failures.

They discuss the system itself and how it works, how airbus expect us to run a failure using it and then finally, how to use ECAM if it fails.

More info can be found in the FCTM OP-040 ECAM

We also recommend using 'Read ECAM' which can be found at www.ipadecam.co.uk for practicing using ECAM and going through difference scenarios.

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Matt & Andy carry on where they left off. Last week they talked about the 7 main factors affecting approach and landing accidents. As a reminder they covered,

• SOPs 
• Crew cooperation (CRM)

In this episode they discuss,

• Altimeter and altitude issues
• Descent and approach management 
• Approach hazard awareness
• Readiness to go around 
• Approach and landing techniques

75 % of approach-and-landing incidents and accidents come under 5 categories:

• CFIT (which includes landing short of runway); 

• Loss of control; 

• Runway overrun; 

• Runway excursion; and, 

• Non-stabilized approaches. 

They looked at the factors that often lead to these accidents. They broke them down into 7 different subjects,

SOPs 

Crew cooperation (CRM)

Altimeter and altitude issues

Descent and approach management 

Approach hazard awareness

Readiness to go around 

Approach and landing techniques

Listen to episodes 15 & 21 for a refresher on the CRM topics discussed in this episode.

This week Matt & Andy look at the new (for some) Emergency Evacuation procedure. Remember that these procedures will still vary slightly from airline to airline so it's important to check your manuals to make sure you're doing them correctly.

There are three types of aquaplaning - viscous, rubber reversion, and dynamic.

Viscous

This occurs when a thin film of contaminant creates a break in the contact of the tyre with the runway surface. This type normally only occurs on unusually smooth surfaces such as the runway touchdown zone where there is an excessive build-up of rubber. Viscous aquaplaning can occur even in damp conditions at high and low speeds. Because there's no actual contact, no marks are left on the runway.

Reverted rubber

This type of aquaplaning occurs when a stationary tyre (so either 'locked up' during braking or at touchdown) is dragged across a surface causing friction at the contact point. The heat produced by the friction boils the water on the surface creating steam. The pressure of the steam lifts the centre of the tyre off the surface leaving the edges still in contact creating a seal which traps the steam, this then melts the rubber and reverts it to its unvulcanised state. Friction levels during this type of aquaplaning are the equivalent of icy runways. The tyre will have 'bubbled' rubber deposits on it and the runway will show marks in the form of being pressure washed as the tyre effectively 'steam cleaned' it.

Dynamic aquaplaning

Now this is the most common type of aquaplaning and the one that's most likely to affect us. Aircraft in general are prone to this one because it's a relatively high-speed phenomenon that occurs when there is a film of water on the runway that is at least 2.5 mm deep. As the speed of the aircraft and the depth of the water increase, the water layer builds up an increasing resistance to displacement, resulting in the formation that wall of water beneath the tire we mentioned earlier. Once the tyre speed gets to the point where it can no longer displace the water quick enough it starts to aquaplane. At some speed, termed the aquaplaning speed (Vp), the upward force generated by water pressure equals the weight of the aircraft and the tire is lifted off the runway surface. In this condition, the tires no longer contribute to directional control, and braking action becomes very poor once in this state. 
When we use the landing distance calculations, aquaplaning is taken into account when contaminated performance is selected. Airbus says "Performance data for landing on runways contaminated with standing water, slush and snow include accountability for the reduced wheel braking on the contaminated runway including negligible wheel braking above the hydroplaning speed." 
As there is no surface contact during dynamic aquaplaning, there are no marks left on the runway surface or the tyre.

The minimum speed for dynamic aquaplaning (Vp) in knots is about 9 times the square root of the tire pressure in pounds per square inch (PSI). The pressures on our airbus' vary depending on the MSN number but there is a placard on the back of each main undercarriage strut with the required pressure. As an example though, if an A319 has a pressure of 200 PSI, then the aquaplaning speed would be 127kts, surprisingly similar to the sort of speeds we touchdown at! A locked up wheel will aquaplane at much lower speeds - as low as 7.7√P which would be only 108kts! And once aquaplaning has started it can continue at speeds well below this.

If you touch down with some crab angle on a dry runway, the aircraft automatically realigns with the direction of travel down the runway.

But on a contaminated runway, the aircraft tends to travel along the runway centerline with the existing crab angle. This is then compounded by the side force created by the crosswind component on the fuselage and the tail fin which tends to make the aircraft skid sideways (downwind) off the centerline.

If full reverse is applied as is recommended, you could end up in a situation where you're skidding down the runway at an angle and no amount of rudder will straighten you up. This is because the reverse thrust results into two force components, a stopping force aligned along the aircraft direction of travel (runway centerline), and a side force, perpendicular to the runway centerline, which further increases the tendency to skid sideways. As the airspeed decreases, the rudder efficiency decreases and is also made worse by the airflow disruption created by the engine reverse airflow.

To get out if this situation it's quite counterintuitive. The harder the wheel braking force, the lower the tire-cornering force, so if the aircraft tends to continue skidding sideways. Releasing the brakes (by taking over from the autobrake) increases the tire-cornering force and helps to maintain or regain directional control.

Selecting reverse idle cancels the effects of reverse thrust (the side force and rudder airflow disruption) and helps in regaining directional control.

Once directional control has been recovered and the runway centerline has been regained:

• Pedal braking can be applied as required, and

• Reverse thrust can be reselected.

In conclusion then, if it is thought that there is a possibility of aquaplaning, then a positive touchdown should be made using MED autobrake and full reversers. It should also be remembered that if aquaplaning starts to occur, braking coefficient will be the equivalent of an icy runway. If unsure, as mentioned before, the landing performance calculations can be selected to a contaminated state to take aquaplaning into account.

If a crabbing skid is experienced after touchdown and directional control is lost,
cancel reverse and release brakes
Regain directional control and the centerline
Reverse thrust and pedal braking can then be reapplied

Welcome to the first ever A320 Podcast. It's just a short version this week to introduce ourselves and give you an idea of what you can expect from us each week.

Find lots more information at www.A320podcast.com

We hope to help new and experienced pilots with studying and revising for type ratings, simulator checks or promotions. Tell as many colleagues and friends about us as possible so we can grow and create a worldwide community of great airbus pilots.

Show Notes

The Golden Rules for Pilots - FCTM_OP-010_Introduction

1. Fly, Navigate, Communicate

Fly - this is referring to keeping the aircraft safely within its flight envelope and making sure the pitch, bank angle, heading, airspeed etc are all at the desired targets. This is achieved by the pilot flying controlling the aircraft through either use of the correct automation or by manual flying and pilot monitoring assisting and actively monitoring these parameters.

Navigate - make sure you're currently in the right place and heading in the right place. There's no point flying an aircraft at the perfect speed, straight and level if you're pointing at the side of the mountain. This is partly already taken care of in the 'fly' or 'aviate' section because your desired altitude target should be based on being above MSA. Airbus refer to knowing the 4 'know where' statements.
Know where you are…
Know where you should be…
Know where you should go…
Know where the weather, terrain, and obstacles are. I personally would add one more to that last one which is airspace because you might not want to fly into busy airspace if they're not expecting you, and you may not want to fly out of controlled airspace and lose radar control.
Communicate
People often assume that this just means with air traffic control but as pilots we also need to communicate with each other, cabin crew, ground staff, engineers, passengers etc. We also use communication for important jobs such as task sharing or running checklists. Communication is so important and that's why we have our standard phraseology and standard call outs.

2. Use appropriate level of automation

Its very important to make sure that we are always using the most appropriate automation available at any time. If used correctly the automatics can help us by drastically reducing our workload and freeing up our capacity which gives us more situational awareness Used incorrectly they can increase the workload and make a situation much worse. In Airbus' words we have to,

"- Determine and select the appropriate level of automation that can include manual flight

- Understand the operational effect of the selected level of automation
Confirm that the aircraft reacts as expected."

Basically, if the automatics aren't doing want you want, change the mode or take it out all together. Remember that all the automatics out is a level of automation and is a perfectly acceptable option.

3. Understand FMAs at all times

The Airbus has several levels of automation and we all know that there are ways that these can easily bite us if we're not careful.
The most important thing with the Airbus automatics is to ensure that what we select on the fcu or the mcdu is correctly displayed on the PFD or the ND. Understanding the different modes, how they interact and how they revert is very important and we will have a whole episode dedicated to this in the future. This leads on to golden rule number 4,

4. Take action if things do not go as expected

If the aircraft isn't doing what we want, we have to either solve the situation with automatics or take them out all together.
If at any point the aircraft doesn't follow the desired flight path or targets selected then the pilot flying should do whatever is appropriate. If the aircraft is in managed modes, change it to selected modes to demand exactly what you want.
If the aircraft is in selected modes, change it to manual flying.
The pilot monitoring should communicate with the pilot flying, challenge the actions of the pilot flying when necessary or take over if required.

Just a short one this week, next week we'll be looking at Air Conditioning to ease us in to the technical subjects....