At the FBO I work at as a CFI, we have a nice simulator setup that CFI's can use free whenever. Its just the OnTop setup with radio stack, yoke, and multi-engine throttle quadrant and rudder pedals.

I am using it to stay current, and what not. Heres the question:

Should I be doing the approaches with or w/out auto-pilot, or a combo of both. In general, on Airline Interview Sim Checks, do they have the pilots fly w/ auto-pilot or w/out?

Thanks in advance!

 

You hand-fly it...You only (for the most part) get to use the AP durring LOFT and when you are on the line:P

Be extra sharp on non-published holds, NDB/RMI appchs/holds, full IAP's to the missed, SE appchs, speed control drills, 4-basics, ATC communications, Appch Briefing (TALKING OUT LOUD - so they know that you know what you are doing)

CHQ is the only company that I know that uses the OnTop setup (unless that has changed). Everyone either uses their own sims, or ATC-810's, or FRASCA 142's. The ATC-810 flies like a Navajo, or a C-421, and the FRASCA 142 is its own beast. There are some companies that have eliminated the Sim from their interview process...

Just some food for thought, chime in people...

Lax

 

Ah, the ATC810... if you can conquer that beast, my hat's off to you!

But Laxrox is right... no AP for the interview. Some AP in the sim, but mostly a lot of hand flying. Just learn to tuck it into the FD, and you'll be alright. If you're in the CRJ, have good FMA awareness- not sure about the ERJ though. Basically you become the autopilot at that point. Ok, that sounds stupid, but you'll see. Takes about half a session to get used to it.

The checkride is a little different though. On my type ride we did one AP coupled Precision, one AP coupled non-Precision, one hand flown single engine Precision , one hand flown single engine non-Precision, and one AP coupled Precision down to circling mins transitioning to a hand flown cirlce to land. The rest was 50/50 AP to hand flying. Some mixed missed approaches.... always fun single engine!!

Anyway...

Good luck!!

Which airline are you interviewing with?

 

Oh yeah, and about flying the jets for your interview, the CRJ is a pain in the butt to hand fly at first. You have to get used to it. Don't get freaked out by the glass cockpit. It really isn't as overwelming as people may say. When/if you interview in a jet, just sit there and figure out where everything is on the MFD. Other then that, you have to watch your N1 on the EICAS. In this case you would have a sim partner - because I have flown the RJ sim by myself...and it is DEF not a single-pilot airplane But, again like I said before, ESPECIALLY in something like this, you need to talk with your sim partner. Use 'all your avail resources.' I hope that this has been pounded into your head by now...

CL65,

Hehehe! Yeah...the 810 is its own beast. No two handle the same I instructed in one for a year...It flies like a Navajo, but descends like an Aerostar...you have to descend with 30 + inches, in order to not descend like a brick! It just has its own corks I guess???

Lax

 

I am not interviewing w/ anyone right now. I really want to work for Horizon Airlines. I am 20, working as a CFI this summer and next summer. I am finishing the last two years of my Aviation degree at Central Washington University. By the time I graduate, I hope to have about 700 total, and at least 50 multi. From there, i'll continue work as a CFI until Horizon comes over to CWU for the direct hire interviews. Thats the plan.

The reason I asked about the sim is, I have lots of down time at the airport to use the simulator, and was just curious if I should hand fly it all to stay current.
Thanks for the input, any more?

 

Not to be a jerk, buy why would you fly a sim (in prep for an interview) with the AP on?
I always thought that the purpose of a sim was to improve instrument proficiency, right?

 

When I was in the CRJ full motion sim, we did quite a bit of flying with the AP on. It's not 100% about instrument proficiency, but also about getting flows and procedures corect. Definately helps with single engine approaches!!! And it really reduces workload if you're dealing with cascading failures. Eh, just my .02 cents.

 

I definitely agree. The only reason you'd ever use an autopilot on one of those on-top setups would be to find the approach plate you need. Otherwise you are wasting your time. When I was instructing and things were slow, I definitely flew our sim a lot. Even though it couldn't be logged, it was still good practice, and the benefit you get is not the time but the proficiency. Make it tough on yourself though. I always configured the sim as the fastest, most complex aircraft it would simulate. Then I'd set it to randomly fail stuff. It will help you a lot. Oh, and one more thing: fly approaches that you aren't instructing everyday.

 

I agree with all that's been said. But don't make a career of spending time in the box now. Five hours a month is probably all you need. Follow the ATP PTS and make sure you can complete the flying tasks to standard, hand flying. I did sim checks recently on a group of new hires (we do ours in a Beech C-90 level B with motion) and had to bounce two guys out (CFI's) because they had let their instrument scan go to the point they weren't even flying to private standards. Do enough to make sure you can fly IFR night to ATP standards and you'll be fine.

 

Most airlines want to view your skill as a pilot - not the avionics. Hand fly the approaches to build skill - a monkey can turn on the AP and make callouts.