ERJ Drivers........

[filejw]

FYI you better be working both tilt and range in most mainline a/c too, less you run into a supprise.

 

[dougdrvr]

FYI you better be working both tilt and range in most mainline a/c too, less you run into a supprise.

It's depressing to read comments about how "boring" it is to learn all you can about the the idiosyncrasies of airborne radar.

 

[Rerouted]

Do a little reading on zero tilt angle - once you understand how to compute that, the radar in the ERJ works quite well unless you find yourself embedded in heavy rain.

RR

 

[Axel]

... the radar in the ERJ works quite well unless you find yourself embedded in heavy rain.

RR

It works well when in heavy rain, too, if you know what you are looking for.

 

[dougdrvr]

It works well when in heavy rain, too, if you know what you are looking for.

Yes, if you know what you're looking for, you'll be amazed at what you can't see! Especially with a dinky antenna and the power output of a cell phone.

 

[Axel]

In heavy rain you look for what you can't see and stay away from it when you find it. It works quite well.

As I was walking down the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish he'd go away.

 

[acaTerry]

http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/13324[/URL]

Part of your job as the captain my friend. It's monotonous and silly that a CA should have to be a flight instructor but that's the reality and beauty of whizkid academy programs and accelerated training. Next time you want to puke, just think that the lesson you give the FO may one day save many lives when he is in your seat and knows what he is doing because you were there to show him. So far as being amazed at things people don't know...you just got inducted into the "crusty old captain club"....welcome aboard!

 

[Seahawker01]

Part of your job as the captain my friend. It's monotonous and silly that a CA should have to be a flight instructor but that's the reality and beauty of whizkid academy programs and accelerated training. Next time you want to puke, just think that the lesson you give the FO may one day save many lives when he is in your seat and knows what he is doing because you were there to show him. So far as being amazed at things people don't know...you just got inducted into the "crusty old captain club"....welcome aboard!

I think his point was that it takes more then one flight to teach radar. But otherwise, spot on!

 

[sinkrate]

I think his point was that it takes more then one flight to teach radar. But otherwise, spot on!

All though that is true my point was if you don't know anything about convective weather systems the radar will be useless to you. And if it is impossible to teach radar use in a week it is even more impossible to teach weather in a week.

As far as Captian crusty goes the pilots I work with will tell you I joined that club several decades ago.

As far as teaching goes I've been doing that for several decades too. And the pilots I work with will tell you I'm very good at it.

What I will say about the new hires and CA upgrades I see today is generally they are the least prepared and least self motivated I have ever worked with. They are rarely familiar with such basics as at the AIM, much less any of the other outstanding official resources available on the web. They don't apply themselves. They typically want to be spoon fed on Company time with the smallest spoon available. If that is all they are going to put into it - they better not expect much from me. Now for the few I see that do apply themselves - they are more challenging than I've seen in many years because they use those resources. I really have to work to stay ahead of them and that's good.

Soooo - if you aren't familiar with Avaition Weather, Aviation Weather Services, the ADDS website and its tutorials, don't ask me to teach you radar in one flight. After I puke I'm going to be very quiet the rest of the day. Get over it.

 

[Baronman]

What I will say about the new hires and CA upgrades I see today is generally they are the least prepared and least self motivated I have ever worked with. They are rarely familiar with such basics as at the AIM, much less any of the other outstanding official resources available on the web. They don't apply themselves. They typically want to be spoon fed on Company time with the smallest spoon available. If that is all they are going to put into it - they better not expect much from me. Now for the few I see that do apply themselves - they are more challenging than I've seen in many years because they use those resources. I really have to work to stay ahead of them and that's good.

Soooo - if you aren't familiar with Avaition Weather, Aviation Weather Services, the ADDS website and its tutorials, don't ask me to teach you radar in one flight. After I puke I'm going to be very quiet the rest of the day. Get over it.

I generally agree with the above observation. The fact that there are guys 2,3,4 years in who have no idea where to find weather data or how to interpret it reflects the low level of what we as captains have been bringing to the cockpit.

The WX packet the company gives us aside from TAFs and Metars is largely useless as it has no maps, radar, satellite, convective maps. To not familiarize yourself with other sources is a disservice to all aboard the AC.

 

[Axel]

A technique, if you have a nav display, is to enter the fixes from the convective sigmet(s) into the FMS without activating. This will draw the outline of the affected area(s) on the nav display. It is only marginally useful in a macro sort of way, but it will give you a picture of the affected area(s) with respect to your route.

 

[Captain X]

I've used some pretty crappy radar in the past but I've seen more problems with people who have no idea of how to use radar (it's not just like the weather channel you know). On board radar is no more reliable than the operator.

This right here.

The primary problems I saw were related to operator error, primarily in the way of beam tilt management and a poor understanding of the main limitation of the system (small dish, big beam).

 

[labbats]

With time in both the EMB145 and now the MD80 I can tell you I have no reservations when I use the MD80 radar. Yet the EMB145 never seemed reliable to me.

I studied the Archie Tremmel videos, I brought the laminated card regarding beam angle to altitude. I even did the math Archie recommended. Yet almost half the time we'd pop out of the clouds at FL370 and see a different picture than we expected from the radar.

In my opinion the EMB145 radar is essentially a turboprop radar. It works very well until you hit the upper 20s. By the time you reach 350 or 370 it just can't tell you specifics. I saw purple at FL370 once on the EMB145 and it was something that could probably kill you. So it does have its uses even up there. But comparing that radar to the ones in Airbus, MD80s, and Boeing is comparing a C172 to a jet. More often than not in the EMB145 we'd use the TCAS to see what those aircraft were doing and follow them. The EMB145 will keep you out of intense cells but that's about it.

 

[BeeFCaKe]

With time in both the EMB145 and now the MD80 I can tell you I have no reservations when I use the MD80 radar. Yet the EMB145 never seemed reliable to me.

I studied the Archie Tremmel videos, I brought the laminated card regarding beam angle to altitude. I even did the math Archie recommended. Yet almost half the time we'd pop out of the clouds at FL370 and see a different picture than we expected from the radar.

In my opinion the EMB145 radar is essentially a turboprop radar. It works very well until you hit the upper 20s. By the time you reach 350 or 370 it just can't tell you specifics. I saw purple at FL370 once on the EMB145 and it was something that could probably kill you. So it does have its uses even up there. But comparing that radar to the ones in Airbus, MD80s, and Boeing is comparing a C172 to a jet. More often than not in the EMB145 we'd use the TCAS to see what those aircraft were doing and follow them. The EMB145 will keep you out of intense cells but that's about it.

Couldn't agree more, nice post...

 

[crazy8]

With time in both the EMB145 and now the MD80 I can tell you I have no reservations when I use the MD80 radar. Yet the EMB145 never seemed reliable to me.

I studied the Archie Tremmel videos, I brought the laminated card regarding beam angle to altitude. I even did the math Archie recommended. Yet almost half the time we'd pop out of the clouds at FL370 and see a different picture than we expected from the radar.

In my opinion the EMB145 radar is essentially a turboprop radar. It works very well until you hit the upper 20s. By the time you reach 350 or 370 it just can't tell you specifics. I saw purple at FL370 once on the EMB145 and it was something that could probably kill you. So it does have its uses even up there. But comparing that radar to the ones in Airbus, MD80s, and Boeing is comparing a C172 to a jet. More often than not in the EMB145 we'd use the TCAS to see what those aircraft were doing and follow them. The EMB145 will keep you out of intense cells but that's about it.

Considering the size of the 145's radar dish, is that really a surprise?