Flight engineer question

[bell47]

How does one become a flight engineer? What exactly does a flight engineer do? From what I understand the FE does the W&B, preflights and post flight inspects the aircraft. What does the FE actually do while in flight? Thanks.

 

[AA717driver]

F/E's get the worst of three crew meals, take the ugly chick and laugh the loudest at the Capt's. jokes (regardless of how many times they've heard him tell the same one...).

If you're a pilot, being a F/E should only be done if it leads to a really good front seat job. TC

P.S.--The job includes doing all the walk arounds, managing fuel balance, doing the W/B, doing the writeups and anything else the Captain needs done.

 

[Workin'Stiff]

You're the glorified secretary of the flight deck. You handle all of the paperwork, manage all of the systems, I (FE's at my company) don't do the W&B (that's the FO's job here). Otherwise, we handle pretty much everything else outside of actually flying the aircraft. Your job is to think of everything and get it done before it becomes noticed by the captain.

 

[B737Dvr]

How does one become a flight engineer? What exactly does a flight engineer do? From what I understand the FE does the W&B, preflights and post flight inspects the aircraft. What does the FE actually do while in flight? Thanks.

LOL!!!! aaww that is so cute! did you just finish watching office space and get some inspiration from the "bob's"?

To 717 guy....the FE's seat although rapidly becoming a dinosaur, is actually the best way to learn about 121 airline ops while actually being a crew member! Used to be that you could watch 2 people up front with total mastery of the airplane show you how it's done(most of the time). Being the FE also meant being a system's guy and really learning and knowing the nuts and bolts of the machine, so that when you upgrade, that stuff is so ingrained in you that the upgrade is a snap.

Im not saying that you cant learn today and that today's automation killed all those guys off.....but I have seen pilots on fully automated planes totally behind the plane when flying with autothrottles inop. Hopefully, at some point in primary school, when a student pilot looks down to reprogram something in the box in the traffic pattern after a runway change, or to update the altimeter for vnav or some other ridiculous thing, the instructor will slap him hard in the back of the head so that he will not ever do that again, and then perhaps well see less and less of those make it to the big leagues and want to go hold or remain heads down because of silly little gps light come on during a visual approach.

I for one am scared of what the VLJ's are going to do to airspace complexity, because used to be that the flight levels were where you are among professionals. Now any youtube millionaire will be flying mach numbers at the same flight levels as airliners, hopefully they'll get the slap in the back of the head that says be a pilot first, then be a systems manager.


ok, my rant is over.....sorry guys.....LOL

 

[Hulk Hogan]

In flight....read company material and pray to God you don't get a call from sched over airinc. Then fix the fuel problem you created while 'studying'.

 

[FDXer]

How does one become a flight engineer? What exactly does a flight engineer do? From what I understand the FE does the W&B, preflights and post flight inspects the aircraft. What does the FE actually do while in flight? Thanks.

1. You turn 60 and can't fly up front anymore.

2. Whine about the age 60 law changing and how he will be back up front someday.

3. Sleeps when he's not whining about the age 60 rule.

You see a trend here?

 

[Princedietrich]

When I did my time as FE on a 727 a few years back, here's what was involved in my duties:

Cockpit preflight of FE panel, all CBs, crash axe, PBE, and fire extinguisher.
Fire detection system test for engines, APU, and cargo bay.
Start/stop APU.
Exterior walkaround.
W&B.
Calculate stab trim setting and takeoff speed.
Running checklists (when the aircraft was moving, otherwise the FO did it).
Watch gauges during the engine starts and make sure nothing explodes.
Manage electrical, hydraulic, fuel, and pressurization systems.
Constant harassment from FAs regarding cabin temperature.
Manage the trip logbook and discrepancies and do engine trend monitoring.
Run emergency and/or abnormal checklists if the need arose.
Manage fuel dumps if necessary.
Hand-crank landing gear if necessary.
Update Jepp manuals.
Call in departure reports and in-range reports.
Get ATIS before arrival.
Calculate landing speeds.
Make sure the two bozos up front don't do anything stupid.

Other than all of this stuff, which over the course of a 4 hour flight really isn't that much, the FE basicly just sits there and enjoys the ride. You're essentially the equivalent of Scotty from Star Trek, you don't do much but when the fecal matter hits the fan you become extremely important and everything seems to be your fault.

The training was provided by the company I worked for. Several weeks of groundschool and several 4 hour blocks in a simulator, then a simulator checkride with the FAA and 3 touch-n-goes in the airplane since the sim was only a level B. Got the written from a Lasergrade center.

 

[jimcav]

LOL!!!! aaww that is so cute! did you just finish watching office space and get some inspiration from the "bob's"?

To 717 guy....the FE's seat although rapidly becoming a dinosaur, is actually the best way to learn about 121 airline ops while actually being a crew member! Used to be that you could watch 2 people up front with total mastery of the airplane show you how it's done(most of the time). Being the FE also meant being a system's guy and really learning and knowing the nuts and bolts of the machine, so that when you upgrade, that stuff is so ingrained in you that the upgrade is a snap.

Im not saying that you cant learn today and that today's automation killed all those guys off.....but I have seen pilots on fully automated planes totally behind the plane when flying with autothrottles inop. Hopefully, at some point in primary school, when a student pilot looks down to reprogram something in the box in the traffic pattern after a runway change, or to update the altimeter for vnav or some other ridiculous thing, the instructor will slap him hard in the back of the head so that he will not ever do that again, and then perhaps well see less and less of those make it to the big leagues and want to go hold or remain heads down because of silly little gps light come on during a visual approach.

I for one am scared of what the VLJ's are going to do to airspace complexity, because used to be that the flight levels were where you are among professionals. Now any youtube millionaire will be flying mach numbers at the same flight levels as airliners, hopefully they'll get the slap in the back of the head that says be a pilot first, then be a systems manager.


ok, my rant is over.....sorry guys.....LOL

You bring up some good points.

 

[j3ben]

Workin Stiff....do you serve coffee as well?

 

[NuGuy]

Other than all of this stuff, which over the course of a 4 hour flight really isn't that much, the FE basicly just sits there and enjoys the ride. You're essentially the equivalent of Scotty from Star Trek, you don't do much but when the fecal matter hits the fan you become extremely important and everything seems to be your fault.

I'd agree with this. The real trick to checkrides in a 3 man bird was coordination between the FE and the Captain. The FO was basically there to run the radios, turn on the probe heat and maintain the lateral CG (IE ballast).

OTOH, a FE could make or break a trip or sim session. If the guy was on his game, things went very well. If he/she wasn't, well, things could go downhill in a jiffy, especially on a checkride.

I don't know about other AC, but on the 727, the FE was pretty essential. He/she ran the fuel, pressurization, air conditionting and electrical systems as nothing was automated (well, the birds with electronic pressurization were a bit better). The workload seemed was fair and it was GREAT having an extra pair of eyes.

That said, the FO job on the 727 was the best. No walk arounds, no paperwork, no real responsibility. Just pitot heat, windshield heat, whats to eat?

Nu

 

[Workin'Stiff]

Workin Stiff....do you serve coffee as well?

Hell, I might as well! I do pretty much everything else up in that cockpit! :smash:

How's the 73' treatin' ya??? It's been a while!

 

[j3ben]

73's going good. Moving on to the 75/76 this year. Had lunch today with one of your fellow CA FE's, TB. Hope all is well!

 

[acarpe3448]

Ity seems we have quite a few former FEs here! I am surprised no one mentioned,

1. "Protect Essential Power"

2. Dont touch the DFW Switch (Aft Zone Cabin Heater"

3. No Acars on 727s at Delta so we did the engine monitor reports

4. Position reports to Dispatch

5. Set power on takeoff

6. Help pilots prevent autopack trip on takeoff


Man this thread brings back a lot of great memories. I loved my time on the 727 panel! Sweet airplane, and fast as hell!

 

[unwashed]

I may be a babysitter, but 833,000 lbs of baby does not get off the chocks with out this F/E. It is a great way to learn the operation, learned class II nav at it best and worst. Your systems knowledge is only surpassed by the book not usually the guys facing forward. If you are a good FE and happened to be a pilot you will learn to appreciate the loss when you transition back to a two person flight deck.

 

[AA717driver]

You can glorify it all you want but being an FE sucks. BTDT for 4 years and got the oily shirt. If you're a pilot, why would you want to not fly?

Oh yeah, you also get to go back and deal with pax problems... That sucks too. TC

P.S.--Age 60 rule sucks, too!

 

[gcsass]

The thing I have learned about FE's is that they poke me a lot with the checklist....... I guess I will eventually remember to call for it.....