Position: South of CYEG
Altitude: 16,000 feet and descending; spoilers 50%...
Indicated Airspeed: 340 knots
Equipment: A320 V2500 A-5
Pax-on-board: 150
Airborne....
My right hand is on the spoiler handle which is fully aft. The A320 will only give half-extension with the auto-pilot ON, even if the handle is against the stops. The Canadian night winds are complicating my life... Too much tailwind!
We are dropping out of the velvety black sky for CYEG (Edmonton, AB). Visibility is truly unlimited tonight with Edmonton in sight before we passed over CYYC (Calgary, AB). Outside, the star fields are amazingly clear with Polaris about 28 degrees higher than Lost Wages.
After some trip trading, cash incentives, and tactical whining, I broke free from the East-West trans-cons and am flying the North-South system. Much better... For now.
Thirty inches from my eyes, Fi-Fi nav has drawn a bright green line extending north to MIPOT intersection, where the arc intersects the localizer beam to runway 12. The approach controller turned us loose a few miles ago... We are cleared for the visual approach to runway 12, CYEG... Contact tower at MIPOT. Roger that...
A normal comment from an experienced co-pilot at this time would be something like... Good luck! We're all counting on you.
My co-pilot is a young one fresh out of Fi-Fi finishing school. She is typical of the female pilots the hiring committee selects: good-looking with an elevated IQ. Her knowledge of the Electric Jet is limited at the moment, only what she learned in ground school and that just scratches the surface. However, in two years her system knowledge will be formidable... I have seen this type before. If my brain is... Say, like a 100 watt bulb, hers is like an aircraft landing light.
Still, she is apprehensive about turning OFF the smoke and mirrors, taking it down to the Super Cub mode, and flying her way out of mistakes where all new co-pilots find themselves. That is understandable, since training is all about becoming one with the Magic, sort of like the Borg queen.
Yesterday, we had one of those I'll bet you won't do that again moments going into Salt Lake City because she got behind the aircraft while trying to understand what the automation was doing. She was horrified with herself until I told her about a few of the lame-brain stunts I've pulled in Fi-Fi over the years... Don't worry about it.
Full Spoilers...
Auto-pilot OFF/Auto-thrust OFF/Flight Directors OFF/ bring up the FPV-BIRD; spoilers fully rise and the wings start to audibly rumble as more lift is sheared away. The vertical speed indicator continues to fall toward the bottom of the instrument case. We are too high for the geographic position related to the end of the runway, so I bank left toward the 15 mile arc (think of a circle drawn around the YEG VOR with a 15 mile radius). The radio magnetic indicator is a little used instrument in contemporary flight decks, but I still use it for flying arcs. It points at whatever radio signal it is tuned... I think of it like an old U-control model airplane; when the string is 15 miles long, I know I am on the arc.
Spoilers stowed...
Through 14,000 feet, I stow the spoilers. Our descent rate will take about 3,500 feet to arrest, and then it will be time to use the remaining descent energy to fly the arc and intercept the localizer. The engines have been at LO IDLE from 38,000 feet and I am trying to maintain that until two miles outside DEVON, the marker beacon. My idea is to show the co-pilot not to be afraid of this aircraft.
Arc intercept...
The RMI needle is pointing at YEG VOR, about in our six o'clock, and with a few miles of lead, I bank right and let the tailwind slide us onto the 15 mile arc at 12,000 feet; the string is taut at a length of 15 miles. The runway is 45 degrees right of the nose... We will be in a gentle right bank until we merge with the localizer beam. I am flying with the tips of my fingers on the joystick. Her flight controls are light and responsive... This is a fine flying machine.
Speed Bleed...
I begin to bleed the speed with a tiny bit of back pressure, which also slows the descent rate. A lot of newbies are tempted to think about Flaps 1 now, which is not flaps at all; the leading edge slats extend to 18 degrees (flaps stay retracted) and the engines switch to HI-IDLE negating any of the extra drag from the slats. It's a zero sum gain. Leave her slippery and clean; use wing loading, a smidge of spoilers (if needed), and angle of attack to slow down. Don't grossly waste any of your energy bank... You can get rid of it later.
Around the bend...
MIPOT is just around the bend... We are looking good. The glideslope is above us, i.e., we will merge with it from underneath. Now is a good time for FLAPS 1 and a spoiler bump. The co-pilot selects Flaps 1 and we watch the digital picture of the slats extending. I can't help it; I reach overhead and turn on the wing lights, and then look out my side window at the slats... Yep, they are extended. Captain's paranoia, I guess.
Over MIPOT...
The co-pilot calls the tower and they respond with their usual cheery welcome to Edmonton, you are cleared to land runway 12, winds are 180 at 10... What gate are you guys at tonight?
The radar altimeter starts picking up its reflections from the ground. It is pitch-black in our immediate vicinity. There is no horizon at all, other than the lights of Edmonton to our north. The runway lighting is bright, but there is zero depth-of-field. It is time to rebuild the automation safety net. A smart crew will always use it as a digital slave to increase safety ten fold (or more), especially on nights like this; clear and dark. Looks easy, but it can be deadly.
Flight directors ON/Auto-thrust ON/Auto-pilot ON/ Activate the APPROACH MODE/Arm the approach... More flaps, landing gear down, adjust my seat to proper height. The LCD screens are flooding the cockpit with digital information as the flight management computers take over the flight controls under my watchful eyes. The Star Trek mode is re-engaged...
Over the marker beacon...
My ADF needle swings to the tail as we pass over the beacon. I still tune it up and use it religiously, even though it is ancient technology. The engines are out of idle and stabilized at about 40%, flaps FULL, automatic braking selected to LOW. The co-pilot calls out one thousand... The radar altimeter shows 950 feet. The world is in sync... 140 knots and looking good. Fi-Fi is centered on the localizer and glideslope.
At 500 feet radar altitude, the landing lights start to illuminate the white stripes on the runway surface. Finally, some depth-of-field... I turn the auto-pilot OFF and take over the flight controls. I am following flight director commands and the auto-thrust is managing the engines, but my thumb, right hand, is on the auto-thrust OFF button... Just in case.
Over the fence...
At 140 knots, flaps FULL, three green lights, slight crosswind from the right. The white stripes are accelerating as we get closer to the concrete. I do the captain Dave thing and touchdown smoothly in the first third of the runway, pulling the reverse thrust triggers as soon as the spoilers rise. At wheel spin-up, the auto-brake computers start squeezing the brake pucks on the main gear wheels. The cool air stokes the roar of the V2500 A-5 engines under full reverse thrust; deceleration is heavy. For a Line pilot, it doesn't get much better.
Taxiing to the gate...
The co-pilot says you make it look so easy.
Don't worry... You'll get it. Six months from now it'll be a new ball game for you.
Life on the Line continues...
