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Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

jameshard.ing

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Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#141

Post by jamesharding »

piker wrote: post #123

So cool! I assumed that pilots just generally flew the same hops back and forth over and over, but it seems at first glance that there is actually a lot of variety. Does it make you nervous when you have to land in a new place for the first time?

I guess the variety of flights is based on which aircraft one flies! I flew the A320 for the first 6 years, which covered all of Europe and a little bit of North Africa (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan). Now flying the A350, there is more of the world unlocked, but there are still some routes that only other aircraft (777/787/A380) fly at my company.

We have comprehensive company data for each airport that we operate to, and some of the more challenging airports have special training (in the simulator) as a requirement, or a video briefing. Nervous would be the wrong word, but it is always exciting to fly somewhere new!

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#142

Post by bronco21016 »

ProZsolt wrote: post #132
the_arun wrote: post #43

Folks like you (expert in multiple domains) are an inspiration for people like me. I always dream to do something other than my day job. Hope I push through my laziness to do it some day !

Sometimes I wish software development didn’t pay so exceptionally well. I’m interested in so many other things, but it’s hard to justify switching to another full-time field, knowing it would mean a significant pay cut.

Depending on your locale and position, you may have it backwards. Check out pilot pay in the United States at www.airlinepilotcentral.com

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#143

Post by jamesharding »

halilkoklu wrote: post #115
jamesharding wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congratulations, and thank you! I moved from the A320 to the A350 just over two years ago, and they are remarkably similar to fly (by design)! I would go so far as saying that you could hop in the A350 sim with zero training, and you would be able to operate it to a safe standard.

I've got my eyes on the A350 for ages now so I'm glad that I landed on the Airbus fleet (80/20 odds in favour of Boeing here at my airline). I've got two possible progression tracks from here: 1. gain experience on the A320 for a year, get upgraded to the A330, after two years get certified for the A350 to fly A330/A350 mixed. 2. spend years on A320, upgrade to captain, many more years, then finally upgrade to A330 a…

May I ask which airline you fly for? Feel free to email me if you like (email is on the website!) if you'd rather not post it in public :)

Career progression in airlines is interesting - with lifestyle being so heavily influenced by seniority at most airlines, there is often a big tradeoff decision to make between lifestyle and salary.

At my current airline, the most well-trodden career progression has historically always been Short-haul FO -> Long-haul FO -> Short-haul Captain -> Long-haul Captain. Curious if this is the same at other airlines?

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#144

Post by [deleted] »

bronco21016 wrote: post #142
ProZsolt wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I wish software development didn’t pay so exceptionally well. I’m interested in so many other things, but it’s hard to justify switching to another full-time field, knowing it would mean a significant pay cut.

Depending on your locale and position, you may have it backwards. Check out pilot pay in the United States at www.airlinepilotcentral.com

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#145

Post by jamesharding »

b0a04gl wrote: post #128

when a route doesn't come back as a roundtrip , like you fly LHR > HKG but not the return . how does that usually get handled on your end? do you deadhead back, get reassigned regionally or wait out a layover cycle?

Good question! There are a few routes in my data where the outbound and inbound sectors don't match for this exact reason. Since almost all of our flights begin and end at LHR, if a flight is cancelled we either operate the flight the following day, or fet "positioned" (our word for deadhead) home as a passenger.

Usually when a route changes aircraft, there is a requirement to "position" some pilots out a few days before as passengers to bring the aircraft home when it lands there for the first time. Logistically, very complex!

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#146

Post by nimish »

bronco21016 wrote: post #142
ProZsolt wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I wish software development didn’t pay so exceptionally well. I’m interested in so many other things, but it’s hard to justify switching to another full-time field, knowing it would mean a significant pay cut.

Depending on your locale and position, you may have it backwards. Check out pilot pay in the United States at www.airlinepilotcentral.com

I wish I wasn't medically barred from having a pilot's license. Not for the pay, but I just like the idea of flying. Unfortunately, I cannot. I recommend people use their salaries to learn how to fly regardless! It's maybe ~$15-20k to get a PPL which is doable for the tech crowd with some planning.

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#147

Post by jamesharding »

schubart wrote: post #134

Do all your flights start or end in London?

Almost all, but not quite all!

For example, about 6 months ago, I operated the following trip pattern:

LHR -> GIG -> EZE -> GIG -> LHR

The Rio to Buenos Aires and back "shuttle" flight was a day of flying on its own, with 24 hours rest afterwards before flying back to London.

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#148

Post by jamesharding »

poly2it wrote: post #125

Very interesting visualisations! I'm surprised but at the same time not surprised at the apparent overlap between pilots and programmers. Do you have a favourite/least favourite plane to fly, or are they all the same?

Slightly biased, but right now I am really enjoying the A350!

There are a few "gadgets" that really improve the QoL for pilots (moving map on the ground, camera in the tail for taxiing on the ground, much improved safety systems for situations like blocked pitot tubes, etc).

Re: Show HN: I'm an airline pilot – I built interactive graphs/globes of my flights

#149

Post by jamesharding »

imp0cat wrote: post #8

The logbook is nice, but the split-flap display is downright awesome. ;) https://jameshard.ing/projects/split-flap

Glad you like it! I have a screen on there which shows my flights live while airborne - maybe worth a post of its own :)
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