Billy Walker - Fly the Wing: A flight training handbook for transport category airplanes

Fly the Wing: A Flight Training Handbook for Transport Category Airplanes

Fourth Edition

by William D. Billy Walker, Jr.

Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.

7005 132nd Place SE

Newcastle, Washington 98059-3153

See the ASA website at www.asa2fly.com/reader/flywing (password: asaflywing) for additional resources and downloadable materials.

2018 Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and William D. Walker, Jr., assume no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

None of the material in this book supersedes any operational documents or procedures issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, aircraft and avionics manufacturers, flight schools, or the operators of aircraft.

Fourth Edition Published 2018 by Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. First Edition published 1971 by Iowa State University Press. Third edition published 2004 by Blackwell Publishing. Third Edition reprintings 20062014 by Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.

Cover photo: Tom Sceurman and Franco (Onofre) Gutierrez

Acknowledgment is made to JetBlue Airways for use of material from the A-320 FCOM, FOM, OPS, and QRH; and Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems for use of the Airbus A319/320/321 Flight Management System Pilots Guide for the reader resources.

ASA-FLY-WING4-EB

978-1-61954-639-4

The fourth edition of Fly the Wing is dedicated to the memory of the late Captain Jim Webb.

Billy Walker

Jim Webb, before his death, was a retired Eastern Airlines captain. He learned to fly with a barnstormer at the age of thirteen. For fifteen years he worked as an Eastern Air Lines flight instructor and check pilot. During that period he trained almost 500 pilots, with no failures and well above average results. He also conducted rating rides, proficiency checks, and instruction and checking in simulators. During World War II he was a B-24 pilot in the Central Pacific, flying thirty-three missions and earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and four Air Medals. After the war, Webb flew a variety of charter and corporate planes before joining Eastern. He logged more than 35,000 hours in the cockpit of all types of aircraft.

Additional resources for Fly the Wing readers are available online:

www.asa2fly.com/reader/flywing

Password: asaflywing

Those familiar with Fly the Wing know it as a well-known and respected airline training text. It is considered a must read for all aspiring and current airline pilots. Looking back over my own flying career, Ive found myself returning to the text of Fly the Wing prior to job interviews or initial aircraft ground schools. Each time I read the text, I gleaned additional useful nuggets of information or flying techniques that have enabled me to become a better pilot. For this reason, I have always been a big fan of Fly the Wing and have recommended the book to many pilots.

Fourteen years after the second edition of Fly the Wing was published, it became apparent that there was a need for an updated third edition. Sadly, Captain Jim Webb had flown west a few years prior, and it seemed that Fly the Wing would eventually fall out of print. Recognizing this fact, Iowa State Press [Blackwell Publishing] asked Captain Billy Walker if he would update the book, continuing the fine legacy begun in the first two editions. In this regard, Capt. Walker has succeeded admirably.

The most obvious change implemented for the third edition was the addition of an accompanying training CD-ROM. For the new fourth edition, the CD-ROM contents are now available online from the dedicated Reader Resource page. This online Reader Resource webpage contains a tremendous amount of reference material, including a Honeywell Flight Management Systems Pilot Guide and an Airbus A320 Quick Reference Handbook. The online Reader Resources are referenced throughout the textbook to further illustrate a technique or procedure. These guides will prove to be a tremendous resource for any pilot transitioning to a transport category aircraft. Throughout the book, material reflects current airline operating procedures and Federal Aviation Administration regulations. These additions to Fly the Wing are sure to make this text an invaluable source of aviation knowledge for a new generation of aspiring pilots.

Mark J. Holt

The late Captain Jim Webb; Virginia Webb; the late Captain Ralph S. Johnson, Chief Test Pilot, United Airlines; the late W. D. Pic Walker; Captain Mark Holt, author and aviator extraordinaire; John Lauber, VP Airbus; and Captain Al Spain, VP Operations, JetBlue Airways (Ret.). Former Frontier Captains David P. Kaplan, the late J. David Hyde, and the late Captain Robert L. Williams had much input to this book. To all I am grateful.

Captain Billy Walker retired in 2001, because of the Age 60 Rule, as the senior JetBlue Airways line captain. Until 2007, he was the senior test pilot, instructor, and check airman with JetBlue Airways. He administered ATP and A-320 type ratings as an FAA Aircrew Program Designee (APD). Walker is an avid fly fisherman and in his free time stays busy flying out of Airbase Arizona (CAF). For many years, Walker flew the North American AT-6/SNJ as well as an AC-47 Gunship based at Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona.

Walker learned to fly as a youngster flying with his pioneer aviator father, the late W.D. Pic Walker, 1992 National Aeronautic Association Elder Statesman of Aviation. Pic was a founding member of the Civil Air Patrol. His company, Plains Airways, trained more than 10,000 pilots and mechanics during World War II. Walkers mother, Frances Emily Walker, was the first woman to learn to fly in Wyoming during the 1930s.

Walker flew for the historic Frontier Airlines for two decades and then became an instructor, check airman, and FAA examiner with America West Airlines (AWA). He was with AWA for 11 years until joining JetBlue Airways as part of the start-up team. He has written numerous technical publications and aviation articles.

During the Vietnam War, Walker was on a leave of absence from Frontier in 19711972. He was based out of Pochentong Airbase, Cambodia, with Air America (Tri9). Returning to the left seat at Frontier, he flew everything from DC-3s, DHC-6s, Convair 580s, Boeing 737s, and MD-80s. He was involved in several General Aviation companies, as well. Walker is Airline Transport Rated and is a commercial hot air balloonist. Additionally, Walker is a Certified Flight Instructor with CFI/II ASMEL, Ground Instructor, and certified repairman endorsements, along with having numerous type ratings on his certificate. He is in the aviation business for the love of the game.

To learn more about Billy Walker, visit www.CaptainBillyWalker.com.

By Jim Webb

Flying an airplaneany kind of flying: joyriding, aerobatics, military flying, flying for hire, and particularly instrument flightis a form of human expression. A pilots skill, the manner in which the flight is planned and executed, and regard for safety are revealing personality traits.

Many of the pre-employment procedures used by airlines to test pilot applicants and to screen them thoroughly before putting them into the cockpit may be totally unrelated to flying. Though these procedures are sometimes unfairly criticized by those already in the cockpit, they are designed solely to determine if the applicant has sufficient maturity and stability to become an airline captain. Airlines never hire copilots onlyat least not intentionally. They seek captain material. In addition to aviation experience and background, they examine ability to learn, to adapt, and to exercise the qualities of judgment and command that the left seat requires.