pilots with beards?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:03 pm
A good sign or bad?
I once did a glacier flight in Switzerland in a PA-18.This isn't helping.
I once flew into Cusco , one of the most challenging commercial airports in the world, with a pilot who looked like Captain Haddock.I took his face hair to be a sign of maturity and reassurance but now your telling me I was only moments away from a whiskery death?
I'm not sure we stayed below 12000 all the timeNon pressurized aircraft operated below 12000 feet do not require oxygen masks. Only commercial jet liner pilots.
Non pressurized aircraft operated below 12000 feet do not require oxygen masks. Only commercial jet liner pilots.
Sickbag, I wish to ask a few questions pertaining to your fear.Non pressurized aircraft operated below 12000 feet do not require oxygen masks. Only commercial jet liner pilots.
I doubt you could get to Cusco without going to 12,000 feet even if you walked.The town itself is at 11000 feet and is situated in a valley.
The fully bearded pilot was flying me and a hundred or so others on a 737 or Airbus equivalent.
I think you misunderstand me,I liked the beard, I found it reassuring,I think more pilots should wear beards to reassure fearful fliers.The fully bearded pilot was flying me and a hundred or so others on a 737 or Airbus equivalent.
Sickbag, I wish to ask a few questions pertaining to your fear.
Were you at all frightened during this flight?
Did the pilot perform his duties/tasks properly?
Was there something other than the fact that the pilot wore a full beard to cause you concern?
What is it exactly that worried you about a pilot with a beard?
I think you misunderstand me,I liked the beard, I found it reassuring,I think more pilots should wear beards to reassure fearful fliers.Sickbag, I wish to ask a few questions pertaining to your fear.The fully bearded pilot was flying me and a hundred or so others on a 737 or Airbus equivalent.
Were you at all frightened during this flight?
Did the pilot perform his duties/tasks properly?
Was there something other than the fact that the pilot wore a full beard to cause you concern?
What is it exactly that worried you about a pilot with a beard?
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Indeed - missed that part. I would find that VERY disconcerting to find that there were no serviceable aircraft within the airline...and that the flights were cancelled. That would scare the crap out of me...and at that point, I would care if the pilot looked like Chubaka.
Possibly some kind of 'quick-release' beard arrangement could be devised, using a pin and cable system similar to that found on the doors of some aerobatic aircraft. In the event of cabin pressure loss, the crew would jettison beards immediately prior to donning emergency O2. I suppose there might be a risk of control jams due to unrestrained beards in the cockpit - perhaps further investigation is required before I email the FAA.Maybe pilots could wear false beards to reassure their passengers that they are mature and dependable and then remove them in the cockpit to conform to regulations?
Good ideas, and how about if the oxygen masks had hirsute appendages around the face seal, that way even in an emergency there would be continuity of the beard illusion.Possibly some kind of 'quick-release' beard arrangement could be devised, using a pin and cable system similar to that found on the doors of some aerobatic aircraft. In the event of cabin pressure loss, the crew would jettison beards immediately prior to donning emergency O2. I suppose there might be a risk of control jams due to unrestrained beards in the cockpit - perhaps further investigation is required before I email the FAA.Maybe pilots could wear false beards to reassure their passengers that they are mature and dependable and then remove them in the cockpit to conform to regulations?
There is also the thorny question of female crewmembers. Should each airline be given discretion to determine their own procedures in this respect?
He has a beard,smokes a pipe in the cockpit and is Swiss.I found my bearded pilot here:
http://www.swissaviation.ch/aktuell/19990910/port.htm
(sorry, only in German).
I like the part where it says that on sunny days on the glacier, he hardly has time to eat and sometimes eats his potato salad during the flight, explaining the surrounding landscape to his sole passenger in the Piper, pointing with his fork.
So, a Gulfstream V, which, as you may have heard, flies higher than any jetliner except for the Concorde doesn't require O2 masks, what with it not being a "commercial jetliner"?Non pressurized aircraft operated below 12000 feet do not require oxygen masks. Only commercial jet liner pilots.
Speaking of which, I once flew in the jumpseat on a couple of United revenue flights (pre-9/11, of course). As soon as the pilots were in the cockpit, they removed their hats and ties. The ties were clip-ons, no less.Maybe pilots could wear false beards to reassure their passengers that they are mature and dependable and then remove them in the cockpit to conform to regulations?
One day I am going to grow a beard like ZZ Top
If you can grow a beard like that in one day I will be mightilly impressedOne day I am going to grow a beard like ZZ Top