Simulators and the FAA Flight. Blog 8

 

My Boeing Days: Simulators and the FAA Flight

Blog 8 of 10

 

 

Photo : Crew Vehicle Systems Research Facility's Boeing 747-400 Simulator at NASA Ames Research Center.

This is a collection of anecdotes that took place during my work at the flight simulator lab at Boeing in Renton, Washington, except the last one which is related to my first FAA certification flight test.

Late Night Simulator Sessions

Getting time on the flight simulator was not easy. Working hours for the simulator lab were from 8 AM to midnight. Each session was 4 hours long. There were only four sessions possible in a day. Once a week, we had to work from 8 PM to midnight. Working on simulators until midnight was always a challenge.

The Dangerous Illusion of the IC Button

One night, my colleague Rob and I were working on a simulator. That day, by 11 PM, we had completed all the required testing. Rob, an aeronautical engineer, was still not tired. He was teaching me how to fly the 767 between two control towers without crashing the airplane. The two simulated towers were barely enough to pass the 767. Just an inch here or there could result in a crash. I tried, and tried, and tried, but the airplane continued to crash. Every time the simulated airplane crashed, the way to get back was to push a little switch with 'IC' written on it. It meant initial conditions. After pushing the IC button, all the analog dials reset to the ground conditions with a distinct clicking noise. I used to fly the airplane again after the clicking sound had stopped. I kept doing it again and again since I could not fly the airplane through the narrow clearance between the two towers. I almost got into a trance. It was midnight, and we decided to call it quits. 

When Simulation Bleeds into Reality

I walked to the parking lot, got in my car, and started driving. As I got on the road, I realized that I was driving as if I were taxiing an airplane. I was right on the centerline of the road! I quickly got back into my lane. Soon, I was on a freeway. There was still some traffic on the freeway. After driving for a while, I found out the reason for the slow-moving traffic. There was some construction going on, and they had only one lane open. Soon, the traffic picked up speed. As I drove, I realized that the barriers were on a curved lane. A slight movement out of the lane could hit the barrier. I was still in the mindset of flight simulators. I thought to myself that it didn’t matter even if I hit the curb on the freeway since I could still push the IC button. Suddenly, this thought shook me, and I realized that there was no IC button in real life!

The Joy of Working at Boeing

A common topic among Boeing engineers was how much they loved the job and were amazed to get paid for doing something as fun as what they did. We were never forced to work 14 hours a day. Often, we worked 8 hours without wasting time in meaningless meetings. Of course, there were many days and nights when we worked beyond 16 to 18 hours.

Racing Against the Clock

I remember one such long day. I was at work at 7 AM as usual. I was working with Del, a software engineer, to get ready for an internal Boeing flight test. We were running some tests on a flight simulator. As our luck would have it, the simulator was not giving the expected output. All day long, Del and I were trying to fix the bug in the software, but he couldn’t find it. At 6 PM, I called home and told my family that I would be home in about an hour. It was 8 PM, but still, we couldn’t find the bug. We were hoping that in 2 hours we would find it, but we still did not have any luck. The flight test was at 5 AM, and we were struggling in the lab. Finally, at 1 AM, the testing was successful. I reached home after 2 AM, slept for 2 hours, and drove back to Boeing field for the flight test. As planned, we took off at 5 AM. Deadlines have a strange thing about them. Everything works at the very last moment!

The Unexpected Cold Shoulder

 My first certification flight, with the FAA directors on board, was quite an experience. For both Boeing and FAA employees, it was customary to wear badges. While walking in the aisle, I encountered a senior FAA official who appeared Indian. As we passed, I read his name on the badge. Sure enough, he was from India. I smiled at him as a basic courtesy. To my surprise, he didn’t smile back. He looked at me and just left. I could not understand why he did that. In those days, there were not too many Indians in the Seattle area. So, I was sure that someone from the community would know this person. The next day, I asked my friend whether he had heard about this fellow. As it turned out, the FAA person had a very good reputation as a kind-hearted gentleman. Later, I found out how the FAA staff interacts with Boeing employees during the certification process. Both parties are supposed to be aloof from each other so that no one influences the outcome of the certification process.  Smiles can be costly at times!

Photo Credit: Crew Vehicle Systems Research Facility's Boeing 747-400 Simulator at NASA Ames Research Center. Trials of Fatigue Countermeasures. In cockpit, pilots (L) Brian Spence and (R) Mike Holmboe. NASA Ames Research Center - Human Systems Integration Division, Public domain, fatigue study.jpg Copy, [[File: Human fatigue study.jpg| Human_fatigue_study]], Copy, May 23, 2002