"Center the Bug"

[HuggyU2]

1 hour ago, HossHarris said:

 

Currently flying a maddog. It will drop into heading hold or heading select unannounced (among other fun things). 

Having your heading bug in the general direction your going is useful when it goes crazy ivan. 

ThreeHoler (and others elsewhere) mentioned this.  Like them, I believe I'd like the jet to start a big turn should it revert to Heading unannounced.  The alternative of tooling along in a straight line, and maybe not realizing what happened seems like a worse scenario.  But I've been doing this for only 18 months, am figuring out LNAV, and can barely spell VNAV... so what do I know?  But I do see your point Hoss... and there's probably no right answer.  

Thanks for the comments.

BTW, Hacker, I got that from a 320 guy, but I have no idea how the Airbus works.  

Edited February 13, 2018 by HuggyU2

[tac airlifter]

11 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

 I believe I'd like the jet to start a big turn should it revert to Heading unannounced.  The alternative of tooling along in a straight line, and maybe not realizing what happened seems like a worse scenario.  

Concur.  I used to sync my heading bug with course because my AP would kick off RNAV and revert to heading coupled sometimes.  Seemed like a good idea to bug my heading given that system proclivity.  Anyway, there I am chilling at altitude having an in-depth system discussion, the AP kicked over to heading sync, and I didn't notice until I had drifted far enough off course that center had to ask WTF I was doing.  My inattention to course and subsequent ATC call out undermined my instruction.  Now I use the heading bug for any number of useful items, but not course back up.

[Majestik Møøse]

A WIC-level discussion on the HDG bug, awesome. Oh well, here goes. When I was flying the KC-10 I felt like I was the only guy who wasn’t trying to constantly center the heading bug. On oceanic crossings, fucking with the heading knob had the very real possibility of inadvertently entering Hdg Hold or Hdg Sel, both of which will easily cause a GNE over a 600 nm leg. I know a guy that did just that and got schwacked. Watched a copilot do the same thing. To turn it faster than “click click click”, you have to push it in a little. A little farther than that is GNE mode. Sweet.

I say if your OCD says you must bug some heading, choose the most appropriate divert field. Gives you the ability to instantly be headed in the right direction while forcing you to keep tabs on your divert options.

[ARAMP1]

On the Airbus at Purple, we set the heading bug to runway heading or a missed approach heading for an ILS/RNAV approach once the localizer or inbound course is captured.  That way, in the event of a missed approach, we can select heading and get the airplane headed that way.  I've flown with guys that mess with it in cruise, some that don't.  I generally keep it in the general direction I'm heading.

 

Edited February 13, 2018 by ARAMP1

[HossHarris]

13 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:

ThreeHoler (and others elsewhere) mentioned this.  Like them, I believe I'd like the jet to start a big turn should it revert to Heading unannounced.  The alternative of tooling along in a straight line, and maybe not realizing what happened seems like a worse scenario.  But I've been doing this for only 18 months, am figuring out LNAV, and can barely spell VNAV... so what do I know?  But I do see your point Hoss... and there's probably no right answer.  

Thanks for the comments.

BTW, Hacker, I got that from a 320 guy, but I have no idea how the Airbus works.  

Not in close to Atlanta  

If it starts a big schwoopenhousen turn to “alert” you that something has changed you’re already fucked and will likely get to copy a phone number down.

we also get really cool map fails with our 1950s technology dme/dme ins without gps where the magenta stuff goes away, or better still lies to you.  So being able to throw it into heading hold without a lot of thought is helpful.

It gets watched closely when it matters. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by HossHarris

[HuggyU2]

1 hour ago, HossHarris said:

It gets watched closely when it matters. 

"When it matters".  That's the key.  

I center it when it is a good thing.  But seldom on a 5+ hour TransCon do I find it is necessary to be centered for 5+ hours.  

[Prozac]

Rebels!  You guys are everyone’s problem. That’s because every time you go up in the air you are unsafe. My airline pays me a bunch of money and they say they want the heading bug centered, so I do it. 

[HossHarris]

6 minutes ago, Prozac said:

Rebels!  You guys are everyone’s problem. That’s because every time you go up in the air you are unsafe. My airline pays me a bunch of money and they say they want the heading bug centered, so I do it. 

Nerd

[HuggyU2]

Take a prozac, Prozac.  

[Prozac]

ICEMAN - The Later Years - watch more funny videos

Seriously, this is all I could think about reading this thread. 

[LJDRVR]

To answer your question Huggy, it's a left over from older, non-digital autopilots whose failure mode out of NAV wasn't a CWS mode, but HDG. 

At your current employer on the Boeings, it has a little to do with class II nav, where some very specific things are done with the heading bug passing a fix. Many of the Captains you fly with come from the larger jets where maybe the heading bug fixation is a bit of a vestigial remnant of oceanic flying. Maybe. (Guppy drivers are required to do the same thing, compliance is pretty low.)

Center it up, or leave it alone - both sound awesome to me. No wrong answer.

Here's what's concerning: no PM should touch a damn thing on your MCP when you're flying and the automation is engaged, except the altitude knob. If you're flying and some Captain reaches over and centers up your heading bug, you should remind them that you're flying, the autopilot is on, and would they please not touch your heading bug.

It's easy for me to say this wearing four stripes, but the behavior you're describing (Them grabbing your heading bug) is a violation of SOP and should be called out every time it happens. As the HF folks say, what you practice or permit, you promote.

Glad to see you're back! I'm totally bummed I missed flying with you when I was SFO based. We'll have to figure something out.

[Hacker]

On 2/12/2018 at 7:02 PM, HuggyU2 said:

BTW, Hacker, I got that from a 320 guy, but I have no idea how the Airbus works.

Naw, just busting your balls, since most folks don't remember some A300s and A310s -- with center yokes, manual flight controls, and analog/EFIS cockpits -- are still out there soldiering on.

[JeremiahWeed]

4 hours ago, LJDRVR said:

Here's what's concerning: no PM should touch a damn thing on your MCP when you're flying and the automation is engaged, except the altitude knob.

I'm going to guess and say you're at UAL?  (unless there's another airline out there restricting altitude knobs to the PM only).

That was their thing when I was there.  The PF never set the altitude on the MCP even with the autopilot engaged.  My next and then current airline were the exact opposite.  The entire MCP including altitude knob was the PF's with autopilot on - the PM's with it off.

FWIW, during my time at UAL the attitude about matching the heading knob was - do it.  However, anyone who saw it could just reach up and do it at cruise regardless of who was flying.  That wasn't written anywhere, it was just the way it was done.

[matmacwc]

Wait, what?  You left UAL?  For what?

[JeremiahWeed]

5 hours ago, matmacwc said:

Wait, what?  You left UAL?  For what?

FedEx. 

However, “left” implies it was voluntary.  Initially leaving was their idea - you know.....that whole furlough thing.  My role in the outcome began when they recalled me and involved flipping them the bird from my MD-11 right seat making twice what i’d make if I had gone back.  One of the best decisions of my life - but, made under different circumstances than today. 

Edited February 17, 2018 by JeremiahWeed

[SocialD]

10 hours ago, matmacwc said:

Wait, what?  You left UAL?  For what?

Clearly his circumstances were different, but I know lots of guys who've left one major for another (myself included).  I met a Delta new hire a year ago that had been at FedEx for 5 years.  I left AAL, and I know quite a few guys who've left various majors for other majors.  One common element amongst them all was the option for home basing.  Don't commute!  If you absolutely have to, I'd probably go FedEx.

 

Edited February 17, 2018 by SocialD