Always Wanted to be a Train Driver?

[mcquiggd]

Perhaps a good way to deport illegals.... tie them to the french end of the channel tunnel....

[scotspine]

There's a quantum leap in the learning ability to fly a passenger jet compared with a train or tube.

Apart from the 1500 hours of flying required before an ATPL and the 2 years of training and ground school including aeronautics, meteology, flight management, navigation, , the bi-yearly (or more) checks are intensive and include landing gear failure, engine failures, windshear drills etc on the simulator plus requiring to pass a yearly Class I medical.

Also, they don't just jump in a plane and press buttons: NOTAMS, weather briefings, calculating best altitude for fuel management, cockpit management, weight/balance calcs, STARS and SIDS etc etc

I'm not decrying the skill required to drive a tube or train, but it's a fair way off to comparing an airline pilot's skills.

Although FMCs and autopilots/cockpit management make the workload of the flight easier to manage, especially during high cockpit workloads, it's when things go wrong that you thank that these guys in the front seat have the skills to cope with any unexpected deviation from normal flight.

Autopilot disengagements still require the skills of a pilot to land at Hong Kong in minimums with windshear for instance - bit different from stopping the train when you see a red light.

wish we could chat some more on this hyperd - i was at lockerbie with the mountain rescue and ever since have had trouble flying. it has become increasingly stressful and i'm thinking about doing a course to see whether that will decrease the angst.... i now envy people who actually enjoy it.

[Emperor Dalek]

And before Davros starts - remember, I had to open the hatch in your casing and empty your pooh pot everyday?

That's all you were fit for, laughing boy. Now get back in your proper casing before your mummy catches you in the Red Dalek's machine.

[hyperD]

wish we could chat some more on this hyperd - i was at lockerbie with the mountain rescue and ever since have had trouble flying. it has become increasingly stressful and i'm thinking about doing a course to see whether that will decrease the angst.... i now envy people who actually enjoy it.

scotspine - private email if you want to chat offline...I'm no expert but I had a massive fear of flying as a kid but now a Private Pilot with instrument rating and fly a 200mph twin in Surrey.

[BoredBloke]

I can't see how driving a train requires that much skill. Does it need more skill than driving an articulated lorry? Also, not all train drivers drive the 125 mph passenger trains. A fair few drive the painfully slow and zero passengers freight trains.

[Gold Dalek]

I investigated tube driving but that is apparently boring beyond belief. It's just a case of having a lever for stop/go and a button for open/close. If you are on the Jubliee line you get even less to do which is why tube drivers have been caught reading, studying for exams, drinking, eating and half asleep. Oh and tube drivers can't get lost train drivers can

Surely the Tubes will eventually go like the DLR - driverless, and then all the ex drivers can retrain to become IT specialists