buddingauthor

Hard to forget what I don't know!! (Is there a switch or something?)

jungle

"She turned off both bleed valves and then toggled the pressurization dump switch prior to making her way to her square rig chute in the aft baggage compartment. The black canopy would be impossible to see at night and her pistol was secured to her harness. The door opened easily into the bitter cold slipstream. Having fixed her position and noting the winds on the GPS just prior to this, she chuckled at the surprise Lord Fontleroy would show at her unexpected arrival. The last surprise of his sorry life.
The lights of the compound loomed into view as she exited the doomed aircraft into a quickly stabilized freefall."

rickair7777

IFR = Instrument Flight Rules. All airlines and most commercial aircraft are flown under these rules. You route is planned, your progress is monitored (in most places), and you can fly in low/zero visibility.

VFR = Visual Flight Rules. Most recreation flights are VFR, as well as a few small commercial aircraft (sightseeing, etc). You may file a flight plan, but it is not required, and your progress is not usually tracked. You must stay in good visibility (usually 3+ miles) and out of clouds...this can very limiting oin some areas.

Most airplanes can be flown either VFR or IFR. Some private pilots, almost all commercial pilots, and all airline pilots are instrument rated.


Yes, a flight plan would be required. IFR would normally be used, but you could also file a "Defense VFR" flight plan, which gives you a specific time window to cross the ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone).

buddingauthor

So, on a VFR, my pilot couldn't fly at night? Even if she was a seasoned pilot? She would have to file an IFR?

I guess for her plan to work, she needs to be able to fly for quite some time unnoticed. A VFR is the best/only way to do this, if I understand correctly. However, a VFR puts serious limits on where/when a pilot can fly.

Would the black box tell FAA investigators when a plane was depressurized?

Winged Wheeler

should be one where an author solicits practical information from a bunch of internet wiseguys. Style and grammar inputs where technical info is requested--that type of thing. I wonder where you could get material for that book.

WW

buddingauthor

I have no idea...

Planespotta

VFR pilots can still fly at night.
To fly for quite some time unnoticed . . . hmmm, she could head for an uncontrolled/no-RADAR environment and turn off her transponder, but that wouldn't really be possible around San Diego.
How about you don't even have the pilot file a flight plan; you just take off and start heading to Vancouver? Stay below 18,000 feet and clear of busy/towered airports, turn off ALL lights and your transponder, and fly around 100 feet above the ground all the way up to Vancouver People would send in complaints to the police about a low-flying airplane, but the controllers wouldn't know a thing because you'd be too low for RADAR to pick you up. It would add excitement and intrigue, because the police would be searching for a low-flying airplane that suddenly disappeared.
I know you're making this up as you go along, but what does the timeframe of the flight essentially look like?

buddingauthor

She leaves at night to transport a group of executives (doesn't matter where, really, she just needs to be able to leave the plan and have it go unnoticed) and the plane goes down eventually (I'd prefer over water to make the lack of her body a little more excusable - that's why I initially said Vancouver - she could fly low over the ocean and not kick up too much of a fuss, I guess), but she needs to be high and slow enough to ditch from the plane without being noticed.

I seriously need to know more about aviation before I attempt another draft of this part! I'm realizing how out to lunch I was in my first draft - no consideration for the "rules"!

BA

Winged Wheeler

At the risk of trying to tell you your business, here's what I'd do:

Go down to the local municipal airport and buy an hour or two of flying time with an instructor. Make sure they know you want to hear the radio. Ask lots of questions. Ask if the instructor will QC your manuscript when you want to ship it.

Then write your story. Avoid technical and procedural specifics when at all possible. Show your work to the instructor--he will catch the obvious errors and ridiculae. Change what you want and ship it to the publisher.

If you search these forums you can find discussions about "experts" that have appeared on TV, or before congress, etc. These people have generally spent their lives in aviation and are absolutely roasted on this website. Same thing with flying movies and TV shows. The point is that if you focus on pleasing critics on APC with technical minutiae, you will short the majority of readers who aren't pilots and don't care about those small details.

Disregard this post if you are trying for a 21st century edition of Moby Dick--aviation style.

WW

buddingauthor

Ok, I think from what I've learned from here so far, I can make it work while avoiding too much technicality. One last question: will FAA investigators looking into the crashed plane be able to tell when/if the plane was depressurized?

Thanks again!

BA