Ask Captain Lim

Dear Captain Lim,

Please do include me in your mailing list. I would like that very much. ^_^

I do have one aviation question. I was watching a few aviation videos, particularly a Cathay Pacific video made in 1993 onboard a Boeing 744 from Heathrow to Hong Kong. During takeoff, both the first officer and captain keep their hands on the throttle controls during the takeoff until the captain says "I have control" and the first officer immediately takes his hand off the throttles. It almost looks like they are holding each other*s hand for courage. He!he! I saw this in a few other aviation videos and wondered why they do this? Do 777 pilots do this as well? What could be the reason? Are the throttles so hard to move? :-)

Also, I will be an English teacher in Changchun, China for a few years. I am 21 years old at the moment. I wondered if you know if training in China for an ATP license would be cheaper than in my country, Canada. If you don*t know for sure, you can guess if you like. :-) I was considering on my free time (such as the weekends) going for lessons. Also do you know (or guess) airlines in China would be less strict in their requirements for pilots?

Thank you again,

Sincerely,

Matthew Erwin

Hi Matthew,

The procedure shown is a matter of company procedures and not that it requires two people to manipulate the thrust levers! Now, with the reliable auto-throttles on the Boeing 777, there is no necessity to have too many hands there. On a normal take off, the Captain or First Officer, depending who is the Pilot Flying (PF), would depress the TOGA button, the thrust levers would then automatically move forward. The Captain*s hand would follow through with the thrust levers as he is the one who makes the decision to abort at any time before the safety speed (V1) and not the First Officer.

I believe the regulations for private flying is still in its infancy stage in Mainland China unless you are in Hong Kong. I think the facility for ATP training there is almost non-existent. There is a severe shortage of experienced pilots in China. Many airlines are sending their pilots for training overseas, especially to Australia. I know that some airlines are recruiting experienced pilots but not those without experience. They prefer to recruit cadet pilots from their own citizens rather than non-citizens. Your advantage is that you can speak very good English and that is what is lacking in their airlines there. Who knows, they may change the rules for you :-)

I wish you all the best in your flying opportunities in Changchun!