On a 747 jet, how does the pilot know where he is going at night whilst taxiying out onto the runway ?

Answer 1

There is some good information in the answers above, but it is incomplete. Yes, the ATC does tell the pilot what taxiways to use to get to the correct runway or terminal gate. Yes, there are diagrams of the airport and taxiways. There are also a lot of lights on the runways and taxiways as well as lighted signs telling the pilot where he is, just like signs on the roads for cars telling you what street you're on and what street you're crossing over. Runway lights are white and taxiway lights are blue. They have red lights to mark the ends of runways and green lights to mark the runway threshold. Below is a link where you can see what some of these look lile.

Answer 2

Disregard most of the answers above. I fly an airplane slightly larger than a Boeing 747. Taxiing the airplane at night is no different from taxiing it during the day. You do not use any navigational equipment for taxiing an aircraft. It is purely a visual maneuver.

In the C-5 Galaxy (the airplane that I fly), to the left of the pilot's seat you have a tiller that can steer the nose gear up to 60 degrees. The aft bogies can caster in both the C-5 and in the Boeing 747, however, in the Boeing 747, bogie castering is automatic. In the C-5, it is manual.

So when I am taxiing a C-5 (again, regardless of the weather and if day or night), right as I begin the turn I say "caster" and move the caster switch. When I say "caster", the copilot and I both look at the aft bogie free lights to ensure that they illuminated properly. I then begin the turn with the tiller. Meanwhile, the copilot looks to the left side of his panel to the bogie positioning gauges. It is his job to make sure the gear casters and centers normally. As I am ready to roll out of the turn I say "center" and move the caster switch to the center position. Meanwhile the copilot watches the bogie positioning gauges and is always ready to use a manual positioning switch if it is necessary. The aft bogies cannot be allowed to reach an angle of greater than 4 degrees of difference from one another. As the aft bogies center up the copilot and I both look to ensure that the bogie free lights extinguish. I cannot cross the nose gear from the originally turned direction across the centerline until the gear are fully centered. To do so could cause a "bogie split". And if you ever do that, you'll wind up shutting down on the spot and maintenance is going to have to come jack your airplane up in place. If you are not where there is maintenance then you have just caused a lot of trouble because now they are going to have to send maintenance out to wherever you are in the world.

It is rather tricky taxiing a plane the size of a 747 or C-5. I do have a friend of mine who also flies the Boeing 747-400 for a civilian job. He says the 747 is much easier to taxi than the C-5. Part of the reason that makes the C-5 tricky to taxi is the fact that the nose gear is located 18 feet aft of where the pilots sit. As such, you need to be abeam the line that you are going to turn on, relative to where you are sitting, before you begin turning. It looks as though you have already taken the aircraft into the dirt when you look out the front. It is a weird sensation when the plane starts turning and the relative motion of the cockpit is back towards the line that it looked like you overshot. But again, you have to overshoot it from where you are sitting because the nose gear is behind you.

Answer 3

Well, the plane has a sophisticated navigation system that's GPS. The plane also has landing lights which act like headlights on a car, only they're on a plane. Runways are also lit, different colored lights will tell the pilot what type of runway it is, and what direction traffic is going on the runway/taxiway. Lastly, there are air traffic controllers up in the airport tower, who have a birds eye view of every inch of the runways, and are in constant radio contact with the pilot. The pilot doesn't taxi or move w/o FAA ATC approval.

Answer 4

He follows the taxiway lights along the taxiway, there are signs allong the airport that give directions to and from locations, the aircfaft has lights, ATC can provide directions if the pilot requests this, and now adays, Electronic Flight Bags are being installed on aircraft, which shows the pilot a GPS map of the airport and gives him directions as to where he is going.

Answer 5

The taxiways have lights on them, they are colour coded to show aircrew that they are on the centre of the taxiway and where on the airfield they are. The aircraft also have a taxi light, usually on the undercarriage, like dipped headlights on a car. The landing light is like full beam headlights.

I'm not sure about civilian airlines etc, but military aircrew have transparent pockets on their knees where they put maps of the airfield, so they can navigate easier during taxi. The maps also have details useful for take off and landing.

While airbourne, the Inertial Navigation system, working with GPS shows the pilot where he is.

Answer 6

The ATC (Air Traffic Control) from the airports towers tell pilots which direction to go, or stop and wait and when they are ready for departure. There's also lights and signs on the ground which can help the pilot know what the ATC means when they pronounce the codes which the pilot should follow. They usually talk in numbers. There's the Clearnance Ground, Tower, Del/Ground that helps the pilot through directions.

If you want to hear what they actually talk about and what their codes are, here's a top 20 live radio from airports across the world.

http://www.liveatc.net/topfeeds.php

I listen to the Boston Tower every day, and in order to listen, you have to have Windows Media Player, or at least that's what I use. You could also download it on http://www.download.com

Hope this helped!!

Answer 7

Hi Sandra J

You're getting a lot of bogus answers to your question involving complicated navigation and Air Traffic Control system guidance.

Actually, the answer is much simpler - taxi-way lights and signage. The pilot can taxi to the runway using that guidance even if he has no navigation or radio systems!

Yes, navigation systems, including GPS and the control tower are useful aids, but not necessary.

Thank goodness - I would hate to operate my aircraft relying solely on outside systems and people!

Good question!

CQ

Answer 8

Ground controllers at major airports will give directions to follow. There are taxiway markers at intersections and along taxiways.

One phrase that is used, "Black Square, you're there". If needing to taxi to let's say, Taxiway Alpha (A), you know you're there when the sign is black with the yellow A inside of it.

There are also taxi way diagrams, like road maps in a way, to direct a pilot to the runway. Yes, mistakes are sometimes made, just like in everything else.

Answer 9

The ground traffic controllers help him, also the taxiway has blue coloured lights while the runway has red coloured ones, further there are marks on the taxiway to tell the pilot where he is etc.

Answer 10

yeah at night times at an airport EVERY taxiway and runway is illuminated with highly visable lights therefore making it easy for the pilot to land/takeoff safely and also to taxi to/from the gate to/from the runway safely. i hope this has helped you out :D