He says that he puts his hands on the dash if he is trying to indicate to his FO (First Officer) that he is not touching anything and the plane is the first officer's to land.
The reason is to prevent one of the two pilots from throttling back on takeoff, should the plane bump on something, the pilot have a health problem etc...
Until V1 is reached, the pilot generally keeps their hand on the throttle in case they need to abort for any reason. After V1, it's all about ensuring the aircraft lifts off with no issue. After the pilot removes their hand from the throttle, they can start to lift the plane's nose up.
Turns out, the answer is neither. Pilots are utterly indifferent to plane clappers, for one very good reason. “We can't hear any applause that may occur after landing,” New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association president Captain Andrew Ridling revealed.
You've spent the last hour gripping your seat white-knuckled and the sense of relief you feel as the plane makes contact with the ground is palpable. You bring your hands together, ready to clap - but before you do, know this: pilots hate it when you applaud when the plane lands.
While most high-stress jobs seem to involve a lot of cursing—think of financial traders or commercial fisherman, for example—but swearing is “absolutely” not permitted from ATCs (or pilots), aviator Doug Hanchard explains on quora.com.
1) Aircraft Systems
One of the toughest topics for private pilot students is aircraft systems. Want to know more about the systems and equipment in your aircraft? Dig into your POH and read section 7. Better yet, find a local A&P at your airport and have them walk you through a few systems with the cowling off.
Answer: It is normally part of the welcome aboard announcement as a matter of interest. We provide the time of the flight, the cruise altitude, landmarks of interest along way and the weather. Passengers generally like to know this level of detail according to what they have told me.
Smoother flight
On clear nights, there is less friction against the wings which makes for obstruction-free sailing across the sky. Less air traffic also means smoother cruising, since most pilots can sit back and not worry about the aircraft in their path.
The most common answer you'll hear why asked, “why do people stand in the aisle?” is that they just want to get out of the cramped seat as soon as possible. They want to stretch their legs. Twist out the kinks in their back. Take the pressure off their tailbone.
Ditching button
We bet Captain Sully Sullenberger is familiar with this one. Flipping the ditching button, according to Popular Mechanics, means the pilot is “ditching” the plane for an emergency landing in the water.
A rejected takeoff or an RTO is a flight maneuver where the pilots stop the aircraft and discontinue the takeoff. There can be several reasons why such a decision is made. This includes engine failure, engine fire, major system failures, etc.
It's strictly done to stop the wheels from vibrating as they wind down, which can scare the pax and sometimes the pilot at first.
Answer: Yes, the buttons and knobs are used to control the airplane in normal flight or when there is a problem with a system. While they look confusing to the layperson the pilots know exactly what each one does and how it is to be used.
Typically, short distance sectors are manned by two pilots, while long-haul flights can have three or four pilots. One of the two pilots manning the cockpit is allowed to take rest or sleep inside the cockpit by sliding the seat back and locking the harness. This practice is known as “controlled rest”.
When there is more than one pilot in the cockpit, if a situation arises where one pilot becomes startled, the other pilot can regain the pilot in focus's attention and bring their focus back to the situation, regaining all senses.
Pilots have a unique viewpoint while flying private or commercial aircraft. They get an unobstructed view of stunning natural sights, such as pink lakes and rectangular-shaped icebergs. Some have reported seeing UFOs, while others have flown over swirling hurricanes.
Aviation regulators set the total hours pilots fly and how much sleep they must get between flights. During ultra-long-haul flights, pilots sleep in special cabins, which passengers can't access.
Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.
Aircrafts don't really have headlights per se; but, There are red and green LEDs outside of the aircraft and on the ground, which help the pilots land at night and make their aircraft visible to another aircrafts in the night sky.
Airplanes stay in the air because of one simple fact-- there is no net force on them. And with no net force, an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays that way, even if it's in midair 10 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Now, of course, it's not like there aren't forces acting on the airplane.
“For the most part, pilots fear those things they cannot control,” Smith wrote. “We are less afraid of committing a fatal error than of finding ourselves victimised by somebody else's error or else at the mercy of forces impervious to our skills or expertise.”
Landings
Landing is the most perplexing skill to learn, because each one is different, and it all takes place very close to the ground, at what can appear to be a terrifying speed (wait until you fly jets to find out what it's really like to land fast).
“The ups and downs are constant, and we fly at all different times of the day,” Deitz says. “It's a stress on your body.” Takeoff and landing are the trickiest parts of a given flight, requiring all of a pilot's attention and mental energy. Heart rate increases during those windows, studies show.