easy question to answer

What I'm getting at is flight training on a Cessna or any other light, private craft would not necessarily give you the ability to reprogram an auto pilot or navigation system. The planes were going to L.A..

Changing course in an autopilot is quite easy. Once you have your commercial pilots license, you know how to navigate, and fly on instruments. Changing course on autopilot is simply a matter of turning a knob on the instrument panel to the course you want to fly on.

This is an Autopilot Flight Director Control panel. This particular one is from a 747, but they're all very similar to each other.

www.meriweather.com...

If you look at it, you'll see four boxes that say "IAS/MACH", "HDG", "VERT SPD", and "ALT". Those are your Indicated Airspeed/Mach hold, Heading hold, Vertical Speed hold, and ALtitude hold settings. If you change any of them with the autopilot on, the plane responds. To change the course, you simply alter the readout in the "HDG" box, and the plane will turn to the new heading. As long as you know the heading you want to fly on, and navigation is part of the Commercial Pilots Exam, then to turn the plane you simply turn the knob to the heading you want.

Would the auto pilot, navigational stuff be part of the private pilots exam? I don't remember reading that any hijackers were commercial pilots.

The basics would be. All the systems are basically the same, even on small planes. The only differences are really in the looks. They vary from company to company. Some have "HDG/CRS" meaning you can select a heading or a course (Yes, they are slightly different), but for the most part even in a small plane equipped with autopilot it's the same.

However, from what I've been able to find out they were training on jet simulators, Hani Hamjour on a 737, I'm not sure about the others. Hani Hamjour actually had his commercial rating, but had it revoked when he failed to show up for a physical at the 6 month renewal.

Once Hanjour arrived in San Diego and joined Hazmi, the two quickly relocated to Arizona, where Hanjour had spent most of his previous time in the United States. On December 12, 2000, they were settling in Mesa, Arizona, and Hanjour was ready to brush up on his flight training. By early 2001, he was using a Boeing 737 simulator. Because his performance struck his flight instructors as sub-standard, they discouraged Hanjour from continuing, but he persisted. He and Hazmi then left the Southwest at the end of March, driving across the country in Hazmi’s car. There is some evidence indicating that Hanjour may have returned to Arizona in June of 2001 to obtain additional flight training with some of his associates in the area.

Back in Florida, the Hamburg pilots—Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah—continued to train. By the end of 2000, they also were starting to train on jet aircraft simulators.

www.msnbc.msn.com...




[edit on 1/27/2006 by Zaphod58]

this still leaves the question.... if they were not the real planes that crashed what happened to the passnegers? of course we could all say to each other , they teleportedout and replaced them with android passengers. but lets be realistic and stop with all the deranged theories about people being put in hangars and airplanes flying by remote... my qiestion and the purpose of the post is to decide whta happend to the passengers if the planes were replaced mid flight.