So … for the second time in 2 years and the third time in 25 … I’m doing another Type Rating. This time it’s the Boeing 737NG and it’s very … different. For the first thing – I have LOTS of time. As practically every other pilot who’s ever gone through a type rating knows […]
For the last decade or so, I have been working on a document called Boeing 777 Procedures and Techniques. It has it’s genesis in what was originally a Common Errors document based on observations of Pilot/Student actions in the Simulator – but most particularly Instructor/Examiner activity in the Brief/Sim/Debrief as well. If you would like […]
![Tax Time : Crew Allowances (v3.8) [01Mar22]](https://www.infinidim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Tax.jpg "Tax")
It’s tax time again and time to drag out the spreadsheet I use to calculate the allowance gap between the ATO overnight stop allowance and what the Company pays. Last year this netted me thousands on my tax refund, so it’s worth doing …
So last year was a COVID Airline Industry sh!tshow and the upshot was (after being made redundant from the Virgin 777 operation) – I was fortunate to find myself on a BAe146 course. At least in part, my recruitment was based on my technical and computer skills (as opposed to any dubious potential to point […]
![[] SLATS DRIVE](https://www.infinidim.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Slats-Drive-Training-2.jpg "Slats Drive Training 2")
The Slats (as opposed to Flaps) are high lift, leading edge devices designed to increase the lift on a wing that’s designed for high speed / high altitude flight, not this low speed lifting 350 tons off the ground manoeuvre that we insist on performing at the beginning of every flight. Sometimes they fail and one of the possible failures is a […]
While this article still has relevant content – the procedural aspects of the Rejected Landing After Touchdown manoeuvre have been superseded by changes to the Boeing FCTM and are reflected in the subsequent post Boeing 777 Baulked (Balked) Landing. While it’s far too early to tell what actually happened, in light of EK521 it’s perhaps germane […]
As Boeing’s first Fly-By-Wire aircraft (although not necessarily fly-by-wire by the Airbus definition) the 777 introduced a flight control augmentation system that the first fly by wire Airbus aircraft did not – Thrust Assymetry Compensation, or TAC. The basic problem is clear. During an engine failure on a twin wing-mounted engine aircraft there is an […]
So Rocket League is a phenomenally successful physics based game that is basically Car Soccer in a variety of Cars that Accelerate, Boost, Handbrake Turn, Jump, have Rocket Boost and have three dimensional Roll, Pitch and Yaw while airborne (including barrel roll). It’s a natural next step for a 777 pilot like me. Apart from […]
Do you remember the days when the internet was a novelty. When someone who had a web site was “cool”. They’d show you their web site and it would be full of Microsoft Clip Art and anyone who was not the least tech-savvy (and therefore had no clue how much work had gone into this […]
Some time ago I wrote down all that I had been taught and learned about operating the Boeing 777 Electronic Checklist (ECL) in conjunction with the onboard Electronic Indication and Crew Alert System (EICAS). I’ve updated it along the way as I became an instructor and it’s become more and more of a formal document […]
So finally at 17:37 Local, we touched down in Darwin on the latest, and hopefully second last day of our journey. Still to achieve is the last segment down through Alice (for fuel) and onto Bankstown, where the aircraft will enter the Hanger for some radio upgrades as well as to address the snags we’ve […]
Recently I was given a runway change on pushback. Despite operating out of LAX where runway change is a real likelihood, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had happen to me on taxi. Once we got the changes made – we ran the ECL Runway Change Checklist to tidy things up. Meanwhile our next […]
So this week is another exploration of the domestic network with three days in Brisbane; Two days in Sydney; Five meetings; Safety & Emergency Procedures Training (SEP); an inspection of the Simulator Center at Silverwater; Dinner with Shae and Breakfast with Henry. Three sectors, two hotels, one car hire, a number of taxi’s and hotel […]
Having jumping through multiple hoops to get the original – you would think that having operated into the States every month for the last two years, renewing my visa would not be that difficult a process. Well ..
Recently, after commenting on the latest of Qantas’ engine troubles, I was asked to talk about what was an “interesting” in-flight moment for me. Despite this being one of the most common questions, I realised that I’ve never blogged about “interesting” flight moments – which of course immediately motivated me to do so. Funnily enough, […]
I recently showed some photos I took a few years ago of a Delta 767 crossing the Irish Coast to another Captain I flew with to LA. He was so stunned by them that I decided I may as well blog about them – three years later. Looking at them at a remove – they […]
In February 2009 I was part of the team that picked up Virgin Australia’s (then V Australia) first Boeing 777-300ER. Having arrived into the airline in June 2008, it had been a long 7 months – very long – but now we were about to get an aeroplane – and fly it. For the benefit […]
Recently Marty asked me about a new smartphone. Despite trying to fob him off with an iPhone – he went for a Nexus S, the same as I have. The next question was inevitable – what apps was I using. The rest is … a series of blogs.
The Australian has reported that the Dreamliner may come to Australia as part of it’s flight testing program. Alice Springs has been mooted as a possible destination, although some PR flights throughout the Eastern states are likely. Boeing VP Dennis O’Donoghue stated that decisions regarding locations for flight testing are often made very late in the planning cycle […]
