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 […]
After a few years at Emirates, with some good experience as a First Officer on both the Airbus (A310-300 and A300-600R) and Boeing (B777-200 & -300/ER) – and after some hoop jumping – it became my turn to take on the Command Upgrade. If you don’t count my time in the Left Seat of the […]
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 […]
Early last year, the FAA revised the SIDs and STARs at Los Angeles KLAX airport. I don’t know if I had annual leave or missed any associated documentation, but it’s fair to say that as a fleet that basically operates into the East Coast of Australia and LAX exclusively – it was something of a baptism […]
We’ve become so reliant on GPS that the loss of it will come as quite a shock to today’s airline crew. The simulator doesn’t help – with a total inability to adequately simulate IRS drift. The issues are complex …
Firstly, it has to be said that most of the time, this is not a good idea. Broadly speaking Aircraft Manufacturer checklists are designed to be followed and not second-guessed. When you’ve lost all your hydraulic fluid, and therefore hydraulic pressure, and the checklist tells you to turn first one and then another hydraulic pump […]
There are a broad range of possible engine malfunctions in the 777, some of which are clearly annunciated ([] ENG FAIL, [] ENG EEC MODE, [] ENG OIL PRESSURE, etc) – others that manifest only through EICAS (or other) engine indications. For the most part, the occurrence of an EICAS annunciated checklist in the B777 […]
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 […]
Engine Failure on Takeoff (Read : Sudden Bang, Vibration, Fire, Smoke, Fire Bells and other Cautions and Warnings) at the most critical point on Takeoff (V1) is pretty ubiquitous in our Check and Training regime and our Regulatory Matrix. We pretty much see at least two of them (One for You … Ta … One […]
The following event occurs only in the simulator, owing the nature of the simulated failure (falsely low Radio Altimeter reading leading to GPWS Terrain Alert). While that event is fun enough – couple it with a … Coupled Approach and the recovery becomes more complicated that it needs to be … When you combine the […]
The release of the ATSB investigation into QF29, a Boeing 747-400 that experienced multiple stick shaker activations while taking up a holding pattern on arrival into Hong Kong in April 2017 has a number of lessons applicable to anyone operating a 777 (such as myself). I’m absolutely not going to descend into criticisms or a […]
VNAV is the Mode-of-Choice for Non-Precision approach. The highest level of automation; lowest flight deck workload, and a managed flight path to the runway. Mostly. Continuing in my process to convert 10 years of powerpoints into training videos – see the Infinidim VNAV NPA Training Video on YouTube – also on the Infinidim Training Videos […]
![[] FLAPS DRIVE](https://www.infinidim.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Landing-Flaps.jpg "Landing Flaps")
In the event of a FLAPS DRIVE failure, the checklist asks the crew to confirm the position of the Flaps. This sounds simple, but can be made complex by the situation … and the crew …
![[] 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 […]
Not all Engine Malfunctions are as clear as [] ENG FAIL, [] FIRE ENG or even Engine Failure Analysis. Sometimes engine malfunctions are as simple as anomalous indications of Oil Temperature or Pressure – or high engine vibrations on the Secondary Engine Display.
