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 […]
An engine failure at altitude above the maximum engine out altitude, followed by the obligatory engine out drift down is a bread and butter event for a cruise pilot. Typically this is practiced and evaulated using the highest levels of automation in LNAV and VNAV. For more information see Engine Out Drift Down and the […]
I’ve had precious little time in the B777 over the past 12 months, and to be honest I don’t anticipate flying one again. But I came across some content that I created early last year and thought one last article for old time’s sake. We introduced a Fuel Leak into the last recurrent phase towards […]
Many moons ago I was a Second Officer on Boeing 747-400’s for a large Hong Kong based international airline, which I remember fondly. This story revolves around a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne about a year after I had checked out, late 1993. This was a three crew operation, Captain, First Officer and myself. […]
Recently I attended Day One of an industry workshop sponsored by CASA and the University of NSW on “Human Factors and the Automated Flight Deck.” Day One consisted of a series of highly qualified and experienced speakers across a range of regulatory based automation management subjects, and Day Two we moved into a series of […]
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 […]
Depending on your version of the plan, we are now anywhere from 2 to 5 days late. But hey – that’s what plans are for – to let you know what you’ve deviated from when things actually happen. Otherwise we’re in a world without reference and that’s just insanity. Rumour has it the last crew […]
A Radio National Background Briefing story “Fatigue Factor briefly looks at Aviation. After almost 40 years in aviation my father made the observation a while ago that the the only real pay rise in aviation is when you get to work less hard for the money you’re already getting. However insightful that comment may have been – there is no working less hard for anything in aviation, anymore.
I have to renew my US Crew Visa – and do so in a hurry. Last time involved Guns and Security, Finger print and lining up … lots of lining up …
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 […]
So after two+ weeks in Cologne, we finally set off today to our first overnight, which ended up being Belgrade, Serbia. The choice of our first stop came down to stopping somewhere just outside Europe (rather than pushing all the way to the Middle East on our first day) and avoiding the Earthquake region in […]
Today we evaluated the use of paired oceanic transition waypoins approaching the West Coast of the US – No Problemo.
I’m really angry at myself today. Every now then then life brings past you the opportunity to step outside the box and do the right thing – sometimes this requires a little thinking, sometimes it requires to you step outside the group-think. Today I failed that test, and I’m disappointed and annoyed at myself. Let […]
Boeing won’t tell you what you want to know (which is usually everything) about a NnM – just what you Need to know.
After 6 years on the outskirts of Parramatta, our simulator is moving to Brisbane airport. For our small fleet of 5 aircraft and 150 pilots, it’s a big change. As part of the process I had a look at the simulator slot timings, especially since we would be moving to 24×7 operation for a disparate […]
