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 […]
Diary
V Australia 777 Delivery Flight : #13 VA9090 LAX-SYD – We Have An Airline : 10:30L 09.Feb.09
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 […]
I’m Sorry – Did You Want To Fly This Thing?
Ken : The following article is written by a current B737 First Officer, after a discussion we had on Flight Deck Crew Dynamics. Have you ever been in the situation as the Pilot Flying where your off-sider has interfered with the Mode Control Panel (MCP) or lowered the landing gear without you asking? If so, […]
Budget Planning Spreadsheet
I recently resurrected a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet I built to budget out 12 months to assess the likely impact of moving back to Australia – which included a combined 50% drop in salary and an increase in expenses. This was 2008 – but I now find myself doing something similar. My income has dropped (closer […]
Unreliable Airspeed on Takeoff – A Simulated Scenario
So after a carefully walk around the outside of the aircraft where the Static and Pitot ports are checked un-obstructed; no indications from your EICAS that there are any problems with the Air Data System during taxi; you barrel down the runway, cross check the airspeed when you hear the call “Eighty Knots!” and see […]
Flight Podcast
Several years ago, I was part of a team that developed and deployed a series of aviation podcasts – Flight Podcast. We started off with a bang with an interview with the Eric Moody Captain of Speedbird 9, the British Airways 747 that flew through volcanic ash and lost all four engines over Indonesia. We […]
Temperature Inversions and Takeoff Performance Calculation
A while ago I scheduled a temperature inversion in a simulator session in preparation for our operation to Abu Dhabi’s summer. For further reflections see Performance Limited Takeoff and High Temperature Departure Abu Dhabi. The issue of temperature inversions and the implications for takeoff performance calculation raised so many issues that I ended up having […]
Hi Temperature Departure Abu Dhabi
After a debacle in Abu Dhabi – and another occurrence involving offload and a 4 hour delay – I was asked to prepare some specific advice for Captains operating out of Abu Dhabi. Background Due to high temperatures, most Abu Dhabi departures during mid-Summer experience a potential performance penalty for departure; in most cases resulting […]
Are you ready to Close Doors, Captain?
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. […]
Assessing System Status/Performance
It’s not always the case that the aircraft’s onboard alerting systems do all the diagnosis work for you. Sometimes the crew are required to assess system status to determine the nature of a failure ..
I’m so glad that YOU were up the front, Ken.
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, […]
Performance Limited Takeoff
Managing a departure with a performance limited takeoff can be one of the more challenging tasks that face the Captain of an aircraft today. It all sounds simple enough in theory. Based on the Airport/Runway, Ambient Weather Conditions and Aircraft, a computer will spit out down to the kilogram how much weight you’re allowed to lift off the runway. From this number a passenger/cargo and fuel load is determined – and off you go. But all is not as it seems.
My Friend the Chocolate Cake – 21 Years and Counting
Tonight my kids and I were at the Arts Center to hear My Friend The Chocolate Cake in concert. We had such a great time, I couldn’t resist coming home to write about it.
I was THAT GUY …
Recently, I was THAT GUY … Have you ever slept in for work? In aviation that takes on a special meaning, given the way the tasks of dozens of people and departments revolve around the scheduled departure time of a flight. In my previous company we were collected for work by crew transport – a […]
Chocolate Cake instead of Nuclear Chicken.
This weekend I was forced to trade Nuclear Chicken for Chocolate Cake. The Cake was wonderful as always – but Nuclear Chicken would have been nice …