Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

So it's normally a more northern track towards Europe over SE Asia, the Bay of Bengel and India? I thought there would be some airports a bit more south like Colombo, Bangalore and the Maldives.

There are often closer airports, that for a variety of reasons, we don't plan on using.

 

[Melburnian1]

With the water leak encountered on QF94, would QF have engaged a specialist carpet cleaner to remove as much of the water from carpets and seat upholstery as possible and then either left the multiple cabin doors open, or put on heating via use of an auxillary power unit to try to remove the remaining moisture and any odour?

I assume that wholesale carpet replacement would take far too long given the need to source a matching carpet and to temporarily remove the rows of seats and any other fixtures such as entertainment boxes.

 

[Flying Fox]

On a trip now. I did QF9 ex Melbourne on the 29th.

QF9 DXB-LHR 2/7
QF10 LHR-DXB 4/7
QF2 DXB-SYD 6/7 (I'm trying to swap this for the QF10 sector)

QF9 MEL-DXB 18/7
QF9 DXB-LHR 21/7
QF2 LHR-DXB 23/7
QF2 DXB-SYD 25/7

The roster will then flick into a blank line, so 8 weeks of standby, sim support, and ad hoc flying.

Darn, I'm on

06/08 QF1 SYD-DXB-LHR

27/08 QF2 LHR-DXB-SYD

I was hoping that you would be doing some of the flying!

Pls let us know if your standby kicks in!

 

[smithnicholas320]

I am really impressed it's really a great idea. I like your thread.

 

[jb747]

Darn, I'm on

06/08 QF1 SYD-DXB-LHR

27/08 QF2 LHR-DXB-SYD

I was hoping that you would be doing some of the flying!

Pls let us know if your standby kicks in!

It's always like that sadly...the odds of me being on any given departure to Europe would be about 3 or 4%. And to the USA, around .5%.

 

[petercr]

JB I noticed on the news tonight that the replacement QF94 leaked when they tested it. Is this just Mr Murphy at work or does it just happen sometimes and it doesn't get publicised?

 

[jb747]

ONT can take an A380? I'd imagine getting out of there would be a bit tight?

Are we talking about the same place...about 30 miles east of LAX? Two runways, one 12,000 ft, and the other 10,000. Not tight at all.

 

[jb747]

JB I noticed on the news tonight that the replacement QF94 leaked when they tested it. Is this just Mr Murphy at work or does it just happen sometimes and it doesn't get publicised?

I don't know anything about what is happening in LA...I'm on the other side of the Atlantic.

In general though, there are no problems that QF have experienced on the 380 that also haven't been an issue for other airlines. Leaks in systems are endemic on all aircraft. If there is a coupling or a pipe, sooner or later it will come adrift.

 

[petercr]

Qantas flight from Los Angeles turns back after water pipe leaks from Fairfax...

The soggy bird in question was -OQD and OQJ did the delayed flight (according to Qantassource)

 

[jb747]

If DXB was closed for whatever reason, would you go to AUH or DWC, or just right to AAN?

The reasoning behind diversions is often quite dynamic. If the airport just shut, with no prior warning, then you might only have fuel for Al Ain, so not much choice there. DWC has been used, though I don't know the circumstances. Abu Dhabi, whilst suitable in most ways, won't accept any diversions.

 

[docjames]

The reasoning behind diversions is often quite dynamic. If the airport just shut, with no prior warning, then you might only have fuel for Al Ain, so not much choice there. DWC has been used, though I don't know the circumstances. Abu Dhabi, whilst suitable in most ways, won't accept any diversions.

Are you able to share why they won't take diversions?

 

[jb747]

Are you able to share why they won't take diversions?

I think you'd have to ask them. Too busy would be the most likely reply. Though I think the reason is purple...

 

[CaviAck]

Are we talking about the same place...about 30 miles east of LAX? Two runways, one 12,000 ft, and the other 10,000. Not tight at all.

That would be the one. Ah ok I must be overestimating the runway length required for a loaded A380 to take off.

 

[mjt57]

That would be the one. Ah ok I must be overestimating the runway length required for a loaded A380 to take off.

As a pax it's hard if not impossible to determine how long a take off run is, but it does seem to be ages.

A 12,000ft runway is 3.7km long. Find a straight (and flat) stretch of road that is this long and we get an idea of how long a passenger jet's takeoff run is.

Local airport had an open day with displays and stuff. We motorcyclists were invited to take part, which included a high speed run along its runway (dunno what the aero club's insurance would've thought about this). Whilst we didn't go that fast, the run was quite long and some real high speeds could've been attained.

But, given that, it's length was extended to take in Rex and other regional airlines who had made a go of setting up a RPT service for the region. The aircraft were these twin turbo-prop types which seat about 10 or 12 people, maybe more. Not sure. ie. nothing big.

But watching an A380 (QF) take off from DXB I thought that it was going to "drive" all the way to Oz, as it disappeared from sight before we saw the climbout.

 

[petercr]

CaviAck, this makes interesting reading...

List of longest runways - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (no major Australian airports on the list though)

 

[jb747]

As a pax it's hard if not impossible to determine how long a take off run is, but it does seem to be ages.

A 12,000ft runway is 3.7km long. Find a straight (and flat) stretch of road that is this long and we get an idea of how long a passenger jet's takeoff run is.

Local airport had an open day with displays and stuff. We motorcyclists were invited to take part, which included a high speed run along its runway (dunno what the aero club's insurance would've thought about this). Whilst we didn't go that fast, the run was quite long and some real high speeds could've been attained.

But, given that, it's length was extended to take in Rex and other regional airlines who had made a go of setting up a RPT service for the region. The aircraft were these twin turbo-prop types which seat about 10 or 12 people, maybe more. Not sure. ie. nothing big.

But watching an A380 (QF) take off from DXB I thought that it was going to "drive" all the way to Oz, as it disappeared from sight before we saw the climbout.

Having now departed from Dubai many times, you can almost always use an intersection departure (i.e. not all of the runway), even on the flight to Australia. Out of LA, at max weight, we almost always go from 24L, which is the second shortest of the four, and we land on the shortest. The 380 normally requires less runway than a 747 on the same flight.

Most take offs are derated to at least some degree, so the takeoff roll is longer than it could be if we used full power. The derate can be as much as 33% of the total power.

With regard to Ontario, if we do happen to go there, the departure will be at a very light weight, as we're only flying 30 miles or so to LAX.

 

[artemis]

JB - great thread thanks!

Pilot locked out of Air New Zealand coughpit after mid-air dispute

To a lay person - this sort of thing seems rather alarming. What do you think of the suggestion that there should be more than one person on the flight deck?
What do you think really went on?

Cheers...

 

[serfty]

ONT can take an A380? I'd imagine getting out of there would be a bit tight?

Are we talking about the same place...about 30 miles east of LAX? Two runways, one 12,000 ft, and the other 10,000. Not tight at all.

FWIW, ONT takes a lot of air freight - maybe a quarter of that of LAX, but mainly on dedicated Freight aircraft. Those craft need long runways. (A little over half of the LAX flights with freight are actually PAX services.)

Those runways stand out when approaching LAX from the east.

Ontario International Airport Official Website

LAX Cargo

 

[jb747]

Pilot locked out of Air New Zealand coughpit after mid-air dispute

To a lay person - this sort of thing seems rather alarming. What do you think of the suggestion that there should be more than one person on the flight deck?
What do you think really went on?

Sounds like someone has some temper issues. Sadly this sort of behaviour crops up every now and then. I don't see how an upcoming waypoint has much to do with anything. Opening the door is a single flick of a switch, and it's easy enough to look at the camera to see who wants to enter.

More than one person on the flight deck...surely they aren't advocating putting SOs on every flight. On the vast majority of flights you really don't have seating for them anyway (737, etc). And even on heavy crews, people still need to go to the toilet, and you don't call someone back from their rest just to fill in. Wouldn't really be rest if you did.

Drag cabin crew up there...well, I've heard that mentioned too. Apart from the issues of pulling them out of the cabin, and a moments notice, irrespective of the state of the cabin service, I really don't see that they'd have a purpose. Yes, they could unlock a door, but they couldn't stop any of the other issues that have come up in the past (Egyptair and Silkair).

Some aircraft have had crew rest and toilets within the coughpit secure area, so that nobody needs to leave. That is the best solution, but it only works for large aircraft.

Thinking about it, there have also been occasions in the past where the ability to lock a crew member out of the coughpit has been a positive. I recall a case in the USA (I think) in which the captain lost the plot, and the FO took the opportunity to lock him out and to divert when he took a toilet break.

"This was enough to enrage the captain, for whom timeliness was a matter of great pride."

He must have spent a lot of his career enraged. Delays, over which you have absolutely no control, are the order of the day. Whilst some pride can perhaps be taken in finding cunning ways of fixing them, losing the plot because the NZ CAA were doing their job is utterly pointless. Of course, you have to remember that the source of this article is actually a newspaper (albeit, not an Australian one), so I expect that there is more to the story.

 

[artemis]

Thanks JB for answering.

Perhaps I could impinge on your time a little more with respect to entry to the coughpit...

I was on a UA flight a few weeks ago, sitting in first. My friend wanted to go to the bathroom, but found that there was a steward barricading the galley/entry area to the bathroom with a trolley as one of the pilots was going to the bathroom. I understand the need to protect the coughpit from unwanted entry (especially with transcon UA flights!) but was a little bemused to see the physical barricade between a passenger and a pilot roaming in the galley/bathroom.

Even if some crazy passenger was to attack a pilot, would that really endanger the whole plane?

I appreciate that you may not want to answer that question for security reasons, but I have never seen actions taken to protect the flight crew like that before (perhaps I've simply been engrossed in other things...) Is this standard practice? My friend was quite surprised and he travels US dom a lot...