Ask The Pilot

[benjy]

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On July 25 I'm doing QF9 from Dubai to London.

That's awesome, thanks JB! Looking forward to the flight even more

 

[GladstoneTim]

That's awesome, thanks JB! Looking forward to the flight even more

Benjy, that will likely be the continuation of the flight that left Australia the previous day I.e. 24th July.

 

[Himeno]

Benjy, that will likely be the continuation of the flight that left Australia the previous day I.e. 24th July.

QF9
MEL 2255 24JUL
DXB 0705 25JUL
-Crew change-
DXB 0910 25JUL
LHR 1350 25JUL

 

[D747]

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On July 25 I'm doing QF9 from Dubai to London.

Is there any form of hand over from the arrival crew to the departing crew on a 2 sector flight like MEL-DXB-LHR?

 

[jb747]

Do you ever do SYD-DFW, jb? Just wondering for later in the year.

DFW belongs to the Sydney base, as does HK. I'm only planned to do the flights out of Melbourne. That's not set in stone, as changes can happen, especially if there is a downline disruption.

I did fly a DFW flight in the first few days after they started, but at that point the Melbourne base didn't exist (for Captains).

 

[jb747]

Is there any form of hand over from the arrival crew to the departing crew on a 2 sector flight like MEL-DXB-LHR?

Nope. We rarely see the other crew. Any issues with the aircraft will be written in the tech log. Occasionally a note will be left, but normally it doesn't have anything to do with the operation.

 

[jb747]

That's awesome, thanks JB! Looking forward to the flight even more

Hopefully we're talking about the same flight. It will be leaving Melbourne late on the 24th.

The full roster:
1/7 10 DXB-MEL (continuation of a flight that starts in the current roster)

6/7 93 MEL-LAX
7/7 94 LAX-MEL

22/7 9 MEL-DXB
25/7 9 DXB-LHR
27/7 2 LHR-DXB
30/7 10 DXB-MEL

4/8 93 MEL-LAX
5/8 94 LAX-MEL

21/8 93 MEL-LAX
22/8 94 LAX-MEL

All dates are in departure port local time.

 

[benjy]

Hopefully we're talking about the same flight. It will be leaving Melbourne late on the 24th.

The full roster:
1/7 10 DXB-MEL (continuation of a flight that starts in the current roster)

6/7 93 MEL-LAX
7/7 94 LAX-MEL

22/7 9 MEL-DXB
25/7 9 DXB-LHR
27/7 2 LHR-DXB
30/7 10 DXB-MEL

4/8 93 MEL-LAX
5/8 94 LAX-MEL

21/8 93 MEL-LAX
22/8 94 LAX-MEL

All dates are in departure port local time.

Ahh damn, looks like I'm going to be a day late. Thanks for clarifying

 

[drross]

Ahh damn, looks like I'm going to be a day late. Thanks for clarifying

ill be about a month late with QF2 9 and 10

 

[Quickstatus]

Hopefully we're talking about the same flight. It will be leaving Melbourne late on the 24th.

The full roster:
1/7 10 DXB-MEL (continuation of a flight that starts in the current roster)

6/7 93 MEL-LAX
7/7 94 LAX-MEL

22/7 9 MEL-DXB
25/7 9 DXB-LHR
27/7 2 LHR-DXB
30/7 10 DXB-MEL

4/8 93 MEL-LAX
5/8 94 LAX-MEL

21/8 93 MEL-LAX
22/8 94 LAX-MEL

All dates are in departure port local time.

JB your schedule says you are not on the flight deck between 7/8 and 20/8. Is this normal?

 

[jb747]

JB your schedule says you are not on the flight deck between 7/8 and 20/8. Is this normal?

Roster builds sometimes throw up some nice gaps. Generally they're pounced upon by the training department, who will put a sim or classroom day exactly in the middle. But sometimes the hours limitations mean that you can't be used for a week or so. This time, I actually requested 5 days around the 18th of July. The rest is just luck.

As rosters go it's about normal with regard to hours, having a bit over 80 per month. The LA trips are considered very high density, containing 30 plus flying hours in an elapsed time of about 72 hours.

 

[Quickstatus]

JB747,

what are the a380 divert airports for Melbourne and Sydney.

where would you land if MEL closes at the last minute when you are on final approach?

 

[jb747]

what are the a380 divert airports for Melbourne and Sydney.

where would you land if MEL closes at the last minute when you are on final approach?

Rather depends upon why it has suddenly 'closed'. If the weather has gone below the minimums, and that was not on the forecast, then its quite conceivable that you will have no alternative to landing...no matter what the status of the airport. If the weather forecast was accurate, then you should have fuel for some options.

If someone has done something that closes the airport, then, weather allowing, use the other runway. Otherwise Avalon can be used.

In an emergency, any bit of runway that is long enough becomes viable (East Sale, Richmond, etc). Otherwise you'll need to be thinking in terms of Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide. Perhaps Canberra, but all that hot air makes it a hard place to land.

 

[RAM]

This got me thinking. When a number of aircraft are following each other in a designated air traffic "lane" (assuming such things exist), how often (if ever) will one plane request to overtake another because they have bigger engines/ less weight / more aggressive personality/ tight curfew deadline etc, etc, etc

And if this does happen, how? Do you ask to overtake or just ask for a different altitude and then sneak past over or under them before ATC realise your dastardly plan? Would you always go under and trade some potential for kinetic energy to give yourself a speed boost? (assuming you have some way to beat the laws of physics and regain said potential energy level without giving back your "position").

Silly questions.... just trying to avoid starting work for the day!

If you want to see the "air highway" effect then have a look at Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

As jb747 said, they are at different levels (if all is going to plan). Occasionally, when gazing longingly at FlightRadar you'll see some issues. One was in far North WA where a 737 was heading out and a local plane was coming in. They were at the same altitude and on a collision course until less than 5km apart before one did a sharp turn and descended rapidly.

Is that airspace monitored?

 

[jb747]

If you want to see the "air highway" effect then have a look at Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

As jb747 said, they are at different levels (if all is going to plan). Occasionally, when gazing longingly at FlightRadar you'll see some issues. One was in far North WA where a 737 was heading out and a local plane was coming in. They were at the same altitude and on a collision course until less than 5km apart before one did a sharp turn and descended rapidly.

Is that airspace monitored?

Separation standards vary depending upon the systems in use. Where there is radar, it might come down to a few miles, whilst procedural control will have 10-15 minutes between aircraft.

I don't know that I'd rely on Flightradar24 as a guide to issues.

 

[RAM]

Separation standards vary depending upon the systems in use. Where there is radar, it might come down to a few miles, whilst procedural control will have 10-15 minutes between aircraft.

I don't know that I'd rely on Flightradar24 as a guide to issues.

Thank you for the response.

Good point!

The sudden turn and loss of a couple of thousand metres before resuming the course southwards was what made me wonder about it. I had thought that in that area with not much traffic to have reciprocal routes at the same apparent altitude was silly which was why I watched it for around 20 minutes or so (any excuse to not do what I was supposed to be doing).

 

[Quickstatus]

JB747, do the 747 crew operate LAX-JFK-LAX or LAX-JFK//24hours//JFK-LAX?

 

[jb747]

JB747, do the 747 crew operate LAX-JFK-LAX or LAX-JFK//24hours//JFK-LAX?

I haven't looked at 747 patterns for a while, but as far as I know it's all LAX-JFK, slip, JFK-LAX.

 

[747sp]

My understanding is that as the pilot you need to know the weight of the fuel loaded. When filling up, the flow is measured in gallons and converted. My question is does the density of the fuel vary from location to location and thus needs to be considered.

A second question. Whenyou are certified to fly 2 different types of aircraft ie 767 200 or 300 and there is a problem does the procedure change for the different plane types or is it always the same ?

 

[mjt57]

I haven't looked at 747 patterns for a while, but as far as I know it's all LAX-JFK, slip, JFK-LAX.

How does that go with visas and so on for the Australian crew? Are they considered as working in the US?