Ask The Pilot

[Franky]

No, they didn't miss one. The accident you refer to was a Sea Venom.

Thanks for clearing that up. John Siebert was indeed the pilot who went to South Carolina.

 

[petercr]

Watching FR24 this afternoon, can someone explain the difference between calibrated altitude and GPS altitude? Watching planes leave BNE straight out over Moreton Bay and I was surprised to see sometimes there was a difference of several hundred feet between the two figures while they were still over water...

 

[jb747]

Watching FR24 this afternoon, can someone explain the difference between calibrated altitude and GPS altitude? Watching planes leave BNE straight out over Moreton Bay and I was surprised to see sometimes there was a difference of several hundred feet between the two figures while they were still over water...

One is based on air pressure, whilst the other is a geometric calculation.

Aircraft are flown based upon altimeters that use air pressure to derive the altitude. In Australia, below 10,000 feet, they will all use QNH, which means a pressure setting that will cause the altimeter to read zero at sea level. Above 10,000 feet, a standard setting of 1013 mb is used. That no longer relates the display to sea level, but as all of the aircraft use the same setting, they will fly the same relative levels. These are called flight levels. They can differ from the geometric altitude by a couple of thousand feet.

GPS accuracy varies. Whilst we can accept that with regards to tracking (where generally a mile or so is close enough), it's nowhere near consistent enough for use in altimetry.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Currently on a London trip, with one more to do from the current roster.

JB, did you fly the 9 that landed at LHR on 4 Aug local time? If so I took your photo without even realising it was you: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....iew-from-my-office-63414-174.html#post1674307

 

[Quickstatus]

Do aircraft have densitometers to account for the differences in SG of jet fuel.
Does it even matter?. 1 ton of Jet fuel in hot DXB will have less energy than 1 ton of fuel in wintry MEL

1000kg Jet fuel = 1250 litres (if SG 1.25)
Using diesel prices as its similar @ $1.2/l = $1500

 

[greyyy]

7 Sept QF1 DXB-LHR

Ahhh, I'll miss you by 2 day

 

[JessicaTam]

Roster time again. The year flies when you take it in two month chunks.

Currently on a London trip, with one more to do from the current roster.

The new one adds a bunch more Londons.

<snip>

With the last A380 QF9/10 flights in March next year, will there be any jockeying to be rostered on for that flight? Or will it just be another day at the office?

 

[petercr]

One is based on air pressure, whilst the other is a geometric calculation.

Thanks JB, given that we had thunderstorms roll through the northern suburbs of Brisbane about an hour later, that might explain things then...

 

[jb747]

Do aircraft have densitometers to account for the differences in SG of jet fuel.
Does it even matter?. 1 ton of Jet fuel in hot DXB will have less energy than 1 ton of fuel in wintry MEL

SG is accounted for during the refuelling process.

 

[jb747]

With the last A380 QF9/10 flights in March next year, will there be any jockeying to be rostered on for that flight? Or will it just be another day at the office?

Sad...

Who knows. You can never tell with the way they roster things. It may not even be done by Melbourne crew.

 

[mjt57]

Sad...

Sad doesn't come close to how I feel about it.

I'm going to the Isle of Man next year (shipping the bike over as a group). When I started booking my airfares I discovered that the route would be via Perth on the Nightmareliner. Oh, great.

So I'm looking at going via SYD and the A380.

What do you expect you'll be doing next year, after March (if not retiring)?

 

[Boof1]

It's actually harder to say with the A380, because it's not as restrictive with regard to overweight landings.

Thanks for the detailed answers you've given JB. Really appreciate your help understanding this stuff!

Cheers,
Boof

 

[jb747]

What do you expect you'll be doing next year, after March (if not retiring)?

I expect I'll just be doing LAs...until I get sick of them and retire.

 

[Himeno]

I expect I'll just be doing LAs...until I get sick of them and retire.

Isn't the plan to add the 2 displaced MEL-LHR A380s onto MEL/SYD-SIN/HKG?

 

[jb747]

Isn't the plan to add the 2 displaced MEL-LHR A380s onto MEL/SYD-SIN/HKG?

Again, who knows? In any event, anything out of Sydney is of no value to those who are based in Melbourne.

 

[eric2011]

Can you or would you go back to 74's

 

[Himeno]

Can you or would you go back to 74's

The 747 fleet is smaller then the A380 fleet, and shrinking. Wouldn't they need fewer pilots for the 747s as they retire aircraft?
I would think at this point, the options would be stay with current type, move to 787, or retire.

 

[mjt57]

I expect I'll just be doing LAs...until I get sick of them and retire.

Ah, so you'll become one of those fabled Pacific Barons, then???

 

[jb747]

Can you or would you go back to 74's

Even if I could, I wouldn't. I quite like the 380.

 

[jb747]

The 747 fleet is smaller then the A380 fleet, and shrinking. Wouldn't they need fewer pilots for the 747s as they retire aircraft?
I would think at this point, the options would be stay with current type, move to 787, or retire.

As a general rule, you can't 'bid backwards', i.e. to a lower aircraft in the pecking order, unless that is associated with a promotion in rank. With new aircraft that goes out the door a bit, but there is no way they would want 380 pilots going to the 787, when they have plenty of 737/330/747 pilots to go there. Beyond that, there's also a requirement to be able to serve for 3 years on any new type, which I can't do anyway (international retirement is mandatory at 65).

I'll just sit back in my nice big, 4 engined aircraft, and enjoy being a 'baron'.