Ask The Pilot

[eric2011]

For those who keep an eye on my roster, I've just been removed from the 35/36 on Wednesday/Thursday next week. The trip is being used for training.

Does that sort of thing affect you financially

 

[jb747]

Does that sort of thing affect you financially

It can do. This one will have very little effect, but being displaced from an LA would be costly.

 

[Captain Halliday]

For those who keep an eye on my roster, I've just been removed from the 35/36 on Wednesday/Thursday next week. The trip is being used for training.

Not adding the 35 Saturday 8/9 by any chance?

 

[jb747]

No, just the 10th & 11th, which was already on the roster. Most likely I’ll end up with a couple of standby duties.

 

[Boca68]

I read somewhere @jb747 that you are approaching retirement age. What is QF's policy and is it standard for the industry.

Reading this today, made me think about it. Perhpas even a former colleague of yours JB?
The world’s oldest fighter pilot hangs up his flying boots - Australian Aviation

 

[petercr]

I read somewhere @jb747 that you are approaching retirement age. What is QF's policy and is it standard for the industry.

Reading this today, made me think about it. Perhpas even a former colleague of yours JB?
The world’s oldest fighter pilot hangs up his flying boots - Australian Aviation

Great read, thanks for the link Boca...

 

[torks]

Pilots raise safety fears over Botany Bay cruise ship plans

Reading this article today about a temporary cruise terminal near Sydney's third runway. What sort of wind conditions would cause troubles for pilots if a cruise ship is docked there?

 

[jb747]

I read somewhere @jb747 that you are approaching retirement age. What is QF's policy and is it standard for the industry.

Internationally, the retirement age is 64 and 365 days. Domestically, there is no age limit. From the QF point of view, I can bid back to the 737 when approaching 65. Or do nothing, and let the clock run out.

Whilst there are lots of arguments both for and against an arbitrary retirement age, I'm actually quite in favour of it. You really do not want to be the bloke that the FOs talk about.

Reading this today, made me think about it. Perhpas even a former colleague of yours JB?
The world’s oldest fighter pilot hangs up his flying boots - Australian Aviation

Frawls...we would have been contemporaries, though we wore different coloured uniforms. I don't recall meeting him, but I didn't spend much time at Williamtown. He's well known amongst my ex RAAF mates.

 

[jb747]

Pilots raise safety fears over Botany Bay cruise ship plans

Reading this article today about a temporary cruise terminal near Sydney's third runway. What sort of wind conditions would cause troubles for pilots if a cruise ship is docked there?

I don't know what number the wind would need to reach, but anything from the northeast will impact upon approaches. There are a number of places I can think of (starting with Sydney and London), where buildings that are much lower than 65 metres create substantial nasty wind effects with the right (or wrong) conditions.

The problem with aviation, at least as seen by the sort of people who approve this sort of thing, is akin to the frog in boiling water. We haven't had an accident yet....so, let's push a bit more.

 

[por930]

JB, do you use your own head sets, (as compared with companies)and do they have any noise cancellation in them for external noises. I often find headsets making my ears sore after a few hours, how do you cope with many hours at a time. In my light a/c, I would turn on the external speakers for cruise to give the ears a rest.

 

[AviatorInsight]

JB, do you use your own head sets, (as compared with companies)and do they have any noise cancellation in them for external noises. I often find headsets making my ears sore after a few hours, how do you cope with many hours at a time. In my light a/c, I would turn on the external speakers for cruise to give the ears a rest.

I use my own headset. It’s by Clarity Aloft. I’ve had it for years and used it in GA, on the Saab and now on the 737. They’re noise attenuating rather than noise cancelling. The good thing is that there’s no batteries required.

I can’t sing praise of this headset enough. Because of the design there’s nothing on top of your head which on a BNE-PER-BNE is a godsend as it’s very light weight. It’s definitely much quieter and more comfortable than the Sennheisers or even the Telex headsets that the company uses.

 

[Major]

Being flight crew offers very little opportunity to exercise whilst on duty. Are you conscious of what you eat and are you able to carry out some form of cardio exercise when you are away ?

Find your 30

Does your company offer any support or facilities to keep you fit and healthy or are you on your own ?

 

[AviatorInsight]

Being flight crew offers very little opportunity to exercise whilst on duty. Are you conscious of what you eat and are you able to carry out some form of cardio exercise when you are away ?

Find your 30

Does your company offer any support or facilities to keep you fit and healthy or are you on your own ?

I’m very conscious of my health. Eating is hard but I’ll definitely stick to the salads and yoghurts if I can on the aircraft. On layovers it’s easy.

As for cardio exercise whilst on duty, at long haul I’d put a jumper on and do a lap of the tripler every rest break. Was about 300m all up. Not bad I thought. At domestic I don’t have that luxury so I prefer to do the walk around.
Again on layovers it’s pretty easy to at least get 30mins in.

The company has no facilities to keep us fit but they do support it. They try and give us hotels that have a gym (even a very basic one with only one treadmill next to the laundry), so that’s their part done.

 

[jb747]

On the 767/747 and 380, we only use the company headsets. The 747 were noise cancelling, though I wish they all were. The 380 is reasonably quiet, but, I really preferred the silence of the 747 with headset. The reason the company eventually coughed up for noise cancelling on the 747 was that they were having substantial hearing issues with pilots who'd been there a long time.

Whilst wearing the headset isn't mandatory (from the company) once in cruise, I don't allow my crew to remove them. The reason is that having their speaker turned up, whilst I have my headset on, makes any radio calls hard to understand, and also because I prefer them to use the intercom when speaking. I've had too many years of aircraft noise, and don't need to add to that unnecessarily.

 

[jb747]

Being flight crew offers very little opportunity to exercise whilst on duty. Are you conscious of what you eat and are you able to carry out some form of cardio exercise when you are away ?

Does your company offer any support or facilities to keep you fit and healthy or are you on your own ?

Hotels all have gyms, and there are generally miles of streets that you can wander...in varying levels of safety. In London, it was years after I started going there on the 747 before I ever caught the tube....it was a great place to walk. The best part about Dubai was the hotel gym!

I've used an iPad programme called Seven, for a number of years. Masses of exercises in the room for those places, or days, you can't get out. Sadly, that might have backfired on me though, as it looks like I've managed to give myself a hernia from one particular sequence. TBA on that.

 

[747sp]

sorry but this may be obvious question but how do the building affect the plane? Is it the wind being deflected up the building.

 

[AviatorInsight]

sorry but this may be obvious question but how do the building affect the plane? Is it the wind being deflected up the building.

Yes. Known as mechanical turbulence.

 

[flyer89]

Would love to get JB's and other pilots opinion of this landing. Considering the airline in question was involved in a serious incident just a couple of weeks ago sadly this doesn't surprise.
If it doesnt do it automatically skip to 5:10

 

[jb747]

Would love to get JB's and other pilots opinion of this landing. Considering the airline in question was involved in a serious incident just a couple of weeks ago sadly this doesn't surprise.
If it doesnt do it automatically skip to 5:10

Narita can be a turd of a place to land. There was a hotel that we stayed at that had viewing area...it was full of pilots having a beer and assessing everyone else's landings from afar. If you were in the hotel it meant you'd survived yours for the day.

The Mongolian 737, and Star 777 at the end are the worst two. The 737 landing that is the one I think you're interested in floats badly, and possibly should have been a go around, but it's not the worst on the video.

 

[flyer89]

Narita can be a turd of a place to land. There was a hotel that we stayed at that had viewing area...it was full of pilots having a beer and assessing everyone else's landings from afar. If you we in the hotel it meant you'd survived yours for the day.

The Mongolian 737, and Star 777 at the end are the worst two. The 737 landing that is the one I think you're interested in floats badly, and possibly should have been a go around, but it's not the worst on the video.

I stand corrected. I must’ve forgotten about the Mongolian.