Ask The Pilot

[flyer89]

He joined about 4 months later. He's the most senior FO, and Ewen was the most senior Captain. Owen Zupp wasn't quite at the top of the SO tree, but close enough.

And Sharelle was an ‘84 join and spent a lot of time on the 767, with the move to the 747 more recent. Is that correct?

 

[jb747]

And Sharelle was an ‘84 join and spent a lot of time on the 767, with the move to the 747 more recent. Is that correct?

Yes. Sharelle and I were on the 767 at the same time, but I moved to the 744 in 04, and the 380 in 09. I think she stayed with the 767 until the end, and then moved to the 744. She isn't the most senior of our female pilots, there is one more who joined at about the same time, but again, close enough. #3 retired from the 744 back in 2014.

 

[Quickstatus]

you’d call your personal callsign

Would you care to share some of the personal callsigns?

Normally on a long flight there would be one or two cabin crew

why is that?

 

[jb747]

Would you care to share some of the personal callsigns?

I don’t remember many of them now. Springbok, Bandicoote, Trashcan. I’ll ask and see if some of the others recall them.

why is that?

Well, whilst my wife can be trusted not to burn the place down whilst cooking a meal, I don’t know that most of the pilots could boil water, so in part it was to look after the drivers. The main reason though, would be to keep an eye on the cabin. There are lots of things that can happen on an aircraft, and many make themselves known in the cabin first. For example, air-conditioning smoke. Galley fires of course (there go the meals). And I’m sure you’ll recall the 380 that had the interior waterfall.

 

[jb747]

I've put a question out to the group of A-4 pilots that I'm in contact with. Many were simply their nicknames. Some channel Top Gun...and others are a bit of a joke.

At this point we have:
Springbok, Bandi(coote), Trashcan, Percy, Ripper, Tiger, Blemish, Dingo, Cowboy, Dog, Jackass, Ranger, Fearless, Merlin, Snoopy.

I'm getting replies trickling in...
Sinbad, Lucifer, Wombat, Falcon, Buckeye, Tomcat.

 

[jb747]

I've heard from quite a few people about their own, and others call signs, so I've been able to work out about half of them.
Sinbad
Chalkboard
Wombat
Shamrock
Baron
Victor
Zebra
Nomad
Lambda
Hawk
Eagle
Lucifer
Python
RamsDog
Cowboy
Jackass
Spastic
Dingo
Wizard
Merlin
Sandpiper
Fearless
Ranger
Dodger
Snoopy
Blemish
Trashcan
Bandi
Percy
Falcon
Tomcat
Findog
Junkyard
Ripper
Buckeye
Tiger
Springbok
Viking
Phantom
Trojan
Boomer
Stando
Too Tall
Archie
Panther
Bullfrog
Bobcat
Nordo
Tarzan
Magpie
Wipeout
Tarzan


No Icemen or Mav'rics.

 

[Quickstatus]

Is yours in that list?

No Icemen or Mav'rics.

Do people think up their own callsigns or is this an attribute given to him ?her by their social circles?

 

[jb747]

Is yours in that list?

Yes.

Do people think up their own callsigns or is this an attribute given to him ?her by their social circles?

Well, I guess the CO had to approve it, but basically you could use whatever you liked. It had to be short, and clear, so that it was easy for the range people to use/understand. Times were a bit different then too.

Some are the nicknames that people were given. Others, well I guess their genesis is lost to time.

 

[flyer89]

I know which one others would’ve given me and it begins with an S.

 

[jb747]

This is a rather sad sight...

Airliners.net

www.airliners.net

 

[kamchatsky]

Hong Kong, Kai Tak

This was a famous airport, loved by many for its last minute turn to line up for landing. The airport was nestled in a valley near hills, and the precluded the normal long finals that airliners do for most approaches.

Thank you so much for the post. I used to live at Kai Tak Road, Kowloon City, right next to Kai Tak airport when I was very small. I always see the planes flying right on top of us during descent. obviously it was very noisy but I was used to it.

I remembered seeing CX, SQ, JL tails as the plane lands, but QF with the big Roo tail was the most memorable because it was beautifully shaped like a Kangaroo. Were you flying for QF or CX during that time?

 

[jb747]

Thank you so much for the post. I used to live at Kai Tak Road, Kowloon City, right next to Kai Tak airport when I was very small. I always see the planes flying right on top of us during descent. obviously it was very noisy but I was used to it.

I remembered seeing CX, SQ, JL tails as the plane lands, but QF with the big Roo tail was the most memorable because it was beautifully shaped like a Kangaroo. Were you flying for QF or CX during that time?

I flew into Kai Tak many times in the period from 1985 until it closed. Most of my flights were in the 767, but I also went there as an SO and FO on the 747 and 744. It was challenging, and pretty limiting. But great fun.

 

[flyer89]

I flew into Kai Tak many times in the period from 1985 until it closed. Most of my flights were in the 767, but I also went there as an SO and FO on the 747 and 744. It was challenging, and pretty limiting. But great fun.

How often did you give away that sector or was it CPT only?

 

[OATEK]

I've heard from quite a few people about their own, and others call signs, so I've been able to work out about half of them.
Sinbad
Chalkboard
Wombat
Shamrock
Baron
Victor
Zebra
Nomad
Lambda
Hawk
Eagle
Lucifer
Python
Dog
Cowboy
Jackass
Spastic
Dingo
Wizard
Merlin
Sandpiper
Fearless
Ranger
Dodger
Snoopy
Blemish
Trashcan
Bandi
Percy
Falcon
Tomcat
Findog
Junkyard
Ripper
Buckeye
Tiger
Springbok
Viking
Phantom
Trojan
Boomer
Stando
Too Tall

No Icemen or Mav'rics.

was the a cridge in there at all? Probably a few years before your service.

 

[jb747]

was the a cridge in there at all? Probably a few years before your service.

I got an email from him today about this. He was Victor.

We overlapped to a degree. I called him sir.

 

[jb747]

How often did you give away that sector or was it CPT only?

The company never put any particular limitation on the IGS approach. Most Captains were happy to give that sector away. Having said that, I only ever did one landing there as an FO. I was given the sector many times, but on arrival it turned out that the other runway was in use. Whilst some might have planned it that way, it was mostly luck. In my time on the 767, we went there so often that it was given away as a matter of course.

 

[OATEK]

I got an email from him today about this. He was Victor.

We overlapped to a degree. I called him sir.

I worked with him for a decade or so in the 2000s, and while I didn't say sir he was still the boss.

 

[Quickstatus]

And his new mate flew him back to the Netherlands in an RF-4

what’s the difference between an RF-4 and an F-4

 

[jb747]

what’s the difference between an RF-4 and an F-4

The R designation means reconnaissance. So, whilst most versions of the F-4 were meant to give you a headache, the RF took your picture.

 

[jb747]

A couple of years ago, I decided to try an make up a current contact list for all of the pilots who'd flown the RAN's A-4s. I was quite successful. Over the course of about a year, we tracked down about 90% of the guys. A few had just disappeared, or so it seemed. I used the contact list to ask about the range callsigns, and in the course of that we found two of our missing pilots. We aren't the youngsters we once were, but everybody still has a soft spot for the Skyhawk. Amazingly, some of our aircraft are still flying, based out of Tampa in the USA, playing Top Gun.

I've also heard from one of the pilots who was on OEJ's flight to the USA. I was curious about exactly how they'd flown the kangaroo.

The FMC has two routes. Primary and secondary. Generally, if you need to make large changes to the route, you'll copy the currently active route to the secondary. Make the change whilst it's in the secondary section, and when happy with it, swap it with the primary route. In this case the flight to the USA was kept separate to the kangaroo, and the position swapped when it was time to fly it. Longer legs were flown in NAV, with the FMC controlling the aircraft to fly the exact track. Most of the turns were done in heading/track mode, with the bank controller being used to get the maximum available bank angle.