Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

Reads like it was a somewhat dexterous escape by the crew

Years ago, an RAN Seaking just flew into the water at about 80 knots. The pilots found themselves outside the aircraft, without actually having to 'escape'. They were very, very, lucky.

 

[mjt57]

This report of international arrivals with no pax. How can they afford to do this? Why are they being made to do this (according to the news article). And what's the chance that the airlines will abandon Oz?

Flights with no passengers land in Australia as new cap takes effect

One Australian whose booking had been cancelled said “I understand Australia wants zero cases but those stranded will never get home at this rate.”

www.smh.com.au

 

[jb747]

This report of international arrivals with no pax. How can they afford to do this? Why are they being made to do this (according to the news article). And what's the chance that the airlines will abandon Oz?

I expect that they cannot afford to do this for any length of time. I don't think they're being forced to do it though, and yes, we may well see any number abandon Oz, at least in the short to medium term. There's probably an element of being ready for any restart, though I think we're seeing that receding into the distance. My bet is that it would take QF at least a year, and probably much longer, to actually restart substantial operations, so that's 25% of the market immediately up for grabs. I suspect that some are simply keeping themselves positioned to take as much of that 25% as they can get.

 

[RooFlyer]

As for balancing pressures…last week‘s 737 did that by breaking in half.

Rather!

 

[Saab34]

AV and JB do you have a ‘boss’ as such. Who do you report to, is there some form of base manager at the airport or something? Someone that you can raise a question with and so on..

 

[mjt57]

Rather!

View attachment 253222

View attachment 253225

That'll buff out...

 

[mjt57]

I My bet is that it would take QF at least a year, and probably much longer, to actually restart substantial operations,

What are all of the long haul crews doing now? eg, 380 captains and FOs and the B787 lot? Have they retired? If so, will a year be long enough to rehire or to recruit new pilots and to get them up to speed (no pun intended...)?

I'm guessing that the A380 is now consigned to history, which, if this is the case, then that's sad. It was the best 'plane that I travelled in, comfort and noise-wise.

 

[jb747]

AV and JB do you have a ‘boss’ as such. Who do you report to, is there some form of base manager at the airport or something? Someone that you can raise a question with and so on..

For the vast majority of my career, QF international only had a crew base in Sydney, so my direct boss would be the fleet manager for whatever type I happened to be on. Later on, when other bases appeared, base managers became a separate entity. They'd always existed for the domestic people, as they had bases everywhere. They basically looked after anything non technical; if I wanted to talk 380 to someone, it was still an email or phone call to the fleet manager. I always found it pretty easy to express my views to the management pilots. Whilst they rarely agreed with me, there were good lines of communication to them.

All of the base managers are pilots. In Sydney there's a short haul manager, and a separate long haul one. Curiously, the overall manager for the bases is actually an admin guy, but he's extremely well thought of by the pilots, and a good choice for the job.

Of course, covid may have changed all of this....I'm not on their mailing list any more.

 

[jb747]

What are all of the long haul crews doing now? eg, 380 captains and FOs and the B787 lot? Have they retired? If so, will a year be long enough to rehire or to recruit new pilots and to get them up to speed (no pun intended...)?

Assuming the 380s come back....

There were approximately 100 A380 Captains. From what I can tell, 59 of them took the VR package, and about 25% of them were from the training side. So, you probably have enough people left to have a mini training department, and to run about 4-5 aircraft. Each of of these people is going to require a solid 3-4 months of training, with line sectors obviously being almost impossible to find. Basically this would be every bit as complex as introducing the type in the first place. I have no idea what CASA would mandate, and I expect they don't yet know either.

The sims alone would take about 12-15 rides. You'll get 4 sessions per day if you're lucky, and you can't really schedule them for each person closer than one every two days. So that means it would take 30 days per person. Staggering that a bit has the effect of giving you two Captains out of the pipe each week, and an FO along with each as a bonus. So, to get back to 100, it would take an initial 3 months, then at 2 per week you'd have the full lot about 50 weeks later. So, a bit over a year...

It's gone on for so long now that it's not really a refresher for anyone, so there wouldn't be much difference between refreshing your exist Captains, or training new ones from the other types.

Pretty well all of the remaining 380 people are currently just stood down, in limbo. The company has not been doing any ongoing training with them. From what I gather, many see the way the company is using stand-down as a way of avoiding their redundancy obligations. People are doing what they can. It's very sad, and quite disgusting to see a particular CEO still being paid millions.

I'm guessing that the A380 is now consigned to history, which, if this is the case, then that's sad. It was the best 'plane that I travelled in, comfort and noise-wise.

It was made for a niche that wasn't quite as bit as Airbus envisioned, but it's a very sad ending for a wonderful machine. I have much more time for it than I do for any of Boeing's current offerings, and, having flown both, I'd rank it above the much loved 747.

 

[Quickstatus]

Q:
737-300 range is quoted to be 2200nm (according to Dr Google)
Is range usually quoted as range without payload?

Im asking because the N138CG (737 Large Air tanker) is heading off to the US on fire fighting duties
HNL-LAX is about 2200nm and NAN-HNL is 2750nm

It's a 26 year old ex WN 737-300, so it had to come from the US initially

 

[jb747]

At least prior to the NSW and VIC lockdowns domestic air travel I think was higher than pre-pandemic and with international travel off the table (apart from to NZ), QF was looking at opening additional domestic routes.

Was it? It was being talked up, but there were nowhere near as many flights, and many of my friends, on aircraft that you'd expect to be involved, were still doing very little. I remain unconvinced....

Q:
737-300 range is quoted to be 2200nm (according to Dr Google)
Is range usually quoted as range without payload?

Im asking because the N138CG (737 Large Air tanker) is heading off to the US on fire fighting duties
HNL-LAX is about 2200nm and NAN-HNL is 2750nm

It's a 26 year old ex WN 737-300, so it had to come from the US initially

This is a "length of string" argument. Range should be quoted with a specific payload. Zero payload, and full fuel isn't a useful metric, but that's more or less what you're looking at with these flights. Getting rid of 15 tonnes of passengers, especially if you can replace them with fuel, would make a pretty dramatic difference to the available range.

 

[jb747]

Back in the good old days.

This was taken by my wife on the approach to Melbourne (from LA) at the end of my first trip in command on the 380.

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2021

OJK when we went up to Manila to pick her up....

 

[jb747]

One more...also in Manila, but this time dropping off an A380. Passing through 220'.

 

[mjt57]

Nice shots, JB. What equipment and settings (if you still have the EXIF) were these taken at?

I'm getting into photography as a retirement hobby, so this sort of thing now interests me.

 

[jb747]

All of these are pretty old, and I probably do everything differently now. One constant though, is that I've always shot 'RAW' when I could, only ever creating JPGs when I want them for uploads.

For what it's worth...
The 380 on approach, 155mm, ISO 320, f14 and 1/400th on a Nikon D90.
747 in Manila, D90, 10.5mm, ISO 200, f11, 1/500.
A380 coughpit, Nikon D800, 20mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 8 seconds

The D90 is long gone. The D800 is also in semi retirement, with much of the work now done on a D850. The later 850 is much better at any astro work, though there's not much between them for portraits.

 

[Carrots]

What'd you mount the body to in the coughpit for 8 seconds @jb747? Position wise it looks more like a handhold location?

 

[jb747]

What'd you mount the body to in the coughpit for 8 seconds? Position wise it looks more like a handhold location?

Over the years I tried all sorts of locations. There were a number of requirements, especially as any gear had to be out of the way. The position also had to be as rigid as possible, and that was the most difficult to find. Even places that you'd think would be quite rigid proved to have surprising amounts of vibration built in. The headrest rail on the middle seat was okay, but not for long shots.

The two most solid spots were the grab handle, and the window glass. There's ways of attaching to both. Manfrotto clamp worked well on the grab handle.

 

[Quickstatus]

Question about Mountain Wave
I often go to Jindabyne
General aviation flying around YJIN often have to contend with Mountain Wave

Do commercial aircraft at FL400 experience mountain wave when over the the snowy mountain - say on a LAX-MEL QF94?

 

[jb747]

Question about Mountain Wave
I often go to Jindabyne
GA flying around YJIN often have to contend with Mountain Wave

Do commercial aircraft at FL400 experience mountain wave when over the the snowy mountain - say on a LAX-MEL QF94?

I don’t recall ever experiencing it over the Snowies, but as mountains go, they’re pretty small. Ran into it occasionally over Europe.

 

[Quickstatus]

I don’t recall ever experiencing it over the Snowies

Ok thanks. Next Q:

Jindabyne glider friend swears that NZ1197 LAX-MEL routing over CBR-YJIN is unusual (because he heard it in Jindabyne). He reckon the mountain wave carried the jet noise. At the time it was FL400

Anything unusual about the routing?. Seems normal to me
And would Snowy Mountains Mountain wave transmit jet noise from FL400 to ground?
Also was there much headwind. At the time there was severe weather over the Snowies - lots of snow

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