In February 2009 I was part of the team that picked up Virgin Australia’s (then V Australia) first Boeing 777-300ER. Having arrived into the airline in June 2008, it had been a long 7 months – very long – but now we were about to get an aeroplane – and fly it. For the benefit […]
In February 2009 I was part of the team that picked up Virgin Australia’s (then V Australia) first Boeing 777-300ER. Having arrived into the airline in June 2008, it had been a long 7 months – very long – but now we were about to get an aeroplane – and fly it. For the benefit […]
In February 2009 I was part of the team that picked up Virgin Australia’s (then V Australia) first Boeing 777-300ER. Having arrived into the airline in June 2008, it had been a long 7 months – very long – but now we were about to get an aeroplane – and fly it. For the benefit […]
For the last decade or so, I have been working on a document called Boeing 777 Procedures and Techniques. It has it’s genesis in what was originally a Common Errors document based on observations of Pilot/Student actions in the Simulator – but most particularly Instructor/Examiner activity in the Brief/Sim/Debrief as well. See the Feb 2021 […]
The 777 offers the facility of using the APU to power an Air-Conditioning Pack during takeoff for those times when the departure is performance limited and you’re trying to squeeze every last Kg you can out of the takeoff while still providing some AC to the cabin (during the Takeoff). While a neat option, it […]
![Wide Body EBA 2017 Calculator [UPDATE 11Aug19]](https://www.infinidim.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/39.jpg "39")
With the implementation of the 2017 Wide Body EBA – it’s time to revise the spreadsheet I developed to track and check Overtime, Callout, etc for the 2011 EBA. Part and parcel has been seeking clarification from the AIC/CP on certain aspects of the EBA’s implementation. Most particularly clarification over the MCG, how RP changeovers […]
I recently resurrected a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet I built to budget out 12 months to assess the likely impact of moving back to Australia – which included a combined 50% drop in salary and an increase in expenses. This was 2008 – but I now find myself doing something similar. My income has dropped (closer […]
After 6 years on the outskirts of Parramatta, our simulator is moving to Brisbane airport. For our small fleet of 5 aircraft and 150 pilots, it’s a big change. As part of the process I had a look at the simulator slot timings, especially since we would be moving to 24×7 operation for a disparate […]
I have been given cause recently to review the roles of Pilot Flying (PF) vs Pilot Monitoring (PM) during Normal (NM) and Non Normal (NNM) operations. This has come about from simulator observations of both relatively senior as well as relatively junior crew. Background While most aircraft have a Captain and a First Officer with […]
I refer to the article “Danger and the mind of pilots” in The Saturday Paper by Martin McKenzie-Murray, of Saturday, 4th April 2015. Thank you for the first thoughtful article in the mainstream media I’ve encountered so far on the issue of pilots and depression/suicide, outside of the professional journals of the aviation industry. It […]
Several years ago, I was part of a team that developed and deployed a series of aviation podcasts – Flight Podcast. We started off with a bang with an interview with the Eric Moody Captain of Speedbird 9, the British Airways 747 that flew through volcanic ash and lost all four engines over Indonesia. We […]
Many moons ago I was a Second Officer on Boeing 747-400’s for a large Hong Kong based international airline, which I remember fondly. This story revolves around a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne about a year after I had checked out, late 1993. This was a three crew operation, Captain, First Officer and myself. […]
Recently, after commenting on the latest of Qantas’ engine troubles, I was asked to talk about what was an “interesting” in-flight moment for me. Despite this being one of the most common questions, I realised that I’ve never blogged about “interesting” flight moments – which of course immediately motivated me to do so. Funnily enough, […]
Managing a departure with a performance limited takeoff can be one of the more challenging tasks that face the Captain of an aircraft today. It all sounds simple enough in theory. Based on the Airport/Runway, Ambient Weather Conditions and Aircraft, a computer will spit out down to the kilogram how much weight you’re allowed to lift off the runway. From this number a passenger/cargo and fuel load is determined – and off you go. But all is not as it seems.
Tonight my kids and I were at the Arts Center to hear My Friend The Chocolate Cake in concert. We had such a great time, I couldn’t resist coming home to write about it.
