Turns out my hard disk has given up on life, with the only recent backup being corrupted. A long, unpleasant, expensive week beckons..........
We decide to divert to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The weather there isn't great either but it's within tolerances and the only other alternative is Hong Kong which would involve flying through a lot of bumpy weather. I negotiate a new clearance from ATC and the Captain briefs the cabin crew and passengers. There's no time to relax (of course) as our new destination is only 20 minutes away.
"BING" "My controls, my communication, ECAM actions"
Now one of the thrust levers has decided to leave us. It's not a huge problem now as autothrust is looking after engine power, but as soon as we extend the slats the right engine will go to idle and I will have to fly a single engine approach ... for an overweight landing. I'm only 5 miles from the ILS intercept point and still at 6000ft so I request a hold to gain some time and hopefully burn a little more fuel. I very quickly brief the Captain on the approach procedure, finish all outstanding checks, review the overweight landing procedure. Captain then gets clearance for the approach and we configure.
The approach itself is easy as the autopilot is doing all the hard work, but it's still bumpy, gusty and the constant change in engine power on one side causes a lot of yaw - I can't imagine it's very comfortable in row 30. "100 above ....... MINIMUMS" No runway in sight so we execute a rather slow lumbering go-around and get vectored for a new approach.
The second time the runway appears in the gloom at about 400ft and I manage an acceptable landing in a surprisingly strong crosswind. Welcome to Kaohsiung.
The second part of the loft, with the other pilot flying, is our departure from Kaohsiung a few virtual hours later in the second attempt to make K-L. Needless to say things go wrong and we end up where we started, shaken and stirred, 2 hours later.
Sim test later today which involves things blowing up just before take-off. Although it may sound scarier I personally find it easier as it's a more scripted flight where more or less everything goes according to a plan and 'all' we have to do is press the right buttons and say the right things at the right time. It's still a test though, and there's no fun in being tested.
S.
Thursday 20 August 2009
Wednesday 19 August 2009
LOFT/LPC
It's been a while. My laptop is very badly broken and blogging from the computers at work isn't easy or pleasant; but now it's one in the morning, on one else is around and I have nothing better to do...
To the point: The LOFT - Line oriented flight training. It's a jolly in the simulator where we simulate the worst possible line flight to ensure we're able to cope with eventual mishaps in the real aeroplane. Today's scenario was the Taipei - KL service.
Taipei weather is terrible with very strong rain, poor visibility, soaking runways and thunderstorms reported nearby. We have a full load - 180 pax + as much cargo as the jet will carry.
Things start to go wrong before we start moving with a hung engine start. No big deal, aeriate the engine, try again........... and it starts. We taxi - slowly - to runway 06 for departure and line up. "WINDSHEAR AHEAD" says the man in the overhead, and sure enough there's a very pretty looking formation of horror on the weather radar. We decide to wait a bit and as if by magic the colours go away.
Take-off is normal, surprisingly but reaching the second turn on the SID the TCAS starts shouting and shortly afterwards overhead-man shouts again: "CLIMB CLIMB". We're in cloud so the Captain doesn't see the, but it passes 600ft below us.
Slightly shaken but still alive we're cleared to our cruise level FL340 and I start to relax. Right on cue there's a "BING" and the master caution comes on. "My controls, my communications, ECAM actions" it's only a fuel pump (there are 2 per tank) so the procedure is quickly taken care of ....... Until the other pump fails as well.
Now things are getting interesting. we haven't passed FL300 yet which means that our operational ceiling for gravity feeding is FL150, and we'll never make it home at that level where fuel consumption is nearly twice as high. We can't go back to Taipei either as that terrible cloud has reappeared and is now sitting right over the airport.
My bus home has just arrived so you'll have to read what finally happens to us later on...
S.
To the point: The LOFT - Line oriented flight training. It's a jolly in the simulator where we simulate the worst possible line flight to ensure we're able to cope with eventual mishaps in the real aeroplane. Today's scenario was the Taipei - KL service.
Taipei weather is terrible with very strong rain, poor visibility, soaking runways and thunderstorms reported nearby. We have a full load - 180 pax + as much cargo as the jet will carry.
Things start to go wrong before we start moving with a hung engine start. No big deal, aeriate the engine, try again........... and it starts. We taxi - slowly - to runway 06 for departure and line up. "WINDSHEAR AHEAD" says the man in the overhead, and sure enough there's a very pretty looking formation of horror on the weather radar. We decide to wait a bit and as if by magic the colours go away.
Take-off is normal, surprisingly but reaching the second turn on the SID the TCAS starts shouting and shortly afterwards overhead-man shouts again: "CLIMB CLIMB". We're in cloud so the Captain doesn't see the, but it passes 600ft below us.
Slightly shaken but still alive we're cleared to our cruise level FL340 and I start to relax. Right on cue there's a "BING" and the master caution comes on. "My controls, my communications, ECAM actions" it's only a fuel pump (there are 2 per tank) so the procedure is quickly taken care of ....... Until the other pump fails as well.
Now things are getting interesting. we haven't passed FL300 yet which means that our operational ceiling for gravity feeding is FL150, and we'll never make it home at that level where fuel consumption is nearly twice as high. We can't go back to Taipei either as that terrible cloud has reappeared and is now sitting right over the airport.
My bus home has just arrived so you'll have to read what finally happens to us later on...
S.
Friday 7 August 2009
Status? No status.
Nothing from me in a while as there is nothing really new... I'm waiting for a stamp to continue flying so have been doing precious nothing for while.
Not a beach, a rice (I think) field near the airport.
Actually that's not entirely true, this forced inactivity is giving me the chance to explore the network somewhat and catch up on a lot of sleep. Last week-end I went to Langkawi for 3 days to lay in the sun, on the beach. Some pictures:
Not a beach, a rice (I think) field near the airport.
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