(Air)Bus Driver's Journals

Nice

2012-01-22T17:10:00.002Z

I was going to post a video of the approach and take-off from Nice, but the camera decided to focus on the windshield wiper instead of the greater world so the best I can manage is this rather stunning view of the coast from Nice to Monaco, taken a few minutes after takeoff.

I haven't tampered with the colours at all, what you see is exactly what I saw... I never tire of views like these.

New Year, New start

2012-01-11T14:25:00.001Z

Or something like that...

Lots of exciting things expected to happen in the next 12 months and having taken a suitably refreshing break from writing I thought I'd give it another go.

Let's start with a picture, one of many more to come.

Sunrise over the English Channel, on a (very) early morning departure to Greece. We left a cold, overcast, somewhat wet London for 4 hours of clear blue skies and a generous tailwind...

Nine months later

2011-09-20T21:34:00.000+01:00

It's been 9 months since my last post, 9 months since the dream went sour and I became despaerate for a way out.

In that time I moved back to Europe, got a job with a respectable airline, knuckled down and got on with it. Even if I didn't like my job I could make something out of the rest of my life, living in a culture I knew, going home 2-3 times a month and getting a decent selection of days off.

Seven weeks ago I got transferred to London. Home. Finally. And I got even more days off. It took a while, but slowly the tingle of take off, the thrill of landing, the wonderment at the amazing beauty of the planet below came back.

I won't go as far as saying I'm in love again, yet, but we can live together in peace.

Clear skies,

S.

Falling out of love

2011-01-21T20:37:00.003Z

I still remember my first flight, my first landing. It was the 18th of October 2003. A clear, crisp day with only a few clouds in the sky. I was flying the little nose-cone-less Cessna 150 with no transponder, nav radio or heating but I had one of the best instructors I have ever had the privilege of flying with sitting beside me.

We took off, fooled around a bit turning, climbing and descending, then came back to land on CYYG's runway 21. I flew the PAPI on the 3 mile final and controlled the plane all the way to the landing which I remember was flapless and quite good considering... I had fallen in love with one of the most beautiful things a human can do: fly.

Fast forward 7-and-a-bit years. I'm sitting by the Indian Ocean, in the sweltering heat with clouds of mosquitos all around me suffering from my now monthly sinus infection. I have been flying what I believe is one of the most beautiful, agile, amazing commercial aeroplanes in operation for 2 years now and I have been in exile for 2 years as well. I have met many amazing people, made good friends and I don't regret most of it ... but I'm still in exile, living for work.

People tell me I'm so lucky to be living my dream of being a pilot.. Dream yes, but is it a good dream? The exhilarating tingle I used to feel whenever we took off is gone, the enjoyment of flying a perfect path approach is gone, the wonder of looking outside and seeing earth as only few can see it is gone. All I can think of now is getting the wretched paperwork over with as soon as possible so I can get back to my book and try not to fall asleep. Even the sunrises and sunsets - my once ultimate drug - all seem somewhat drab.

I may be living a dream but it's certainly not my dream anymore... I seem to have fallen out of love with flying.

How not to plan a roster

2011-01-15T07:03:00.006Z

My last cycle has been:

Day 1 - Leave home 2330, fly 1:30 to Male, fly 1:30 back, get home at 0530 (on day 2).

Day 3 - Leave home at 0550, fly 1:30 to Male, fly 1:30 back, get home 1145.

Day 4 - Leave home at 1120, fly 3:30 to Karachi, fly 3:20 back, get home 2145.

Day 5 - Leave home at 2230, fly 2:20 to Bombay, fly 2:20 back, get home at 0700 (on day 6).

That's about 24h "rest" between duties, which makes resting difficult. Going to work at bed time and adjusting your body clock 12h every day is effectively impossible.

A New Year

2010-12-31T16:00:00.001Z

If 2009 felt like a wasted year, stolen from me, 2010 was exactly the opposite and I have trouble believing so much could have happened in 12 months.

I started the year doing an after-landing checklist in Kota Kinabalu, worked like a mad man for 4 months, got stranded by a volcano 6000 miles away, got homesick, worked more, went home, worked again, visited Hong Kong on the first proper family vacation in longer than I can remember, worked some more, went home, got a new job, sat around doing very little missing my old job, got a shock, got a surprise and caught a cold.

Put like that it doesn't seem like much but there is more to it, friends, happy memories, special moments, unpleasant moments, hardship... 2010 wasn't an easy year - far from it - but it doesn't feel wasted. It's not exactly ending on a high note but my new year resolution is to always stay positive and look at the bright side of life... and it can't hurt to start early.

Here's to 2011 - I hope it brings happiness and good fortune and you have a great night tonight with loved ones. I have to fly to Male in the morning, and my loved ones are all far away, so it will be a normal quiet early night for me.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T22:09:00.004Z

Haven't posted much because I haven't flown much this month. I passed the check, then flew to Delhi and back, then flew to Abu Dhabi and back, caught a cold, flew home to London (in the jumpseat), started suffering from the cold ... and I'm still suffering. I should have been back in work last week but the drugs I'm on aren't compatible with flying so I'm stuck at home for Christmas this year, which is a pleasant surprise despite the agonising headaches.

Here is my Christmas card for the year, once again appropriate to my position and mood. Happy Christmas wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

That glow

2010-12-02T10:56:00.003Z

Sometimes I forget why I love flying ... then suddenly I'm reminded again.

Flew to Karachi yesterday, up along the west coast of India. The view of the Indus river delta approaching the city was quite spectacular - I had no idea it was so huge, and brown. Gradually the sand banks turn into islands and some houses and roads start appearing, then some more roads and traffic and finally it's a city. As I landed on runway 25L I really could feel that I was somewhere different.

The flight back was really spectacular though, the sun was just setting as we took off and I was the privileged witness of one of the most glorious sunsets in recent memory. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, just blue above and grey below and this stunningly bright band of orange in the middle gradually getting smaller and darker until eventually it was all black and we were alone in the universe. Unfortunately the camera I brought couldn't cope with the colours so I can't share the palette that unfolded infront of me.

I was also cleared for the final check which will take place in about 10 hours on the athletic 30 minute sector to Trivandrum. After that I will be, once again, an anonymous qualified pilot... Looking forwards to seeing the end of training now.

It flies!

2010-11-30T17:24:00.003Z

I knew I was forgetting something....

First flight in two months happened last Friday, a quick 50 minute flight to a tiny Indian airstrip called Trivandrum (actually it's called Thiruvananthapuram now because of some pathetic patriotic movement, but nobody calls it that). I flew there and I flew back and I didn't break anything or injure anyone so I think the day can be classed as a success.

Flying with the radically different SOPs was a bit disconcerting ... being away for a while dulls the senses, but then coming back to a different way of working is even more confusing, especially when the checklist is called for. Thankfully the training captain had a sense of humour and saw through the procedural errors.

The next flight was a long slog to Delhi and back. Delhi is anything but a tiny airstrip, and the new airport is quite impressive, especially the taxi routes which get rattled off at top speed. Indian radio etiquette is equally impressive, but for completely different reasons, never have I ever heard so many people step on each other so often, even in the H U G E Manilla sectors. Quite sad really.

Third day was the night flight to Bombay. A thrilling airport as every carrier from everywhere in the world is there, but also the arguably the biggest dump to pass as an international airport. The place deserves it's own post...

That will have to do for now, will write some more in the coming days probably once line training ends. 6 down, 4 to go, should be done by the end of the week.

Dubai

2010-11-14T20:40:00.004Z

I'm half way through my stay in Dubai. The seemingly interminable stream of (...) which was ground training ended last weekend and I jetted into the desert on Sunday evening, then spent the better part of last week practising every failure known to Airbus between 3 and 9 in the morning.

The sim check took place Saturday and went well, the usual programme which I have posted about many times before. The recipe this time called for a rapid decompression, flap failure, engine fire on take-off and a few approaches with various systems inoperative.

Dubai itself is surreal. I think the best way to describe it would be to think of Paris at the turn of the last century. This place has everything that's modern but 10 times bigger and shiner than anywhere else, and it's obviously brand new. Some may call it a bit ridiculous, but then Paris at the 1900 expo was ridiculous too.

What makes me smile is that there are still people in this world who have dreams and have the power and money to make these dreams come true no matter what. Cost cutting, public consultations and feasibility studies don't exist here for better or for worse.

There are many things that utterly revolt me about this place too, but they are best left unsaid...

I have 4 more days in Dubai, and 2 sim sessions: An ETOPS (engines-turn-or-passengers-swim) scenario and some low visibility approaches. After this I return to the paperwork nightmare of the local CAA (committee against aviation). I will finally be reunited with the right seat of a real aeroplane on the 26th of November, not a day too soon.

More about training

2010-10-17T01:09:00.003+01:00

So why exactly do I have to undergo training upon joining a new company? It's the same aeroplane, same sky, same planet but it's a different company and as this isn't a perfect world every company will have a slightly different way of doing the same thing. As a newcomer it is essential that I know the way things work here as the safety of the flight depends on it.

The course covers subjects like Standard Operating Procedures (who does what, when), safety procedures, interaction with cabin crew, handling of dangerous goods, low vis and extended range operations. The last three are fairly standard but the rest can be quite diverse.

Another element of initial training, which I am much less fond of, is the concept that the new pilot has forgotten every first detail about the aeroplane and needs to do a condensed type rating all over again. This might apply to some people (who really should have brushed up on their own beforehand) but it would be far more efficient for the airline to do a triage based on recency before arbitrarily sending everyone for training which is an expensive waste of resources.

Finally you get the regulatory hassle of operating in a new country which feels the need to exert it's sovereignty by altering the standard ICAO regulations slightly and making pilots write exams which have already been written during training - usually air law. Did I also mention the ludicrous licensing fees, or the need to do a new medical?

Part two begins... slowly

2010-10-13T11:02:00.003+01:00

First few days in the new airline, which will once again remain nameless but won't take long to figure out.

The majority of last week was spent going from office to office collecting papers, signing other papers, filling in endless forms and being issued with several tons of company material: uniforms, suitcases, books, etc. The usual stuff really.

The rest of the month will be spent in various classrooms learning about local air law, the company's Standard Operating Procedures, reviewing the agonising Airbus Computer Based Torture (Airbus calls it training actually - but it's completely irrelevant to a pilot already familiar with the aircraft), reviewing aircraft performance, etc.

Once suitably brainwashed I'll get sent to a secret location for a two weeks (same as the initial rating course) in the box of tricks before finally, after nearly two wasted months, being allowed to fly again.

My theory is that all this training takes place so you have time to forget your old airline callsign because 90% of everything else stays the same. It's still a scandalous waste of time though.

Probably won't write anything here until the real flying starts but I will be tweeting from time to time.

End of part one

2010-09-25T11:00:00.005+01:00

I flew my last flight at the world's best low cost airline last wednesday. An eery experience if ever there was one, knowing what was second nature would become a memory very soon. The rotation was a short and generally unpopular rotation to Bintulu via Kuching. It's unpopular because the flight usually runs late and ploughs through some of the worst weather of the region, but Wednesday was special.

Hotel Romeo arrived on time from China, a rare event. We departed on time, didn't hit any weather and were number-one-high-speed for the rest of the evening, making up time everywhere and ending up a nice 30 minutes early back home. Lots of pictures were taken, and to celebrate the event the brilliant Captain H did all the paperwork for the day while I assumed the command position as demonstrated below:

After the flight what felt like the entire crew base of Kinabalu came out to the after party and there was merriment late into the night. The next day was spent finishing the packing, saying bye to the beach and the people. I'm now on 2 weeks leave at home before starting in my new company.

Singapore - High Speed

2010-09-16T22:36:00.000+01:00

Approach and landing into Singapore a few days ago, my last one for what could be a very long time. 800% speed again ... watch for the eagle that nearly took out my Number 1 engine. Camera behaved this time too!

Pictures - 7

2010-09-12T21:53:00.004+01:00

More pictures... Busy few weeks preparing for some big changes.

Kota Kinabalu

Brunei

Queueing in Singapore

Queueing in Singapore again, different day

Hong Kong - High speed

2010-08-19T18:01:00.002+01:00

Descent and landing in Hong Kong on a beautiful afternoon. 30 minutes are condensed into 3 and a half which makes for a very nice effect I find.

Please excuse the very very stupid autofocus on the camera. I shall replace it as soon as I can.

A few firsts

2010-08-14T18:11:00.003+01:00

A few firsts today, my first day flying in over a week:

We landed with the lowest visibility yet, a mere 600 meters. Any lower and it's cat 2 / autoland operations. There was a stiff 20kt crosswind, lightning, and the usual driving rain as well.

I received my latest landing clearance, at about 150ft above the runway. Some ignorant A330 crew flying for a flag carrier decided to take their sweet time backtracking to vacate at an intersection 1500m from the landing threshold, and 1000m from the far end.

Actually I have received later landing clearances, at maybe 100ft, but this was flying a 1300kg tin can doing 55 knots. Flying a 62 ton bus doing 140 knots makes it rather more ... exhilarating.

Finally I logged my thousandth hour today, somewhere near Singapore. I don't suddenly feel different or anything, but the 4 digits look cool in the logbook. I think I was pilot flying as well.

When the heavens open again

2010-08-05T15:37:00.004+01:00

Different day, different crew, different place but very much the same theme as my last post. I wrote it a while ago but then lost it in my flight bag for a while.

The sun has set behind us as we race towards Kuching. Singapore Radar says good bye and Kuching Radar says hello. The super advanced weather radar is telling me that our destination is sitting right under a very active raincloud, and the HUGE clouds which are now barely visible in the dwindling sunlight confirm this. I ask for 20 miles off track to avoid the worst of it.

...

10 minutes and 20 000ft later we're getting into the thick of it. Weather avoidance has become futile - the best I can do is avoid the red bits on the radar. Outside the rain is giving us a good planewash and the odd embedded CB I can't avoid massages the passengers, quite forcefully at times. We eventually clear the worst of the weather and accept vectors for final. The weather radar is telling us the approach and landing should be dry-ish. We have flown 30 extra miles by now.

...

Director turns us onto final approach at 12 miles and I intercept the localiser and glide path at the same time, just as we reach the interception altitude. I always get a kick out of flying a constant descent and keeping the engines at idle and even the weather hasn't ruined it too badly today. The runway appears ahead of us and it looks like this will be an uneventful approach.

...

4 miles from touch down and I realise this won't be an uneventful approach. Surface winds are reported calm yet I'm flying straight into 25knots which can only mean that there is a big nasty thunder cell nearby. There suddenly is a whole lot of red right over the runway and some drops are hitting the windscreen. My senses are on high alert for any sign of windshear.

100ft above the ground and the few drops are now a torrential downpour. The wipers are flapping uselessly and the rain repellant (some sort of goo that should make it easier to see out when it's raining) is not working - as usual. All I can see is a blur of light either side where the runway edges should be and a whole lot of black everywhere else. Head down, I fly the ILS to 50 feet then flare on the radio altimeter half expecting the resulting landing to break my back ... and it doesn't. The touch down is beautiful and more or less on centreline - although I can't see any sign of it. Full reverse, full brakes and we're off a few seconds later.

...

After shutting down (20 minutes later because of a gate mixup - but that's another story) I discuss the landing with the captain. He reckons we had about 1000m visibility on touch down and we both agree that it was a rather unpleasant final approach. The rain thunders down for another 15 minutes then suddenly stops, as if someone switched off a tap somewhere. Take-off back to Singapore is uneventful, most of the nasty weather has gone to play elsewhere.

When the heavens open...

2010-08-04T03:52:00.000+01:00

I can see the CB drift in as I prepare the aircraft, willing the ground staff to get on with it and allow us to depart early. The huge mass of very dark, almost black cloud is slowly but steadily moving towards the airfield.

...

I call for pushback clearance as the first drops are starting to fall. This will be tight. In the 3 minutes it takes us to push, start the engines and get the checks done the few drops have turned into a steady shower. Tower has just reported a 180˚ change in wind direction, and the intensity is increasing rapidly. Taxi please.

We reach the holding point, #2 for departure. The departure path looks very unpleasant. A company 320 backtracks the runway from the far end where it had been almost ready to go before the 20kt tailwind appears. Just as it starts to roll the heavens really open up and the visibility drops to 2000, 1000 then only 500 meters. That's 500 meters in RAIN. The plane is shaking from the power of the gusts and I feel like I'm sitting in a car wash.

...

20 minutes later it's still raining hard. 2 aircraft have gone around, one has diverted, there are 3 of us on the ground waiting to depart. The rain eases slightly and the other side of the airfield reappears - the visibility is about 1-2000 meters now. Side ways glance, nod, and I call ready.

Lining up I can see maybe 1/3 of the 3000 meter runway. Not a lot but well above our minimums. The runway looks like a swimming pool. Take off.

Hundred Knots! I think to myself that I can't really see much runway at all - the rain is completely defeating the wipers which are frantically flapping up and down and outside is just a blur of grey with some light either side.

Vee-one, rotate! Thank goodness we are flying now - no runway edge to worry about, just the menace of downdrafts and windshear. With TOGA power set and the gear stowed away the rather light 'bus powers into the sky.

...

5 minutes later we are at FL140, 20 miles from the airport and the sky ahead is a clear summer blue with only a few little clouds here and there. The muscles in my legs start to loosen and I stop squeezing the side stick. Captain K is also looking a little more relaxed now, the take off was bad enough for me as pilot monitoring - actually keeping the bus on the very badly lit runway (which we couldn't see) in a 20 knot crosswind (which we could feel) can't have been much fun.

...

Landing at destination, only 100 miles away, is in CAVOK weather. The return leg is only slightly bumpy and by the time we're back the monster CB, 50 miles by 30 miles, has gone to play elsewhere. I see the runway at 12 miles and grease a landing on what is now only a slightly damp runway. Yet another day in the topics.

Safety refreshers

2010-07-30T16:02:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe that my SEP course was already a year ago, but it was, and I earlier this week I got summoned back to the academy for a 3 day refresher... A really perfect way to end 10 days' leave at home.

The SEP refresher is slightly less drawn out than the initial course - lasting 3 days instead of 3 weeks - and comprises a written exam about the life saving gadgets which we have on board, a fire fighting drill, opening and shutting the door, jumping down the slide (which is great fun), swimming around in full uniform (which isn't fun at all), learning how to make proper announcements and talking about CRM (or how to avoid accidents).

First flight in 2 weeks tomorrow and I'm really looking forwards to flying again.

Sinus infections

2010-07-07T05:15:00.003+01:00

My only advice on the subject is to never, ever, ever get one. Ever. They are painful, unpleasant things which involve lots of anti-biotics, anti-congestants, hideous nose sprays and getting the inside of your face hoovered through a tube stuck down (or up?) your nose.

Needless to say I'm not working, just have enough energy to laze on the sofa and stare at the computer screen wishing the week would hurry up and end.

Deaths, alarms and broken cameras

2010-07-04T10:10:00.005+01:00

I had a very varied and interesting day today. I was called to fly to Sandakan then Shenzhen - a gruelling 11 hour duty day starting at 6 in the morning. This sector is notorious for ending late due to Hong Kong flow control.

The first event took place on initial approach to Sandakan. We were descending through a layer of light haze - about 5000ft above sea level - when there was an almighty BANG. Out of nowhere a rather large bird had smacked straight into the Captain's windshield... Well I think it was a large bird judging by the 50cm x 50cm red splat it left behind. The startling thing is we didn't see it come and had it ended up in an engine I think we would have spent the night in Sandakan. I now have a newfound respect for the strength of our windshields.

The second event took place en-route to Shenzhen, about half-way, was the master warning going off as the Captain and I were both busy daydreaming. I don't mind saying my heart and book both made a leap for the ceiling. The FIRE - SMOKE IN LAV warning had just gone off telling us that some faggot had decided to light up in one of the toilets. Fire is a very severe risk on an aeroplane and smoking in the toilet is extremely dangerous due to the amount of flammable paper in the immediate vicinity. Thankfully the cabin crew reacted quickly, admonished the culprit and ventilated the toilet.

The arrival into Shenzhen was spectacular - the sky over Hong Kong was clear and the visibility extremely good for once. There plenty of amazing photo opportunities as we overflew Hong Kong Island, Victoria Harbour, the old Kai Tak airport (whose runway surprisingly hasn't been built on yet) and came very close to some heavy jets on approach to Hong Kong airport. On departure we overflew an equally clear Zuhai and Macau and got a stunning view of the runway in the middle of the bay.

Unfortunately I can't share anything I saw because today was the first day in 6 months that I didn't bring any camera with me Typical.

June

2010-07-01T17:55:00.003+01:00

June has been a very busy month. Lots of flying, and all my days off were filled with some activity or another... Not that I remember having many days off.

The intense thunderstorm season is slowly starting again the weather radar is getting more and more colourful. Although the whole year is thunderstorm season at the equator June-November seem to be the more active months.

I've had a few interesting moments this month - Kinabalu was landing runway 20 for a few days which involves an offset VOR approach over the city centre. It's quite fun to fly, especially with a bit of weather, and I shall post a video soon.

I also flew into Hong Kong for the first time, after months of flying over/around/beside it en-route to China or Macau. Hong Kong does beat Singapore on the airport coolness scale, the airport is busier, the spacing tighter, the weather is different (less thunderstorm, more wind) and one could be forgiven for thinking it's London from time to time with all the English accents on frequency. There are plenty of nice looking tails to enjoy too. Once out of the airport and in the city I think prefer Singapore though, Hong Kong is a little too wild for my taste ... and I don't understand any of the adds in the underground.

I have a few videos to upload, will attempt to do so soon.

A really visual approach

2010-06-03T02:34:00.003+01:00

Captain E's visual approach to Kota Kinabalu, over the hills. First 30ish seconds are accelerated - we weren't really going 400kts so close to the ground.

Filmed a few days before I went on leave.

Time Off

2010-05-31T02:09:00.002+01:00

Immediately after completing my session in the box of tricks I went home for a fortnight - hence the lack of posts. The cool crisp dry May air was lovely to breathe, as was being able to drive my car after nearly 7 months away. Unfortunately I didn't get much "rest" with all the rushing about to see various friends and I managed to drive 1500 miles spending a fortune on petrol, but going home really was healthy.

I've been back a week now and am slowly getting back into the rhythm of 12-14h days and sleeping at the oddest hours. My roster isn't exactly gentle but on the other hand I gather the hours very very quickly.

Stories will recommence once something interesting happens.

Pictures - 6

2010-05-11T02:17:00.003+01:00

In the box of tricks again, fighting multiple system failures and, ironically, volcanic ash.

Some more pictures from the last few months...

Flying through a rainbow.

Singapore A330 landing on parallel runway in Singapore.

Sunset east of the Philippines.

Taipei.

Eyjafjallajökull

2010-04-18T08:19:00.004+01:00

I think everyone who isn't living in a cave knows about this now - how one medium sized volcano in Iceland can take Europe's travel options back 100 years. This pesting volcano (excuse the language) has affected me personally, I was scheduled to fly on one of the first flights that got cancelled and now my 2 weeks off at home are very much in danger of evaporating.

There are a few reasons why this volcano is affecting travel so much more than others in the past.

For reasons I don't fully understand, but are related to ice and snow, the ash plume is getting propagated into the higher atmosphere - the place modern aeroplanes hang around - with stunning violence. The ash also seems to be extremely fine and lightweight which means it could remain airborne for weeks or months.
There is a jetstream - a high speed current of wind - located roughly over the volcano which snakes it's way towards the North sea before dying out, and there is little movement over Europe itself. Think of a strong river pouring in to a rather stagnant estuary.
The affects of ash are not very well documented other than the fact that they ruin gas turbine engines. As no one really knows what intensity is considered a cut off between 'safe' and 'unsafe', and there is very little data available about the actual intensity of the ash floating over Europe.

Through reading forums and news comments a lot of people are mentioning that volcanos erupt all the time in Italy, Japan, Indonesia, and aviation barely takes any notice. This is because either the volcano isn't powerful enough to propel it's ash into the atmosphere, the ash is thick enough to fall to the ground in a fairly limited radius and there are no strong winds overhead to move the ash quickly.

Until one of the three points above is removed from the equation I doubt conditions will change much in Europe - infact as the air in the "estuary" area slowly moves, and ash continues to be fed in, the volume of closed airspace will increase as the ash propagates slowly... As I doubt there will be any breakthroughs in ash knowledge in the next few days we can only hope that the wind conditions change and/or the eruption becomes less intense... But the high pressure is forecast to last well into the week.

What visibility?!

2010-04-14T16:08:00.004+01:00

It's Saturday morning, my second morning after 3 days off. I'm flying with a Captain I know well on a brand new, healthy aircraft. The sky is completely clear and the weather forecasts are optimistic ... I'm thinking this will be a good, easy day flying to Singapore via Kuching.

We board quickly and depart 10 minutes ahead of schedule and are granted unrestricted climb to FL380 and more or less direct to destination, there even is a nice 30kt tailwind pushing us along through the clear blue sky. I'm thinking this is a good start, and things can only get better right?

40 minutes later the Captain has just checked Kuching's ATIS. Visibility 200 meters, overcast 100ft. The look on his face is indescribable: "what was the forecast?!" I fumble for the weather... "unlimited visibility, CAVOK" So much for optimistic weather forecasts...

A few miles later Kuching Director confirms the conditions ... the visibility is now 600 meters but that still is below our minima of 800m. We decide to hold for a while to see if this surprise fog will burn off. As I plan the diversion I'm starting to think today isn't really a good day after all. Kuching comes into view about 50 miles ahead and it looks like a winter wonderland with the rather steep cartoonish hills poking out of a very low layer of cloud which is inconveniently sitting on the ground.

Just as we reach the holding fix the visibility increases to 800 meters (or minima) so we decide to give it a try and get vectored onto the ILS. It's still a beautiful clear day at 3000ft but instead of seeing ground when I look down I see cloud, which isn't normal.

1000ft descending on the ILS and we're still above the layer of cloud but there are holes here and there through which I can see bits of a city - the odd road, half a house, etc.

We enter the cloud at 500ft - the lowest we can descend to is 245ft before going around - and right on cue at minima there is a tiny gap in the clouds and the runway comes into sight so we continue and land, smoothly, 15 minutes ahead of schedule and I have enough time to go for a walk in the terminal and find some breakfast. Today is a good day.

Throughout the approach we were constantly seconds from holding/going-around/diverting when the weather conditions changed and allowed us to continue - as if the whole thing was a well scripted suspense novel. I only wish I had remembered to get the camera out of the bag and film it all.

Macau

2010-03-25T18:20:00.002Z

Still not in a mood conducive to writing material appropriate for this blog, so to keep you busy here is a video of my arrival and departure at Macau (VMMC) on a foggy day. I have accelerated some of the less interesting parts of the video such as approach through cloud and long long taxi segments.

Kinabalu Landing

2010-03-15T17:50:00.003Z

Taken a few months ago on a decidedly un-tropical day. Unfortunately the rain somewhat confuses the camera, and the battery runs out during the landing roll, but I'm quite proud of the touch-down and the cloud busting is fun.

Pictures - 5

2010-03-12T07:56:00.002Z

Not really in a blogging mood these days, so here are some pictures to look at.

A glimpse of paradise 38000ft below.

Battling a rather strong wind at max altitude - notice how close the high and low speed limits are.

Another sunset. They just make me hungry.

Comedy

2010-02-19T08:14:00.007Z

A spoof documentary about pilots. Hilarious.

Gong Xi Fa Cai....

2010-02-13T17:06:00.003Z

...or Happy Chinese New Year.

I was flying as it switched on this night of the new moon - one of the darkest nights I can remember. Lucky there was no weather whatsoever. Landing in KK was quite spectacular as the town was ablaze with fireworks everywhere. Much more fuss than the 1st of January actually.

The year of the tigger ... err ... tiger begins and as it happens I'm a tiger. Maybe it'll bring me good luck.

Sim check recipe

2010-02-10T10:12:00.004Z

This dish is traditionally served every 6 months, I had it last week-end.

Ingredients:

2 x Line pilots

1 x Examiner

1 x Box of tricks (Simulator)

1 x Scenario

1 x Very very cold CBT (Computer Based Torture ... err ... Training) room.

Instructions:

Marinate the crew in CBT for at least 4 hours the day before to tenderise the nerves and numb the brain cells. Temperature should be no more than 15° for optimal numbing. Rest overnight.

Put examiner and line pilots into small room for 30 minutes with the scenario for what's called a briefing. For added spice add some oral questions.

Put the mixture into the box of tricks for 2 hours. Throw in some engine failures, hand flown ILS and VOR approaches and go-arounds. If you like a crispy crew replace one or all engine failures with fires.

Remove crew for 15 minutes.

Repeat step three, reversing the roles of the 2 pilots.

Return crew to small room for a 15 minute debriefing.

Done!

Pictures - 4

2010-02-04T05:44:00.003Z

Some more pictures, mostly the sky this time. The weather is getting much better making airborne photography a possibility again.

Sunset on M758.

A rather amazing tunnel like effect in the atmosphere.

Traffic 3000ft above.

Mount Kinabalu.

Under the stars

2010-01-26T19:02:00.003Z

Position is somewhere over the South China Sea at FL370, cruising along M758 homeward bound. The Captain has just left the flight deck to go chat up the girls in the back and I'm left alone with the night. And what a night.

The instrument lighting is down as far as it will go, the screens are as dim as they'll go and all flood lighting is off. Outside the moon is painting everything a slightly eerie silver.

There is a distant thunderstorm spitting lighting off to the right (annoying someone else no doubt) but the weather ahead is smooth and clear.

I can just make out the blink-blink of the strobe lights of a company Bus going the other way 1000ft above. A few seconds later it whizzes past and the sky is motionless again. Up above I can just make out a million stars competing with the moon.

It's moments like these that make me love flying - despite the stupid paperwork and 25 minute turnarounds - and convince me that the best view on earth really is at thirty something thousand feet.

Taipei Landing

2010-01-18T00:33:00.002Z

I flew the post-inaugural flight to Taipei on Saturday. The route was launched the previous day with the Chief Pilot of the base flying the company's newest A320 for the occasion. We got a slightly-less-new A320 and set off for what still felt a bit like a pioneering expedition.

The only noteworthy occurrence was ATC's relative ignorance of our callsign. They came up with some very interesting variations...

A video of the final approach in slightly hazy conditions. Taipei has one of the bumpiest runways I have ever landed on.

Mt. Kinabalu

2010-01-06T10:14:00.004Z

Today was probably the nicest day I have had so far weather-wise. We departed 10 minutes early for the short hop to Sandakan in a completely totally clear sky, with only a hint of morning ground fog. The view of Borneo and Mt. Kinabalu was spectacular ... and typically I left my camera at home.

My mobile phone is equipped with a "camera" so I used it to try and capture as best I could this unique moment of seeing the mountain completely clear of cloud. I'm afraid the pictures don't really do justice to the savage beauty of the scene.

Mt. Kinabalu taken from the South, on approach to Kota Kinabalu.

And again taken on departure from K-K with the harbour in the front.

A few hours later I was landing in drizzly wet and comparatively chilly (17°) Shenzhen. Visibility was just 3000m and we broke out of cloud at 500ft AGL. The mandarin ATC was just as spooky as it was last time I flew to China a few months ago.

The clouds had built up to obscure the mountain for our second arrival into KK but the airfield was still clear and we executed a light-aircraft style visual approach over the water. Proof that flying big jets isn't always about autopilots and fancy automatic landing systems.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T21:40:00.006Z

I quite like flying around big holidays, the knowledge that I'm bringing families and friends together makes the job that much nicer and as my family and close friends are all very very very very far away being in an aeroplane is the next best thing.

It's quite interesting how a tiny detail can make (or break) someone's day. I swapped my regular pilot cap for a more festive alternative and the amount of smiles it created was truly amazing. Rampers who usually rush about took a few seconds to give me a thumbs-up from outside, the cabin crew had something to gossip and laugh about and the passengers were most amused. If everyone did a little something to make others smile the would could be such a nicer place.

A Christmas card I made very quickly for you all. Took the picture today en-route to Singapore, the aeroplane wanted to wear the hat too.

As the card says, happy holidays where ever you are...

Curfews

2009-12-19T21:06:00.003Z

We departed KK for K-L about 2 and a half hours later than planned, at about 1930 local. The aircraft had thrown a hissy fit the previous night and maintenance wasn't able to sort it out in time for an on time departure the next morning. Not a huge problem for me - I knew well beforehand and arrived suitably late as well.

Now the runway in KK closes every night at 0100 local for "upgrading work" (though honestly I have no idea what they're doing because it just gets bumpier) so we had a last possible departure time from KL of 2230 local and our ETA was 2155. 35 minutes to turn around is more than we need but things would have to be snappy.

And they weren't.

We were sat on the ground for just under an hour due to slow boarding and problematic paperwork of a passenger. As the ground staff did their thing my eye was on the clock: 2215 ... 2230 (cut off!) ... 2235 ... 2240 ... 2245 ... By the time we took off ETA at KK was 0120. Operations gave us the "go" to give it a try - they would contact the airport and beg for an extension - but the whole thing was a bit non-committal. I prepared the flight plan for Brunei just in case and the Captain threw economy out the window and cruised at M0.80 instead of the usual M0.76-78.

We were lucky, we landed at 0107 and the runway was still open. It did make the flight more exciting though, so exciting I caught another cold.

Real weather

2009-12-12T17:15:00.005Z

Settling in at my new base in Borneo. The letter said I would be here at least 6 months but if I compare the lifestyle here to that of KL there really is no reason to ever leave.

Today was my third and last day, and as a payback for only working 3 in a row I got to do 6 sectors on two of those days. Some people may think all the landings and take-offs are fun but I can honestly say the amount of paperwork versus flying makes it a very very bad deal. The weather today - huge thunderstorms pouring down enough water to flood the sahara desert - didn't help much either.

This thing was sitting over the airport when we left, and an hour and a half later it hadn't gone far. Picture taken from about 60 nautical miles (100km) at FL110.

A good day

2009-11-26T06:58:00.005Z

Sometimes, very rarely, the stars will align in such a way that a day goes very very well despite the evil forces' best efforts at ruining it. Today was one of those days.

I got to fly our newest A320, delivered only last week, on a pleasant 2 sector - 5 hour day. The weather was more than magnificent and ATC's best attempts at ruining our already dodgy on-time performance record failed. Singapore even went out of it's way to get us the level we wanted and save us a few kilos of fuel.

I think a picture is the best way to describe the feeling...

What other office has a view as good as this one?

in Sweden

2009-11-18T08:25:00.003Z

I'm sitting in Stockholm right now, it's just going on 9:30 local and I've been up for 5 hours already. I've just completed my annual A320 type rating renewal sim check, a short flight which involved dealing with an engine failure, some other random system malfunction and flying a few approaches. I arrived in Stockholm yesterday around 3 and I fly back to London in 2 hours.

Very little changed since I was last year a year ago and coming back for the sim ride was a bit like going home to one's old uni or school. Memories of clicking away at computer-based-training consoles until the wee hours of the morning and the perpetual cold/darkness of the Swedish winter came rushing back.

The sim ride was actually almost fun - my Captain was one of the instructors from the type rating and the examiner was another of my instructors so it was more of a reunion than an exam. It a shame I can't stay any longer but I'll be back sooner or later...

Pictures - 3

2009-11-13T05:44:00.002Z

Some more pictures...

Pahang river

Kuching

In the queue...

En-route somewhere...

300

2009-11-06T17:56:00.004Z

Logged my 300th flying hour today, somewhere over the Java Sea enroute from Ujung Pandang/Makassar to KL.

The weather was beautiful for a change, almost clear sky with the sun reflecting in the sea. Ujung Pandang looks like a lovely place to go on a diving holiday - we saw loads of reefs and tiny islands off the coast. Another place on my must-see-more-than-the-airport list.

The arrival was quite "fun" as well, a visual approach for runway 31 which involves flying between some rather high hills not 300ft above their tops. Although the Captain was flying I was far too busy looking for the runway and talking to ATC to take a picture unfortunately.

I just noticed I wrote this post backwards. Nevermind.

That new-car smell

2009-10-30T15:58:00.003Z

I got to fly a brand new jet today, it was delivered only 8 days ago. The aeroplane felt new and happy to be alive and the engines were noticeably smoother. All the switches had that extra springiness that years (or even months) of flicking tends to ware away, the cabin was spotless, all the lights worked and ... well it was like sitting in a brand new car.

Here's some weather we had to deal with a few days ago...

Hmmm...

2009-10-24T21:29:00.005+01:00

Arriving into Brunei there was plenty of colour on the radar but the airport itself looked clear and I was able to go visual from about 7 miles. As I touched down (softly) the heavens opened up and it started to pour. Cats and dogs, and probably elephants too. It rained throughout the turnaround, so much so that the aerobridge anti-drip whatever-it's-called couldn't cope and the poor passengers had to walk through a shower to get onboard. I could't help but think of that song "the rain in spain falls mostly in the plane" as it was sort of raining inside the aircraft.

As we pushed a Royal Brunei 767 bound for London taxied down runway 21 to depart from the other (03) end... We didn't think much of it and requested taxi for 21 as it was the advertised runway. As we were taxying another Royal Brunei 767 departed 03 ... Hmmm.

Ah. Quite. As we lined up and switched on the radar we found ourselves looking at lots and lots and lots of red in the departure path of runway 21. It was the sort of red that had killed people in the past, so we also taxied all the way to the other end, span around and departed 03 with an insignificant tailwind. Next time I'll pay more attention to aircraft departing the "wrong" runway, especially when the weather gods are playing around.

Arriving into K-L 2 hours later we were given an especially outstanding display of lightning and ATC incompetence, but that's another story for another day.

The landings are getting much better, I have managed to log 20h in the last 4 days.

A first

2009-10-21T14:54:00.004+01:00

I did my first landing with paying passengers in the back at 0318z (1118 local) today, the 21st of October 2009. It was on runway 14L in K-L in beautiful weather and a very light tailwind. I flared a little too aggressively and floated far too long but no one got hurt and nothing broke.

My second landing, slightly better, was at 0611z on the same runway but with a thundercell 3nm away and a 5kt crosswind.

It's for real now, despite the bureaucracy's best efforts I have finally moved from the 3rd seat to the 2nd seat. The view is better and there are more knobs to play with. I logged nearly 6 hours today which is more than I managed in the last 12 months.

I'll be denting runways again tomorrow, wake-up call is for 3:30 in the morning. Yuk.

Starry sea

2009-10-18T06:35:00.003+01:00

Flying back from Bangkok we're skimming under a thick layer of stratus that's completely blackening out the sky. All there is outside is complete uninterrupted darkness and we could be the only object in the entire universe. Then slowly stars begin to appear beneath us. First it's just a few, then more and more until the sea is covered with little white twinkles.

The world isn't coming to an end, and we haven't started flying upside down, what we see is thousands of fishing boats out for a night of work. Seeing the tiny lights bobbing around is magical... Words fail me and I forgot to bring my camera.

A lightning flash and a kick in the bottom brings us back to reality: seatbelts on (again), select turbulence speed M0.76 (again), scan the blackness for that rogue thundercell that's hiding from the radar. The little bugger probably has friends lurking around nearby...

Mandarin Meters

2009-10-07T01:23:00.002+01:00

Flew to Guangzhou (sometimes known as Canton) a few days ago. It's a very large Chinese city about 120km inland from Hong-Kong, although from the air it looks connected to H-K in one huge urban sprawl. I'm ashamed to say I didn't have any idea this place, or the 9 million people that live in it, existed a few weeks ago. I always pictured Hong-Kong as an isolated city in the middle of I-don't-know-what ... but that's not the point.

The point is that this flight was my first ever encounter with metric altitudes. Most of the aviation world uses feet to express altitudes and will instruct us to maintain an altitude in feet. In China and Russia, for some probably communist reason, altitudes are measured in meters, separation is in meters, ATC tells us to fly meters, but the 'bus only speaks feet so we have to check a reference table every time we're given a new level.

That in itself isn't such a big deal, but ATC also speaks Mandarin to Chinese aircraft and that is very very unnerving.

I always used to scorn the people who complained about ATC being provided in French over France and Québec. I speak French so could follow what was going on easily - and even if I didn't speak the language surely knowing what I had to do would be enough?

Even flying through Spain, where Spanish is spoken along with English, wouldn't feel too odd, I would figure out what's going on using the few Spanish words I know, but being thrown into a completely new country flying to a town I didn't know anything about while flying with weird altitudes and procedures and people who speak a language that doesn't remotely resemble any other language I vaguely have a clue about on the radio really lowered my situational awareness.

I won't say they should start speaking English ... But I think I may try and learn basic aviation instructions in Mandarin before my next flight there, and I hope I go again soon because despite the culture shock and the strange noises on the radio I really feel like I've arrived somewhere different as opposed to Indonesia or Malaysia which, from the cockpit during a 20 minute turn-around, all feels the same somehow.

Yet more rest and recreation

2009-09-28T03:36:00.003+01:00

Being faced with another week off courtesy of the administration's strict adherence to the innumerable Malaysian public holidays I decided it may be time to breathe some cool fresh air, see some familiar faces and eat something not containing rice or noodles.

I flew back to Stansted last Monday for a surprise 7 day visit. Only one person knew I was coming, and magically appearing at friends' houses saying "surprise!" was great fun. The weather was brilliant too, crisp clear blue skies and a lovely 18-23° during the day just the way it should be. I got the chance to go sailing again in Portsmouth, wander around London, play with a model aeroplane near Kingston and have a very lazy week-end in Bournemouth.

Alas the break is over and in less than 24 hours I'll be back in the A340 headed for the tropics... I really don't want to leave so soon but the holidays are over and the administration should have whatever papers I'm still waiting for ready upon my arrival.

Thanks to everyone who entertained me and reminded me what home was like during my short stay.

Rest and Recreation

2009-09-16T10:44:00.002+01:00

Some friends flew over from the UK for a few days, and as it was getting on 2 full weeks since my last holiday-by-the-sea I decided it was time to take a few days off again.

Photos and narration here: http://bit.ly/45OwoC

Lest we forget, 8 years later

2009-09-11T14:35:00.006+01:00

September 11 2001, the day aviation as it was meant to be died, and the world took a decidedly sharp turn for the worse.

Let us never forget the days of flying before this planet was plunged into this terror age. I have fond memories of visiting flight decks (cockpits as they were called), bringing bottles of water or toothpaste through security and not having to unpack laptops and remove shoes/jackets/belts/watches/etc. Everyone seemed happier back then.

I now have the priviledge of being (ocasionally) allowed into the flight deck again but not being able to share the magic of that little room with others really bothers me.

Maybe the world will come back to it's senses one day, but I don't feel optimistic about it happening - it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse...

(Yes I know some aircraft crashed, towers collapsed and people were killed as well, but in the grand scheme of things I feel the legacy of the day is far far worse than the actual event ... how many people have died since?)

Windshear

2009-09-10T17:03:00.003+01:00

We were on final for runway 32L. The the radar picture on the navigation display looked like a child's colouring book, with greens, yellows, reds and even some purple here and there.

There was a nice sploch of red (thundercell) on the approach path about 3 miles from the runway and it was producing the most powerful rain I have ever seen.

The wind was 320/25 gusting 30. Strong, but right down the runway.

We saw the approach lights about 2 miles out, and the swimming pool of a runway shortly afterwards. We already knew this would be an interesting landing and we were all psyched up: positive touchdown, full reverse, pay close attention to directional control and braking at all times.

"Two Hundred - Minimum" - "Visual, continue"

"One Hudred"

Then it happened, like magic the wind shifted 30° left and we shifted 50 feet right so that we were approaching the runway edge lighting rather than the centreline. It was too late to make a heroic sideslip and continuing could have meant putting one wheel in the mud. Captain called "go-around" and we did, as the radar altimeter read 75 feet.

We went around, calmed down and landed 10 minutes later without further ado. The aircraft ahead of us and behind us didn't feel anything.

There's a saying in aviation that you haven't committed to a landing until the airplane is too slow to fly. How true.

Pictures - 2

2009-09-05T16:51:00.003+01:00

Have been flying around in the jumpseat, officially observing, since about a week. The first flights were interesting but watching other people fly is getting tedious. Sometimes they'll have me do the radios or pre-flight setup, other days there's barely a word exchanged and the day feels very long.

Some pictures...

Kuala Lumpur at night.

Final approach to Kuala Lumpur.

A 777 coming straight at us, 1000ft below.

LOFT/LPC part 2

2009-08-20T06:23:00.003+01:00

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.

LOFT/LPC

2009-08-19T17:07:00.002+01:00

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.

Status? No status.

2009-08-07T08:22:00.003+01:00

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.

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:

Beach 1 - Datai Bay on Northern side of the Island with Tarutao Island (Thailand) in the distance.

Beach 2 - Near Telok Burau on Western side of the island.

Not a beach, a rice (I think) field near the airport.

Pictures

2009-07-27T14:33:00.003+01:00

As promised...

A family of giant cumulonimbus (cumulonimbi?) forcing us off the airway. The tops were a good 6-8000ft above us.

A Singapore 777 trying to race us, 6000ft above.

More clouds, in the most amazing sunset ever. Pity we were pointing the wrong way - it was difficult to take pictures.

Office work and free flights

2009-07-24T06:43:00.008+01:00

Spent the morning walking from desk to desk at work in another stamp-and-signature collecting exercise. I was also briefed on how to use the duty/rostering system and shown how flight planning works. Still no date for those 3 sims that separate me from flying online.

A friend and I decided, on a whim, to go to the beach for a few days in East Malaysia as we have nothing better to do. Flight takes off at 1700 local. The joys of ID90 (very very reduced fare) travel mean that we only paid £9 - RM50 (The price of a taxi into town) which is a tenth of the full last-minute fare.

I think it may be time for some pictures soon - once I find a suitably fast internet connection.

CRM

2009-07-17T12:27:00.004+01:00

Cee Arr Em. A word used extensively in aviation, it stands for Cockpit/Crew Resource Management and we spent the lsat 2 days digging deep into it's meaning and application. Googling the term will tell you that "CRM is concerned not so much with the technical knowledge and skills required to fly and operate an aircraft but rather with the cognitive and interpersonal skills needed to manage the flight within an organised aviation system." That sounds very nice, but it doesn't really mean anything.

At my company it goes even further and we call it Company Resource Management. We looked into the interaction between the flight deck and the cabin, air traffic, ground handling and even general cultural factors affecting human interaction - a good thing as the airline employs people from all over the place and, operating in Asia, has to deal with some fairly strong local traditions which aren't compatible with aviation safety. The course was as much for first officers, to learn about CRM, as it was for captains, to remind them about CRM. Much too long to go into details about, but the single most important word is safety.

Next week RVSM and an air law exam, then (probably) more office hopping to get forms stamped and cards issued.

Safe to fly...

2009-07-10T11:59:00.003+01:00

Safety training finished yesterday with an afternoon in the pool going over post-ditching procedures. Safety training for pilots isn't as thorough as for cabin crew, but we still need to know how to evacuate, fight fires, use oxygen and what the cabin crew will be doing to deal with whatever situations they face. I found my 3 days worth unpleasantly difficult so I really feel for the poor girls (and a few guys) who have over 2 weeks worth.

Another part of the safety training is company policy which is very relevant to pilots. Items such as maximum invalid passengers or infants we can carry, company procedure for dealing with ... security sensitive ... situations, procures for fuelling with passengers on board and/or engines running (I'd like to see the latter happen in H&S minded Europe), etc. Training completes with an exam which must be passed with 90% or better.

Training continues - how to talk to customers today, dangerous goods tomorrow then first aid and CRM next week...

Smile!

2009-07-06T12:19:00.003+01:00

First day in the classroom. The first 2 hour lecture was about the company and it's culture (big family - all equal), work ethic (smile!), how great the boss is, how the airline started and it's amazing growth, what the future will look like, how great the boss is, all the awards it won and how we should behave while wearing the uniform (smile!) and represent the company.

We were also handed a list of destinations and told to memorise it by the end of the week, airport names, time zone, currency and IATA codes included. I strongly question the reasoning behind learning some of the items by heart, but...

We were then paraded around the academy to shake the hand of everyone in the building, while smiling of course. Rather embarrassing for us and the groups of host... flight attendants we barged in on. The office staff seemed used to it.

The afternoon brought a session of Airbus Computer Based Torture explaining all the features of the cabin systems: doors, O2, lights, IFE, lavatories, etc.

Papertrail

2009-07-02T16:33:00.004+01:00

First day (back) at work today - although one could say it was genuinely my first day at work as I actually did something: Rush around more offices than I can remember fetching/delivering/copying papers, being briefed about all the briefings which will take place, collecting the training schedule and doing a lot of waiting. I was also assigned my permanent base: WBKK.

Tomorrow is another day of paperwork and going to see various agencies. SOP training starts Monday morning for about 4 weeks.

Reintroduction

2009-06-28T22:55:00.007+01:00

I spent the last 7 hours in Gatwick reacquainting myself with the A320. Incredibly it had been over six months since I last saw the flight deck of a bus.

We flew Manchester-Gatwick-Manchester as a standard line flight then did some manoeuvres: engine failure/fire, hand flown ILS, VOR, LOC and visual approaches. My landings were a bit ... artistic ... but acceptable. Taxying was something else altogether, however the captain will always be doing that on line - and ground manoeuvring isn't a strong point of the otherwise extremely realistic simulator.

I now have a day to pack before flying off to Malaysia. I'm starting to feel excited, rushed and a bit sad about leaving all at the same time.

A fresh start

2009-06-28T13:00:00.004+01:00

Having been finally recalled to work I thought it was time to change blog. The one I used to write, which is still online somewhere (but not for very long) got completely ignored, and updating it had become an unpleasant chore. The writing style was terrible too.

Here's what happened so far: In 2003 I started learning to fly in Canada. I got the PPL in 2005 then the CPL in early 2007. It was around that time that my family decided to move (back) to Europe and I decided I didn't want to be a Canadian bush pilot. I went to Oxford for 13 months of training and got my JAA ATPL in July 2008.

In October a Malaysian carrier asked Oxford to send them some newbie pilots and I was one of the people chosen. We were fully type rated by Christmas and flew out in January, however upon arrival some bureaucratic obstacles delayed the commencement of company training (and confirmed employment). Eventually we got fed up flew back home.

6 months later we have finally been called up again - we are to report to head office on July second...