Dubai

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.

S.

Sim check recipe

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:

1. 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.
   


2. 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.
   


3. 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.
   


4. Remove crew for 15 minutes.
   


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


6. Return crew to small room for a 15 minute debriefing.
   

Done!

S.

LOFT/LPC part 2

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

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.

Reintroduction

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.