Fly Me Friendly

According to Alan Joyce from QANTAS, the “Jetstarisation of QANTAS” is supposed to be over. Well, I have a problem with that as I continue to see evidence that, if anything, the “Jetstarisation” is increasing. I would not be surprised to find JQ branded high density A380s flying to the USA and/or Europe while QF dwindles to only a very few select routes.

Thanks to an opportunity presented by Shashank Nigam, I’ve been able to voice my concerns on his very well read Simpliflying site. This is not only getting my thoughts before a large audience, it’s also helping to promote the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, which can only be a good thing.

The article provides a background on the birth of Jetstar, its growth to date and how it is destined to consume more of QANTAS’ mainline routes & aircraft. Head on over to Simpliflying and check out the article.

Thanks to Shashank for giving me the opportunity to gain further exposure to the global aviation world and helping to promote PCDU, it’s very much appreciated :)

As I mentioned in the previous Fear of Flying story, the folks at Flight Experience Melbourne are running a competition for their 737 flight simulator. Write up your scary flying story and you could win a free session in the sim. Woo hoo.

Here’s the second of my scary stories and it relates to heavy aircraft taking off short runways – always a “fun” time :)

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My other “scary flight moment” was when flying from Buenos Aires to Australia back in the late 90’s. At that time Aerolineas Argentinas had exclusive rights to the trans-polar route between Auckland & Buenos Aires and were using their 747-200 aircraft.

With the prevailing winds behind them, they were able to go from Auckland to Buenos Aires non-stop but couldn’t make it in the other direction with those same winds slowing them down. To make the flight to Auckland, the aircraft would fly south from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos way down at the bottom of Argentina. From here they would load up with fuel and continue their journey to Auckland. Due to being full of fuel, they couldn’t take on a full passenger load so you sometimes got some extra space. That was about the only benefit to the flight.

The first time I ever flew back to Australia from Argentina, I had a window seat and was watching the stark, rugged approach as we neared the airport. The screen on the wall was showing our progress and as I looked out the window, I saw a runway that looked a bit short for a 747. Sure enough, we turned final and landed on it. Oh great.

After an hour or two hanging out in the terminal waiting for fueling to be completed, we trooped back aboard and the real fun began. I couldn’t get the image of the runway out of my mind. It really did appear rather short.

Being too big & heavy to use the taxiway, we went onto the runway, turned right and headed to the end where we did a 180 and lined up to take off. The pilots stood on the brakes and ran up the engines, first to check they were running OK then beyond to much higher thrust levels. The aircraft was straining against the brakes with the engines howling when, finally, the pilots released and applied full power.

Rumbling down the runway, I split my attention between the view outside and the screen on the wall at the front of the cabin that was showing speed, altitude, temperature, etc. With the aircraft shaking along the runway, we’d gone past the mid-point where the terminal was and still weren’t near what I figured was VR.

Oh crap :(

Subconsciously my hands went to the arm rests of my seat and began pulling up on them as I thought “Come on you fat pig, lift! Fly!”

I was really starting to get concerned when I felt the nose lift and then the rumbling ceased as the mains left the ground. WHEW!

When you take off from a major runway in most large airports, the gear is probably already retracted before you’ve passed the end of the runway. Not this time. I’d only had a second to start relaxing when the end of the runway flashed by and the gear started to retract. Wow!

Once we were in the air and on our way I started breathing again and realised I was still holding the arm rests. Letting go I looked out the window, wondering how they ever got approval to operate fully loaded 747’s from Rio Gallegos. I wished I could have experienced it from the cockpit – the view would have been incredible.

I only did the Buenos Aires -> Rio Gallegos -> Auckland trip twice and both times I was stressing about getting off the ground before the runway ran out. Eventually QANTAS started flying the route and their 747-400’s could go non-stop between Buenos Aires & Auckland. Aerolineas Argentinas soon upgraded to A340s and Rio Gallegos was no longer required on the trans-polar route. These days QANTAS are using their 747-400ERs which can make it non-stop from Buenos Aires to Sydney so you don’t even have to stop in Auckland if you don’t want to.

I’ve got to say, there are some things from the “good old days” of flying that I really just don’t miss :)

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It’s interesting that QANTAS are using their 747-400ERs on the Buenos Aires route. I guess with the A380 on the SYD <-> LAX and MLB <-> LAX routes the -400ER’s were available to fly additional routes. It certainly makes getting to Buenos Aires a lot more comfortable :)

I got word this morning from Carlo at Flight Experience Melbourne that he’d just arrived at Melbourne airport (YMML) and seen an Antonov parked on the ramp. Talk about perfect timing as I was taking one of my workmates to the airport for his trip home to Sydney (flying Tiger Airways – good luck with that!).

After dropping him off, I shot off around to the viewing area near the AirServices compound on Operations Rd. As expected, this was too far away to be of much use for photos, but gave me an excuse to go check out where it was parked (and take a couple anyway, what the heck).

 

 

On my way back I stopped off at one of the ramps where some of the cargo, VIP and QANTAS maintenance operations are so I could get a shot of the Ansett DC-3 (VH-ABR) parked in front of a RAAF BBJ (A36-002) and the A319 that flies to the “blue ice runway” in Antarctica (VH-VHD). Nice :)

I then scooted back around towards the main terminal area, stopping on Link Rd to get a distance shot of the An-124 that, although a bit further away, was better as it had fewer fences & hills in the way. From there I headed back to the freight area and started hunting around for a good view of the ramp. Fortunately I found a spot where I could park the car and get up to a fence, shooting through the links to get a reasonably good view of the beastie.

While I was snapping the shots, a QANTAS 737 was being towed from maintenance to the terminals, letting me get a good size comparison shot. Yes, that thing is *huge*

Not sure why it was parked on the ramp at Tulla, but if I find out I’ll be sure to post it here. Meanwhile, you can see all the shots I took (including larger copies of each shot) over at the YMML Antonov page on my photo gallery.

While returning from Nykolai’s scout camp I dropped into Avalon airport (YMAV) to check out Tanker 10, a converted DC10 that’s now used as a super-heavy water bomber. It’s parked in the keyhole and not easily viewed without a huge zoom lens, something I don’t have.

On the day I was there, a QANTAS 747-400 was also in the keyhole, possibly getting ready to depart after maintenance.

Over at Plane Crazy Down Under, we’re trying to get up closer to Tanker 10. If we do, I’ll be sure to get better images loaded here.

 

 

 

 

While I was there, I also grabbed a few photos of Canberra A84-232, now parked as a gate guardian near the entrance. I also grabbed a photo of QANTAS’ last 747-300, ex VH-EBU. Once painted in the Aboriginal “Nalanji Dreaming” scheme, it is currently stripped of engines and remains as just a fuselage & wings painted a base blue colour with a red tail. It was being used to provide spares and keep the other 747-300’s running. Now that they’re gone, it is probably going to get parted out into scrap.

As some of you may be aware, on October 7th 2008 a QANTAS A330 traveling from Singapore to Perth was about 154km west of Learmouth, West Australia when it entered a rapid descent, causing unsecured items & people to float up in the cabin, leading to injuries on board. The aircraft declared an emergency and diverted to Learmouth.

The ATSB has released a preliminary finding that states that a fault in one of the Air Data Inertial Reference Units (ADIRU #1) led to the incident. Investigations are continuing and QANTAS have instigated changes in their procedures should the symptoms appear again.

Well, guess what, the symptoms have appeared again! On Dec 27th, a QF A330 going from Perth to Singapore had a similar ADIRU problem in a similar part of the world (this time about 650 kilometers south of Learmouth). Fortunately the crew were able to enact the revised procedures and disconnect the systems, avoiding any upsets. They then decided to return to Perth.

The ATSB says it’s too early to draw conclusions but they note that it is the same problem and also that it occurred in a similar area to the previous incident. As such, they will include this incident in the investigations being performed for the Oct 7th incident which should produce a factual report about mid February.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Oct 7th incident is that the potential was raised for possible external influence on the ADIRU due to either portable electronic devices on board (laptops, mp3 players, etc) or from the Harold E Holt Naval Communications Station near Learmouth (there’s also a Wikipedia article on the comms station).

The situation gets even more interesting if you note that a Malaysian Airlines 777 had a similar ADIRU fault back in 2005 (PDF) in roughly the same area. Of course, the 777 has a different ADIRU, different software and the problem was traced to failed accelerometers and a software fault, but still – very interesting.

Hmmmm – I wonder if the military have been experimenting with something and accidentally zapping ADIRUs every now and again? (cue X-Files theme…).

We’re having a break in Tweed Heads to visit family and are staying in a house not far from Coolangatta / Gold Coast Airport (YBCG). Sitting on the balcony with a beer, I can watch the commercial jets heading out (mostly Virgin Blue and JetStar), the occasional corporate jet, helicopters and a few lighties. There’s a couple of flight schools at this airport so there are a few lighties doing circuits in the gaps around the jets. This house would be perfect if it were only a little higher up the hill behind us, then I could see the tarmac as well.

As usual, we flew Virgin Blue out of Melbourne. We could fly JetStar but we’re not too impressed with them and only use them when there’s no alternative. While waiting for our flight at a cafe in Melbourne airport, we got our first “in the flesh” look at QANTAS’ new A380. It’s not yet in commercial service but is flying around Australia doing familiarisation and shake down flights. Damn that thing is huge – at first glance it was just another aircraft until you realise it’s got two levels of windows and/or it goes past another aircraft. They parked over on the freight ramp with a terminal building between us. We could only see the tails of the other aircraft there (including a B747) but the whole upper deck of the A380 could be seen. Amazing.

As we taxied out to the runway we passed one of Virgin Blue’s new Embraer E-jets. At first glance they look like a 737 until you get a better look at it. When seen against a 737, it looks like someone’s shrunk it down. I’d love to see one next to the A380.

After holding short for a Tiger Airways A321 to land we moved out onto the runway and sat there for ages. I have no idea why we waited so long on the runway but finally the engines were powered up and away we went. Otherwise, the flight was uneventful – some light chop in the early cruise and some sharp jolts as we descended into cloud on approach. Coolangatta terminal is undergoing some massive rebuilding so getting in involved long detours, queuing when the path narrowed and filing through a single door into a complete disaster inside – I imagine it’ll be great when it’s all finished, but for now it’s a place to avoid. Not looking forward to flying out on Monday, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, for now it’s time to relax, unwind and watch the aircraft while drinking some beers on the balcony.