Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

A very little one. In side elevation runway 34 has a hump which rises to a maximum of 2.33m above the threshold and 4.42m above foxtrot

I guess that might be noticeable from a lower coughpit, but the aircraft I flew were probably high enough to not notice. On the other hand Darwin and Manchester.....

 

[markis10]

I guess that might be noticeable from a lower coughpit, but the aircraft I flew were probably high enough to not notice. On the other hand Darwin and Manchester.....

It’s caused issues in the past when a tug crosses the 16 threshold unauthorised with a 34 departure!

 

[AviatorInsight]

That was a very recent change from one operator, increases Wet Rwy Xwind for T/O.

Ours are a bit different. Not doubting the validity of yours, it’s interesting to see the subtle differences between operators. Even if they fly the same aircraft in the same country!

Yep, you’re right. I had to ask my mates over at QF and turns out there is a few parameters with flap and CG to allow you to increase the wet take off crosswind limit by 5kts.

I remember they did something to it to get out of ports before cyclone Alfred hit but didn’t realise on the flap or CG part. I thought ours was also going to get relaxed by 5kts too (up to 30kts total) on a wet runway, but that never happened.

I wonder how long it’ll take before we follow suit.

 

[747sp]

I was wondering what the pilots view is on plane development .
Is the development of new engines driving the development in planes, or is it the other way around?
Also, JB, did Boeing ever talk to you about QF 30 ?

 

[jb747]

I was wondering what the pilots view is on plane development .
Is the development of new engines driving the development in planes, or is it the other way around?

Probably neither. The overarching influence seems to be coming from accountants, both at the maker and at the airlines. There are tweaks here and there, but nothing really ground breaking from any major manufacturer. There’s common sense inclusions, that came from the military, and made their way to the civil world, such as FBW and carbon fibre, but they’re not leaps. Boeing had an interesting idea with their original 737 plan, which was a wide body (dual aisle) small aircraft, but that was about the last original engineering thought that they had.

The blended wing plans that are out there are a real leap, which will provide better packaging (both cabin and external dimensions) as well as efficiency. I doubt that I’ll ever see one in service though.

Also, JB, did Boeing ever talk to you about QF 30 ?

No. I’m not sure that they’d have gotten anything they couldn’t from the report, and of course, one of their teams did much of the structural repair.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

QF have had a couple of aerobridge vs aircraft incidents over the last couple of weeks. A 737 in BNE and this weekend and an A380 in Sydney. Many years back I was on a brand new A330-200 in Sydney on a SYD-MEL sector and the aircraft commenced the push back with the aerobridge still attached with Door L2 wide open. This one resulted in the door being ripped off and an A330 sitting on the sidelines for a number of weeks.

This morning I did the QF132 CHC-BNE service on a 737. I noticed the process to connect the aerobridge in BNE took a very long time. Same again in SYD later today with an A330 doing the BNE-SYD leg where it took a very long time for the aerobridge to get connected to the aircraft.

I am not familiar with the procedures for the moving an aerobridge but up until now it appeared the aerobridge would be positioned for the type of aircraft prior to the aircraft arriving at the gates then once the aircraft was parked the aerobridge would do the final maneouvring. Now it looks as though the aerobridge is put into a stow position and not maneouvred until the aircraft is parked.

Not sure if this weekends 'slowness' is a result of a new procedure or just coincidental.

 

[jb747]

I recall that 330 incident. It was pretty famous around the company at the time. If I recall correctly, the door had been closed and bridge moved back, and for whatever reason the bridge operator moved it back, and the CSM opened the door, without talking to the coughpit.

Bridges should be in a parked position. These are clearly marked on the ground, and the pilots will not taxi in if the bridge is not parked in this spot. If we see the bridge move at all whilst we’re still taxiing, then we immediately stop.