This is a great thread, I echo the sentiments of others thanking you for your time and effort answering questions. Many years ago you flew me on a 747 across the Pacific, at the time I knew of you as JB from the newsgroup AA. A couple of questions for you please:
In its day, it was a good newsgroup. I guess a combination of time, and trolls, ultimately killed it off.
When aircraft are towed by a tug from a remote parking stand to the gate in preparation for a flight, what systems are powered up (braking, APU etc)? What qualifications does the person sitting in the seat need while the tug is driving it to the gate? Is it just a mechanic who has been checked out on how to release/set the park brake?
I don't know what their specific qualifications are. As far as I know, they are always engineers. Systems to be powered will differ with aircraft type. Normally, the APU is running, so electrical services are available. 747, a couple of the hydraulic systems (1 and 4 from memory) would enable braking and body gear steering. Airbus will handle them electrically. Accumulators on both types will enable some braking even if the aircraft is totally unpowered. You must not touch the brakes unless the tow bar breaks....the tug does all of the work.
In an earlier post you described how the numbers you call out on final approach are the winds off the nose (in cross wind and head wind components) - what system tells you what those numbers are?
In both types, the wind direction and speed is shown on the nav display. In the Boeings, the components are also dispayed on one of the FMC pages.
You also described a Sim exercise that was set out of Dubai - why is this airport chosen, is it always at an airport where you might occassionally divert, or is the choice of airport arbitrary? Why wouldn't they set it out of Sydney or Melbourne for example?
They move around. Melbourne and Sydney come up regularly. Recently, we've had HK, Dubai, Nadi, Noumea, Bali, Ontario, LA and London.
recently flew from Dubai to Singapore, as we were flying across Oman I happened to be looking outside the window at the very instance that another aircraft flew past in the opposite direction. Obviously since the crossing speed of the aircraft was quite large it was a momentary glimpse, however I was stunned that the aircraft was on the same flight level and appeared very close. Of course appearances can be deceiving when there is no other visual reference, but how close should an aircraft travelling in the opposing direction be, and is it unusual for airways to be shared like this?
From the cabin, you can't see most of the other aircraft, as the go exactly down the centreline. With the new RVSM rules there's 1000 feet between aircraft. From the 380, you can sometimes even hear the other traffic.