PhilSquares From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (3 years 3 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 9286 times:
I have debated about writing this report since, from my perspective, most trips are fairly routine. However, this is just the first leg on a 9 day trip and it's already been far from routine.
My trip was supposed to depart SIN around noon local, however, the night before I received a phone call from scheduling informing me my flight had been delayed by 9 hours! So, instead of a nice day departure, it was a late evening departure (2100L).
I arrived at ops about 1920 or so, our report time is 1 hour prior to scheduled departure, but I wanted to do some things in the computer and print some schedules out and check on some flight loads for my son who is coming back from Uni in Dec.
My FO was another expat whom I had flown with before and we seemed to get along well. I finally got all my stuff done and it was now about 1950 or so and no sign of my FO. I logged into our flight planning system and retrieved the flight paperwork all 66 pages of it!
The load for tonight was 99 tonnes of cargo, we were tankering fuel to DEL so our total fuel tonight was 101.2 tonnes, our planned TOW was 358 tonnes and our enroute time was 4+50. Our landing weight was 296 tonnes, slightly heavy but no real big deal. The weather at DEL was forcast to be fairly nice with the only restriction being the RVR which was forcast to be around 800meters in fog at our arrival time. We had 20 tonnes of additonal fuel so there was no problem with any diversion.
Around 2000L, I received a call from scheduling, my FO was delayed and would be here within 10 minutes, was that OK? Sure, no problem, a 2100 departure would be no sweat. Sure enough, around 2015L my FO arrived. We chatted briefly about the weather and the Notams and left ops to pass through immigration and security.
Since he was feeling very rushed, I suggested he fly the first leg. I'd do the walk-around and inspect the cabin, he could get the FMS loaded and settle down. That was agreeable to him.
At Changi, security is at the gate. We departed out of F52 and there was line stretching out the door and down the hallway. There was a flight departing for KUL leaving out of the same gate. I always hate queque jumping, but I also hate waiting in line, so we "discretely" made our way to the head of the line. Now having travelled once or twice in my life, I always make sure to take my phone, coins, wallet, keys and just about anything else out of my pockets and put it in my flight bag; that way I don't set off the alarm. Well it didn't work tonight, not only me and my FO set the alarm off, but everyone going through did too. Perhaps the detector was faulty? Certainly not in Singapore!
After a short bus ride, we arrived at our parking stand, it was just about 2035 and cargo loading was still underway and I noticed the lower E/E hatch was open. Not a good sign.
I started my walk-around and as I got on the port side of the aircraft around the body gear, I was greeted by several mechanics. They were replacing the anti-skid transducer. But not to worry, they'd be done shortly! (Famous last words).
I finally finished my walk around, gave the fueler the final fuel figures and trudged my way to the upper deck. A quick cabin inspection followed and as I went into the cockpit, there was an even bigger contingent of mechanics! Again, not a good sign. The MEL was out as well as the work cards for the transducer. I stowed my flight bag between the sidewall and my seat and squeezed (I'm not a small person) into my seat. I quickly reviewed the deferred discrepancy log book and felt as if I was walking into a base check! We had several deferred items the most serious was the anti-skid transducer. Other items were the cockpit humidifier, the UD galley cooler, various PDUs inop and the #1 IDG precooler.
I quickly did my preflight and the FO and myself did our brief of the FMS, emergency procedures (abort) and a few other things. It was now 2055 and we were ready for an on time departure. I guess someone forgot to tell everyone else as they were far from being ready. I asked the lead engineer about how long it would be. His response was "about 10 minutes, they had changed the transducer and were just finishing the job". At Changi, you are supposed to call for ATC clearance 5 minutes prior to engine start, so I dutifully complied with that requirement and sure enough we had our clearance and we were turely ready to go. I turned around and the mechanics were just getting ready to do the self test. We pressurized the #4 hyraulic system vis the Aux pump and the test began. You guessed it, the self test failed. So back to square one. So for the next 90 minutes, the mechanics tried all sorts of things to get the transducer back on line, however in the end, we left with the transducer inop and the two wheel brakes de-activated.
I wish I could say the flight was uneventful from that point on, but shortly after the mechanics realized they hadn't fixed the problem, I notified clearance we had a delay. Their response was my ATC clearance was cancelled and call 5 minutes prior to engine start.
The paperwork was finally all in order, the performance figures had been adjusted to comply with the 2 wheel brakes de-activated and we were all set. Since I was the PM (pilot monitoring) I called for our ATC clearance. I received the famous reply "standby". It seems as though ATC had cancelled our flight plan rather than just keeping it open. Now they were scrambling to get it back into the system. That only took 25 additional minutes. A relatively short night was now turning into a longer one.
We pushed back and started all 4 without any problems. Our departure had been planned for 20R which is a very short taxi from our stand, however, there had been a runway change (CB in the area) and now we had an extremely long taxi to 02C. In addition we were 9 in line. So, we had another 25 minute delay.
Finally, we were number one and off we went. Finally, things would be back to normal. FL320 was our optimum altitude and we got our clearance up there and direct PUT (Phuket). As luck would have it, we then were asked if we could take FL340, we were a little heavy, but it would be no big deal, so off we go to FL340. As we continued towards PUT, the weather radar didn't get any better looking, so we deviated left and right of track for the next 40 minutes or so just trying to avioid CBs. And we were also luck enough to be right in the tops, so it wasn't a very smooth ride.
Finally, we were out over the Bay of Bengal and surprisingly the radar was clear for miles. Perhaps our luck was beginning to improve. I put our meals in the oven and completed most of the paperwork and sent off an ACARS message to get the current weather for DEL and our alternates. The RVR in DEL was now down to 1000m and was supposed to stay there through our arrival. All our alternates were fine.
CPDLC was working fine, so there was no HF calls to anyone that night. It's so nice to not have to fight the HF to get reports out. We coasted in and began our journey across northern India. We finally were switched to Delhi control and we got another big surprise. Our landing time was such that we had to hold for 1+15! So much for our luck turning. We were number 15 in the arrival, so we slowed down to our best holding speed. We had been cruising at .855 or about 300Kias, our best holding speed was 267Kias or about M.77. At that speed the 744 had a very pronounced nose high attitude. Normal cruise is about 2.5-3 degrees up, this was 5!
We entered the holding fix and got 20 mile legs, and sat prepared to spend the next hour drilling holes in the sky! We could hear Delhi control vectoring aircraft for a very long downwind and base (50 miles) so we were gradually stepped down and finally given a heading for our scenic tour of the dark country side.
We were following another asian carrier from Korea. We could see them on TCAS and couldn't quite figure out what was going on. We were 10 NM behind them about 50 miles on base and they had slowed to 160 KIAS! WTF!!! At that speed, it would take days to get back. We were doing 245, clean to save fuel, and were rapidly gaining on them. Finally, Delhi control instructed them to maintian 220K and they weren't too happy. We were slowed down to 210 so out came flaps 1 and then flaps 5. Fortuneately, we had plenty of fuel so that wasn't an issue, but I just hate dirtying up that far out, it's a waste of fuel....
Delhi approach continued to slow us down because the aircraft in front of us wasn't maintaining their speed so on our turn to final at 30 miles we were at 5000' and 180 Kias. The rest of the approach was without event. The FO handflew the aircraft from about 15 miles and we were switched to tower. Tower informed us to expect late landing clearance as the aircraft we had been following had taken the landing roll to the end. Due to the restricted visibility tower didn't have him visually. Tower kept asking the aircraft if he was clear of RWY 10, no answer....finally when we're about on a mile final the aircraft announces he's clear of the runway, we get out clearance to land and we're on the ground. Ironically, we took the taxiway about 3/4 down the runway, announced clear of the runway. And we see the other aircraft we'd be following off to our left. I guess ground wasn't too happy with him since ground directed him to give way to us and we made the turn onto the parallel and taxied into the cargo ramp.
Finally, we were in DEL. Better late than never. However, I wish I could say our luck had changed.....no there was one last irony. We accomplished the shutdown checklist, finished the flight paperwork and the tech log. The outgoing crew was no where in sight, so we hurried down to the waiting bus.
Clearing CIQ isn't a big deal as long as your paperwork is in order. I've been in and out of India enough to have that part down pat and we sailed through CIQ with our SQ rep in no time. He proceeded out to get our hotel car while we waited for him to return. In a few minutes he came back, not looking too happy. Our transport was no where to be found, he had called the hotel and it would be 30 minutes for transport to arrive!
I am sitting in my room right now. I leave for CPH in about 10 hours, so for me it's off to get some sleep. Anyone who thinks being an airline pilot is the glamourous life, please re-read this report.
I will post the next 3 legs onto this report......
PhilSquares From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 8171 times:
Well. Being the eternal optimist I am, myself and my two First Officers thought our schedule disruptions were in the past. Our scheduled departure from DEL was 0115L Sunday morning. That meant trying to get some sleep on early Saturday evening. So, around 1500L, I checked the computer just to make sure the flight was still on time….Luck wasn’t to be with us yet. The flight had been delayed for 8 hours. Well, at least some extra sleep was in the cards.
Wakeup came very early at 0445L, and I begrudgingly got out of bed and headed for the shower. The crew hotel in DEL is very nice, the shower alone could fit a family of 5 and they’d each have several showerheads to choose from. I was ready to go out the door at just about 530L. Checkout was a breeze and since this flight was in excess of 8 hours I had two FOs with me; the one I had operated into DEL with and another one who positioned from SIN the day after we left SIN.
I always find India a land of contradictions. For instance, most western style hotels are very luxurious but yet, you can look out the windows and see poverty and squalor. Here is another contradiction, since there were three of us, it required, two cars, I had my own car a new BMW 5XX and the two FOs had a new Camary. Why wouldn’t one car do?????
Our arrival at the airport was typical for any Indian airport I’ve ever flown in or out of. The departure entrance is a mass of humanity, there are large extended families saying their “good bye” there are homeless (I assume) people trying to get any spare change from anyone, and the packs of dogs that roam the airport. Until you’ve seen it my description doesn’t do it justice.
We went down to the AI ops to get the flight plan. As is the usual case, everything was meticulously laid out on a large desk. A quick glance at the flight plan showed us we would be flying the same aircraft that we had originally flown into DEL. We wondered how many things had been fixed. I reviewed the flight plan and it showed an enroute time of 7+57 with a burn of 86.5 tonnes, payload was 101 tonnes and our TOW was 361.5 tonnes. The weather at CPH was not the best, winds were a crosswind at 15G25 and low ceilings, but our alternates were fine.
Now the fun part starts. India is a country of contradictions. It is known for its IT savvy, but the customs people haven’t heard of that yet. When you arrive you fill out in triplicate landing forms and personal property forms. Those are again turned in and reviewed when you leave and there is a large book, that you then sign your name, passport number, and employee number. Forms are stamped, which is very important because without the proper chit, you can’t go anyplace! As we wander through the departure with our ground staff, I am amazed at all these people are up so early!
We finally clear security and are off on a bus to the remote Cargo area. Sure enough, it’s the same plane we brought in. Interestingly enough during our layover that aircraft went from DEL-AMS-JFK-AMS-DXB-
SIN-DEL. If there is a thing such as reincarnation, I don’t want to come back as a 744F, you have to work way too hard for me!
Since it was my leg, the additional FO did the walk around and the other FO and myself got into the flightdeck. We reviewed the tech log and the deferred discrepancy book and to our surprise, the same issues were still there and there were a few more. As you can imagine this is the busiest time of year for cargo operators and the aircraft go just flat out. So until, the time limit approached on the item or the aircraft has a few hours at a station, there won’t be much fixed.
I did my preflight while the IRS got up to speed, then the FMS was loaded and we briefed the pertinent areas for departure and we were ready. We were 30 minutes early and ready to go, all the cargo had been loaded and the doors were shut. We contacted ground and were politely told we were number 11 in line. The visibility at DEL was just about 600M and things weren’t moving too quickly, so we just waited our turn and had another cup of coffee….
Fortunately, the wait was not quite as long as clearance had said and we pushed just about 10 minutes past our scheduled time. Total time to start and taxi to the hold line was just about 20 minutes. Low visibility procedures were in effect so we held at the CAT I hold line for RWY 10 while we awaited our takeoff clearance. After what seemed to be minutes, it was really only 2 or so, we received our clearance and off we went. Because of the anti-skid problem, we couldn’t use an assumed temp thrust setting we used either full TO1 or full TO. We were light enough and the runway was long enough to be able to use full TO1. That was an EPR of 1.45 and V speeds of 145/163/173. Off we went and our initial climb off the SID (LKA1A) was 5500’. Eventually we were cleared up to FL 280 and finally 320 which would be our cruise altitude across Pakistan/Afghanistan. At the Afgan FIR boundary, we had to either drop to 310 or climb to 350 due to non-RVSM airspace. We climbed to 350 and settled down there.
At about one hour prior to landing, both FOs had gotten their rest, I unfortunately had to sit in the seat for mine, we go the ATIS for CPH. They were landing 22L and the winds were 290/18G27 and a very low altimeter of 993mb, good visibility and some low scattered clouds. Oh, and moderate turbulence was reported below 300’. Sounds like fun.
I set up the FMS for the arrival and loaded the ILS 22L into the FMS, we then briefed the applicable points and did the descent check. Just about 20 minutes to landing we received our initial clearance to descent, pilot’s discretion to FL 200. In a few moments we started our descent.
To my surprise we were then cleared to a point on the approach from about 130NM away. Our luck was finally changing! We were handed over to Malmo and then to Copenhagen approach. The next clearance was to descend and maintain 3000’ change of runway to 30 we were number one. At that time we were about 22 NM from the threshold of 30 and our speed was about 280Kias…this was going to be fun.
First I reprogrammed the FMS, then we did a quick brief of the approach and I started to slow using speed brakes. As our speed dropped below 250 Kias, I started to configure with the flaps. Well, the gods of aviation were with us today, since we hit gear down and 20 flaps right as we intercepted the G/S and all I had to do was call for 25 flaps and the landing check! By this time, the winds at 3000’ were 300/45 and tower was calling the surface winds 28015G25. This was going to be fun. However, one nice thing about the 744, especially when it’s heavy, is it is extremely stable. I turned the AP and AT off about 1500’ and hand flew the rest of the approach. Our Vref was 155 and we fly 5 knots faster and because of the winds and gust, I added another 10 Kias, so we were doing about 170Kias. Rwy 30 at CPH isn’t too long, just over 7700’ so since it was visual, I flew just one dot low and managed to touchdown just prior to the 1000’ marker. With all the headwind stopping wasn’t a problem and tower directed us to take K2 and our follow me was waiting for us.
Well, that’s the end of another hard day. I’m in my hotel in downtown CPH, it’s very blustery and somewhat overcast here. I don’t leave here until Thursday evening. I hope I can manage to keep out of trouble!
Thanks for reading…..
Just a quick question, what is an IDG precooler? Is this something found only on the P&W 4000 engine installation? I look forward to the reports on the remaining legs of your trip .
The universe revolves around engineers as we choose the co-ordinate system!
PhilSquares From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 8039 times:
Quoting JetMech (Reply 14): Just a quick question, what is an IDG precooler?
IIRC, it's only on the Pratts and it's part of the Generator system. The penalty is so miniscule it's not even worth mentioning, but just to be legal!! The MEL penalty is .01% of fuel burn.
JetMech From Australia, joined Mar 2006, 2187 posts, RR: 53 Reply 17, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 7778 times:
Quoting PhilSquares (Reply 15): IIRC, it's only on the Pratts and it's part of the Generator system.
Cheers, thanks for that PhilSquares! I haven't done much work on P&W powered B744's, which is probably why I have not heard of them.
Quoting Comorin (Reply 16): Don't EVER think that! We 'civvies' love your TRs as it's the closest we'll get into the cockpit. Keep up the great writing
I completely agree with Comorin here. It is always most fascinating to hear from pilots like yourself, even if it is a "routine" trip. Pilots fly in the utimate "First class", and their TR's are the most interesting ones. Piloting a B747 is something most of us would dearly love to do, but have never got the chance to. More trip reports please !
Regards, JetMech
The universe revolves around engineers as we choose the co-ordinate system!
Don From Japan, joined Jun 2003, 212 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 7604 times:
Good report, Phil. Reminds me of my good old times at SQ. Only point I need to raise with you is that posting the details on DDs etc on a public forum may be frowned upon by the management, especially at SQ.
Don From Japan, joined Jun 2003, 212 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 7477 times:
Quoting LH648 (Reply 21): I think that it was the reason why Phil didn't mention even the airline name he flies for SQ is only our guess
I think he did.
Quoting PhilSquares (Thread starter): I've been in and out of India enough to have that part down pat and we sailed through CIQ with our SQ rep in no time.
PhilSquares From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 23, posted (3 years 2 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 7470 times:
Quoting Don (Reply 19): Good report, Phil. Reminds me of my good old times at SQ. Only point I need to raise with you is that posting the details on DDs etc on a public forum may be frowned upon by the management, especially at SQ
I understand what you're saying, but that's like saying don't look at the SDR reports. In my reports, I have never said anything negative about my employer or their maintenance. In fact, I justified the DDs as the utilization of the 744F peaks at this time of year.
Tomaeroeng From Germany, joined Nov 2006, 33 posts, RR: 0 Reply 25, posted (3 years 2 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 7358 times:
Thanks Phil for sharing some aspects of the life of an airline pilot with us. For me it has always been a dream to fly the 744 and it will stay a dream.
Looking forward to the next section !
Tom
26 Ryu2: Hi! Great report! What was your routing DEL-CPH? Was it over the former Soviet Union? Or over Iran/Turkey/Europe?
27 PhilSquares: Our route of flight was over Pakistan, Afganistan, and then into all the former Soviet countries. That is pretty much the normal routing unless the w
28 LH648: I think SQ rep can handle another airline. Air India was mentioned as well.
29 Gamps: Good report - gives a peak into life of Cargo pilots. How much visibility do you have on what type of cargo you are carrying? i.e.fluid, perishable fo
30 Ryanair!!!: Very bad airmanship... If that was me, I would have been whacked in the head by my instructor! Hahahaha.... Hmm... Maybe someone was getting clubbed
31 PhilSquares: If there is hazardous materials on board it is noted in a form called a NOTOC, which is Notice To Captain. It has the UN code for the items, the quan
32 ZKSUJ: Do you fly both Freight and PAX? Is that how the 744 guys get rostered at SQ?
33 P51Mustang: Hi Phil! Thank you for al Pilots view of Longhaul-Cargo-Operations. Very interesting! Regards Andreas (P51Mustang) P.S. Waiting for your latest additi
34 Nimish: Indeed - especially as it's on the CPH-BLR sector - and BLR is my home airport, and I often spot the SQ 747 cargo take off at around 8 or 9 am in the
35 Lmpinto: Nice report. It's always interesting to read how stuff works from a pilot's point of view. Waiting for the next parts...
36 LHR777: nice report Phil! But still within MLDW, right? ...and that's when I realised it must be a freighter with that much cargo on board! So, is the 744F di
37 PhilSquares: MLW-302092Kgs. Yes it is. We, the cockpit, can control the entire aircraft from the flight deck, that's why it's on the NOTOC. Especially if there ar
38 LHR777: So, the on/off switch is on the flight deck, but the temperature selection is by the compartment doorways? Crazy! We only have two options - low (4c)
39 Mazmanr: It was great reading your report! Great job. Just wondering, you said this is a 9-day trip. I'm just wondering, how many days do you get to stay @ hom
40 PhilSquares: Ok, here it is the last and final part of this trip report. Sorry, if I haven't answered all the questions, it's just a matter of jet-lag and trying t
41 BA777: Brilliant report! Can I ask if theres any reason for the 3200m visibility requirement? Theres always the autoland, but is the runway at BLR not "quali
42 ZKSUJ: Great report. thanks for sharing There is a certain MET minima for every approach. The VOR/DME Approach is not a precision approach hence no auto land
43 PhilSquares: As stated, the autoland is only for an ILS approach. In fact, for CATII/III it has to be a specific runway/approach light/ obstacle combination. For
44 Jafa39: Cool report, Phil, seems like a different world for Freight eh?
45 9VSRH: Hey Phil, Just out of interest, what do you think of the new RNAV departures/arrivals out of SIN? Cheers Patrick
46 Philsquares: To be honest, the RNAV departures are issued but seldom used. It's normally radar vectors. However, the arrivals aren't leave a lot to be desired. Th
47 9VSRH: When you say vectors, are you usually cleared to the final point on the SID? For example, you're on the VMR3E and your route is VMR3E VMR M771, would
48 Pilotdude09: Excellent report, its always motovational reading pilot reports as it shows what really goes on behind the door. Thanks
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