LeeCH

As much as we like to see clean planes, unfortunately planes are made to fly and make RM/$. Not using up RM/$ to be cleaned up and polish. U shoud have a look at SQ aircraft. I do not remember seeing any of the planes that I fly which is clean at all. Captain Radzi, well said. Let the investigators do their job.

Simultaneous parrallel runway operations in SIN, LAX and SFO are nothing new. Now in opposite direction and not so parallel. This is something new to me. Kind of reinforces the pilot instinct within me to tightly keep the runway centreline at all cost on departure, especially in IMC conditions and coupled with a engine failure after V1.

Let me share with you something which one has not thought of on this topic. Yes, it is true and Singapore government will never, never force QF out of SIN as retaliation to denying SQ rights to do the Pacific routes out of SYD and MEL. Mentor Minister has actually mentioned many times before his main aim is to reinforce Singapore as an aviation hub, no other priorities more important than this. Even at SQ's expense although SQ is his personal baby. Which is why he told the pilots that head will break if we try to be funny or refuse to budge during the recent pay cut thing. And yet SQ is the most profitable airline in the world. His reason is that SQ needs to trim down costs to remain competitive, as Tony Fernandez and gang comes to share the profit pie in the region. Some very senior guys were very unhappy about this decision of cuts when profit are still good. I totally agree with Mentor minister on this subject to trim down costs. If you ever read the financial results, the yields are getting lower and lower while operating costs has significantly increased. If we do not trim down costs, the consequences are that a lot of people will lose their jobs and there will be a lot of hungry mouths in a family mouth to feed. And living in Singapore is not easy I tell you. Everything is money, just like in KL. It goes to show that this senior guys are losing the big picture. The reason is that they are going to retire soon and they are here to maximise their paychecks and earn a handsome retirement fund. Unfortunately, we have a lot of junior guys who are not so smart and buy such ideas influenced upon them. They keep on harping about how the company is not reinstating pays to us. I am very sad to see such people around. They did not realise how easily they can lose their job in a tightly regulated Singapore society. Mybe they have been thinking along the lines of growth in the aviation sector and they will gain employment easily elsewhere. My personal opinion is that SQ is still the best carrier in this region to work with. Financially stable and as pilot we get to handle lovely and well maintain big jets. Yes, we are slightly underpaid compared to others, but someone need to knock them on the head and make them realise the harsh working environments out of SIN in places like Middle East and North Asia. Money will never be enough and I think I have said enough. QF's other main argument point is that they did not get enough destinations out of SIN hub. I think the media has forgotten to tell them that this has nothing to do with SQ or Singapore goverment. It is the government of places that they intend to fly to which refuses QF their rights to land there. Totally nothing to do with SQ or the goverment here. I think this time around SQ has been made the scapegoat for other people's fault. In fact the Singapore government in wanting to maximise profit, are the most active in promoting open skies policy (errmm......not on KUL-SIN routes though). You know why Singapore build the casino resort now? Singapore just need to bring in more crowd to the country and boost its own employment rate. Maybe one day you will see a F1 event here along the streets of Orchard Road. I tell you, the Singapore hit movie 'Money No Enough' is very real here. LeeCH

Azman, I got one word for you. BREATHTAKING!! And for once SQ 744 is clean. Superb set of pictures. Thanks. Birds around the trees in Singapore says that the Triple Sevens are going Zurich when we get B773ER. We shall see....

Nice Pieter, nice. I did not know that Martin Air is based in AMS. Just saw one of their planes in SQ maintenance hangar today. Also love the BAE146 speedbrakes shot from the back. I like clamshell type of reversers. Lovely!

Looks like the pilots left the Flaps in takeoff position prior to shutting down the engines for evatuation. Someone is going to have a long coffee session with the boss in Subang soon.

If you allow me to add my comments, the sunset shots are nothing but excellent.

Seems that Fung Keong rubber at work again (or perhaps omething else which leads to it). Second time in a short timespan an A330 grounded. Must have been some technical problems as the pilots are all trained to do a proper 180 degree turn. 90 degree turns should never be an issue altogether as it is a common day to day manuever. Let's wait and see.

Wise One, I always remember Captain Tarmack from my early Flight simulator days. I believe some phrases are also found on the Precision Simulator 1.3 manual. I got an original full copy of the program. He was the initial team on Project Magenta but something bad happen and he left the team ever since. Last heard and saw, he was very active on the GA scene, especially in Oshkosh Airshow, with his refurbished GA plane. Thanks for bringing in the memories. And yes, the 747 is such a lovely plane and I had a lovely ride on SQ 002 and SQ 001 throughout last week. Refused to budge even in the moderate choppy conditions. Steady man!! My Triple Seven is just so stiff on the ride and feels like toppling at times. However I see that the 747 has seen its best years with SQ. The cabin interior are not so plush anymore and all galley equipment and IFE systems are quite old. Nevertheless, long live the queen.

Two methods for cosswinds landing. 1. Cross control. Start this at 1,000 ft AGL or earlier if you need to. Ailerons into wind and opposite rudder. How much to kick and bank is all a matter of juggling. You will come in banking and all you need to do is just flare while holding the banking. Not very visually asthetic from a spotter point of view outside as nothing much changes. 2. Crabbing method. Wings will pretty much remain level throughout the approach. However you really need to ensure your heading is enough to compensate for the drift. At a point just say 50 ft prior to flare (equals to 100ft for me since I flare at 50 usually), kick in the rudder to align the nose straight to the runway centerline. And at the same time, bank your wings into the wind direction. And do not forget to flare. You can see it is pretty complicated and many things happen at the same time. Quite fast too. If x-wind is strong and you do not put in aileron quick enough, you will drift of centerline real soon. Essentially, by the time you touch down, it is already a cross control. There are no preferred or such thing as a more superior method. A matter of individual preference. During my training days I was always taught crabbing. Sometimes I do cross control now on the Triple 7's. Pieter, Yes, my triple Seven not good enough for Dublin just yet. With SQ expanding at almost an exponential rate, never know. Still not AMS on my March roster! LeeCH

Was supposed to post this up before my trip to Hong Kong and the States but too rushed. So here it comes. And it was very nice to meet all the members here in person. Everyone was very polite and humorous. What a great bunch of people. On the way to KLIA at about 3.50pm just after the toll gates. Alamak, dashyat. How come everytime I got appointment with MW people always got this kind of CB clouds and gloomy skies. Did I bring the rain over from Singapore? I think so as it has not been raining in KL prior to my arrival home. And it stopped raining silly after I left. Initially a bit hesitant and malu to use my camera because of all the big shots with their big guns. So I took a photo of some member in action spotting. We had a good chit chat in between too. Nice butts yah....I will surely share with the SQ girls OK Meor and Gavin? These are all the Dark Siders and also the 'Lao Jiao' (Old Bird in Singaporean Hokkien) of spotting. Hey guys, does Azahan always go spotting like that? Seksi legs rite? Azahan, I really advice you not to wear those pants again if you go spotting alone next time. Sekali a man jump out of the bushes......then you are headlines tomorrow in The Star....Jonathan! Apa tersengih sengih?! Presenting my very first digital picture of commercial airplane spotting. I have some film ones which I will scan and show some other time. A lot of editing lah. How to compare with the rest of the Lao Jiao? Sigh....let me check bank account..... Didn't realise my camera can actually get the heat blur of the exhaust so well. Hmm....these Carl lenses are not too bad huh. Pretty sharp and detailed. Just lacking in zoom quality and megapixel power. Where's my other bank account book arh? I am always inside when I see this picture. On this day I am outside. And it did not occur to me it was the same a/c that was in use, SRD, when Azahan captured about five days ago. Wah....not bad.....virgin's luck.....can get strobes too. Very bad detail and quality. Singapore One One Three going back to Singapore. Stupid camera focus on the lamp post instead. Now where is all my ASN slips? It was like a rombongan. There were so many cars. This was taken on the way to spot landings on RWY 14L. I counted eight cars altogether. These guys are really good. They go through rivers, swamps and peats to get us the best pictures here. Once again I really salute you guys. Its not easy to do spotting trust me. The humid, hot and rainy weather is not fun at all. But for the love of aviaiton......hmmm....... I left after we took the group photo as I had family commitments. Not sure what went on after that. And when I log on to MW a few days later in HKG, I see only Glory Glory Man U thread becoming hotter than My Pilot story thread. I really do think someone had to do nude squats......hehehe. Cheers guys, you are a bunch of grat people and it was nice meeting all of you. TK and Captain Radzi, see you around OK? LeeCH

TK, Warh......cun lah your pictures. Cockpit and Ah Moi pictures all cun betul. How come the ah moi all eyes red red ah? You make them cry is it? Too bad unable to meet you that day.....next month maybe. Cheers.

It is at the side of 20C/02C. You will see it on your right if you taxi south on Echo Papa. Its huge man....

Crosswinds, name of a particular series in the Brietling watches. OK, worst crosswinds in SQ networks, Kansai, Nagoya, Male, Perth, Melbourne, Companhagen and Amsterdam. When you have strong crosswinds chances are it will be pretty bumpy most of the times. Every six months I get back to the simulator to get checked out on doing 25kts crosswinds on takeoff and landings. I like it very much. Not very difficult but needs a lot of mental practise and physical juggling, especially during flare. Seen these videos during my conversion training. Thanks for posting and letting everyone enjoy.

Captain Radzi, I was thinking along the lines you will be in WSSS today. Funny feeling. You happen to have your Canon in your bag? Let your F/O take the sector out of Singapore and when you taxi on EP for departure on Runway 02C looking at Cargo parking area you will know why. Quickly go go go...why/ Because I just came back from HKG mid noon on SQ 001 and I saw something huge there. I got some pics......

Nice winter picture of the Great Wall. Speaking of Beijing, its on my March roster....yahoo.....China flights always got a lot of traffic. Contrails spotting time....

Using a derate power setting is a normal procedure for takeoff. And it has already taken into account of runway length and obstacle clearance on the takeoff path. So rejecting the takeoff because of insufficient runway left for takeoff is not an issue. Always full T/O thrust is available at anytime during the takeoff roll by a simple click of the TO/GA switches. We click TO/GA on engine failure after V1 and also on Winshear on takeoff roll. I cannot help but to reiterate again and again, never speculate any incidents or accidents. Let the investigators do their job. Even investigators of different countries have different views on incidents. They always blame each other when the s#1t hits the fan. Last but not least, my personal opinion, I think the forum people in airliners.net have to much time on their hand trying to predict on so many posssibilities in aviation industry. My personal thoughts.... LeeCH

Imran, Quickly go and book. Then can add to more S$ to my paycheck. Hehe....didn't see Moscow or Dubai on my March roster. Whew.....otherwise it will be freeezing cold.

Wise One aka Attan The Great, Lama tak dengar. Did not know that you are into spotting. I thought you are just into GA flying and building home cockpit. Now you are not only the Wise One, but the Complete One. Thanks for the lovely pics from Penang. Next time I go there click click me OK? Cheers, LeeCH

Wah, thanks for the very nice pics. Unfortunately I can only rush rush rush and no time to post since back from KL this noon. I am now inside Changi terminal 2 using free Internet access. I promise I will come back with a lot of plane models and pictures and trip report. Gonna miss this forum here you think? Hmmm......jumpa lagi.

If you do not mind a 'tetamu' (guest) without any DSLR but only coming with a Sony Super Slim camera then I will be there.

Gents, You see, in Boeing aeroplanes when we (at least Captain Radzi, TK and myself) come in for landing, our planes do not scold us RETARD! RETARD! Unlike Airbus flyers do. The GPWS is a great tool as to when to start flaring for the inexperienced pilot like me. Great shots as usual TK.

Gavin, If you look at Kelvin B's first shot of the EK World Cup pencil, can see the winds are from left of 14R making it a crosswind takeoff. That explains the rudder compensation. Kelvin, Blue engines on MASKargo because planes are leased from Atlanta, which their usual livery dictates blue engine cowlings. All great pictures. Yes, SQ Tipple 7 looks like it is on a stand. Cheers, LeeCH

Anyone heard of Fung Keong rubbers? Hehehe.......and no they are not on SQ fleet. We use Michelin Air X.

Norman, I also saw AFC waltzing past us just after we have started engines. Lovely lovely. My Captain for a while wa stunned how come got Manchester United Airline. Then I told he the story of a genius, Tony Fernandez...... See you on Sat if you can make it. Jumpa lagi bang!