Spokey

Check out the Synthetic Vision in the Global 7500. It is remarkable.

I have not been home for weeks but I understand the weather was crap. I find it amazing that this type of technical and very involved flying was happening in rubbish weather.........so sad...RIP Aviators. I am angry though.....this looks to me much like crew error. So unnecessary, I would love to be proven wrong. Buggar, those mountains extend for 100’s of km’s either side of George with clear ocean to the south, been this way for ever......Situational stuff up methinks. I am finding it hard to belive that the crew were operating north of the approach path to the easterly runway in such weather at such an altitude. Just say no when the weather is not playing ball. I have read elsewhere that this aeroplane has relatively recently had issues with smoke in the cockpit but had been cleared after maintenance action. Aweful if that problem reoccured. Edited for additional content.

Without researching it, at least 180 minutes. In my humble opinion this was a stuff up!

As you said........... a right F up. Based on the information at hand I wonder why they did not take the time to complete the dumping in the correct manner and over the designated are. Compressor stalls should not be cause for rushing. Shut it down, run the check lists and return in an orderly manner. But then I was not there to know their reasoning and nor do I fly Trip 7’s.

A little more from the KLR fan club.....well, me, that will be all then!

I am a big KLR fan. If I need “fast” I am lucky to have the option of some sporty, although old, road bikes in the garage. My KLR has taken me all over the Klein Karoo including day trips into Gamkaskloof and trips like the 4x4 route at at Louvain. As Ice Cream Man said, it is agricultural but I love the simplicity of it. I have upgraded the suspension which makes a huge difference. Several other littlle tweeks too, like pipe and airfilter. I do find long tar treks to be a mission and cruise slowly, around 90 to 110 so I try and avoid that. Of course the KLR can go quicker but it is not a comfortable ride with the knobblies! think an Africa Twin might be my next ADV bike for faster tar cruising. I am also waiting to see the new Tenere 700 as it is only 9kg heavier than the KLR but with around 60% more power and 10% more torque. I like the mid size bikes on the dirt and this Yammie sounds like it can handle the tar bits with ease too. Whatever I choose, my KLR is a keeper!

That XJR is a wonderful beast, would be a fine garage buddy for Big Zed.

This little machine is managing to put a silly grin on my face at every outing. Acceleration is awesome as is the drive out of the corners on Outeniqua pass. Frankly the sound reverberating off the rocks from the Yoshi system means that steady 4th gear over the Pass is awesome......no need to cane it as much as some of the super bike fellows. Solid on the Angel ST’s too, easy to use all the rubber you paid for! I have fitted Pro Taper Low Risers (lower than stock) with shorty levers but find the bars need a slightly increased sweep back at the grips. I guess they are MX bars after all!!! Next mod will be suspension, or brakes. Hagon springs up front and full Hagon or Nitron (subject to budget) rear shocks and Brembo calipers and discs. Tis a keeper.

What a gas, bet a lot of George Washingtons were thrown at that little beastie!

Bonus, you are indeed correct. EASA has certified the A350 for 370 minutes, but I think that the 330 minutes of ANZ is the longest in current use.

An odd number indeed.....I shall look into that!

That thing must have been a real hoot, though to be retasked on to 747’s would not exactly be a bum deal! Not the same at all, but going from 6 years in the Global to my little Challenger 605 has been a struggle at times. I thought that because we just fly the front bit and the rest follows behind it would be fine to move to the 605, but reality is the performance of the GLEX is missed!!

Amazing that they want to operate Non ETOPS hours first. Out of interest, Air New Zealand have approval for 330 minutes on their 777 200 ERs. This is the longest ETOPS/ EROPS that I am aware of.

Ha ha, I would not know. This pic is from earlier in the year. It represents what I am looking forward to when I get back to the Garden Route next week. Currently seeing out this contract rotation in Kuwait!

Klein Karoo......my escape from the Garden Route crowds at this time of year!

Bored in Kuwait and going through some pics. Dont think I have shared this before as the originals megs too big to load. Thought you may like to see this. Cracked Left side Windshield on a Global Express. Some years back now, we were over Saudi descending into Kuwait when, with a disturbing bang the windshield shattered. Focused attention quickly!! Not dangerous for flight, low level speed limitation (bird strike) and avoid icing conditions. An engineer taped it over completely on ground and as we are Private Operations and fly Owner only we had permission to fly to Dubai for the windshield change..........that was interesting in itself.

The Wiki article refered to by Bateleur 1 is good. For info, on that day we just used the heated Type 1 fluid to remove ice deposits from the wing. The snow was very light but we had freezing rain. It formed small rough ice cones on the wings. Our aerie must have a very clean wing to fly, it is very unforgiving of contamination on the upper surface. As the rain had stopped and the taxi to take off was short I was able to forgo the anti icing. The anti icing we typically apply before take off is a thicker Type IV. It normally blows off the wing by lift off but by then has done its job. All very messy stuff indeed.

9am departure from Anchorage, a little deicing to get us on the way.

Had just my second Round The World flight last week. Was great crossing The Barents Sea, Anchorage to Harbin in China. Cold for this South African fellow! Warmed up to a balmy Minus 12 in Harbin on landing. From 179 West to 179 East, my Tuesday morning became Wednesday morning!

Was sbout to reply re the Fuse Plugs. Those tyres had not exploded in that pic. Just a deflation. Nice explantion from Juan in the video. Had it once in Juba, South Sudan, on my old DC8 freighter. Much tight ground manouvering after a max weight landing and one of the tyres had had enough. If I remember correctly we had to wait around 4 hours until it was all cool enough to change the wheel.......ahhhhhhh, Freight Dog days!

The little KLR receives a rear spring mod to match the upgraded front bouncy bits. The shock is still fine so a heavy duty spring has been installed. The bikes sits really well now and the handling is so much improved. Still not a 601 or 690, but the savings between one of those and the new bouncy bits is straight into the T700 fund!

Lekker machine, good luck Spoories. ....still not enough to tempt me to part with the company cash on Kempton Park Flying Club for my monthly positioning to work. EK my airline of choice.......though that has become crappier too over the last few years.

Parking the baby Gucci Jet last night before I go off duty for a month. Very humid in my part of the Middle East. Pic one is with the screen settings on night mode before I went max brightness for the photo!

Checking on Flight Radar to see when my colleague lands in Kuwait and have been watching this Atlas Air. He must be loaded with gas, at least 40 mins holding and what looks to be 9 or 10 laps of the race track! ( that sounds about right to) Watching aeries divert all over the place and still several holding to the south. BA Heathrow to Kuwait just landed in Dammam, Saudi. 100 m RVR in heavy fog in Kuwait this morning. An expensive and time consuming exercise for all these folks this morning. Time to Spare.......Go by Air!

Enterprise was built as a test vehicle, no engines and no heat shield. It never made any space flights. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it, however to see Discovery at Udvar Hazy in Washington was quite something for me. The burn marks and heat damage baring witness to the extreme temperatures of re entry. Brave people flew on those! I spent ages wandering about the exhibit trying to imagine the whole thing. I concluded that I am happy in the Gucci Jet delivering the boss to various parts of the world!