jamesnixon.com
The Top 150
The images from the speech:
"From an A380 cockpit"
Free to use with attribution
©jamesnixon.com
for non-commercial reasons.
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kerryn@CrammondMedia.com
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Home
In May 1985 this is the view that captivated me during my first
Trial Instructional Flight, and inspired me to embark on a journey
encompassing over 31 years and 18,000 flying hours.
Melbourne Australia, in the pre-dawn light, looking from the
docks to the city and up the Yarra Valley beyond.
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The Meaning Of Life
The penultimate image from the Top 150 Collection is
of our reason for being. Our favourite star: Sun.
She captivates us today the same way she captivated
all who have spent time on our planet before us.
She takes our breath away twice a day, and is truly the
most beautiful thing we have ever, or will ever, see.
She gives us light, energy, food, water, warmth and is
always on time. To the second. Totally dependable.
Maybe that's why you earthlings, under clouds, take
her for granted.
But up here; where it's minus 57 degrees, and the air
molecules are a long way apart; where we suspend
tonnes of metal with Jet A1 and the invisible rules of
physics — we never do.
When she comes and goes, we stop what we are doing
and stare, enthralled. Somewhere, deep down, something in
our being is hoping that we will be around to see her do it
again tomorrow.
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Poetry In Motion In A Snowstorm
The mind numbing boredom: sitting in the cockpit, pushed-back, no
engines running, waiting for the deicing crews to deice the A380.
Four trucks required. Two turn up. One breaks down. Typical New York.
Fifty minutes with the air-conditioning off. 545 passengers in the stuffy
cabin while we watch big fat snowflakes splat onto the windows. We hear
the fire-hose sound of the de-icing as it approaches, violates our world
like we're in a car wash, then leaves.
Our only respite, before the long taxi and 12 hour 30 minute flight,
is to watch the A Team in action. Four trucks, engines-on deicing
on the JetBlue deicing pad. They are knocking-off an A320 every
eight minutes, one after the other in a constant stream.
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148
Iranian Lenticular Cloud
An Emirates 777 flies over a lenticular cloud in Iran.
Lenticular clouds are often mistaken for 'cigar-shaped' UFOs, especially
when they are momentarily highlighted by the rising or setting sun.
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The Violet Stripe
The exact moment the sun hits the horizon turn around 180 degrees.
This flight, it's winter over Iran, and the Full Moon is just rising; but,
more interesting is the violet stripe which appears for just a minute.
It shows the curvature of the earth, proving to pilots that we are
flying over a planet; the thin edge is towards the summer pole.
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I've Looked At Clouds
From Both Sides Now.
As we reach the last five days of the Top 150 it's
time to reflect on the wonder of clouds.
Joni Mitchell's song seems to have been written for pilots:
"I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down and still somehow,
It's clouds' illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all."
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Valencia, Spain
The third largest city in Spain, home of the controversial 2010
America's Cup Regatta which was concluded after two races.
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The Long White Cloud
We're on the way to Auckland, in the land of the Long White Cloud.
Over Bass Strait with the last of the Australian mainland to the left.
Tamboon and along to the entrance at Mallacoota. Gabo Island is
visible off the south-easternmost coast of the continent.
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Canadian Pack Ice
Approaching the coastline, after passing Greenland, the
ice stacks-up into huge sheets.
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Stockholm, Sweden.
Hiding beneath the clouds on a summer afternoon.
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Perth, Western Australia
Prone to fog, with only one long runway which has a crossing strip
(meaning that the entire airport can be closed by a minor incident
occurring near the intersection); Perth Airport is the definition of the
word remote.
Pilots of large, wide body aircraft headed over the Southern and
Indian Oceans from Africa, Asia and the Middle East; or from the
east coast; always keep a weather-eye on the half-hourly
Trend Type Forecasts.
An early diversion to Columbo, Jakarta, Singapore, Mauritius,
Learmonth, Adelaide or Kalgoorlie may be required. Even if the
airport reopens they may no longer have enough fuel to continue
to Perth once a diversion has commenced.
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The Blue Screen Of Death
There are about 135 computers in an Airbus A380, three of them have
Microsoft operating systems. Which ones do you think break down all the time?
This is the first time we'd seen the Blue Screen Of Death inflight, and high
over the North Atlantic at that.
Passengers are used to Captains waking them up, asking for a Doctor;
but we figured asking for an IT expert may have started a riot.
Thankfully, the Off / On fix saved the day.
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Melbourne City
In the pre dawn light enroute to AKL … I can see my house from here.
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"Direct To Enima."
43 nautical miles the other side of Bucharest airport is the waypoint
Enima. Toilet humour aside, instrument flight rule airways require
five letter words for waypoints that can be annunciated in English.
There are 8,931 five-letter words in Scrabble, but, as in the case of
Enima, there are many more once you cast aside spelling rules.
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Surabaya, Indonesia.
An active Cb over Gunung Ringgit Volcano lights up the skies to the
south of Surabaya, the second largest city in the country.
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Breathtaking
No matter how long you've been flying, every time our favourite star
touches the horizon, it stops you in your tracks. As it should.
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Windfarms
If they don't work, the Europeans and Chinese
are yet to receive the memo.
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Seychelles
If you can handle the tricky approach, the overnights are worth it.
Beau Vallon is a great beach, and worth a look.
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133
Sunset Over The Equator
Enroute from Mauritius to Dubai, crossing the Inter Tropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) and the Equator. The dissipating storms result in high-level Cirrus
cloud and some low-level Strato-Cumulous.
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Sydney Runway 34 Left
Just crossing over the water, slight crosswind from the left, about 300
feet above the runway. We'll be crossing the threshold at 50 feet and
touchdown will occur next to the red and white lights.
There are over 100,000 passenger airline flights a day worldwide.
Near-perfect landings, in the touch down zone, are a repeatable
skill carried-out by thousands of airline pilots every day.
Their accuracy puts goal-missing football players to shame.
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Catching Qatar
The A380 is slightly faster than the Dreamliner.
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130
Lenticular Cap Above Cb Cloud
Above the active CumuloNimbus (Cb) cloud, some lenticular
"lens-type" clouds form a cap, making visible the wind rushing
over the top.
Not a place to fly, due to the extreme turbulence.
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"Big Dog, Your Side"
Even under a full Moon, pilots still love clouds.
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Mumbai Airport
Ban the commute. Life is better when you live close to work.
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Emerging From The Cloud
Bursting-out from cloud into clear air at 600 kph never gets old.
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Crossing The Equator Under A Full Moon
The full Moon shines on the Cumulus clouds, before they build vertically
to become the CumuloNimbus thunder-storms which inhibit our progress.
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Runway 34 Melbourne
Most mornings the Katabatic winds from the Great Dividing
Range determine that the runway for the international arrivals
will be on runway 34. That is, if you are sitting on the threshold
waiting to take off, the magnetic heading will be 340 degrees.
You drop the zero, so the name of the runway is runway 34.
To find an airport in a big city at night, look for the dark area,
it makes the runway's approach lighting stand out.
Here the runway is the red line in the middle of the picture
and the A380's heading is pointing the left. The wind from
the left causes the aircraft to drift onto the correct track.
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Runway 16 Melbourne
Sunday evening and the plane-spotters car park is full.
They even have hot food and ice-cream vans.
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Mumbai Airport Slum
Any pilot who has spent much time operating into Mumbai
will tell you their "Slum Dog Millionaire" story about what
they have spotted in the slum that borders the airport.
When I first researched the slum, for my first book in 2008,
there were 400,000 people living there. There were 126
schools, and the average dwelling housed 2.5 people.
Of course, the airport would like to relocate the dwellers
and redevelop the land. The dilemma: most of the airport
workers live there, so the airport would grind to a halt.
A 2014 FirstPost report; in which the airport terminated the
contract of the redeveloper for missing another deadline;
said that there were a million people living there.
That's some growth rate ... all connected to electricity,
many with satellite TV.
Read the report HERE
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Qatari 777 Freighter
"My side, below." Closing speed 970 knots (1,790 kph)
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The Floods Of Bangladesh
Each year at least 18% of Bangladesh is flooded by the
monsoon rains. 80% of the country is officially classified
as floodplains.
After the monsoons finish, the snow begins to melt.
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The Five Ks.
The Karakoram Ranges lie north west of the Himalayas,
across India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
In Pakistan the five K mountains dominate the skyline:
Masherbrum (K1), Godwin Austen (K2), Broad Peak (K3),
Gasherbrum II (K4), Gasherbrum I (K5).
Here we are in China, looking southwest. K1 is top right.
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Mt.Hood, Oregon
Having passed Mt.Rainier, Mt.St.Helens and Mt.Adams
in Washington state, Mount Hood stands proud, just over
the border in the State of Oregon.
The chances of this potentially active volcano erupting
in the next 30 years are put at 3-7% by the United States
Geological Survey.
Its last major eruption occurred only a few minutes ago,
geologically-speaking, in 1782.
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London, England
During the final turn onto the Runway 27 Left Localiser
(lateral) beam, the right wing dips affording one of the
best views in aviation.
The sun shines on Heathrow Airport, and the mikes
at Wimbledon pick-up another passing jet.
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Mt.Adams, Washington
A little further south of Mt.Rainier, and 55 kms east of
Mt.St.Helens*; Mt.Adams is considered active even
though it has not erupted for 1,000 years.
Never turn your back on the sea, or an active volcano.
* scroll down for both
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Kolkata, India
Proof the earth is round. Watching the setting sun up here.
Meanwhile, at ground level it's already night.
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Mount Ranier
After crossing the North Pole, enroute to San Francisco, we
see the ring-of-fire volcanoes of the western U.S.A. starting
with Mt. Ranier just south of Seattle, in Washington State.
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The Burmese Hump
To keep the Chinese war-effort supplied during the
second world war, more than 157,000 flights were
made over the eastern Himalayas, between India
and China.
Ranging from 10,000 feet to 16,000 feet, crossing
the mountains on the China-Burmese border exposed
crews to hypoxia in the unpressurised aircraft.
The Monsoon weather added to the difficulties.
Everything we know about air cargo was learned
in the operations of the Air Transport Command.
509 planes were crashed and a further 81 lost.
1,659 people were killed.
A total of 650,000 tonnes of freight and 33,400
people made the trek across “The Hump” using
a fleet of up to 640 aircraft at a time.
Looking down on the stratocumulus stacked-up
on the Burmese (Myanmar) side, we spare a
thought for those who never made it across.
Listen to a podcast interviewing a radio operator
who flew "The Hump" https://tinyurl.com/FlyingTheHump
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. 
"I Wonder If That's Over The Airport"
As soon as we rose above the inversion after takeoff from Doha
we saw it: a huge isolated, active Cumulo-Nimbus (Cb) cloud.
A look at the Navigation Display (ND) revealed that it was active,
(the red bits), and sitting over the approach path to Dubai's runway.
Air Traffic Controllers suspended departures to enable arriving
aircraft to manoeuvre as needed, to avoid the storm.
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Sometimes You Get Close
Threading your way between cells of the ITCZ on a moonless night,
upwind of the closest storm, when suddenly she becomes active and
the light show begins. "That didn't scare me!" Yeah, right.
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Waiting For The Crew Bus
It's hard to translate how tired you are when you are
waiting for the crew bus, suffice to say that just posting
this pic makes my eyes feel like they have sand in 'em.
Then, by the time you crawl into bed at home, you will
be wide awake and sleep will have deserted you.
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The Strait Of Malacca
One quarter of the oil transported by ship, and 25% of the
world's traded goods pass through the narrow Strait each year.
We are still following the A380 from Brisbane (right side of
picture), this is the area where MH370 was last seen on radar.
The lights of fishing boats are visible amongst the trading ships
and tankers. 94,000 ships use the Strait every year.
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Sunset Over The Inversion
Sometimes it's hard to believe they pay you to be here.
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Tabarka, Tunisia
Whenever you look down on the earth; wherever it's warm,
humanity just loves a beach.
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The thunderstorms of ITCZ sitting over the Straits Of Malacca
as we continue to follow the A380 from Brisbane.
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Dubai Dawn
Not every arriving flight at Dubai is allocated a gate with an
aerobridge. Sometimes you are allocated a stand-off gate,
where passengers are bussed to the the terminal.
Whilst the cabin crew are doing their post-flight security check
Pilots have time to stand on the steps and witness the dawn.
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Singapore
The lightning from the active thunderstorms of the Inter Tropical
Convergence Zone (ITCZ) puts the blue back into the night sky.
At least 50 ships, mainly oil tankers, are waiting in Singapore Strait.
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Le Concorde
The Air France Concorde at Charles de Gaulle is on our side of
the airside divide to remind us of a time when things that went fast
could look good as well.
We think of her again, a few minutes later, when we are about to
roll on her fateful runway.
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The North Pole
The blue dotted line is a 40 NM circle around the North Pole.
The next waypoint is 89 degrees North and 80 degrees West.
The ETP is the Equi-Time Point between the two closest
airports, Keflavic in Iceland and Sondrestrom in Greenland.
For any emergency diversion before the ETP it will be faster
to go to Keflavic.
.84 in magenta at the next waypoint denotes that the Oceanic
Clearance has specified that the aircraft must maintain a set
speed for the duration of the crossing.
The compass ring is moving constantly at this stage, with zero
degrees pointing at the North Pole. In seventeen minutes or so
it will be abeam us.
Ahead and to the left is a green blob, indicating moisture in the
form of a cloud. This is probably incorrect, since the weather-
producing atmosphere at the north pole is very shallow, so there's
not much weather to affect aircraft. More likely, the radar beam
has been turned-down so that it is producing ground-return at
the furthermost point, 160 nautical miles (320 kms) away.
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True, It's The North Pole
One difference between Commercial Navigation, and
Senior Commercial Navigation in the pilot training
syllabus is Polar Navigation, and how you navigate
above Latitude 72 degrees North.
Compasses are switched from Magnetic to True, so
they point to True North, and navigation is conducted
with reference to the Polar Grid.
Pilots change the compasses at the press of a button,
or just wait until the aircraft realises it is above 72 degrees
north, and switches them automatically.
[True North is at the top of the planet, whereas
Magnetic North wanders about, and is currently in
Ellesmere Island in Northern Canada.] 
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100
Gold At The North Pole
It's a long day, flying from Dubai to San Franciso over the North Pole.
15 hours 50 minutes flight time, plus your pickup 2 hours 15 mins before
takeoff; and the trip to your hotel room, about 2 hours after landing.
For over 20 hours the sun is relentless.
The good news is that, looking south from the top of the world, the sun
sparkles on the cracks in the ice, and makes it look like veins of gold.
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Fishing Boats
In the Java Sea, north of Surabaya, the lights of fishing boats
dot the darkness. This is nothing.
You could just about walk between Japan and Taiwan on the
fishing boats every night, without getting your feet wet. And in
the Gulf Of Tonkin, in Vietnam, between Haiphong and Danang;
there are more fishing boats, than stars in the sky.
Order fish 'n' chips for your next meal … before the world runs out.
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"Company Super Head-To-Head"
The A380 Windscreens have three layers of glass, one layer of
plastic and one of gold fibres, like fly-wire, which is heated.
The result is not very good for photography. This image was
taken from an A330 whose windows produce clearer images.
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97
"Request 20 Miles Left & Right Of Track"
Due weather. Enroute from Mauritius to Dubai, traversing the inter-tropical
convergence zone during sunset, there's about an hour spent picking your
way between thunderstorms. Spectacular, but you can never really relax.
Legally you must remain clear of red weather radar returns, and no closer
than 20 nautical miles downwind of an active thunderstorm cloud.
The A380 has "Auto-TCAS", where the aircraft automatically avoids an
intruder aircraft. There is no reason why they can't develop "Auto-Avoid",
where the aircraft will automatically skirt around the upwind side of an
active cell, and then regain the flight planned track.
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Three Below And One Above
In Dubai's Desdi holding pattern the three aircraft below us line-up
1,000 feet above each other as they begin their inbound turns. The
aircraft above is two-thousand feet above us. One year I spent a
total of 600 minutes in holding patterns.
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'That's it. No More.'
Storoya Island, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, is the last land you'll see
when you fly over the north pole from Dubai to San Francisco. At 80 degrees
north, there is nothing after this except the Arctic Sea and ice.
The next time we'll see land will be Canada, in four hours.
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'You Have Control, I Need A Stretch'
No matter how comfortable the seat, (and the Airbus has lambswool
covers on its control seats), you need to get up every hour or so and
stretch your legs.
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That Exquisite Feeling
An airline pilot's task is to get the aircraft to the destination, cross the
threshold at 50 feet, and be in a position to land in the touchdown zone
— or go around. No landing is assured.
When you get it right, the sense of job-satisfaction is exquisite.
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Waiting For The Curfew To End
At either end of the Kangaroo Route are two curfew airports,
London's Heathrow and Sydney's Kingsford Smith. Every
morning, whilst you sleep, pilots fly their aircraft in holding
patterns waiting for the airports to open.
Despite what ATC say about the planning and 'speed control',
the old adage holds true most of the time:
"Whoever gets to the holding pattern first … wins!"
And as you wake under leaden skies, nature hands us this
view as payoff for working throughout the night.
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Mount Rakaposhi, Pakistan
At 25,551 feet above sea-level, pilots and cabin crew know that the
"Time Of Useful Consciousness" is three to five minutes. That is, the
time a normal person has to get an oxygen mask on, and start using-it,
before being paralysed by hypoxia, then death.
No wonder that there aren't many people on top of the 27th tallest
mountain in the world; as we traverse the highest airway in the world,
crossing waypoint Purpa, from Pakistan into China.
If we have a serious depressurisation issue, we can only descend to
28,500 feet until we get a little further north, and can start winding-down
within those valleys ahead, and divert to nearby Kashi.
A tricky business at night or in cloud; so for an hour or so everyone on
the flight deck is very attentive — while the passengers watch movies. 
A section of Tim A's quick reference "High CountryEscape Route Chart,"
used in training to get an understanding of the depressurisation strategies.
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Suez, And The Canal
Completed in only ten years, the 193 km-long canal system was completed
in 1869. It takes 12-16 hours to transit the canal, shaving 7,000 kms off
a trip. The average capacity is 76 ships every 24 hours.
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Malacca ITCZ
Following the A380 from Brisbane (lower right) under a full moon,
the thunderstorms of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
light-up every 90 seconds, putting the blue back into the night sky.
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Mt.Ranier, Washington
Dominating the skyline south of Seattle is a magnificent volcano, which
last erupted a few minutes ago, geologically-speaking, in 1854. Although
currently dormant, it is monitored daily, because an eruption would cause
mass destruction brought about by its huge glacial ice.
It's twice as big as Mt.St.Helens, 80 kilometres to the south, so an eruption
would be impressive, but moreso because of Lahars which would quickly
engulf life downstream. Moving at tens of metres per second, and up to 140
metres deep, the glacial ice would melt, mixing pyroclastic flow with rocks
and water. Three and a half million people live in its path.
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Dubai, U.A.E.
The trick, after flying from Australia overnight, is to land, and get home to
bed before the sun rises.
But on a flight like this, you're five minutes out and the sun has beaten you.
It's not easy to land a plane when it feels like there's sand in your eyes.
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Nanga Parbat, Pakistan
Naked Mountain, Huge Mountain, Killer Mountain - The Man Eater.
The westernmost peak of the Himalayan range is ninth highest in the
world, at 26,660 feet, (8,126 metres).
31 people died trying to climb it until it was conquered in 1953 by
Austrian Hermann Buhl, alone for the last 1,300 metres after his
colleagues turned-back.
Without oxygen; and after he had to spend a night standing, balanced
on a ledge; he took 40 hours, and became the first person to summit
a mountain over 8,000 metres high by himself.
It has had 68 victims, the third highest death rate in the world behind
Annapurna and K2, (which equals it in terms of technical difficulty).
And then the Taliban Terrorists killed 10 climbers and their cook at
base camp in 2013.
For Pilots it is right of track as we start over the highest airway in the
world, where the lowest safe altitude is 28,500 feet, just after we've
passed Peshawar, headed for China. A quick glance, tick it off, and
head for Mt Rakaposhi, and a last check of the emergency escape
routes in the secondary flight plan. The next hour is serious business.
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Fracking Pads, Texas
In 2014 the United States became the world's third largest producer
of oil after Saudi Arabia and Russia.
And by 2016 the USA was between 86-91% self sufficient in total
energy consumption.
Fracking has made it all possible, and at least 600 trucks will visit each
pad during its lifetime, depending on who you read, HERE. So work out
who will be fixing the roads before you sign-up for the fun.
The oil companies promise that there are no long-term negative effects
from putting these pads so close to water-courses and houses; after all
what could possibly go wrong? (One radical documentary is HERE)
And anyway, Canada has plenty of fresh water, if it's needed. They
can send it by ship, using all those old unwanted oil tankers.
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Mount St.Helens, Washington
The eruption, on May 18th.1980, blew the north side out of the volcano's
crater in the largest debris avalanche in known history. The magma then
flattened 600 square kilometres — destroying trees, 200 buildings, 57
humans, 7,000 large animals and 12 million fish.
It is alive and is being "recharged" with magma. Over 130 earthquakes
occurred underneath Mt.St.Helens in the eight weeks from March 2016.
Too weak to be felt by humans, the largest was 1.6 on the Richter scale.
Never trust them, and like the sea, never turn your back on one.
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Northern Lights
Over Greenland, with the Big Dipper above.
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Wake Turbulence
Best avoided, especially if generated by a Boeing 757 or Airbus A380,
the two types of aircraft whose wake is particularly vicious to aircraft below.
Usually invisible, the wake descends at 500 feet-per-minute, so pilots
have to imagine where they are. Here the atmosphere is moisture-laden
so that contrails have formed, making the wake visible.
On head-to-head airways in RVSM airspace, (1,000 feet vertical
separation), when an aircraft passes directly overhead pilots will check
their wind readout and determine where the descending wake will be
in two minutes, and manoeuvre their aircraft to avoid it.
Strategic Lateral Offset Procedures (SLOP) allow Pilots in Oceanic
Airspace to offset to the right, up to one or two nautical miles without
having to advise ATC. When piloting an A380 it's wise to put yourself
on the most downwind SLOP track to make it easier on other crews.
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Euphrates River, Basra
In Iraq, about forty kilometres downstream from where the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers meet, this is "The Cradle Of Civilisation" … or one of them.
It is widely accepted that civilisation independently emerged in five locations.
Flying into Basra had added challenges. Before descent the crews had to
call the company on the satellite phone to confirm that the Security Department
was happy for the flight to continue. Then all external lights were turned-off for
the approach. During landing the lights were turned back-on.
The airfield did not have any runway lighting, so flights had to get in and
out during daylight. Breakdowns added extra layers of complexity.
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Times Square, New York
On any evening a percentage of the spectators sitting in the bleachers at
Times Square are bleary-eyed airline crew, coming to terms with why
New York is called the "city that never sleeps".
When you sleep during the day the room maid next door smashes the
vacuum cleaner into the wall beside your bed, and taxi drivers honk at
crossing pedestrians in the streets below.
Earplugs are the solution. Along with that book:
"Sleeping for Pilots & Cabin Crew (And Other Insomniacs)" HERE
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North Western Sweden
A particularly busy part of a flight to New York as the augmenting pilots
emerge from the crew rest compartment, and are briefed to take over
until one hour before landing.
Leaving the Swedish controllers behind and going to Norway's Bodo
Control, it is time to accept the detailed Oceanic Clearance as the trip
over the North Atlantic will be outside radar coverage and conducted
procedurally.
Meanwhile, a glance outside shows the first dusting of snow.
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Years Off Your Life
Flying to a particular island, (Australia), the government is paranoid about
insects being introduced, so requires all operators to spray their aircraft
before each flight that enters their country.
In the old days the spraying would occur when the passengers were on
board. Nowadays they spray the aircraft prior to boarding.
Often, during spraying, the smoke detectors go off using the same alarm that
advises when the plane is suffering a major disaster. This occurs during flight
preparation when the pilots have their heads down, comparing waypoints in the
autopilot against the printed flight plan.
Airbus calls the alarm "an attention getter". It works. Every-time.
Turn your speakers up to 11, and listen to it HERE
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"I Think It's A Dog"
"Nah, its a crocodile." Pilots spend a long time looking at clouds.
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The Glamour
At the end of a long flight there is the delay after the passengers
have left the aircraft, the walk through the airport, the delay at
immigration, collecting baggage and waiting for the bus. Then the
inevitable traffic delays, and finally check-in at the hotel.
My record waiting for rooms to be readied - for the entire 30 crew-
members after a 14 hour duty - was two hours fifteen minutes.
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The Natraks
Eastbound from New York, approaching sunrise on Track X-Ray.
The North Atlantic Organised Track System (NAT-OTS) is designed to
assist the 2,000 aircraft crossing between the USA and Europe every day.
Originally, five tracks were spaced 60 nautical miles apart laterally, and
thirteen vertical levels were spaced 1,000 feet apart, between 29,000 feet
to 41,000 feet. And planes were fired along them every ten minutes or so.
There are now extra tracks with closer-spacing of just 30 nautical miles.
The system reverses every twelve hours to take advantage of the
fluctuating westerly winds, and the morning and evening peaks.
If you have the stomach for it, check out these videos. Be warned,
you may never be able to sleep in an aircraft again when you see
how many planes there are.
Visual depiction : HERE https://tinyurl.com/NATRAKS-BEST
Explanation: HERE https://tinyurl.com/NATRAKS
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"Super - 1,000 Feet Above"
Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) airspace between 29,000 and
41,000 feet inclusive, means that participating aircraft can be separated
vertically by 1,000 feet instead of the standard 2,000 feet.
Modern track-keeping using three inertial navigation systems tied-into
twin GPS guarantees that; unless you offset a mile or two right of track;
you will pass directly under planes flying the other way on two-way air routes.
The A380 is designated as "super" aircraft for wake turbulence, rather than
"heavy" as appended to the callsigns of 777s and smaller types.
Noticing an oncoming A380, with a True Air Speed of 480 knots, your combined
closing rate is 2 x 480 = 960 knots, or 1,777 kph. Not much time to snap an image,
but time enough to look at the wind direction and imagine the dangerous wake
turbulence descending from the wingtips of the passing machine.
You can hear the woosh as it passes.
Falling at 500 feet per minute, you have time to select the Heading to manual and
ever-so-slightly turn your aircraft upwind of the descending turbulent spirals. If you
are successful, after two minutes you can gently turn the aircraft back, arm the
navigation system to take control when you regain track, and your passengers
remain blissfully unaware.
Get it wrong, and the subsequent short, sharp turbulence
may be enough to spill the coffee.
And you thought pilots sat and read the paper. Not anymore.
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Ngorongoro Highlands, Tanzania
Some of the volcanoes of the East African Rift Zone, (the big one is
Ela Naibori), the largest seismically active rift system on the planet today.
The African tectonic plate is splitting in two at the rate of 6 -7 mm a year.
The larger western plate,(the Nubian), will break off from the eastern plate,
(the Somali), and a new ocean basin will form.
If you live in Somalia, you have about 10 million years to move.
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Albert Park, Melbourne
Turning onto final, Runway 34 at Melbourne Australia, in the pre-dawn
light, after flying 545 people twelve hours across the globe from the Middle East.
Nice to look across and see Port of Melbourne cruise ship terminal, Albert Park
Lake — where the Formula One race is held— and look down on my street,
five minutes walk from the beach.
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Iranian Mountains
The Zagros Mountains never fails to attract the attention of passing pilots.
The collision which caused them, between the Eurasian and Arabian
tectonic plates, is still occurring. The range is climbing higher by a few
millimetres annually.
Sea slugs, once at the bottom of the sea, have been found (fossilised)
over 4,000 metres (2.5 miles) up.
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We'll Go Right, Thanks.
In a pitch-black night, the lightning puts the blue back in the sky, and
you get to see the distinctive anvil-shaped top of the thunderstorm
cloud. This gives you the tip that the wind is blowing right-to-left, so
the smoothest option will be to divert upwind.
We'll go to the right, even though the guy we are following looks
to be going left-of-track. Our passengers will appreciate the smooth ride.
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Catching Bait
During a morning walk during a layover at Mauritius, a local fisherman
catches bait fish before heading out over the bar.
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It's been a long night
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Naples & Mt.Vesuvius
The stunning scenery of Naples is over-shadowed by the
mother-of-all thunderstorms ahead.
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Virga
Precipitation that evaporates before hitting the ground.
Can be quite turbulent in there.
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First Officer Working
It's not as rare as you'd think. Here three enroute airports are polled to
find the actual weather conditions in case a fast diversion is needed.
Since the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) dilemma has reached both law
offices and newsrooms, it has become front of mind. In aviation A.I.
killed-off Flight Engineers in the mid 1990s; so now pilots have to
monitor the aircraft systems themselves, as well as handling track-
keeping, navigation and communication … as well as piloting.
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The Squadron Heads Off
We are off to London, they are off to Paris. 1000 feet above us,
we'll both step climb as often as we can to save fuel. Unlike other
types, most Airbus flights will be able to immediately climb to 35,000
feet unless restricted by traffic. With the EA engines, at 35,000 they start
"making fuel" — below that you sometimes have to earn your money.
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Granny's House
To celebrate the royal wedding we look down on the River Thames,
London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Green Park, The Mall,
Buckingham Palace, and Hyde Park.
The approach to Heathrow's Runway 27 Left is magical for First
Officers. Captains get to see Wimbledon.
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The Pyramids Of Giza
On the Giza Plateau just outside Cairo, the only "wonder" remaining of
the seventh wonders of the world, The Great Pyramid (Pharaoh Khufu's)
is closest. Ten metres taller than the second pyramid, Pharaoh Khafre's,
which appears more imposing due to its base and that fact that its limestone
cap remains. The smallest is the Menkaure pyramid.
To sit in the burial chamber inside the base of the Great Pyramid is
one of the most awe-inspiring things you can do on, or even above,
our planet.
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Russian Sea Fog
Moist air has encountered the chilly seas and condensed,
usually, around microscopic airborne salt particles.
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Bangkok
The Chao Phraya River winds its way through Bangkok in the
aftermath of a thunderstorm which has dissipated into high-level
cirrus and low-level strato-cumulous clouds.
Fuelled by the monsoon climate, which sees it receiving 1,400mm
(55 inches) of rain a year, the river is the life-blood of Thailand.
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Oman Air 787
"Head-to-head, my side." When you see a dot in the sky coming
at you, hold very still and see if it is moving in the windscreen.
With practice, you can tell if the other aircraft will pass in front,
or behind. Left or right.
Another aircraft, whose relative position doesn't change
— is going to hit you.
Just like a car approaching your crossroad. At least,
in aviation, we are at different altitudes. Or are we?
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U.F.O. Above
One year I added-up the minutes I spent in holding patterns: 600 minutes.
Ten long hours. Here an unidentified flying object, probably a 777 or 787, is
1,000 feet above us in the Desdi holding pattern, just north of Dubai.
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Sliema, Malta
My home during my time in Malta: the Crowne-Plaza Sliema.
After the failure of Ansett, my career was restarted thanks to
Joe Farrugia, Chief Pilot of Air Malta. Everytime I flew past the
island nation, I doffed my cap in thanks to the only man on the
planet who gave me a second chance at a career in aviation.
The most important person in your life might be someone you
have never met.
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Ellesmere Island, Nares Strait
A glacier makes its way to the sea via Nares Strait, which
separates Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland.
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Auckland, New Zealand
The City Of Sails on New Zealand's North Island is rumoured to
hold the greatest number of boats registered, per head, in the world.
And most are yachts. If winning yacht races is your thing, you can't
go wrong if you fill your boat with Kiwi sailors.
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Ellesmere Island, Canada
The easternmost part of Canada, just before you cross the Arctic
Ocean and the top of Greenland, is home to the township of Alert
— the northernmost permanently-inhabited place on the planet.
Only 817 kilometres from the North Pole, it's not the kind of place
you'd like to take 545 passengers wearing summer clothing.
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Daly City, San Francisco
Just after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, a
temperature inversion traps haze. Two hang-gliders, operating
from Mussel Rock Paragliding Site, are unaware of the Airbus
A380 crossing above. Below the cliffs: The Pacific Ocean.
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Cloudsurfing
You're climbing up through stratiform cloud and realise that you
are about to break-out on top. Hit ALT HOLD and the aircraft will
target your current altitude. Then select VERT SPEED and crack
it up 100 feet per minute until the cloud is passing just underneath
the window. With climb power set the speed is increasing, as it
approaches 350 knots, pull OPEN CLIMB and up she goes like a
homesick angel / fart in a bath (insert your description here). The
only other people who know what's going on are the ATC, who have
noticed you've stopped climbing, and that paxing pilot in 23A.
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The Big Apple
And its even-bigger electricity bill. The image was taken from
37,000 feet over New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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North Atlantic Weather
A rare image of three distinct weather systems over
the North Atlantic. Seafarers caught in between the
systems would be suffering "a perfect storm".
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Crossing The Nile
Just south of the bridge at Beni Suef. That smudge of light in the
distance is the Greater Cairo area, home to 20 million people.
Humanity clings to the Nile all the way through Egypt, Sudan,
South Sudan, and Uganda from its source in Lake Victoria.
It contrasts as a ribbon of green on the sand during the day;
and light at night.
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North Atlantic Contrails
A closing speed of 1,770 kph, -56.5C super-chilled air, and zero
wind, combine to make condensation trails of the oncoming 777's
wingtip vortices.
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Sit This One Out
"What's worse than being on the ground, wishing you were in the air?
… being in the air wishing you were on the ground."
So goes the old pilot's adage. Taxying-out at Bangkok during an active
thunderstorm, it soon becomes obvious that setting the park brake and
waiting ten minutes is the prudent thing to do.
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Pay Your Respects
Each trip to Auckland Emirates crew go and pay homage to the spectacular
Emirates Team New Zealand yachts that lost the America's Cup to the Swiss
Alinghi team by one second in the final race in 2007. Arguably the most
exciting mono-hull races ever conducted, the series included new onboard
cameras and microphones, with virtual imaging that brought the television
coverage to life.
After seeing the yachts at the Viaduct Basin, you can dine at Portofino or
The Fox Sportbar. No visit is complete without visiting Danny Doolan's
and singing the NZ anthem: "Slice Of Heaven" by Dave Dobbyn.
______________________________________________
A Long Way From Anywhere
Flying over the north pole to San Francisco, this screen shows that,
from our present position, we are 1,328 nautical miles from the closest
airports. BGSF, Sonderstrom (Kangerlussuaq) Airport, is in Greenland;
and 1,585 nautical miles away is CYZF, Yellow Knife in Canada. Once
we have travelled a further 289 miles along the airway we will be at the
ETP (Equi-Time Point); the half-distance point, modified by wind; from
where it will take us the same amount of time to get to either: two hours
and forty-two minutes, (17:13 - 14:31 = 2:42).
Not that you want to land an A380 at either. The runways are short, are
often covered in ice and snow, and the temperature is often way below
freezing … not places to be popping the slides.
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Le Bourget
Paris' first commercial airport, with Charles De Gaulle in the background.
It was the airport where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1927, after his transatlantic
crossing; where Hitler landed in 1940, Nureyev defected in 1961; and where the
ill-fated Concorde was headed in 2000. In 2005 I landed there in a VIP A320;
and watched as my boss, a Saudi Sheikh, bought a brand new Airbus A340 at
the Paris Airshow. The new A380 was there: "Would you like a look inside?"
"No thanks," I said, "I'll never fly one!"
I went on to fly my first A380 in 2008, and my last in 2016!
______________________________________________
Sister Ship
Each day, over Denmark, the New York bound flight crew sees
last night's return flight coming the other way. [40 /150]
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Air France Concorde
At Charles De Gaulle Airport, (a.k.a. the scene of the crime), there is a
frozen-moment Concorde next to the taxiway reminding passing pilots
of the crash on the 25th July 2000, and the lesson it underscored:
" Never, EVER, shut down an engine that is delivering power,
until you get to a safe height — regardless of the flames."
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Crossing The Equator
Every flight crossing the Equator has to negotiate the ITCZ, the
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. It's where the northern and
southern hemispheres' weather collides, distinguished by the unstable
air masses leading to Cumulo-Nimbus (Cb) clouds and thunderstorms.
It is illegal to fly into active thunderstorm cells, so pilots have to fly
around them, no closer than 20 nautical miles on the downwind side.
Cabin crew close the window blinds so passengers don't see the
lightning flashes that go off every 90 seconds. Passengers sleep,
or watch movies, not realising that the light show from the flight
deck is much more exciting.
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Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai
Dubai Creek, inching towards completion, effectively placing
Dubai's tourist precinct on an island.
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A380 Sunrise
You've been flying all night and they make you park on a
standoff gate. Great. Now it's going to take an extra 10 minutes
to disembark the passengers. The sunrise colours everything for
a minute, and the A380 across the way takes on a whole new look.
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Zipper Distrail
Pilots spend much of their lives day-dreaming as they gaze out of windows;
in my case, defeating the prognostication of Mrs.Coventry who, as my class
teacher in Grade 3B, told everyone that I would get nowhere in life by day-
dreaming out the window. I did get somewhere, thousands of times, at 82%
of the speed of sound. This particular day, on approach to Dubai, looked-up
and spied this amazing distrail in the high-level Cirrus cloud above.
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Twin Rope Clouds
According to the Australian Bureau Of Meteorology who classified
this image. The clouds preceded a cold front by about 25 nautical
miles. They are the same family of clouds as the Morning Glory
Roll Clouds regularly seen in Burketown, The Gulf Of Carpentaria
and Esperance, as well as other places on earth.
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Sydney Harbour
There are few airports in the world that offer such a
spectacular view on approach or departure as Sydney.
Large aircraft bound for New Zealand, (using the long runway
in a northerly breeze), are kept high before turning east,
… so grab a window seat on the right hand side.
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Bangkok Short Final
On slope (two whites and two reds on the PAPI to the
left of the touchdown zone), with three aircraft taxying
down the parallel taxiway; and just about to switch the
visual aiming-point to the far-end of the runway.
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Sitting At The Holding Point
Every year of your career you spend hours waiting at holding points
for other aircraft to takeoff and land. It's amazing, with over 100,000
flights a day worldwide, how often pilots land safely in the touchdown
zone. When you think about it, it's a remarkably safe business.
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Karakoram Ranges - Full Moon
Flying from China into Pakistan, over the highest air route on
the planet, the cloud is stacked-up on the Pakistani side. This
is the usual state of affairs with the prevailing southerly breeze.
It is rare to experience a cloud-free crossing.
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Park Circus Station, Kolkata
Who'd be an Indian train driver?
On the crew bus trip from the hotel to the airport, this daily
view of Indian railway humanity never fails to grab attention.
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Manhattan Island
Home to 1.6 million people, the borough of New York
received 62.8 million tourists in 2017. The five boroughs
of New York City have a combined population of over
8.5 million people.
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Norfolk Coast, England
Looking south from above Scotland, the English east coast is
defined by low cloud and the sea fog of the North Sea.
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Rose Bay, Sydney
With Bondi Beach in the background. Rose Bay was the base of
Qantas' Empire Flying Boats that used to take four days to fly to
Singapore, as their part of the route from AKL to LON in 1938.
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Dubai's Creek
Long before Dubai's geographic location saw it become the world's aviation
hub — with two-thirds of the earth population reachable within an eight hour
flight— its creek made it the trading-hub for Bahrain's pearl traders and the
world outside the Gulf. Dubai has always been a trading town, and after
a boom lasting about 30 years, only 5% of its income comes from oil.
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Red Sea - No Borders
Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi in one glance. The site of Saudi's proposed
super city, Neom. Announced in October 2017, and costing USD 500 Billion,
it will have a bridge to Egypt that spans the Red Sea. [More HERE]
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Chasing Qatar & A Planet
Full moon over Iran, chasing a Qatari 777 as it heads towards Mars.
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Heathrow Runway 27L.
You spot Heathrow by the three huge reservoirs, (there are actually five).
"Wraysbury" is at the end of 27L. "The Queen Mother" is at the end of 27R.
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Denpasar, Bali.
Spotted from an overflying A380, an aircraft becomes airborne
from Ngurah Rai International Airport's runway zero-nine.
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Aurora Borealis
Over Hudson Bay in Canada, just outside the FO's window …
this appears. You'll never forget the first time it happens.
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Hold Short Of The Runway
It seems you spend years of your life sitting at holding points waiting
while others use the precious runway. In Dubai there are three holding
points. If the plane beside you has its nose-wheel on the yellow line,
you probably won't hit wingtips …
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Birth Of A Sandstorm
This is how it starts. From nothing, a few knots of sand begins to mix.
Within days, it becomes the Shamal. The north-west wind sandstorm
that begins here in Iraq and sweeps down the Arabian Peninsula,
engulfing everything in its path, about three times each winter.
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Gonna Be A Long Night
Approaching the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
While you sleep, the pilots are about to spend the next few
hours avoiding thunderstorms (CumuloNimus clouds [CBs] ).
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Boracay's Daily Storm
As the sun goes down it illuminates the top of the active CumuloNimbus
cloud (thunderstorm), over the "mainland".
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Sunrise On The Glareshield
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Saudi Farms
Years ago Saudi Arabia started drawing-up water from the 500
cubic kms worth of reserves at the rate of 21 cubic kms per year
for its irrigation farming program. The National Geographic reported
that 400 cubic kms had been used by 2008. Nowadays they just
buy farms in USA, Argentina and Africa.
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The North Pole
This is the real place. Not the North "Magnetic Pole" which moves around a bit.
At the moment the only way to get there is by Russian Icebreaker as it lies in the
middle of the Arctic Sea, which is 13,400 feet deep.
______________________________________________
Only In Australia
The pushback tug has died, just after pushing-us back. So we'll just push it out
the way with two baggage trolley tugs. After lots of smoke and skid marks, we
waited for another big tug to do the job.
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Mt Ranier and the Volcanoes
Of America's North-West.
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Arctic Plotting Chart
Flights over the North Pole use Lat & Longs in between the standard
waypoints. Each must be added, and the aircraft's position checked and
plotted ten minutes after passing each point.
______________________________________________
Dissipating Cumulonimbus Clouds
Traversing the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITZC) between the
northern and southern hemispheres, crews are glad to reach the calmer
skies after few hours avoiding active cells.
______________________________________________
Approaching Waypoint Purpa
About to cross the Karakoram Mountain Range, from Pakistan to China, on the
highest air route in the world. The Lowest Safe Altitude is 28,500 feet.
______________________________________________
Line-Up Behind Departing A340
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Northern Lights
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Head To Head
______________________________________________
Watching Captain Mike At Work
______________________________________________
On Departure From CDG
______________________________________________
Dubai 2013
______________________________________________
Mumbai Departure
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The Last Flight
After 31 years & 18,000 flying hours it's time to give the FOs a go.
Joined the A380 Fleet in 2008 when we had two, EDA and EDB.
Retired when we had 93. Today they have 103 of a total of 165 on
order.
Captaining an A380 is like climbing to the top of Mount Everest.
Now it's time to find another mountain … HERE
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