From the Flight Deck

Do you answer all of the enRoute questions by heart or do you ever need to refresh your memory with the web or manuals?

Regarding the shirts, I hope I get you wear even one epaulette for my PPL. Probably not the case though :(.

Good post Captain! Have a great time off!

Regards,
Edwin.

Also in regards to winspan, aspect ratio and its effect on induced drag are important too!

Anon. There's lots to factor in regarding wingspan, but the big glitch for me is the question and answer can only be 90 words. Talk about limitations...

Thanks for your comments...

On the post between the two front windows, what are the two white and one red balls used for? I've flown flight sims and have seen them there on the Airbus aircraft. I think I've also seen something similar on another plane that was three white balls arranged in a triangle.

Edwin. No, I have to get into the books/manuals/web. EnRoute strives for accuracy and as they should!

Thanks for the feedback!

Doug with four stripe epaulettes.

P.S Hear's hoping you get your PPL!

Hi Scote1992 Good eye! Yes, most airplanes have them and they allow the pilot to adjust their seat height and depth by ensuring the white ball is not in sight behind the red ball.

I included a picture in the top left corner of my blog. If I had this arrangement according to my picture, I would be sitting too far out and sitting too high.

You need this alignment when doing low visibility approaches.

I hope this makes sense.

Doug

I had the day off work today so I decided to be an anorak and watch the action at London Heathrow.

In the distance I saw an Air Canada aircraft taking off, however very unexpectedly I think it was an Airbus 321???

Obviously there must be a fuel stop before/immediately after crossing the atlantic.

Are you aware of any AC 'small buses' doing the transatlantic run?

Hi Carlton. You were close! It is a "small bus", but it's a A319. That would be the LHR-YYT (St. John's, Newfoundland) flight.

Flight 823 is a non-stop flight departing LHR at 12:35 local and landing on the east coast of Canada at 14:45 local.

We started this run after taking serious flak from Newfoundland because we cancelled the B767.

Apparently the flights are doing well and it looks like it's running daily.

Unfortunately, the flights are flown by Winnipeg based pilots. I can't sample the great beer you guys have to offer. :)

Thanks for the post!

lol, I hope so too. But I'm not even starting my theory until january.. Although I'll be ordering the study material in October. Maybe I shall start a blog about it? Probably not though :P. And by the way, I could not find a way to get your book here in Sweden, perhaps I could buy one straight off of you?

Edwin.

Edwin. Amazon sells it around the world. At least in Great Britain, Germany, Canada, U.S and Japan.
It's a shame it doesn't sell in Sweden!

I would be happy to send you a book for $25 U.S.
I'll look after the shipping.

Just send me your address through your personal email.

Doug

I love the fact I can post a comment to you and check back 5 minutes later and find an answer =). You do a very good job answering our questions and maintain you blog. I'll have a look in with Amazon UK and see if there will be any extra customs charges, but I doubt so since we're both within the EU.

Btw, I have a question for you. As you probably know by now, I want to become a pilot. And now in 9th grade we have a week intership coming up, and I know I unfortunatley can't do my internship in a cockpit, but what are your thoughts about maintenance? I'll email a maintenance company at my local airport. And I'll also try asking a local flight school if they have any duties for me :P

Thanks again Captain! Hope I'm not bothering you on your days off.

Edwin.

Edwin. Maybe try Germany's Amazon?
http://www.amazon.de

As far as answering blog questions, I try my best, but my wife is getting less and less tolerant. Luckily, she is shopping at the moment. :)

Any chance of getting to see a simulator? SAS? Maintenance would be neat, flight planning would be another.

Hope this helps.

Doug

Thanks for the tips. Sadly Landvetter airport, Gothenburgs biggest, isn't that big. And I doubt there is any sims or flight planning there :( or maybe, I know one airline based there that might have their flight planning there as well.. I'll look in to it. It would be awesome getting access to a sim at some time in my life. I'll also try the ATC/tower.

Would you be able to get your son in to one of Air Canadas flight simulator or would that break any laws? I think I read somewhere that the FAA restricted them as well after 9/11-2001.

Cheers.

Edwin.

Up until a few months ago, I could bring "guests" into the simulator.

A recent memo has tightened things up. That's as far as I will go with this answer. Sorry.

Captain Doug

St Johns - that figures, and it was around 12:35 when I saw it depart.

I wonder how long the flight takes - 5to 6 hours? I bet the tanks need maximum fuel for the crossing.

As for our beer I think Candada also do great beers, my favourite is Rickards Red ; )

I understand Captain. Time for me to go to bed. Got an English test tomorrow.

Thanks for your time and answers!

Edwin.

Hmmm, I would have something to read when I go to Toronto for a few hours on the 21st but I have already read them :D

Great as always :D

I think this is a record for blog topics, seriously lovin that.

Wow, thanks for the quick response. I just ordered your book off from Amazon. I might be sending it for an autograph, :) (Maybe not though, I might need my money for college things, aka drinks :P)

So "Flight 823...is flown by Winnipeg based pilots." Interesting. Wouldn't it be logic to have the above flight flown by YUL or YYC based pilots? It would be an interesting post to explain how AC dispatch its pilots according to where they are based. And why Winnipeg based pilots fly YYT-LHR

Carlton. Yeah, I figure it's about 5.5 hours. My trips from Toronto to Vancouver are 5 hours. The flight from Ottawa to Vancouver is 5.5 hours. I flew from Montreal to Los Angles (six hours) a couple of years ago and the "pucker factor" was up there!

Rickards Red...not bad!

Scote1992. Drinks do take precedence over an autographed book. Enjoy college...but don't drink too much.... :)

And thanks for buying my book!

Captain Doug

Anon.Why YWG? It's easier to qualify a small base for ETOPs. Last year it was done by YUL crews.

As far as a post regarding particular flying, no one knows the answer. :) I don't want to go political
on this one so I will let it rest. Sorry to be evasive but....

F.Y.I there is no YYC base for pilots, but there is for flight attendants.

Thanks for the great comments. I wish I could go further with this one.

Hi Daniel. Sorry to ruin your flight because I already posted the "aviation"page.
What you could do...is think up new questions. Just received an email from enRoute stating
they had to can a question. The well is always a little dry so on the 21st make sure you have
your thinking cap on! :)

Hi Doug,

Interesting to hear about the new restrictions on allowing guests in the simulators.

Last year for "Take Your Kid To Work Day", I went with a friends dad to the simulators in Toronto. He is also currently a captain on the A320.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for very long; Transport Canada had to do some inspections, but it was a fun experience none the less.

Not much that can be done about the simulators though. They are very packed with bookings for pilots training, so I guess it is better that Air Canada keeps it for themselves.

Nehal

Hi Doug,

I noticed you posted the reply in your previous post.

The new building is very nice. When I went, there were 3 A320 simulators, 2 E170/E190's, 2 767's and 2 777's. They were in the process of transfering the A330 to the new building, so we couldn't see that one.

My friends dad used to fly the 767, so we tried getting in there, but they were booked, as were the 777's, that he used to fly.

I remember that there were a few other kids that day that were entering simulators, but my friends dad said that they booked like 4-6 months in advanced.

Alas what can you do. Though to make up for the let down with the simulators, he took us to the Flight Operations Centre. It was quite fun there, meeting and talking to a few pilots that were there a bit early for their flight.

Overall it was a fun day, even though there was limited time in the simulators.

Nehal

Nehal. Yes, we have a new training centre so I guess they didn't want people roaming around, etc.

Just one more area where the fun is taken out of the job... :(

***placed in the proper post....sorry Nehal******

Sorry about that Nehal. I've been getting lots of comments. I just moved it to its proper place.

I didn't realize the A330 is moving to YYZ. It was based in YVR (Vancouver).

Glad it all worked out. Sounds like your friend's dad looked after you guys.

Captain Doug

No problem, your blog is getting quite busy.

Hehe, I made a mistake there. I assumed it was an A330, as it was going next to the A320. Although it could have been an A320, I'm not too sure.

Nehal

Hey Doug - your former BIL Geoff here. Ian showed me your site and it is very cool. Tell the folks at AC that you need a picture of you with 4 stripes in En Route. Hope all is well. Geoff

Hi Geoff (Anon). Welcome. I assumed my four stripes were showing in the enRoute magazine and sure enough you are right...I am stripe-less.

Some would know I'm wearing a captain's hat (golden scrambled egg) but that's it. I might approach them to extend the photo down a little.

But I don't want to push them, they might delete me instead. :)

Geoff. I just figured what BIL stood for and which Ian you were referring to (There are two other Ians) DAAAHHH on my part!!!

One day we should meet up for a beer in YHZ.

Doug your former BIL

Thanks for your blog, but you headlined it 'LEARN HOW LONG IT TAKES TO BUILD AN AIRPLANE AND MORE' then didnt answer. K. Abhiti from Ancaster, Ontario asked you a reasonable question. You could have answered "i dont know" but you didn't. you answered the manufacture rate. That not saying how long it takes, unless you're trying to tell us a Boeing 777 takes about 4.5days to make.

Mike Kear. Excellent point! However, the line you quoted was "flower power" added by enRoute. I did not write it, I only copied it from their site.
The line was trying to entice, but in a way it mislead. Again, valid point.

It is difficult to nail an actual time an aircraft is built from head to toe. You also would have to include all the components built off site.

For example, I could easily find production rates for the B777, but that does not tell the reader if it took all month or did they build one completely and then another.

If you've ever toured a site, you would find they build a series of them with most in different phases.

Thanks for the valid comments.

Captain Doug