Heathrow to Los Angeles RW flight

[cowpatz 243]

>Hi Steve, reference to the below:>>FUEL CALCS (KG)>A TO B 106962 (INCLUDES 2.4 % PERFORMANCE DETERIORATION ALLOW>A/C SPECIFIC)>CONTINGENCY FUEL 2 % 2156>EGLL DEP ALLOW 819 (800 PLUS 2.4 % PDA)>INST APP KLAX 1331 (1300 PLUS 2.4 % PDA)>DIV TO KFAT 6160>RESERVE 30 MIN 3838>>What does:>>(INCLUDES 2.4 % PERFORMANCE DETERIORATION ALLOW A/C SPECIFIC)We have an approval to reduce our contingency fuel (down to 2%)if we apply a performance deterioration allowance (PDA) factor.The PDA is the difference between the published book figures and actual. This is done by constnat trend analysis. Every so often these are revised by maintenance and passed onto flight despatch. Naturally they are specific to each aircraft. In our case with the aircraft I flew we had to carry an extra 2.4 % fuel (as indicated) as this aircraft performs 2.4 % worse than the book figures. As one would expect these PDA allowances increase with age due to increasing engine hours and consequent lack of efficiency and old paint work, misrigged controls etc).CheersSteve

[wijnand 11]

Thank you very much for sharing this with us.greetings from Holland,Wijnand (EHBK)

[cowpatz 243]

Hi all. Attached is a zip file with a word document that details the winds, fuels and times for the flight.CheersSteve

[Guest airspace]

Nice one, Steve, so are you a captain at air new zealand and how often do you fly the AKL - LHR route? what is best, long haul or short haul?Just one last question, do you have the registration of the 747?Thanks,Darren:-)

[Guest diskus]

steve,I have one ques. I was curious about the choice of 1000 for the step climb setting. and how this choice would reflect on fuel usage etc.Mike

[Guest Jeroen November]

Hi Steve,Thanks for the great RW input. I will certainly use the data on my sim-flights from EGLL-LAX-NZAA. I've been a passenger on the EGLL-NZAA trip via LAX a couple of times & enjoyed every minute of flight (a total of 26 HRS including the trip from EBBR-EGLL), a thing my wife failes to comprehend (the scenery of the destination country is what gets her through the hours of flight). the only down-point is the chaos at LAX when everybody has to disembark for the US customs.I flew on the ZK-SUJ http://www2.airliners.net/open.file?id=0635903 in the main Return of the King hype. One of the best looking liveries I've ever seen & one of my favorites on the PMDG. I'm hoping to do that trip over somewhere in the future & play around with the PTV as they weren't yet installed back in nov 2003. I especially enjoyed the view the passengers got of the nose gear cam on departure from NZAA to LAX. Especially since I didn't get a window seat. We didn't get that view on arrival at LAX but I presume that's due to pitch of the aircraft on landing. I was allso wondering how much crew members you guys take on board for a trip like that (I suppose multiple FO's due to the length of flight). Well thanks again for the effort & happy flying.Greets,Jeroen

[cowpatz 243]

Gidday Darren,No I am a FO with Air NZ. With our retirement age going from 55 to 58 and then to 60 and now maybe even 65 promotion has slowed right down.I could have opted for a 737 or A320 command but the shorthaul lifestyle does not appeal to me. Next move is either a command on the 767 or 777....maybe even the 787.I prefer longhaul flying as I find the periods of time off after a long trip more useful than the odd day here or there.Reg was ZK-NBW. The newest aircraft in the fleet.CheersSteve

[cowpatz 243]

>steve,>>I have one ques. I was curious about the choice of 1000 for>the step climb setting. and how this choice would reflect on>fuel usage etc.>>Mike Mike when flying the Atlantic there is generally a westerly flow during the morning from Europe and an Eastery flow in the morning/afternoon from the states. This allows closer flight levels to be used. On the NATS tracks they are speparated by 1000ft. Using a 1000 ft step climb setting allows us to stay much closer to optimum and therefore minimise fuel burn. CheersSteve

[cowpatz 243]

For the London tour of duty we carry 1 Capt 1 FO and 1 SO.The new entertainment system is now up and running on all but 1 aircraft at the moment. A great system and sure helps pass the time. Its functionality will be continually added to and have many more features that it currently does not have.CheersSteve

[jtsjc1 3]

Hi Steve, this is great stuff! My question is do you ever use the OFFPATH DES in VNAV? In the FMC Guide it explains it is used when receiving vectors and it goes into great detail. However I never hear it being used. Am I correct in assuming it will recapture VNAV PTH when using speedbrakes to slow the a/c? Thanks for your patience in answering these questions! Joe Colao

[Guest airspace]

Hi Steve, thanks for the info, and here is a photo of ZK-NBW on airliners.net - there are tons but i really liked this one, on departure from AKL.http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0837664/L/Darren

[cowpatz 243]

Hi Joe,I have flown this aircraft for 6 yrs now and have never used it or seen it being used. Radar vectoring is never that radical and we just update the FMC with either direct to's or intercept crse to's.If you are a bove the path and are using speedbrakes to get back onto it then it will recapture VNAV PTH.CheersSteve

[cowpatz 243]

Yeah great shot. Hard to imagine that it is Auckland. I guess the telephoto lens makes the background seem so much closer.CheersSteve

[Guest airspace]

Just been thinking and wondered how many 747 pilots and aircraft that air nz have got? well on the flight to LAX did you do a manual or automatic landing? - an interesting topic here.Thanks again,Darren

[Guest airspace]

Hi Steve - as a real world pilot do you have any routes that you really like to fly or are they all the same when your in the air except for flight time?Thanks,Darren