Captain Carter bored of 747?

[Guest LAND3]

Hi all,Recently I bought and watched the very nice ITVV VIR 744 DVD and was quite amazed at the quality of the recordings. With Aerowinx 744, PMDG 744/744F, Robert's new Type courses, ITVV VIR 747 Flight Cockpit Videos, airliners.net 747-400 photographs, etc etc this is a true 747-400 enthusiasts wet-dream come true! No other aeroplane on the face of the earth is more popular and prestigious, and no other has been modeled and recorded and written about to such details made easily aviable to the general hobbyist. With that said, I have a quick question and if this is the wrong forum please place it in the right one so it gets answered by someone here at avsim.com.I read somewhere that the Honorable Captain Alan Carter is no longer flying for Virgin Atlantic and in fact has downgraded himself to fly a Boeing 737 for Thompson. And (this may be a rumor, I don't know, that's why I'm asking) aledegly Alan got bored of the 747-400 and wanted to do something else for a change?!? So physiologically speaking, do we humans get what we want and then don't want it anymore? I mean being a 747 pilot is the top, so why would Alan want to downgrade himself to a mere 737 driver???It's like Bobby Fisher going back to playing tic-tac-toe or Bush running for Mayor in 2008, or something like that ....I mean, here are all of us trying to get our hands on everything authentic about the 744 as possible, and the guy who has it all says screw it and gets up and leaves? Maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture here.... someone please confirm or comment-David

[Guest bond672]

i think my feeling would be flying the jumbo would put huge strains on a family situation because its long-haul, many hours, in fact, many days away from the family (asuming he has a partner of course!). there has to come a point in life where seeing the family is more important than jumping in the left hand seat of a -400. by going onto the 737 and short haul, he can be back in time for tea and crumpets at the end of day...just a thought...kind regardsbondhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/for...argo_hauler.gifhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

[mburkhard 23]

David,also don't forget the "flying" part. Because a B747-400 is long haul you get let's say four landings a month. Also on many airlines the number of destinations on long haul is limited compared to short haul. So if you want to do more flying, do more landings and do more different approaches and visit more airports it might just be the thing to do and change again to short haul flying.And... the experienced Captains are not only needed on the 747, the are needed on 737s too!Regards,Markus

[Guest LAND3]

Thanks for the responses. Yes it does make sense that Mr. Carter wouldwant to spend more time with his family (if he has one) and also towant to make more landings per month, etc...One thing about the ITVV VIR 744 that really kind of disappointing to me is when they are on approach to landing, Carter turns off the autopilot/land3 and flies in by hand down to the runway. I was comparing the ITVV 744 to the operations of the PMDG 744 and wanted to see how the land3 of a 'real' 744 would compared to the simulator PMDG's but Alan disengaged the AP at the last moment. And it was wierd how the DH it said 'approaching decision height' instead of 'minimums' like PMDG does..One last thing, I realized that the ITVV video was shot back in October of 2000. (even before 9/11!!) so its an 'aging' video if you know what I mean... But I was surprised to see that it (the cockpit and functions) were almost for the most part 100% like PMDG 744's. So basically the 747-400 hasn't changed much in the better part of an entire decade??I mean in the very start of the ITVV VIR744 we see Alan giving us a briefing and behind him is this old DOS 8088 looking antiquated abacus calculating machine, and since I order and received my first ITVV VIR 744 last week, I was surprised to see just how far we have progressed (technologically speaking) in just 7 short years... I mean good old Aerowinx wouldn't have worked on that PC of Alan's... My point is, my sub-par Desktop PC of today can probably calculate hundreds if not thousands of times faster than the FMC's on the Boeing 747-400. That's NOT good news. That makes the 744 seem old, outdated, antiquated and aging NOT so gracefully :-(((I say all this not to demeanor the 744, in fact I love the 747 more than any other plane out there, its been my favorite plane since I was a kid. So I hate to see it grow old, outdated, and like an aging boxer, still can fight but not what it once was, because now there are new alpha males in the arena (hint: Airbus A380)I mean the Airbus A380 has a joystick and fly-by-light/wire that doesn't use hydraulics, it has an state of the art engine thattruly pushes the envelope, an engine that gets rid of the conventional concepts of pneumatics, bleed air, etc.... It's hardwired to make it impossible to crash, with hardlimits and all. It has cameras attached to the side and rear, so the pilot can see on the new 19" LCD integrated cockpit laptop running Windows Vista at 1080i resolution a 360 visual of the external plane like how the new Lexus has a rearview camera mode when the driver goes in reverse.... And even Boeing itself says its getting rid of the 747. I mean just one look at the new flex wing, ultrasonic, futuristic Star Trek looking Klingon-Bird-of-Prey-787 just blows my mind away. Look at the engines like some preschooler cut it out of paper with plastic foolproof safely scissors, and the flex wings just looks like a plastic cheap RC that was left to long in the sun and started to melted... As funny as it looks, this is the funky but all too real future of aviation... Plus don't forget the bolted doors and 12" kelvar bomb proof cockpit of the future, praise homeland security, et al.And project Yellowstone just confirms all of what I am saying...Boeing is finished and through with the 744 for all that matters. I mean come on, the 744 FMC still looks like good old DOS or BASIC, when the 787 cockpit looks like the Bridge of the Star Trek Voyager with the LCARS menu system and Borg Nanotechnology and all....Airbus has a qwerty keyboard, sidestick, integrated laptops running Windows Vista and pretty soon pilots will be Instant Messaging each other on AOL and downloading porn on their 14 hour long hauls....Just look at the 787, and our nostalgic 744 era of 'modern jumbojet' is over and history. DOn't get me wrong, I want the 744 to stay current, valid, and prominent for as long as possible (I REALLY DO) but since I am an hardcore simmer, I won't be simming it if it becomes obsolete in the real world. (Like how we don't sim DC-8 these days....) And thats sad news to me, becuase personally I wish to be playing PMDG744 two, three, five, or even TEN(10) years from now and still enjoying it every bit as much as I do now (or perhaps even more so)But, (and in all honestly) 5 or ten years from now, PMDG will havethe BOEING 787-800, AIRBUS A380, Intrepid 74656 as its flagship products running on Windows Fiesta with Tritanium Infinity 945E999 core Quantum chip CGPU's with Microsoft Flight Simulator XXX and DIRECTX99. I maybe sound a bit nuts, but does anyone else here feel the same way? Like how I want the 747-400 (both in real life and in PMDG universe) to stay as revelant, valid, current, and modern for as long as possible, so I can enjoy flying, learning, and vicariously simulating and living out the life of a professional 747 pilot for as long as possible before technology kills the my nostalgia?But when I see the cockpit of the Airbus 380, 787, its nanotechnology and fiberoptics and composite this and fly-by-light that, and its just to much for me to handle. I feel like the 747 is already obsolete, and even objectively its 45+ years old!!!! I mean from 1903 to 1948 aviation changed leaps and bounds! 45 year old airplane is pretty old no matter how you put it!!!!Any comments? Anyone else feel the same way? I hate the feeling of feeling 'obsolete' if you know what I mean, and heck I ain't even a real life 747 pilot!!! Whats wrong with me??- David

[Guest LAND3]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, plus 20 years from now there might not BE a cockpit at all!Just take a look at the new prototype UAV's.....Airlines want to cut costs and any aircraft manufacturerthat builds a commercial airplane that doesn't have a cockpit (whats the purchase of a cockpit when aCPU the size of a grain of rice can be 10000%more efficient and doesn't receive sick pay like the FO John Cullom gets from VA.)has no need for any heavy and space occupying hydraulics (electrics are the future) norpneumatics's (bleed is so last century..)nor a APU (thus saving space and weight)will winner out in this age of ever depletingpetroleum resources... I just read that article where they are making a wing thatchanges shape due to speed and altitude automatically and doesn't even need flaps!!!!!!!!Basically, they want to get rid of the pilot and cockpit alltogether. Forget the 'glass cockpit' how about say hi to theimaginary cockpit..

[Guest Peter Bowcut]

In this video, Carter's flight didn't recieve a CAT IIIB approach clearance to do a full autoland (required), and in fact was cleared only for a visual approach to the landing runway. I should imagine his use of autopilot approach mode almost to CAT I minimums was due to the fact that his 747 was making a simultaneous parallel approach with a 757 landing on 28R (the Virgin 747 was landing 28L). Not only did this require precise extended runway centerline tracking, but the Virgin 747 had to maintain a slower airspeed behind the 757 in order not to cover the -57 with wake turbulence. In the video you'll hear Alan talking about dialing the speed off so they don't overtake the 757.

[markadeane 272]

Talk to any flight crew and they'll tell you that once you've been on an aircraft type for a while it's less about the aircraft and more about the lifestyle that comes with the routes. If you dig going to far off places a few times a month you'll stay with the 744, if you want more 'stick time' you might look at another smaller aircraft that flies shorter and more frequent sectors. Even if it were down to how up-to-date and 'gadgetty' your aircraft was, the age of the 744 means there are other aircraft that have more high tech wizardry!Whether Capt Carter got bored of the 744 is really for him to know, but maybe an element of the above applies.

[Guest captaingrice]

I can't say whether he got bored of the 744 or not, but he moved to fly 744s for Korean before returning to the 737 thomsonfly fleet. EDIT: FYI John Cullom had to stop flying after a road accident. Tragically John Cullom drowned last year whilst living in Cape Town, South Africa. Very sad indeed

[Guest LAND3]

Yeah I just read about John Cullom's tragic death over at prune forums.Alledgely he was handicapped and taking a vacation in south africaand when he was swiming near the beaches a storm knocked his head into a rock and he drown or sometime.BUT if you ask me, I think those in charge at Virgin Atlantic got tired of him suing them for 1 million pounds and paying him all that sick leave and hired a cheap local to take him out....John Cullom was always the creepy third guy in the back of the cockpit,if you look closer during the ITVV video he always puts those shades on to prevent being seen as much as possible. And there was a few scenes during the takeoff/landing where he is sitting/squatting in the back and looking like he's about to throw up or in the process of throwing up, just very wierd for a 747 pilot to have airsickness. Strange fellow that John Cullom, but may he RIP- DavidP.S. anyone seen the 787 Cockpit Demonstrations over there at boeing.com?Especially the ADVANCED FLIGHT DECK was really of particular interest to me. go to newairplane.com to take a look!!http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/8133/untitled1vc3.pnghttp://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2627/untitled2fb2.png**And what about these A380 Cockpit pics??**http://us.airliners.net/photos/photos/0/9/7/0957790.jpgIs that Windows Vista I see in the background? With a Dell Laptop integrated into the flight deck!! See it even has a Saitek X52 PRO that comes right next to it!! Plus it has that Baby Camera so when the pilots reverse they don't accidentally run over a baby that managed to crawl onto the airport.And I swear on the Captains Laptop it looks like Mozilla Firefox is open, with the history pages showing... hmmmm... looks like someone has to erase the cookies , got hand caught in naughty cookie jar ;-)Plus wants up with all the EXTERNAL camera shots? Almost makes Active Camera 2.1 look outdated!!!! http://us.airliners.net/photos/photos/6/9/6/1018696.jpg

[Guest LAND3]

Gotta love this one... Makes me drool all over myself...Hey Robert, when will PMDG come out with a Boeing 787? Since Boeing is being so cooperative and wants to 'showcase' its DREAMLINER as much as possible, what better way then to get the bestest addon simulating company in the world to pimp their newairplane for them??Think about it: Intel QUAD QUO, Windows Vista, Flight Simulator X,DirectX10, so the new logical step is of course a PMDG 787-800!!! in August 08, 2008!!!! Geesh I could become a numerologists!http://www.flightsim.com/howto/getreal3/787panel.jpg

[Guest Peter Bowcut]

Wow, the poor guy is dead this is how you pay tribute to him. He seemed like a pretty decent guy from the video, where do you come up with this stuff about him being creepy? Ever flown in a real airplane cockpit on a sunny day? Sunglasses sort of come in handy.

[Guest LAND3]

Darn, Airliners.net is being gay and won't let me link to a pic, andavsim won't let me edit my post so now those banners will get stuck there for all eternity...HERE are the two pictures I was talking about:http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/7664/31960872ia0.pnghttp://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2639/34541756uc8.png

[Guest captaingrice]

LAND3,"BUT if you ask me, I think those in charge at Virgin Atlantic got tired of him suing them for 1 million pounds and paying him all that sick leave and hired a cheap local to take him out...."I think you need to be very careful what you accuse Virgin Atlantic of. As for John being "creepy" - I can't for the life of me see where you got that from. As was said earlier, he's wearing sunglasses probably becasue, yes you guessed it, the sun is out. As for sitting in the background - he's the inflight releif - where do you want him to sit? Alan's lap? I'm sorry but I found your comments about John, under the circumstances, disgusting.

[Guest LAND3]

Sorry thats not what I intended to mean.It's true that John WAS suing VA for over one million pounds.Thats a lot of money.... He was being disgruntled afterthe car accident his back was supposedly brokeand face disfigured. He said he felt extremely insulted thatVA offered him a job working in a beauty salon in Heathrow airport.John went on to say that VA didn't take him seriously and 'used' himwhen he was well but when his health was gone treated him like trash, etc... So in essence, he was getting paid to take vacations in South Africa and rumor was I heard someone else say that he could still fly on the side and was still making money even though VA was paying him sick leave/etc for his 'broken' back.So that's the tail tail signs of a potential insurance scamsters, and we have more and more of these cases every day. That's why I mentioned I felt that he was 'creepy', maybe he had something to hide or something...Does that clear it up for you? I'm sorry that he passed away.

[Guest jaglover]

That clears nothing up. First you say he's creepy. Then you say VA probably assasinated him. Then you accuse him of probable insurance fraud. Then you say he might have something to hide. What's your agenda here? Are you trying to impress someone with your supposed knowledge?I have a few of questions for you:1) How old are you? From your writing I'd guess 13-15!2) Do you really want to be sued for libel by VA and for defamation of character by John's family?3) What's the source of the rumour you mention above? Did you bother trying to verify the rumour?Regarding John's sunglasses in the video - the video was shot long before John's accident. Why would John be "hiding" from the camera long before his supposed insurance scam? Your excuse for calling him creepy simply makes no sense.LAND3, it's time for you to grow up.Mark