Greetings from London,1 - She said "yes"...over the west coast of Ireland (Tadex intersection) at FL390, 0920Z, Dec23, seat 3K, ACA A330-300 Fin 931. Got a picture of the sunrise out the window.2 - Landing at EGLL was a bit disappointing...overcast at 1000 feet, landing 9left, not much to see. Was hoping for a 27l/r arrival down the Thames with a nice view, was not to be. Did see lots of traffic in the hold at BNN.3 - First aircraft I see on the ground rolling out is an AAL 767-300...got a nice picture of it...almost like AAL327 was waiting for me at EGLL...just like flightsim ;-)4 - Passing notes back and forth in flight to the flight deck, the Captain wrote me a nice letter explaining he was prohibited from giving me the flight plan as they are now kept on file for 90 days at ACA. He did give me a route planning and plotting chart and drew the route in....get this...NO PUBLISHED NAT Track is required to be filed...this really threw me a curve. I spoke with him about this, he said the "A330 does not have to follow a published NAT Track, they select whatever they want and go GPS nav over the pond". We crossed the pond around 56 degrees north, about 5 degs north of the northermost EASTBOUND published NAT track that night. 5 - I asked him if a 767 coudl also fly over the pond 'however they wanted to (without a filed NAT Track) and he said they could but they generally don't. He then went on to imply that because of the GPS on board the A330, it made it more 'practical' for them to pick the best route whereas the 767 would usually follow a NAT Track. I am still not clear on his explanation, but he was eager to get going so I took some snaps of a cold and dark A330 cockpit and split. 6 - The ZFW was 150900kg, Block fuel 51900kg, burn was 39,200, flttime 6:46mins, distance 3135nm, burn was 39,200kg. Route (Dec 22 ACA862) was YYZ-YUL-STEAM-OYSTR-5550N-5640N-5630N (ETP slightly before 5630) - 5620N-NIBOG-TADEX-BEL- BNN1A. The route is only sketched on the chart so that's all the routeing info I can decipher from it.7 - We were upgraded to First Class by my buddy at ACA...very nice is all I can say. The Maple Leaf Lounge at CYYZ is a nice way to start the journey. My demands for more Champagne were immediately satisfied en route while chomping on Atlantic Char and choosing my wine and dessert from the trolley. Only thing missing on ACA First is the soft padded leather seats, although the fully reclining pwer seats are very comfortable.8 - The A330 is indeed a smooth and quiet aircraft. The RR Trent engines sound like a hairdryer on acid, kind of a beefy A320 growl, but the aircraft is smooth and has the widebody feel of a Boeing, and no rattling plastic sounds like the A319/320's I've been on ;-)9 - I mentioned I was a Boeing fanatic to the Captain, he became very defensive of his bus and said that he would never ever go back to Boeing. He went on to say that Boeing is using World War II technology even in today's models and that 9-11 would never have happened in an Airbus as the computer would have denied the pilots flying into the buildings (protection). At this point I discontinued my discussion of the merits of Boeing compared to Airbus and walked out with the Cap'n. Our discussion ended nicely, he gave me his e-mail addy and said he would send me pics, data, stories, etc if I e-mail him.10 - Flying back on ACA869, Jan 2, 0900Z, B763...you know I will be all over that one.Sorry to babble.Tally Ho!Rob.

Hey Rob,A sincere congrats on your new life! :)I hope you got her to sign a pre-nup stating that this marriage thingie can't get in the way of your passion for this hobby! :-lol (just kidding of course, I do hope that she knows the "other" woman she'll be competing against).Keep us posted on the return flight and I look forward to the pics...I hope you get some of your lovely bride-to-be...sitting in front of a passenger window with a shot of the wing in the background!) ;)Regards,Steve Dra

Big congrats Rob!Enjoy your stay in the UK.

Congrats Rob! :D Surprised they didn't divert and throw you off the plane with your "hijacking" questions. ;-) I got some funny looks when I asked stuff like that the last time on ACA, trying to tone it down now. ;-) Good to see you like the 330. ;-)Merry Christmas

RIGHT ON old boy!Only Rob Hall would list the time he got engaged in Zulu time. :-lol My sincere congratulations Rob,

Thanks for the kind words, I have passed on the comments to her and she thanks you all...yes, she thinks I am nuts.The UK is just like I remember it, rainy and cold today ;-) The last 2 days, however, have been very nice weather...11-12 C and mainly sunny so I suppose we had to pay the piper some time!Everything is closed today so it's a pub lunch and a movie day. My "Jetstream" radio shack airband radio gets all the good stuff, we are only about 5 miles from EGLL here in Walton on Thames, arrivals are busy in the morning with all the N-American flights arriving. We did Windsor Castle on X-mas Eve, going downtown tomorrow so she can see the sites, tea at the Ritz on Saturday, off to Liverpool for NYE....God help me.Bye for now,Rob.

congrats mate...being a newly married one(a year on jan 10 2003,....i must not forget THAT one :-) ),all i can say is:YOU ARE GONNA LIKE IT!!btw,my wife thinks i'm crazy,but she lets me do without nagging....really great!!

atta boy Rob!! She must be VERY VERY patient and nuts.Talk to you when you get back!I'm amazed that the flight crew would pass notes up front for you! You must have behaved yourself. Dan PergauIn the other London, until tomorrow at 6am

Congratulations, Rob!I'm with Mike though. Only you would list your engagement time in Zulu, with an intersection to boot!Lee Hetherington (KBED)

Congratulations Rob! I've been engaged for a little under a year and a half. It's tough doing the whole long distance thing, although seeing her has given me many excuses to fly! :-) Her step-dad is a private pilot and flight-sim addict, so she's gotten plenty of practice tolerating him in front of his machine all day! Hopefully I'll get my Air Force pilot slot and will fulfill my cravings flying for real.Again, congratulations...All the Best,Phil Geddeshttp://people.bu.edu/pgeddes

All the best boyo...What a riot! We love ya Rob (in a manly piloting way, of course).DSCVA3339

All the best to you two in 2003!

So, can anyone verify #9 on the origional message?JimCYWG

Classic, cheers!Done the "London" tour, finally stopped raining today.Off to Liverpool for NYE, back tomorrow to pack, then wheels up 0900z on Jan2.UK is fantastic, but there's no place like home ;-)Rob.

Best wishes and congratulations Rob!