Hi,in the above mentionned book I found a flight plan from ESGG to PAFA and I want to try this flight - but now I have a problem.How do I insert a coord like 80N010E - this question sounds silly, since I fly for long time NAT tracks and insert something like 50N20W as5020N and it will be accepted. Now I want to insert 80N 010E / 85N 010E / 90N 000E / 85N 148W / 80N 148W and 75N 148WThe manual says :Waypoints may also be entered by typing the latitude and longitude in the SP and entering the desired position with a left LSK.Waypoints entered in this manner will be defined in the ACT F-PLN as NXXWXXX.So far so good - the MD11 FMC will not accept either N80E010 ( not in database ) nor 80N010E ( not in database ) !!Entering 8010N will be accepted, but how does the FMC recognize 10 as E and not W - see above how does the FMC know that 5020N shouldbe 50N20W ??I searched the forum but no success . . .

Help is overhere:http://ops.precisionmanuals.com/wiki/FMC_WP_Entry_NotesHarry

"Below is the Qantas flight plan (QF2902) for the flight that I was onboard from Sydney (YSSY) to Antarctica and back to Sydney on February 17, 2006...."Matthew, is "MPOLE" the South Magnetic Pole or the geographic South Pole?At very high/low latitudes (greather than 88.5 degrees), GPS is not used for navigation, and the FMC (which guides the Autopilot in LNAV) uses a single IRU as a reference (without radio updates).Seems to me that you are tempting fate by flying directly over the poles ;)Cheers.Q>

Hello Mark-Heinz,Please refer to FMS Operating Manual page FMS.100.4 'Lat/Long Waypoint'.For example, I would type into ACT F-PLN page of the MCDU:ESGGN7300.0/E02000.0N8958.0/E02000.0N8950.0/W16000.0 N7300.0/W16000.0PAFASincerely,Kan-ichiro FushiharaP. S.Thank you very much for your kind introduction to the book 'Northbound Lady', I was very interested in it! I have already contacted with Ritterimages. I'm looking forward to receiving it

It is the South Magnetic Pole. Qantas doesn't fly as far south as the geographical South Pole due to safety restrictions. The pilots also keep in touch throughout the journey to Antarctica with the various Antarctic research bases run by us and the Kiwi's, Americans to keep abreast of weather conditions due to the nature of Antarctic weather changing very rapidly. Planning for each flight apparently begins almost 12 months before the flight, with various Government agencies requiring information, such as environmental impact studies to determine the effect the jet will have on the environment (a bit farcial if you ask me, given that they don't land and fly around during the sightseeing segment at around 11,000ft for just a few hours over the continent itself). I recall that minutes before crossing the Arctic circle, we were given a safety briefing onboard by the Cabin Crew, demonstrating what to do in the event of a forced landing on Antarctica with things like how to put on your survival suit. It's specially designed to keep passengers alive in the sub-zero temperatures and to protect against the wind. I think they said the temperature on the ground that day was about -45c if my memory serves me correctly, but the sky was crystal clear. So far Qantas has had not a single mishap on any of these flights. The only really bad one was Air New Zealand when one of their aircraft crashed into a Mount Erebus about twenty-odd years ago or something like that, killing all on board.Here is a picture I took during the time we spent over Antarctica...Here is a shot looking over the wing while the sun sets as we transit north-easterly toward the eastern tip of Tasmania...

Edited May 7, 200917 yr by mcbellette

WOW. Now that is some cool stuff.

Hi,shortly after having typed my last post I found the FMC manual 100.xxxxI made the trip - it was interesting . . .See attached picture - after NP crossing I disabled the normal NAV function and chased the magenta line with the HDG SEL. It started with HDG 359 althought the HDG indicator showd a southerly direction - it slowly adjusted to the normal HDG and after N85W148 the normal NAV was reestablished.

I think that this is also one of the problems because of "the polar navigation functionality is not implemented in the current version of the MD-11." Mr. Frantzeskakis said before.As far as I know, LEVEL-D 767-300ER is the only one which is able to perfectly navigate passing over the poles at present.Sincerely,Kan-ichiro Fushihara