The Online Temple of Chris Parkes

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2010-03-23T17:53:00.001+11:00

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FPLA over

2010-03-23T17:46:00.001+11:00

I have finally passed ATPL flight planning. It has consumed the best part of my intellect for the past year and a bit. Thank God it's over.

Mving, brb

2010-01-04T10:21:00.011+11:00

Moving house. If you can't get hold of me, this is why. More later.

Also, if I may give you a word of advice, don't move house over the Christmas period. Trust me on this.

Update - I've moved and it looks like iinet have even retrieved my data! Let me know if anything looks odd.

Update2 - my files finally have the correct permissions! Hopefully I can blog again!

This point is critical

2009-11-28T12:17:00.002+11:00

The critical point (CP,) also called the equi-time point (ETP,) is the point exactly halfway in terms of time.

Let's say you are riding your bike to your friends house 10km away and you ride at about 10km/H. Where is the CP? Commonsense tells you it is at the 5km mark, exactly halfway between your house and your friends house.

Now let's say you are riding in the opposite direction to Grandmas house which is at the top of a big hill, again 10km away. You can ride up the hill at 6km/H, and back at 14km/H. Where is the CP? Not at the 5km mark, because it takes you more time to ride up the hill than down. We need to use the speeds to find a ratio and apply to the distance, thus;

CP = D x Vhome/(Vout+Vhome)

CP = 10 x 14/(6+14)

CP = 7km

To test, we'll see how long it takes us to ride from the CP to our destination, and how long back.

3km / 6kmH = 0.5 * 60 = 30min

7km / 14kmH = 0.5 * 60 = 30min

So here we are, riding to grandmas house, when we remember we have to call mum to let her know we are on our way to grandmas house, do we turn back and let her know, of do we ride on to grandmas house and ring her from there? Up until the 3km/7km mark, if we turn around it will take less then 30min to ride home. After the 3km/7km mark, it will take less then 30min to ride on.

This is similar to the problem that aircraft face in flight when deciding to continue on or return home in response to changed circumstances. In nil wind, the CP is exactly halfway, but if this is any headwind or tailwind (most likely) the CP will move, and it is worth noting it will move into the headwind (uphill.)

We are flying a B727 from Mount Isa to Alice Springs, a distance of 1050NM. Our cruising speed is 450kts TAS, we have a 50kt headwind and we are past the halfway mark with only 500NM to go. A passenger on board has a medical emergency. 500NM ahead of us is Alice Springs hospital and 550NM behind us is Mount Isa hospital and a whole lot of nothing in between. Do we go on or turn back? Alice is closer, but due to the ground speed difference maybe it will take less time to fly back to Isa.

CP = 1050 * 500 / (400+500)

CP = 583NM from Mount Isa (remembering the CP always moves into wind.)
or
CP = 467NM from Alice Springs.

In this case we go back.

To test, let's fly on to Alice from the CP

400/467*60 = 51min
500/583*60 = 51min.

RESULT.

Conventional

2009-11-21T00:42:00.002+11:00

Gratz to Lex who just got the ok to fly taildraggers. I'm glad I got my qual before several thousand hours of tricycle experience made it tougher. Still, he did alright I reckon in that he got the nod after only a few weeks of non-intensive training, an hour here and there, and a false start in an underpowered Champ.

Well done mate.

Point of no return

2009-11-13T21:59:00.002+11:00

The point of no return (PNR) is not just an expression, it has a very real meaning in aviation. The point of no return is the point at which the aircrafts endurance is enough to either go on to our destination or turn back. If we choose to go on, we no longer have sufficient fuel to return to our destination, we have reached the point of no return. On over water legs this is an important point, if there is any emergency, our choice is already made, however suitable it may be to cater to our situation, if the weather at our destination is less than ideal, a decision should be made here whether to attempt an approach or abort and go home.

Let's say we are going from point A to point C, via point B. Point B is exactly in the middle between points A and C and there is no wind. We have only enough fuel to go from A to C and no more. Where would the PNR be? It would be at point B. Point B is halfway, and at point B we would have used exactly half our fuel. Up until we reach point B we can still change our minds and go home. At point B we can go home or we can continue on to our destination. Once we've passed point B we are committed to going on to point C.

Now let's say we have more than enough fuel to go from point A to point C, but not enough to go from point A to point C and back again. This is more usually the case with commercial aircraft. The PNR is somewhere between point B and point C, but where? Confusing the situation is the wind which is a tailwind from A to C, but would be a headwind were we to turn back to A again.

And so we find ourselves at B, needing to know how much further we could fly before we reach the PNR. We have a certain amount of fuel left;

Fuel on board 14000 Kg.

And we can calculate how much fuel will be required to fly back from where we are (B) to home (A.)

Fuel required to fly back to A from B 4000 Kg

We do this and subtract it from the fuel we have on board, whatever is left over is the amount of fuel we have available to fly out to the PNR and back to B.

14000 - 4000 = 10000 Kg

If the wind was nil, we could divide by the SGR to find how many miles we could fly using this fuel, halve the distance and we would have our answer. Or to put it another way, divide by twice the SGR, the SGR out being the same as the SGR back. This is the heart of the problem - wind and different aircraft configurations mean that the SGR out is almost never the same as the SGR back. But the equation is still the same;

Fuel at B after fuel back to A is subtracted;

10000Kg

Divided by SGRout + SGRhome;

10000 / (8.5 + 10.7) = 520nm

Flight planning - headwind/tailwind

2009-11-09T20:39:00.004+11:00

I'm studying for my ATPL and I am stuck on flight planning. In fact I've been stuck on this one subject for almost a year. For my own edification, I'm going to describe some typical AFPA (ATPL Flight Planning Aeroplane) questions, and their solutions, so I can study wherever I happen to have internet access. Perhaps some more erudite and learned ATPL pilots can happen along and give me some pointers, too.

Maximum headwind/minimum tailwind.

When flying from place to place you need to ensure that you land with a minimum amount of fuel necessary to cover emergencies. That fuel is called reserve fuel, and may not be used, except in an emergency. Using your reserves alone constitutes an emergency.

Say that I am flying a B727-200LR from point B to point C, with point A a long way behind me, and point C still a ways to go. I've already burnt up a fair bit of fuel getting here and I need to ensure that I don't touch my reserve fuel getting to point C. Aloft I can have a headwind, a tailwind, or no wind at all (unlikely.) If the headwind is sufficiently strong I may get nowhere at all.

If I am 450nm from my destination and I have 7000Kg of fuel aboard, 3000Kg of which is reserve fuel, how strong a headwind can I accept at point B and be reasonable confident of getting to point C without using my reserves? I will ignore the descent and approach for the pourposes of this problem.

Firstly, let's see how much fuel I can burn getting to point C.

7000-3000 = 4000Kg of fuel. This is my flight fuel or fuel burn off (FBO,) the amount of fuel I can use getting to point C without using my reserves.

SGR = FBO/dist. The distance to go is 450nm. 4000/450 = 8.889 This is my SGR(required) This is the most Kg of fuel per nm I can burn. If my fuel economy is worse than this, no good.

Another way of calculating SGR = Fuel flow per hour/ground speed in kts. I calculate my fuel flow from the B727 flight manual in this configuration as being 3600Kg/H.

8.889 = 3600/Gs , or Ground speed = 3600/8.889 = 404kts.

I calculate my True Air Speed (TAS) in this configuration, which is 436kts.

My Gs(req)-TAS = my allowable head/tailwind.

404 - 436 = -32 Kts. This is the maximum headwind I can accept. A positive number would indicate a tailwind is required.

I'll test this by giving myself another 2000Kg of fuel onboard to use. If my reasoning is correct, then the answer should give me a much greater accepatable headwind.

6000/450 = 13.334 SGR(req)
3600/13.334 = 269kts Gs
269 - 436 = -167 kts allowable headwind.

Let's try it the other way with less fuel. If I have less fuel to cover the same distance, then logic tells me I need less headwind, maybe even a tailwind helping me along, to get me where I am going without eating into reserves.

2000/450 = 4.445 SGR(req)
3600/4.445 = 809kts Gs
809 - 436 = 373kts tailwind required.

RESULT.

Mo Money

2009-11-06T21:44:00.002+11:00

It's Movember, and I am once again growing a dubious tache for charity.

Frightening, hmmm?

Here is the sales pitch;

Hi,
I am growing a moustache this year for Movember. I have decided to put down my razor for one month (November) and help raise awareness and funds for men's health - specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.
What many people don't appreciate is that close to 3,000 men die of prostate cancer each year in Australia and one in eight men will experience depression in their lifetime - many of whom don't seek help. Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved and I am hoping that you will support me.
To sponsor my Mo, you can either:
* Click this link http://au.movember.com/mospace/121975/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
* Write a cheque payable to 'Movember Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 121975 and mailing it to: Movember Foundation, PO Box 292, Prahran, VIC, 3181
Remember, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Movember is now in its sixth year and, to date, has achieved some pretty amazing results by working alongside The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCFA) and beyondblue: the national depression initiative. Check out further details at: http://au.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.
If you are interested in following the progress of my Mo, click here http://au.movember.com/mospace/121975/. Also, http://au.movember.com has heaps of useful information.
Thank you

Flying post overdue

2009-10-30T20:50:00.004+11:00

A couple of weeks ago I took a flight to Taree with a pilot mate named Julien, whose blog you can find here. I'd been wanting to fly along the coast past Taree and back through the VFR lane for quite a while, but didn't want to do it alone, so when Julien posted on his blog that his attempt was thwarted by bad weather, I suggested we fly up together. He was PIC for the first leg, and I would be PIC for the return leg.

The weather in Sydney had been crappy for days leading up to our flight, either heavy rain or high winds, and sometimes both, but the trim Gods smiled on us and we got a window of good weather for about 12 hours on the day of our flight.

I like flying with new people, they usually have tips and tricks to pass on, and interesting tales to tell. Julien was a good choice, he is an accomplished pilot and I could tell he was a thorough planner, very organised, particular about details, all things which in almost any other endeavour would be viewed sceptically, but which are welcome attributes in an aviator. I'd happily fly with this bloke again. Julien is also pedantic about following the rules, which is something I tend to get lazy with.

We left Sydney early enough, but weren't rushed at all. No time was wasted and at no time did I feel we were in a hurry. I sat in the right seat to take these pictures. Although we had agreed on our respective roles I initially found myself handing out unnecessary advice and touching switches without asking. Naughty! In the run up bay I apologised and promised to behave myself like a good co-pilot should.

We rapidly left Sydney behind and headed north to Newcastle, still an important coal port as these waiting ships demonstrate.

There aren't too many tall buildings in Newcastle.

The shipwreck of the Sygna off Stockton Beach, an unmistakable landmark.

Ummm Broughton Island I think. My photo really does not capture its striking grandeur. The best way to see it is to barrel past at 500 feet.

Not much further north of this I saw something I hadn't seen before. A small high wing aircraft was circling low of the water. While I watched a dark whale as big as a bus broached the surface and splashed back into the waves. Sadly it was too distant and fleeting to get a photo, and Julien was on the wrong side of the aeroplane and never saw a thing.

Scenic Taree airport.

We refuelled at Taree, we didn't need to but I wanted to get an accurate idea of our real world fuel consumption. The Chief Pilot at The Manning River Aero Club had the appropriate surname of Sky, and picked it without even opening the tanks. "Forty litres per hour" he said, and he was spot on, we flew for 87 minutes and used 57 litres. 40L/H is an appropriate planning fuel consumption figure for unleaned cruise. Schofields operations manual prohibit leaning the mixture below 5000 feet AMSL. Avgas is cheap when compared to a engine ruined by an overleaned mixture. The Manning River Aero Club is a very nice example of a country flying club, very comfy and homey with a fire that must be inviting during winter.

I enjoyed sitting in the right hand seat, just watching, talking on the radio and concentrating on navigating, but I was also happy enough to be back in seat 0A.

The VFR lane is narrow and follows a railway line up a winding valley which at times is quite tight.

Williamtown military airspace is normally active above it during the week at 1000 feel amsl, and lots of the surrounding terrain is higher than that, so there isn't much space vertically either, and you have to fly low to stay legal.

After the lane it was fairly straight back to Bankstown over familiar terrain. Julien captured the landing, unfortunately a dying camera battery prevented me from doing the same for him. He was complimentary of my landing, which just goes to show how polite he is.

Lets see that from another angle

2009-10-21T21:05:00.002+11:00

A forced landing at Bankstown airport on the 6th June 2009 captured by not one, but two cameras.

He comes down at an angle and then straightens up just before touchdown. Aircraft in one piece, passengers unhurt. Eyewitnesses say that the reason for the bank on coming in was to avoid the warehouses on the north side of the field, something Bankstown pilots have been warning about for a while now.

Bye Buddy

2009-10-01T15:29:00.003+10:00

Yesterday around this time my wife and I said goodbye to Houston, our beloved cat, just shy of his 13th birthday.

He was my little buddy, he followed me around the house wanting to know what I was doing all day, he slept like only a cat truly can until he got hungry, then got up and ate til he was tired. He demanded to go outside just to sleep in the sun and sniff the grass, he demanded to be fed at 0545 every day. He curled up beside me to sleep just about every night.

And when he no longer wanted to do any of those things because he was too sick, he knew we would do what was best for him.

And we did, while we held him and the light went out of his eyes.

My wife has said it better than I ever could;

To others he may have just been a cat, or our pet. But to us he was our family and we loved him.

Houston, we have a problem.

2009-09-26T19:33:00.003+10:00

I'm not even sure how to start this post.

People close to me and my wife know how close we are to our family cat, Houston. People who know how close we are will know how upset we were when he was diagnosed with cancer recently. We've been blogging our experiences as a way of coping and possibly to help anyone else out there whose beloved family pet is also diagnosed with a terminal illness. You can read how it has gone so far here.

We recently took him back to the vet to be checked up and got the news that we both knew was possible, but didn't think we would get. The treatment wasn't working, and now instead of having weeks or months of life left, he has only a matter of days before the pain and illness becomes intolerable. It was a terrible shock to us because he had been doing very well. So well in fact that the vet recommended his dosage be cut down. I now wonder if that was a mistake. Nevertheless, I'm convinced the treatment he received extended his life and that we would already be dead without it.

Anyone who has or had a family pet that they love, for thirteen years in our case, could understand just how painful this is for us. He is the closest we have to a child, and soon he will need us to do the right thing, which is end his life before it becomes too much to bear.

I don't know how to end this post.

Wolfie 2

2009-08-25T17:42:00.005+10:00

Photos taken in Bicentennial Park and Newington Armoury by my lovely wife Kirrily.

More nightness

2009-06-14T17:29:00.003+10:00

Another night session at Bankstown.

Julien commented on one of my recent posts - he happened to attend the same session of night circuits as myself a few weeks ago. We didn't fly together, but G'day Julien if you're reading this. I'll be reading your blog with interest in the future.

Daniel Martin was our instructor for the session, a very experienced and agreeably laid back instructor at Schofields. Grahame Smith and Dave Roberts were my fellow acolytes. Grahame took us out to show us how it was done, and really gave us something to aim for. Grahame never got around to completing his night VFR rating, but is an experienced IFR pilot and it showed in his precise speed control and effective instrument scan. He took it round for three good circuits, copping a nasty patch of slipstream for an Archer in front of us. It threw the aircraft off at least 30 degrees angle of bank shortly after take off and really got our attention. Landed, taxi back and shut down.

Now my turn. Took it around for one good circuit and a squeaker of a landing. Normally this would be a good thing, but I would rather have my landings be a little on the firm side at night, rather than grope around in the flare and float too high. The next circuit was ok and the landing this time was firm, but rather too hard. A Duchess was on its way into the circuit and the tower requested we extend out downwind leg to accommodate it. I choose to turn too early, thinking a Duchess would be a bit faster than our Warrior. Pilots who have flown a Duchess may choose to chuckle at my expense at this point. I also didn't twig to the transmission that preceded, advising the Duchess to slow to follow a Liberty. We ended up going too close behind, and being asked to go around. It's a good thing to get to practice a go around at night, I rationalised. The last circuit was good up until it was my time to receive a fright.

On late final we encountered wake turbulence as Grahame had earlier. And there's no wake turbulence quite like wake turbulence at 100 feet. The left wing dropped past 30 degrees and I put in a boot full of right rudder to pick it up. It wasn't done with us though and we dropped first the left and then the right wing during the flare, probably no more than 10 feet off the ground. The landing was surprisingly good, taxi back and shutdown to allow Dave to have a go and for my heart rate to retrun to normal. Dan speculated that because the night was so still and calm, wake turbulence was hanging around for longer rather than being broken up by passing currents as it would during the day. Another good lesson there, campers.

Unfortunately as Dave is a pre-solo student we weren't permitted to be on board while he flew the circuit, so Grahame and I waved him good night and wandered back to the clubhouse, which was a decidedly warmer place to be.

The Heartland of Choad

2009-06-09T21:13:00.002+10:00

Eastern Europe. The New New Jersey.

This post no good without pics

2009-06-09T10:59:00.002+10:00

Flew again last Friday 29th May. Took a workmate Brett along for the ride. Apologies for the tardiness of this post, but I was expecting to get some photos from my passenger to post, who has since told me the battery in his camera died and so he can't yet retrieve the images from it. Brett's father was a flight engineer for QANTAS for many years, and grew up near the northern beaches of Sydney, where a great many QANTAS flight crew seem to reside, so I took a route I've flown a few times before that goes as close to Sydney Harbour whilst remaining outside controlled airspace.

The weather had been poor for several weeks leading up to the flight, the confluence of low and high pressure systems off the coast brought day after day of heavy rain, flooding and low cloud. The day of the flight, though, was nice and clear, some cloud but not enough to effect the flight. The aircraft, SFA, had not been flown since the 17th, and a fuel drain revealed it had soaked up a fair bit of water. I had never seen quite so much water in a fuel tank, I must have rocked and drained the tanks a dozen times each before they came up clear of water.

Startup, taxi out, extended run up on both tanks to make sure they weren't going to quit with water contamination after takeoff and out to the runway. A few months earlier a Chieftain had run off the end of the runway after a failed aborted takeoff, the report blaming water contamination for the loss of engine power.

North via the VFR lane to Hornsby, then east to the coast north of Long Reef, one orbit over the beach, but clearly too cold for naked sunbathers, then north to Barrenjoey Head lighthouse, west to Brooklyn Bridge, then south back the VFR return lane to Bankstown. Encountered a couple of minor showers along the way back, prompting my passenger to ask what I used to keep the windscreen clear of water.

'Airspeed,' I replied.

Into the circuit at Bankstown, too close behind another Archer in front prompted a 'waggle your wings SFA' request so the tower could differentiate us, then having to go around. I thought we had sufficient spacing, but the tower controllers were handing over, I think the new controller was erring on the side of caution until he had a handle on the circuit traffic.

Around we go again, on short final my passenger started asking questions about the layout of the field, which I tried to answer, but probably shouldn't have. My fault for not briefing him to stay quiet during our approach and landing.

A nice, fun flight, and easily done within the 1.5 hour booking we had.

And another one, this time with nightness

2009-05-10T03:26:00.002+10:00

Out to the club again, for our regular night flying event, in which we take turns to fly some night circuits. It's a great night, and good fun all round. The general idea is three club members and an instructor take a club aircraft out, each club member taking it in turns to make three night landings before switching seats with another club member, and so on. We switch seats on the ground, of course. This satisfies our recency requirements for legal reasons, the club puts on a dinner and so it becomes a social event, too.

I was a bit nervous before I went out that I wouldn't remember everything, but it all felt very natural, although my instrument scan was slow and haphazard, which I will work on.

Finally, a new flying post

2009-05-06T17:44:00.003+10:00

At Bankstown again today, just to fly some practice circuits for the recency and proficiency that's in it. It took some cajoling at the front counter to establish my credentials.

"Who's your instructor?"

I don't have an instructor. I have a licence.

"When was you last flight review? It's not within the last year."

Yes, I know, but it is within the last two. That's why it used to be called a biannual flight review. I glads they changed the name to make it less clear.

"The computer says your medical has expired."

Well, my class one medical expired, but my class two medical lasts for another three years. And anyway, I've since renewed it and got the paperwork back.

And so, eventually, almost reluctantly, I got the keys to my favourite Archer, SFA. Preflight, nothing out of the ordinary, a few stray nicks on the prop that will need attention before too long.

Startup, SFA is a bit quirky on starting up, she always needs three pumps on the prime to turn over, but she won't start on the first crank. Prime again and she fires almost straight away after cranking again. The first time I ever flew SFA, I picked it up at the mechanics, taking two passengers for a harbour scenic. The previous Archers I had started did not even need a prime, just a quick boost with the fuel pump and away they went. When that did not work, I primed. She didn't start. I rang the club and Nelson advised me to prime and try again. She fired straight away. Now that I know this quirk, I feel more comfortable with this aeroplane. She is my club favourite.

Taxi out, and trapped behind a C152 with two white shirted, epauletted pilots aboard. A CPL student and instructor, or two CPL students, or two student instructors, and clearly in no hurry to get out to the runway. I have no problem with people who taxi slowly, taxiing too fast is a bad habit I have picked up from impatient instructors. Nevertheless, I idle the engine the whole way and have to drag the brakes to keep from chewing up their rudder. All the way around the airport from the northern to the southern side, which is the training runway.

Run up, the engine is well warm from our extended taxi run, instruments ok, carb heat works, magnetos ok, idle ok, cockpit checks complete, controls full free and correct, hatches and harnesses all secure. My C152 roadblock is beside me and I manage to get to the holding point before them.

I hold, then cleared to line up, and then cleared to take off. Lights on, heels on the floor to avoid dragging the brakes, power up, check the oil pressure is fine, airspeed indicator alive and rising, maintain centreline with rudder. 65 knots and lift the nose wheel, the Archer rises of its own accord, leaving the runway behind.

I am told the preceding traffic is a Cherokee on a very wide downwind leg. This is tower controller talk for I am getting frustrated with the pilot of this Cherokee and I am going to let everyone know what I think of their flying skills. He is right, the aeroplane in front of me is 2-3 times further out than it should be. I drift out as well, it will be difficult for me to stay behind it otherwise. I drop some stages of flap to slow down. It turns base after a very long downwind, pushing me out to avoid cutting it off, lines up on final and receives a call clearing it to land. No reply, the tower tries twice more without acknowledgement. The pilot lands anyway, but I have to go around, then request and am cleared to make an early crosswind turn back into the circuit. I hear the tower ask the pilot for a radio check, the pilot says she reads him 4. The tower asks why she did not acknowledge the previous transmissions. We must have been talking she says.

This sets the tone for the following 1.2 hours. I am constantly throttling back and dropping stages of flap to avoid running too close behind other aircraft. I go around three times. I am cleared to land when I am about 50 feet above the ground on the verge of going around. Consequently my landings are safe, but not things of beauty. My second last landing is a big bounce. I realise I am still flying, so I pour the coals on and call it a day. I request the northern runway to shorten my trip back to the club, and I am denied - it is just too busy. The Cherokee landing in front of me lands, then detours sideways, narrowly avoiding running onto the grass, saving it at the last moment. There is no wind to speak of.

My last landing is a good one, a nice little squeaker, although I carried a bit too much speed and miss the first taxiway. I take the second, and unfortunately the C152 behind me has to go around. Sorry dude, but welcome to my world. I hold and wait to cross the centre runway. A C152 in motors down the centre runway, practising aborted takeoffs. After it passes I am cleared to cross the centre runway but hold short of the northern runway. Another C152 lands on this runway and takes the exit in front of me. I am cleared to cross the runway behind the C152 and expedite. Expedite means do it now, without delay, make it fast. I see an aeroplane is lined up on this runway, waiting to take off. Unfortunately the C152 in front of me is taking his time exiting the runway and has decided to go way to another aeroplane taxiing in front of him. I briefly entertain the notion of reminding the pilot that aircraft exiting runways have right of way, and that he is holding the whole show up, but I don't, the tower can see the whole thing.

I taxi back to the club, behind the dawdling C152, the two pilots hanging their elbows out the open windows as if on a Sunday drive. I idle the engine again, and drag the brakes.

I park, shutdown and secure the aircraft.

Thus ends a very frustrating training session at Bankstown airport. It's getting so that the only days I can train out here are days with a stiff crosswind or a damp runway, when everyone else is forbidden to come out and fly, lest they bend the school's favourite C152. On the plus side, I didn't seem to have forgotten anything, I view it as a positive that flying daytime circuits is a waste of time for me - I need to get out and about and get some cross country flying under my belt again.

Are you Chris Parkes?

2009-05-02T01:58:00.002+10:00

When I came in to work tonight there was an email waiting for me, addressed to Chris Parkes, informing me that I was responsible for the executive summary of some project I had not the faintest clue about. Of course, it wasn't for me, it was Chris Parkes who lives in Ireland, works for HP and sometimes gets my emails, as I get his.

A few years ago, I saw a show called 'Are You Dave Gorman?' in which Dave Gorman travelled around the world meeting as many people with the same name as his to establish whether or not Dave Gorman is a common name.

I've often wanted to do the same. Google you own name, if you haven't already, and you are likely to find a strange collection of individuals with your name. Some of mine are fascinating. Nuclear physicists, Reiki healers, butlers, football managers, sound engineers. Chris Parkes really is a fascinating fellow. I hope to meet him one day.

Fast Finger Freddy strikes again

2009-04-30T16:23:00.003+10:00

Wrong computer numbers caused Emirates jet to almost crash at Melbourne Airport

Tail Strike -A6-ERG, Airbus A340-500, Melbourne Airport, VIC, 20 March 2009

I didn't initially realise just how serious this incident was. According to the preliminary report the aircraft didn't actually start climbing until 300 metres past the end of the runway, taking out a strobe light and two radio transmitters along the way.

Systems failure, not people failure

2009-04-17T01:44:00.002+10:00

Triple-0 sarcasm a 'disease'

This is a tragic case, and I don't presume to know all of the technical details, but I can see a parallel with many tragic aviation incidents. There were many factors that lead to the death of David Ireland, but I am of the opinion that the attitude of the 000 operators was just a link in the chain of events, rather than the root cause.

Firstly, the majority of 000 calls are dealt with professionally and effectively - these calls were not. Why?

I would hazard a guess that the prank or hoax calls that 000 receives must make the operators cynical whenever they receive a call which is out of the ordinary and for which details are scant, which is certainly the case here. The caller was on a mobile, in the middle of nowhere, not knowing where he was, cutting off calls abruptly when his signal dropped out, shouting to make himself heard - all behaviours which might make an operator think 'prank.'

The operators are city based, and in an urban setting it is easy to forget that out in the bush, services, streets, all sorts of 'normal' facilities simply don't exist. I fly into many country airports where there is no pay phone, no internet, no radio or phone reception, no nothing. The city based air traffic controllers can be a little sarcastic when you try and lodge a flight plan in the air or get some met info, simply because they forget that some places still exist without curb guttering and coffee shopes every ten feet.

Judging for the article the operators follow a script of sorts, inputting information into a computer system which allows them to communicate the relevant details to the emergency services. Where the system fell down was where they had received a call where none of the information matched that allowable by the computer system. As far as it was concerned there was no emergency. Furthermore the information they collected did not get to the search parties quickly enough, because there is an unspecified impediment to emailing it, it had to be printed and presumably delivered to where it wss needed by hand.

He agreed the behaviour of three operators was worthy of an internal investigation and possible action. Two operators had been "counselled" about their behaviour.

This is dodging the issue. I can only imagine the guilt these operators feel, admonishing them is unlikely to fix the problem now or in the future. All blaming the operators is likely to do is make the guy at the top look like he is taking action. Until the inherent failings in the system are acknowledged and corrected all that will do is delay the inevitable - history repeating itself.

The Easter Bunny meets an unfortunate end.

2009-04-13T14:48:00.003+10:00

I have some bad news, kids. The Easter Bunny went to visit Santa Claus and, uh, well...

Pilot found guilty, all other parties try to look innocent

2009-04-08T19:59:00.003+10:00

Despair as Garuda pilot gets two years

I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not going to get into the appropriateness of the sentence or anything else, but I'm personally of the opinion that justice was not fully served and that aviation in Indonesia is not substantially any safer than before the Garuda incident.

My reasoning is that aviation accidents rarely, if ever, have a sole cause. This incident is no different. The poor decision making of the pilot was merely one link in the chain of events, one more hole in a slice of swiss cheese that resulted in the deaths of 21 people.

Where, for example, were the aerodrome operators, the airline executives, the regulators who were, in some way, also culpable for the incident?

AE-2007-015: Boeing 737-497, PK-GZC; Adi Sucipto Airport, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; 7 March 2007

The aircraft exceeded its speed limit of 250 knots below 10,000 feet, air traffic control either had no way of identifying this, or chose to do nothing.

The 1st officer did not appear to have been given the required simulator checks by the airline.

The regulator, the DGCA, had only conducted two safety audits of the airline during the previous ten year period. Most general aviation flying schools in Australia get audited more regularly than that, usually once a year.

The fire-fighting units were dispatched to to the crash site, only to find themselves trapped behind an airport perimeter fence 130 metres away. The fire-fighting units themselves did not comply with ICAO recommendations, and even if they had been able to get past the fence, were ill-equipped to perform the task required of them.

Garuda took 33 hours to provide the cargo manifest to authorities - so long, in fact, that it negated the whole point of providing it in the first place.

The runway itself did not meet ICAO standards, and the DGCA had failed to notify the ICAO of this difference.

The flight data recorder did not record all of the parameters it was required to record, as the unit was a digital unit, and unable to record the analogue input.

Pilot guilty, but is flying in Indonesia any safer?

The answer appears to be a little, but not much. The EU has still banned Indonesian airlines from flying in EU airspace, a step Australia appears unwilling to take, probably due to political considerations.

The conclusion that I draw from all of this is; until a blame culture is overcome, until there is a willingness to acknowledge inadequacies, the system cannot be substantially improved. This is true of all organisations, in all fields. Burying ones head in the sand and ignoring criticism only delays the inevitable.

The was pilot error involved in this incident - but the root causes went much deeper.

Who are what now?

2009-03-29T14:31:00.002+11:00

Many years ago, in a seemingly more innocent and happy age, back in about 2000 or so, I worked in a building with an elevator in it. I still work in a building with an elevator in it, in fact three elevators, but it's a different building now and this really isn't the story I'm trying to relate now, so let's try not to get sidetracked.

The building I was in had an elevator, I think I mentioned that. One day I took the elevator to the balcony level to partake of a cigarette and noticed something strange scrawled on the inside of the elevator doors.

The inside of the elevators were painted black making a rather effective chalkboard, of which someone had taken the advantage to use as same. Scrawled in white chalk on the inside of the elevator doors in a rather workmanlike script;

"Tuners are cats."

I pointed this out to my workmate Glen, who was as equalled puzzled as I as to the meaning of the phrase. There was insufficient space between the doors for a hand to reach in and scrawl a coherent sentence. It must have been done before the doors were installed, or perhaps during maintenance. But what did it mean?

I have a couple of theories as to the significance of this communication, but today I invoke the great hive mind of teh intartubes - what does 'Tuners are cats' mean?

Nice, but it could do with a slap of crimson.

2009-03-24T15:22:00.003+11:00

I've been interested in the Roman Empire since I was in high school. I'm not quite sure why this is, what triggered my interest in this particular era of ancient history, but there you are. Perhaps it was a childhood visit to the Roxy Cinema in Nowra where I grew up, built in the art deco syle in the 30's and decorated in a gaudy Roman amphitheatre style, with fake colonnades and carvings of cherubs and gladiators.

Down at the front, though, beside the screen stood an enormous reproduction of a statue of Augustus Caesar. It was about the only decoration in the place not painted in gaudy colours and fake gold. How wrong they were, and how wrong are these.

If you've long admired Greek and Roman sculpture, then I suggest you DO NOT click on these links. If you do then I hope you have a strong gag reflex.

Top 10 Color Classical Reproductions

The ancients: now available in colour