Trip Report - MH122/123 First
 

MH122 Sydney - Kuala Lumpur

All times are Sydney local and (altitude) relative cabin

I knew today was going to be hectic from wake up at 0630. I had planned a Harbour Scenic flight for the morning in the Archer II, checked the Area 21 and Bankstown weather on NAIPS then submitted the flight plan from home on the laptop. Arrived at Bankstown at 0900, had the aircraft refuelled and completed the pre-flight. Departed Bankstown at 0945 and there was initially some scattered cloud at around 2000ft on the way up to Patonga and it was also a little misty or hazy. Called Sydney Terminal at Hornsby only to find out there was four other aircraft ahead on me in the queue. A clearance still was not available at Long Reef and I had to complete four orbits from Long Reef to Mona Vale before a clearance became available ( I followed a Cessna on one orbit and it felt a bit like aerial combat with all the aircraft in the area). I did three orbits at the Harbour Bridge then headed back to Bankstown via Mona Vale, Hornsby and Dural. On approach the aircraft ahead of me took a long downwind and wide base so I ended up very close on final. Instead of the expected go around the tower offered me a very late change to 29C which I was able to accept. I had the aircraft refuelled, put on the cockpit cover and headed home for a quick shower and lunch, before dashing straight out to Mascot for this flight. Hardly a second to take a breath, but a great morning. This Archer II is just in from the US, has a new prop and an engine that performs much better than any other Archer II have flown.

Date 9/3/2008
9M-MPD Boeing 747-400
Temperature 23.9°C
Barometric pressure 1024
Weather - Fine with clear skies
Scheduled Departure 1540
Scheduled Boarding 1510

1505 Boarded

Seat Allocation 4A in First which is right beside the forward cabin door. The First cabin is setup for 12, with rows 1 and 2 configured 1x1 and rows 3 and 4 configured 1x2x1 with the middle two seats set back significantly from the window seats.
http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...-03-09_014.jpg

A glass of Dom Perignon Champagne to start, I think I must have drunk the rest of the bottle during dinner.

1540 All passengers on board and door closed.

Yolanda took the dinner and drink orders for after takeoff.

First Officer Kamal
Main Cabin Supervisor Rasi
First crew today are Yolanda

Track today is Alice Springs, Denpasar, and weather should be fair to Bali then turbulence over Indonesia.

1548 Pushback Terminal 1 Gate 53 and by tug to the entrance of INTL 5 onto Golf.

British B777 G-YMML and B747-400 G-BYGD were at gates 38 and 36.

Taxiway Golf is closed between Alpha and INTL 5 as they are relaying the pavement.

1602 Taxi via Yankee, Hotel and Alpha to the Alpha 1 holding point. The nose wheel on this aircraft makes a loud groaning noise every time the aircraft turns.

1609 Rolling Runway 16R with a 40 second takeoff roll.

Wheels up and the combined retract and air noise from the nose wheel is quite loud in the First cabin as you sit right above the wheel bay.

Right to 190° as we climb out.

1615 Right heading 270° and tracking back across the Illawarra coast north of Wollongong. Looks like a Katoomba departure as we tracked overhead Warragamba Dam.

1616 Seatbelt sign off.

1625 270° 28700ft 26°F, 32mph tailwind and 6484km to Kuala Lumpur

1631 overhead Orange and a great view of the open cut gold mine where my niece works as an electrical engineer.

The three windows for my seat have electric blinds with controls to operate just the first window or all three at the same time. The first blind to come down is translucent and the second blind opaque.

The screen for the in-flight entertainment is about 32cm wide and 24cm wide and it pops up from the side table between the seat and the window.

The seat controls are comprehensive with five presets for sleep, recline, slight recline, takeoff and landing and dinner service. There are also controls for a massage in the back area. The foot stool has its own controls to move it towards and away from the seat.

The headset provided is very average and I used my own noise cancelling set.

1640 The crew set the cabin for the dinner service. The fold out table is about 900mm square in two sections and made of solid polished timber.

1645 Bar service started and another Dom Perignon to start sounded good to me.

1656 Dinner served.
- Malaysian Chicken and Beef Satay served with Cucumber and Raw Onion in a Dipping Peanut Sauce.
http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...-03-09_016.jpg
- Seared Marinated Baramundi Skewers
- Grilled Prawns with Egg Fried Rice and vegetables.
http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...-03-09_018.jpg

- Fresh Fruit Pavlova.
http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...-03-09_019.jpg
- Brazilian Santos coffee, black no sugar.

The menu selection was quite good however the quality did not quite compared to Qantas or Cathay Business Class. Presentation and crockery were also only fair by comparison, however the cabin service was excellent.

The coffee choices were interesting, Ethiopian Virgacheffe, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kenyan AA, Brazilian Santos, Local Malaysian and Nespresso Grands Crus Blends.

I watched "Michael Clayton" with George Clooney, a law firm drama/thriller which was really quite good.

2027 310° 38000ft (6360ft) 909kph -18°C 15kph headwind over the Timor Sea heading for Malang and 1752km to KL

2313 Top of descent, cleared to 28000ft

2338 Touchdown Runway 32L

Taxi via D5, Hotel and Sierra 4

2347 Shutdown Terminal Gate C2

2047 Local Kuala Lumpur



MH123 Kuala Lumpur - Sydney

All times are Kuala Lumpur local and (altitude) relative cabin

Checked in at the First counter by Rosli who was very helpful and gave me seat 1K, so no complaints.

Date 12/3/2008
9V-MP Boeing 747-400
Temperature 21.2°C
Barometric pressure 1007
Weather - Overcast and showers

The taxi ride to the airport was amazing, I have never seen such heavy rain, even for Kuala Lumpur. There were torrents of water running down all the streets and the taxi driver had the emergency blinkers on and was only driving at 50kph on the freeway as visibility was minimal.

Scheduled Departure 2240
Scheduled Boarding 2210

2210 Boarded

Seat Allocation 1K First
Sector time 7hr 25min

Row 1 has three windows which allow a fair amount of forward view because they are so close to the nose. Seat 1K is excellent for me as a right hander, with all the seat and entertainment controls at hand on the right console. The view from the three windows on both sides of the aircraft is about as close as you will get to a cockpit view, just a small centre section missing.

The cabin on this aircraft is in quite good condition, with the leather trim looking like new. The aircraft was delivered in 1993 but would have been refurbished more recently.

Waiting on one passenger and will need to unload the bags if they are not located. We also have a technical problem which needs to be resolved, so there will be a 10 to 15 minute delay.

2250 All passengers on board and door closed, armed and cross checked.

Apart from the personal video screen, row 1 has a large flat screen on the front bulkhead which is very handy for the Flightpath system.

Captain Ahmed
First crew today are Renarta, Lakanshy

Track today is via Surabaya, Curtin and Leigh Creek.

2258 Pushback Terminal C Gate C22
Iran Air B747-238B J2-LBB was at gate C24, interesting as this was the old Qantas VH-EBJ.

2305 Taxi via Hotel, Bravo, Bravo 13 to the Runway 32R holding point.

2309 Rolling Runway 32R with a 40 second takeoff roll. We made a left hand turn after takeoff and tracked down the Straits of Malacca.

2321 Seatbelt sign off.

2335 110° 34990ft (5640ft) 865kph -10°C with a 56kph headwind - passing Singapore and 6654km out of Sydney

2340 Bar service started

Dinner served
- Malaysian Satay with Cucumber, Raw Onion and Dipping Sauce.
- Ossetra Caviar.
- Venison Stew with Roasted Sweet Potato wit herbs and Roasted Mixed Vegetables.
- Moist Dark Chocolate Torte
- Brazilian Santos Coffee

0054 Lakanshy made up my bed while I changed into the blue Malaysia Airlines pyjamas.

0517 A wake up call from Renarta, so a quick freshen up and back into normal clothes.

0529 Breakfast served
- Coffee
- Fresh Fruit
- Croissant and Jam
- Yoghurt

0530 070° 39000ft (6700ft) 1015kph -20°C 109kph tailwind. We were north of Swan Hill and I could see the Murray River winding its way to the east.

0610 070° 39000ft (6700ft) and 5 minutes to top of descent and overhead Yass. The captain announces they were not expecting any ATC delays and we should be landing at 0936
There is a layer of cloud at around 30000ft and a dense cloud cover down low to the east, maybe around 5000ft to 8000ft.

0612 Top of descent
0621 left to 050° just west of Mittagong and Bowral as we track along the Hume Highway.
0625 spotted Wedderburn airfield to the right as we level out at 8000ft with 76km to run.
0627 right to 130° over Waterfall.
0630 left to 070° over the coast at the Royal national Park.
0631 left to 360° to intercept final approach for Runway 34L.
0633 left to 340° to line up for final.
0634 wheels down over Kurnell with lots of air noise from the bay doors and mechanical noise from the undercarriage itself.
0636 Touchdown Runway 34L and vacated via the A2 Rapid. There was quite a bit of nose wobble as the brakes were applied hard and along with the reverse thrust.
Taxi via Alpha, Juliette, Yankee and INTL5.
0642 Shutdown Terminal Gate 51

0942 Local Sydney

Malaysia Airlines First Class has an excellent cabin layout with seats that go fully flat for sleeping (connecting to the electrically operated foot stool) . At meal time, another person can sit opposite you on the foot stool, which has its own seat belt (a bit like dining at the table together). The crew cover the seat with a thin fitted sheet with holes in it for the seatbelts. The bed is very comfortable and the doona very warm. The cabin crew on both sectors were excellent, and just did everything before you asked.

The let down for me was the food quality, which did not come up to Qantas or Cathay Business Class standard. The Champagne, wine and coffee were all excellent.

Grahame,

As usual, very interesting

Excellent report. Thanks for sharing :)

Regards,
Daniel

Grahame,

I did notice a change from your usual photos, are you off the white wine for awhile, or have you upgraded your taste buds to the delights gained from drinking Dom Perignone?

:D

Grant, I would have to say that the Dom was pretty good, so I decided to have a change from the Chardy.

Nice report and I think your photos are a lot better as well (nothing wrong with the old,)

Food looks great Grahame, was there nothing to see outside the window?? :D

Cheers

David.M.

Hi David, There was a 4 photoraph limit on the new Board when I uploaded the report, so I just included the interior and food shots. I try to keep the images to 80-100k so they load quickly but I have seen some posts on the old Board where multiple high res shots were loaded, and it becomes painful to read. This limit has now been increased to 10 by the Admins, however I am looking at using thumbnails as hyperlinks to the full size photograph.

Thanks for the report.

Not often we see MH's first class seating here ;)

Hi David,

I have worked out a simple way to use thumbnails that hyperlink to the full sized image. Here are a few more images from the Trip Report, however the new 10 image limit still applies.

http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_013TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_014TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_015TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_016TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_017TN.jpg
http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_018TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_019TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_020TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_021TN.jpg http://www.16Right.com/MessageBoard/...3-09_022TN.jpg

4th photograph is very appealing.

I just found the location of the last photograph which has what looks like an airfield on it.

If you enter 23°31'23.91"S 133°40'49.00"E into Google Earth you will find the airfield which is 28km north west of Alice Springs. If you zoom in close enough you can see white markers along either side of the runway. There is a sealed road leading to the buildings, but no obvious sign of any aircraft.

Grahame, do you use a GPS logger to record positions you have flown at the press of a button? I know you can buy these off E-Bay I think. Handy item.

Hi Daniel,

I have a Tosihiba Pocket PC with a GPS CF Card. With the Pocket Earth application I can track the aircraft across the globe with heading, altitude and speed details. You can usually pickup 4 satellites but crew do not normally like to see you using GPS type devices.

For the potograph above where I identified the airfield, it was pure luck. I knew we were near Alice Springs when I took the photograph, so I just looked around in Google Earth and found the location.

Excellent Grahame and thanks for the info. I've wanted to play around with one of those GPS loggers. Not too sure how practical they are and how well they work.

I've had mixed success... it can depend on so many factors, so some days you'll have minimal trouble, others you'll have little joy.

Forget it if you're not in a window seat and as Grahame says, one of the many factors is crew tolerance of your device. It's certainly easier with a PocketPC type device rather than a hand-held GPS, especially if you have a PDA with integrated GPS... though it my case it may just be because my handheld GPS is an eTrex Legend that's a bit too easy to confuse for an old mobile phone if you don't look closely... whereas my PDA is an iPAQ Travel Companion and never an issue.

A data logger unit hooked up to a GPS might cause a bit of interest, unless it's an all-in-one GPS receiver and logger.

Thanks for the info Robert S.

Great report as always Grahame. After such a busy day on the 9th when you left I bet the F class bed was very comfy!

Cheers

M

I measured that runway on Google Earth and it's approximately 2800m long!!

What on earth would you need a 2800m dirt strip out there for??

David.M.

It is the Bond Springs Airstrip used by GA aircraft, ultralights and home of the Alice Springs Gliding Club.

Sorry to double-post. You can see Tanami Rd and Stuart HWY when using map in Google Maps.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en...-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Its not an airstrip, you'll have to keep guessing ;)

The Alice Springs Gliding Club is at:

Airfield: Bond Springs (20km N of Alice Springs)Position:
23° 31' S, 133° 50' E


which is just off the Stuart Highway and East of the location in question.

Great report as usual Grahame.

Just noticed the plastic knife being out of place in one of your photos. Have many airlines gone back to using metal knives or are the plastic knives here to stay?

This is not another game of CRYPTIC ERSA is it???????????


David.M.

Can a Gimli Glider land there?

Lemme guess....is it a seaplane landing area?

Then it has to be 110% Anburla airstrip which is East of the Bond Springs strip. Should be correct.

From what I can Google, Anburla looks good to me.

I would say so. The only others are the ones North of there.

Well this piece of dirt isn't in the ERSA at all, however R235 may be associated with it, if you can work out what that is.....

It probably could, but it would make an awful mess I would reckon

I'm thinking that the Todd would be a much better place to land a seaplane in the Alice :D

Its not an airstrip, that is for certain

I'm wondering who will be the first to work this one out.

After looking at the image closely, I can not see a taxiway leading to anywhere off the runway.

So, is it a firing range of some description??


David.M.

If I'm right, can I post the next photo of an obscure airport and see how long it takes people to guess so that I can be the one who gets to hang on to the correct information rather than sharing.
GIVE IT UP JARRAD! :-)

This looks like the final answer:


VERTICAL LIMITS:

Too good Grahame,

Your the king of working these things out!! :)



David.M.

Have you called the Duty OPSO and asked him/her?;)

Good job on that Grahame, R235 is indeed a electro-magnetic hazard, but not what you photographed....

Yes, ok David I'll give it up :p

http://www.defence.gov.au/raaf/organ..._rsu/index.htm

Speaking from experience in mere Y class, Singapore Airlines uses metal knives on the SIN-HKG route, but on the SIN-SYD route you get a plastic knife and a card that blames government regulations for the lack of a proper knife.