|
QF back to Buenos Aires from 24 Nov
As was posted on the previous board, QF commences direct services to EZE from 24 Nov, three times a week. At this stage it looks like I'll be on the crew of the inaugural QF17 on 24NOV, and so a trip report will certainly be forthcoming! The aeroplane is VH-OED at this stage.
Quote:
|
will this be a predominantly -ER route like the LAX/SFO flights?
|
Will, how far south over Antarctica and the south pole do you envisage the flight going? Will the flight plans be further south now it is not going via NZ?
|
Congrats on the plumb sector Will - hope you enjoy South America!
Since OED is not an ER, are there any payload restrictions for the journey? |
Quote:
Distances: SYD-EZE: 6,366nm SYD-LAX: 6,507nm I'm not sure what weather factors the EZE flight would face compared to the LAX run, but I'm guessing there would be some payload restrictions. I wonder how this will affect LAN's loads now, especially since it's a direct flight. |
How about takeoff performance, especially with 360+ ton takeoff weights and 30 degree summer days coming around ;)
|
It would have been nice to see Wunala do the inaugural sectors.
|
Quote:
|
The inaugural QFA0017 SYD-EZE is scheduled to be operated by Boeing 747-438ER VH-OEI.
|
Enjoy the steak in BA, Will! Simply the best I've ever had!
|
I believe Wunala went to BA today
|
VH-OEJ QF0017 26/11/2008 11:29 Qantas B747-438(ER) Sydney-Buenos Aires
|
Quote:
|
Well, this trip was certainly the highlight of my (short) time in QF!
Amsy's asked me to speak about it on the February weekend, so I won't bore you with the full blow-by-blow trip report just now. But here are the plan details: -------------- QF17 YSSY-SAEZ 24/11/8 (Inaugural Service) Out 0045z Off 0058z On 1247z In 1257z VH-OEI 747-438ER Planned TOW 380.7 LW 250.5 Flight Time 11:51 Route: http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/sydeze_gc.gif YSSY.. OPTIC TONIM (via Y84) S44 E160 S45 E160 S48 E163 S50 E165 S55 E170 S58 E175 S60 E180 S61 W175 S62 W170 S63 W165 S63 W160 S63 W155 S63 W150 S63 W145 S63 W140 S63 W135 S63 W131 S62 W125 S61 W120 S60 W115 S59 W110 S58 W105 S56 W100 S54 W95 S52 W90 S49 W85 S47 W82 S46 W080 S43 W75 MON BAR (via UB682) BODIR (via UW68) EZE SAEZ (Dist 6566nm) Overall Wind Component - 71 kts tailwind Departed SYD 16R KAMPI 1 Arrived EZE ILS 11 via dct ARSOT The route as plotted on our Jeppesen South Pole Plotting Chart... http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/1.JPG About to make landfall near Puerto Montt, Chile after a very lengthy ocean passage. http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/2.JPG Crossing the southern Andes range http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/3.JPG Final approach to runway 11 at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Intl http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/4.JPG Arriving at the old terminal at Ezeiza Intl http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/5.JPG ---------- QF18 SAEZ-YSSY 26/11/8 (Second service) Out 1710z Off 1726z On 0709z In 0721z VH-OEJ 747-438ER Planned TOW 374.8 LW 229.9 Flight Time 13:49 Route: http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/ezesyd_gc.gif SAEZ GBE VIE (via UA570) GAL (via UT109) NAS (via UA570) S55 W75 S60 W80 S65 W85 S71 W90 S72 W95 S72 W100 S72 W105 S72 W110 S72 W115 S72 W120 S72 W125 S72 W130 S72 W131 S72 W135 S72 W140 S72 W145 S72 W150 S71 W155 S70 W160 S69 W165 S68 W170 S66 W175 S64 E180 S61 E175 S56 E170 S50 E165 S48 08 E163 S45 E160 TONIM SHARK SY (via N774) YSSY (Dist 6571nm) Overall Wind Component - 11 kts headwind Departed EZE 11 via Belgrano Arrived SYD IVA 34L (Note the deep south latitudes on this sector. Being handed over to McMurdo Centre ('Mac Centre') on HF was certainly a highlight). Ice everywhere http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/1.JPG Flying over Thurston Island and Cape Flying Fish, part of continental Antarctica. Note the green terrain shading selected on the ND. http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/2.JPG The return route plotted on our South Pole chart. Much further south than the first leg. http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/3.JPG More ice: http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/4.JPG Melting ice at the very edge of the Antarctic ice pack. Next stop, Terra Australis! http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/5.JPG About to pass by Invercargill, NZ, our main alternate in this direction. http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/6.JPG ----- Anyway, that's the nuts and bolts of it. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll go through it all in more detail (and with many more photos) at the Spotting Weekend dinner. |
To answer some of the questions above (I missed them earlier):
- It's a 744ER-only route. Not sure why the initial allocation showed as OED. - Ops are currently limited to a maximum of 72 deg South, which provides a small buffer against overflying Antarctica proper (save for the low-lying cape/island we overflew). Going further south entails similar considerations to our Antarctic charter flights (eg. Polar survival equipment, which requires the removal of a number of seat rows). An analysis is currently being undertaken by QF on the concept of going to 80 deg South, which would allow westbound flights to take advantage of significant tailwinds there. Going down to 80S (versus staying further north) can make the difference between an overall wind component of 40kts headwind and 10kts tailwind. - Takeoffs out of Buenos Aires are likely to be somewhat limited in the summer months by the short runway. OAT for our departure was 34 deg, and this necessitated the use of a Packs Off procedure, which is something we regularly do out of JNB (and I believe is also a standard Airbus operating procedure). |
awesome report, thanks Will. what's packs off for those of us not in the know? and roughly how long does it take get as far down 63S on the outbound from SYD?
|
thanks very much for the report will; it looks like an amazing flight to do!
I'd also like to know what packs off means please! |
Just awesome Will, what a trip!
|
Thanks guys!
And sorry, I should've explained the 'Packs Off' procedure. Basically, pressurisation and air conditioning (cooling and drying) of the cabin air is accomplished by three separate and independent 'Packs'. Hot, high pressure bleed air extracted from the compressors of each engine is sent to the packs where it is cooled (via a heat exchanger fed from those ducts you see near the wing root) and dried (centrifugally) and then fed to the cabin air conditioning system. Outflow valves at the rear of the aeroplane allow a certain amount of this pack air to escape overboard at a controlled rate, so that the cabin doesn't end up over-pressurising. By controlling the rate at which the air is allowed to escape overboard, the pressurisation system can therefore control the cabin altitude. Anyway, when the engines are rotating at their maximum speed (ie. at takeoff), a certain amount of air flowing through them is diverted to run the packs, rather than providing useful thrust for takeoff. So, a 'Packs Off' procedure involves turning all three packs off for the takeoff roll and initial climb, and so allowing all of the engine airflow to be used for thrust. The packs are then switched on by 3000ft AGL. On the 744, we only really use this procedure when our normal, 'Packs On' takeoff configuration doesn't provide enough thrust to lift the payload. Generally, this is the case at JNB where the high airport altitude (low density air) and high airport temperatures conspire to limit many of our takeoffs. Mont, unfortunately I didn't keep our nav log (this has to go to the QF archival department :( ), but I was surprised at just how quickly we got down there. We also had a roaring tailwind (courtesy of a jetstream) all the way down there, in the range 100-130kt. Plugging a groundspeed of 610kts into Great Circle mapper gives an ETI of around 4 hours from YSSY to S63, and that seems about right. Obviously hundreds and hundreds of photos were taken. I'll put up a few more ones from the flight deck this afternoon once I've gone through them. |
A few more piccies:
QF17 SYD-EZE We logged 3 hours of night on this sector, but this was as 'night' as it got. Photo taken looking due south towards the pole, from 63S. http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/6.JPG Forward-looking view of the same: http://yssyforum.net/will/sydeze/7.JPG QF18 EZE-SYD Sunlight reflecting from the water in between ice sheets. http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/7.JPG Still more ice (it was around this time that ice creams were delivered to the flight deck from the Economy Class galley)... http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/8.JPG Amundsen Sea http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/9.JPG http://yssyforum.net/will/ezesyd/10.JPG |
This looks like such an amazing flight..I will simply have to do it one day!
Thanks for the explanation on pack off Will. |
Just wondering what your fuel upload was. I guess I could work it out by subtracting Takeoff Weight to Landing weight, but if you have the actual number - also fuel remaining (or planned to be remaining).
Sounds like a great trip... I'll have to make sure i'm in Sydney to come up to the spotting weekend dinner to hear about it now :p |
Trent, I don't have the fuel analysis for the flight over there unfortunately.
On the way back, however, legal minop was 156.1 tonnes, however we uplifted 171.3 tonnes to cover a PROB30 INTER (then TEMPO) TSRA which came up after the flight plan had been produced, and to allow us to fly a little faster than planned to cover the slight delay out of EZE. Cost to carry additional uplifted fuel on this sector was 373 kg per 1000 kg additional. The forecast TSRA didn't materialise for our arrival into SYD, and we landed with 20.0 tonnes remaining. *PROB30 INTER TSRA = 30% Probability of Thunderstorms with Rain, for intermittent periods up to 30mins TEMPO = 60 mins |
Will,
Fabulous work, very interesting! |
| All times are GMT +10. The time now is 03:52 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © Sydney Airport Message Board 1997-2022