Flapless Circuits

have been doing flapless circuits for my past few sorties:) and i am loving it more than the normal circuit!

The landing is smoother on my flapless circuit :)

Solo Check + 1st Solo :)

Date: 21 November 2012, Wednesday

Time: 0400UTC - 0445 UTC

Location: WSSL, Seletar, Singapore

Plane: Diamond DA40

Callsign: 9V-YFK

Weather: Awesome:) Hot about 30degrees Celsius 

Wind: 04008knts 

Instructor: Chief Flying Instructor: Tan SK

Started the day late because the CFI was holding some interviews. so the take/off time was postponed by 10 minutes to 0400UTC.

All the checks were done normally with no abnormal indications.

After i commed seletar ground n seletar tower, i backtracked runway 03 n lined up for takeoff.

The plane had an unusual tendency to drift left during the takeoff roll n i used a lot more rudder than usual just to keep on the runway centreline. The upwind leg was a bit slow. at 200 feet, the speed was hovering around 65 and a had a 200feet positive rate of climb... but the airspeed picked up n i regained the climbing speed of 75 knots on the crosswind leg.

The downwind leg was quite turbulent and fast due to a strong tailwind. the checks were done normally. i turned base and final and did a touch & Go.

On the upwind leg of the next circuit, i was adviced to make a landing due to a jet arrival. On that circuit, i had simulated engine failure and completed the checks and climber away at 200 feet. The approach was pretty normal except for Final when the wind strength suddenly picked up and i ended up slightly low on the glideslope. I taxyed to E3 taxiway and taxied to parking bay A54. The solo check has ended:)

I did the before takeoff checks and the instructor exited the plane and went into the tower. I had a Comms check with him on Skylark Ops channel and he cleared me to go. I contacted Seletar Ground on my 1st ever time using my Callsign!!!!!

So i contacted ground and i was given clearance to E3 taxiway. I think that the female ATC knew it was my first solo :) LOL so i switched to tower and was cleared to backtrack runway 03 and subsequently takeoff:)

The circuit i flown was one of the bet ever! I felt so relax in the cockpit when there is no one beside me:) The plane was so well trimmed on the downwind leg the plane flew on its own :) i intercepted the glideslope just nice and i r/t final. I was given clearance to land and the landing was awesome! I just kissed the ground on the centreline!

At the end, the instructor got onto the plane and taxied back to SYFC parking shed 6. it was an awesome sorties and the landing was memorable:) I cant wait for my next sortie :)

Sortie 14 Completed :)

Annyeong~ :)

Plane: 9V-YFO
Diamond DA40.
Flight time: 0.6 hours
WSSL, Seletar.

Instructor: Tan SK, SYFC's Chief Flying Instructor

Sortie Overview:

Strong headwind on landing. About 10 knots
Turbulence on Upwind and crosswind
Uneventful downwind and landing.
landed due to thunderstorm warning that didn't happen until 2.5 hours later...

It was a wonderful flight! Wonderful is an understatement.
This was easily the best flight i have ever had in my 14 flights so far:)

The preflight brief was almost non-existent. All the CFI did was to ask me 1 or 2 questions and then i was able to walk out.. Since my i was cleared to do fly solo, bar flying hours.

All nervousness vanished as i started the engines and taxied out to taxiway yankee

The flight was basically uneventful. Although my downwind leg was rather short due to a 10 knots tailwind during the leg.

So to sum it all up, it was a great circuit and looks like i am going to do my solo flight on the next flight:)

Annyeong~

Sortie 12 Completed:)

Sortie 12 was another circuit training sortie at seletar airport:)

The weather was calm with few clouds in the sky.

But the major factor was the wind!
 The wind kept on changing direction. For example, at take/off, it was a headwind which develops into headwind at crosswind leg. On downwind, it was a crosswind, while on base it was a tailwind. Thus the wind really had an effect on my flying
But, my sortie in 9V-YFK was still excellent:) My parameters were accurate and the landing was smooth:)
Looking forward to my next sortie on wednesday!

1st solo anytime from this thursday to this Saturday:)

Sortie number 9!

This is the start of my Circuits training :)))) Well the main idea is to practice takeoff and landings!

I done this exercise in minimum VMC conditions. Throughout the sortie, i was hoping that the Seletar tower will not tell us to land! There is a slight drizzle about halfway through the sortie and we had to land to allow a jet to arrive.

I learnt the taxying procedures on the Eastern side of the runway and was having a mini debrief session in that period of time before taking off again. My performance in the second half of the sortie was better because i know what to expect, was calmer, and know what to look out for!.

Surprisingly, my landings were generally good! In my first few attempts to land, it was done in crosswind and tailwind conditions! So it was actually a good experience for me to execute crosswind landings!

However i know i have to improve further! For example my go around procedure is still a little slow and have to be more aware of the number of aircrafts in the circuits especially when the college planes are practising their Touch & Go and the planes in the training area comes back to land!

Overall, Sortie 9 was a good learning experience and i am grateful to have a wonderful flying instructor!!

Thank you Mr Toh!!!

To all, have a Good Day/ Night :)

Sorties 6,7,8 Condensed!

Annyeong!!!!
Sorry for not posting for quite some time.
Well for my previous few sorties, the weather was quite ok. Pretty much the same with some clouds at around 3000 to 6000 feet in the training areas.
I had already gotten used to the radio-telephoney and aircraft checks that they i am quite fluent in them now! :)
For my sorties 7 & 8, i practised stalling in the different configurations, such as stalling with power, with flaps and in approach configuration. The only problem i seem to have was that i did not fully enter a stall before recovering... Well, frankly speaking, we do not want a major stall to develop in the first place!. Thus i feel that incipient stall recovery is the best options!

To my fellow coursemates still trying their best, i wish you all the best in your attempts to reach the next phase!

Have a Good Day! Cheers:)

Sortie 5: Completed:)

Done my sortie 5: Climbing and Descending today!
Plane: 9V-YFM
Date: 27 Sept 2012
The weather was awesome and the visibility was amazing! I can see the planes landing at Changi Airport from Area Charlie!
The sortie was good! Well.. got a 5.5 score which is the highest in my course so far:)

So i did everything on my own, from checks to R/T to T/O to departure!

Well... The exercise was excellent.... Mostly

I almost lost control of the plane in the cruise descent as i was turning the plane to remain in area while R/T Establish in Area while doing Filer Checks and it started to rain at that time. So i was distracted and the plane started to sink at around 1800feet per minute.
Fortunately i spotted the error and corrected it!
Landing was smooth although i think i should have gone around as my bank angle exceeded 30 degrees while turning for final. But i was established n the extended centreline and decided to continue the approach.!

Overall got quite a good score!

Sortie 6..... Bring it on!!! :)

Sortie 4 : DCO

Weather: Initially good but the fog came in after 30 minutes.

Plane: DA40, 9V-YFE

Date: 25 September 2012

Brief recap

Flown the whole sortie from take off to landing

Almost had a birdstrike while landing and taking off.

Sortie exercise: Straight & Level at different power settings.

I was a little impatient during the exercise, often changing pitch angle too soon.

Did 1 major mistake when i called overhead instead of rejoin.... I was too far in front of the plane i guess..

And my situation awareness doesnt seem very good today...

Overall quite a good flight with 2 mistakes. Looking forward to my next flight tomorrow at 0340Z

Sortie 3: Completed

Weather: 8km visibility, Few clouds at 1800 feet and 4000 feet. Light turbulence
20 Sept 2012
T/O time: 1130 . Delayed by 2hours, 45 mins.
Sortie 3.
9V-YFF
Instructor: Toh BH
Flight time: 1hour
 My sortie was delayed into the 2nd wave due to poor visibility at 0845(1.5km).

Checks were excellent and the taxy today was good too!! :)

Soon after takeoff, there was turbulence until we land. We operated in Area Alpha low at 1500 feet due to clouds at 2000 feet. The winds were around 7-8 knots. Exercise started- Straight and level.

The exercise was good, considering that it was done in turbulent conditions. I managed to keep flying to a reference point despite the wind. (I was using the ailerons to keep the plane flying straight)
The level part of the exercise was tricky. This was due to the fact that the plane is always moving up and down- leading to me having to keep on constantly trimming the plane. The plane also sinked to 1200 feet after catching a downdraft.

When i was rejoining Seletar, 9V_YFL suddenly appeared in front and below my plane. I pulled back on the stick to increase the rate of climb to 2500 feet for the rejoin. Flew  the plane onto base nicely and Mr Toh took controls for the landing. Taxying back was good. Exited runway via W3.

Overall, the sortie was done quite well.... except for the minor fact that due to turbulence, I really cannot maintain level flight, i.e. Vertical Speed: 0 feet/min.


.

Sortie 2 : Completed

Plane flown: 9V-YFL, Diamond DA40.

Weather: Poor visibility, Light turbulence. Moderate wind speed. Lots of Clouds In training area Bravo , Charlie.

Pre flight brief was ok... except that i did not espect his question: Will the fuel flow be affected if Power Setting is changed?

I did my checks well. Although Mr Chee PS keep on telling me to do it faster! Even though i have done it damn fast already. 

Take off was turbulent and the climb speed was slow Even though the SOP was followed.

Departed to Bravo, Charlie via Alpha. Upon entering Area Bravo and Charlie, there were a lot of clouds in the area and we were in instrument flying rules. After a circuit in the area, weaving in between the clouds, I descended for Area Alpha to for the flying exercise. 

The sortie exercise was simple and i aced it. I think that i had good situation awareness at that point.

We were put on a holding pattern over pierce reservoir for around 0.3 hours while waiting for clearance to rejoin Seletar. Did an early left for downwind and extended the downwind a little to give the aircraft in front more room. 

Overall R/T was excellent! Could not remember 1 or 2 checks though. Overall, fortunate to score well for the sortie!

Sortie 1: DCO!! 9V-YFL

So i finally got to fly on the 14th September 2012. Weather was quite good- Winds were calm and there were no rain. But it was quite hazy and cloudy.
So, i went to Singapore Youth Flying Club slightly earlier to prepare. My callsign was skylark 99 and I was cleared to go out and carry out the aircraft external checks which i did and waited for my flight instructor, MR Toh BH to arrive.
The plane had only 16/17 gallons of fuel left from the previous day. Maintenance also did not clean the plane properly and i had to run there and get someone to finish their job. Starting up was ok. Although i didnt set mixture to rich long enough and thus have to redo the starting checks. Checks were quickly done by me:) R/T with ops and seletar ground was good. Although i did not really catch what strength the radio was due to some static, i still managed to say the correct taxy sequence. I was given clearance to taxy to W3 holding point at yankee. Almost screw up when i readback lineup runway 21 when it was backtrack runway 21. Fortunately i managed to correct my error. So at 0855, i was given takeoff clearance n was soon airborne.

Te surface winds were small and there were not a lot of clouds below 7000 feet. But still, there was a lot of haze n i can only make out marina bay sands from area alpha. At area alpha, we did the sortie exercise. Afterwards, i ask for clearance to enter area bravo and charlie. Up there, we moved to the boundaries to familiarize with the airspace boundaries.

Did some steep turns, and one stall too. I had control to travel around within the boundaries. Due to the haze, i cant really see any other planes even though there were around 4 in the area alpha bravo charlie.. Then i asked for clearance to recover back to seletar via area alpha. Was put on a circuit over pierce reservoir while waiting for clearance. It was just another routine rejoining procedure.

II had trouble locating other planes due to low visibility. Also, skylark 92 was always on my tail. In the end, I figured out the locations of the other planes in the circuit. Skylark 89 was in front of me. On downwind, i noticed that we were quite close to the plane in front. On final, with the approach stabilised, i had to go around at around 100 feet because the plane before me had not vacated the runway.. So i entered the circuit pattern again and landed on the next circuit. But i could not vacate the runway at the whiskey 2 exit as there was a plane in front blocking me. I think the plane behind me had to go around.

After exiting the runway, I contacted seletar ground.. Accidentally 'ks-ing' another guy. I apologized and waited until that guy was done. Was taxying on W3 when i was suddenly told to hold at whiskey 3 intermediate holding point due to another plane that had vacated runway via W3.
While taxying, i was looking out at the left wing to make sure the wing would not hit the fence and my instructor said Eh where got girl in hokkien. In the end, i taxyed to the shed and shut down the engine..

Conclusion: The sortie was quite excellent and was rewarded with a good score. But i think my checks could have been done faster and situation awareness could be even sharper. R/T was good, despite my 'style' :)

Sortie #1. Sept 11 2012. Status: Cancelled

Sortie number 1.
Plane: 9V-YFG
Date: 11/09/2012
Status: Cancelled
Went SYFC like2 hours early to prep. As i was going to contact seletar ground, there was a thunderstorm warning alert...  -.- 

The day started when i saw meng yang on the bus to yfc. We reached there at 0940. Checked the weather radar and it looked ok. Was hoping to complete sortie 1 before it rains. 
After taking my SPL and file we went to the canteen to prep. Practiced radio telephoney n checks. Then 1015 went to prepare for flight. Checked fuel n aircraft status. quite ok. With a rejected takeoff last month because propeller RPM while taking off was 300 rpm which was too low

Went back ops room after keeping my belongings n met Toh BH. I updated my file and he asked me a few questions. Wat runway was in use, wat is vmc, current weather. Answers were good.  only slip was that he was pointing at my SPL and I was like wat?  Then we went to briefing room while meng yang was running around finding Tan SL. 
In the briefing room, we went through the sortie objectives. He asked some questions like. What are the training areas, lateral vertical boundaries, which EOC are we doing and at what speed. Departure rejoin procedures. Then went to take headset, life vest. Met him n walked out to the plane.
Talked some things . Like why i go poly instead of jc. Then i said cos of flying. N he said. Wa good sia. 1step closer to be fighter pilot. Said the same thing when he saw i was wearing transitions specs.

The wind was like 1-2 knots then n the clouds looked quite far away. Started external checks. He asked the questions like wat is this for n that. Answered quite well:D (almost forgot to connect headset though. only rmb when i was adjusting rudder pedals.) External checks was good. Except that he suggests to take off the covers n drain fuel when doing d checks. N check gps 1,2 when entering cockpit.
Pre start checks was good except for d step whereby i forgot alternate air valve. Then called power on n switched d master switch on. Note 9V-YFG controls were a bit screwed up. The headset was not very responsive n had to check a few times. Cant pull d mixture fully back. Starting d engine was good. Managed to start the engine quickly enough. And the plane started vibrating like mad. Adjusting throttle to 1500 rpm, and when i thought the rpm had stabilised, it increased further. Had to reset back. Deadcut check was ok but the rpm drop was above maximum n had to lean the mixture. 

After that was normal. Pre taxy n instrument checks.
For engine run up checks we juz drove straght n parked 45degrees. While taxying heard meng yang radio call ops when i was in front of his plane. He was number 6, i was number 4. Did engine runup n before take off checks.

As i was going to contact seletar ground to request taxy for area alpha. Suddenly ops radioed. Thunderstorms approaching frm south south west .... Didnt catch d rest. Looked at toh bh n cfm taxy back. I was like wth. Took controls  n taxied back..
D taxy back was difficult. D wind keep on causing d plane to drift off centre line. Had to keep on correcting it. Anticipated d turn a tad to late. But managed to correct it. He did d engine shut down checks.aftwards i did a quick aircraft check n walked back to yfc. He asked me so u happy? I didnt reply cos dunno wat to say. He say. Of course not luh. Never get to fly! At maintenance he forgot d hobbs counter reading n i had to run back to take d reading. Post flight brief was fast. Checks were excellent n would have gotten a six if only d flight wasnt cancelled. Obviously he didnt notice my mistakes. Lol.

Airbus Future Concept

Keeping in mind that a landing on an aircraft carrier is one in which you stop but your eyeballs and the last meal you ate might not, this is definitely something to think about if you feel that contemporary air travel has already crammed itself into an intolerably uncomfortable experience.Airbus is proposing (in the distant future) that airliners could be launched and landed aircraft carrier catapult style from a whole new generation of green and clean airports.

It is however, a vision that Airbus, as part of its Future by Airbus proposals, has been careful to describe in soothing terms, and with some very interesting additional details.

Think about Aircraft launched through assisted take-offs using renewably powered, propelled acceleration, allowing steeper climb from airports to minimise noise and reach efficient cruise altitudes quicker.

Space becomes a premium and mega-cities become a reality, this approach could also minimise land use, as shorter runways could be utilised.

Welcome aboard flight 2050.

Take your seat and prepare to be propelled to optimum cruising altitude in a continuous ‘eco-climb’.

Listen to the changing sound of the engines during flight and it’s obvious: an aircraft draws on its reserves of power more during take-off than at any other time.

The power needed to take off is determined based on a number of factors.  These include runway length, wind speed, temperature, and the weight of the aircraft itself.

But this take-off power is only required for a very brief part of the total flight.  Once cruising in the sky overhead, an aircraft doesn’t need as much to maintain altitude.

So why not source the energy required at take-off from an innovation installed on the ground?  Can the burden (and weight) be removed from the aircraft itself?

An assisted take-off – using some form of propelled acceleration – would mean aircraft could be lighter, with smaller engines consuming less fuel.

All of which means an optimised aircraft could climb to its most efficient cruising altitude more quickly.  A continuous ‘eco-climb’ would further cut noise and CO2 emissions, especially if renewable fuels were used, making the process even more eco-efficient.

This would be in sharp contrast to today.  Aircraft currently climb in a series of incremental – and inefficient – stages.  These ‘step climb intervals’ require more fuel.

With less time and distance required for take-off, the runways could be shortened – by up to 1/3rd.  This would minimise land use, enabling airport capacity to increase or new micro-airports to emerge.

These could be located close to city centres – or the mega-cities that will become a reality – with space becoming even more of a premium.

How will it work?

Aircraft could be manoeuvred onto a track system and accelerated using either electro-magnetic motors built into the track or an inductive circuit within the aircraft itself.

Acceptable acceleration and deceleration limits of passengers would need to be determined.  But the experience would be more akin to a comfortable children’s funfair ride rather than a high-octane white knuckle theme park.

The ultimate, albeit it very extreme, concept is to have a system that not only launches but also captures the aircraft, removing the need for landing gear.  This would require all airports to have the same system, to accommodate all routes along with alternative/diversion airports, and is probably a little beyond 2050.

This takes us into a  future where there would be fleets of aircraft limited by design to fly between assisted launch and capture airports, and would never have the installed power of today’s airliners in terms of being able to climb away from an airport after an engine failure too close to the end of the runway to stop, and have enough thrust available on the remaining engine to clear obstacles and safety maneuver back to the airport, not only in hot weather, but at high altitude locations.

The proposal also raises formidable challenges in designing such airliners to cope with any critical moment power failures by the rail gun, or whatever the launch mechanism used.

But it is about a future in which somewhere between half and two thirds of those who regularly fly today will be dead, as distinct from being alive but wishing they were dead, or at least somewhere else, on a bad hair day at airports or in airline operations.

A free flight constellation of like minded Concept Airbuses: Graphic by Airbus

The Future by Airbus concepts, which are billed for stardom at this year’s ILA Berlin Air Show  (11-16 September) are also again graced by the intriguing form of the Airbus Concept Airliner design, which has appeared as the shape of things to come in sizes ranging from an A320 to an A380 replacement in Airbus discussion papers for the past three years.

At this year’s show flocks of Concept Airbuses are seen in flying formations like those of migrating geese, following ‘free flight’ routes independent of air traffic control as we know it today, yet keeping themselves automatically safely apart within such clusters where like minded jets freely and independently determine where the most favourable winds and conditions apply to their various tasks.

Depending on your point of view, this could be considered an exciting or ‘gripping’ concept, not unlike the near subliminal capability of a crowd of people to swirl through a busy place, like a railway or airport terminal, without running into each other. Except occasionally.

Another view of the Airbus Shape of things to come: Airbus graphic

Singapore's 2 New Pandas!

On the 6th of September 2012, A Singapore Airlines Cargo B747 touched down at Singapore Changi airport.
Its passengers- 2 giant Pandas from Sichuan, China!

At precisely 3.20pm on Wednesday, Kai Kai and Jia Jia were driven out of the Ya'an panda base - a place they had called home all their lives.

Kai Kai's Chinese name is Wujue and Jia Jia's original name was hubao, the pandas are on a ten year loan to Singapore. 

Wujie is a 5 year old male and Hubao is a 4 year old female, the pandas will be available to be viewed by the public in December once they have adapted to their new environment. and Hubao will be renamed Jia Jia, the pandas are on a ten year loan to Singapore. 

Home for them for the next 10 years will be the River Safari attraction in Singapore, and they arrived at Changi Airport today after a flight of about 4 1/2 hours.

The freighter used to transport the pandas

Before they embarked on a new phase of their lives here, Kai Kai, aged five, and Jia Jia, aged four, received a send-off yesterday, with song and dance performances put up by the residents of the city of Ya'an in China's Sichuan province, where the pandas are from. Confetti was fired into the air and some 500 guests lined the road leading out of the base to bid the pandas a warm farewell.

Jia Jia

Among them were Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan, chairman of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Claire Chiang and Chinese government officials, including the Communist Party secretary in Ya'an, Mr Xu Meng Jia.

Kai Kai

60 guests which included Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State (Trade & Industry), chairman of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Claire Chiang, and former President S.R. Nathan, chairman of CapitaLand Hope Foundation.

The pandas which were on board a chartered Singapore Airlines flight touched down at the Jet Quay CIP Terminal of the Changi Airport just after 8.20am.

About 30 minutes later, before the guests - which included government officials from MTI and corporate sponsors CapitaLand - two crates were lowered from the plane, and opened to unveil Kai Kai and Jia Jia.

Cr: Straits Times for the pictures

1st service to Australia on 787 will be on China Southern!

Now that Qantas has cancelled its order of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, China Southern is set to be the first airline to debut commercial flights of the revolutionary aircraft in Australia.

China Southern is due to get its 787s later this year. Qantas's were due to arrive mid-2013 but last week the airline announced it had exercised its right to walk away from its order of the long-delayed aircraft. The move will add millions to Qantas's bottom line, but pundits query the long-term growth implications of the cancellation.

China Southern recently confirmed it will fly the revolutionary aircraft on its Sydney-Guangzhou-London route.

The Dreamliner, Boeing's answer to Airbus's A380, is already in service on a small number of airlines including JAL and is garnering rave reviews for its spaciousness, vastly improved cabin environment and excellent turbulence management system.

The 787s also have the biggest overhead bins in the sky.

United Airlines showed off their first 787 earlier this month and will become the first North American airline to fly it commercially some time in the northern autumn.

Great expectations

With confirmation of talks between Qantas and Emirates regarding code-share arrangements between the two for European destinations, dedicated Qantas international customers used to flying to Europe via south-east Asia or Hong Kong to London, with maybe a British Airways code share, might be wondering what is potentially in store for them.

Sky Report has flown with Emirates several times to Europe, and flew with the airline to Paris and back recently.

The first clear advantage Emirates has is its reach. The airline flies to more than 30 European destinations from Dubai.

We find another advantage in flying to Europe with Emirates, or any of the Middle Eastern carriers for that matter, is the division of time between legs of the journey.

The first leg from the Australian east coast to Dubai is long, about 14 hours from Sydney. If on a night flight, that gives passengers time to eat dinner, watch a movie and get a decent number of hours' sleep - especially if they are in business class (or beyond), as Sky Report was.

From Dubai, the trip to Europe is the short leg. It took seven hours to get to Paris and when Sky Report flew Emirates from Sydney to Rome a while back, we were delighted that the second leg only took six hours.

It's Sky Report's opinion that the time division, going both ways, is better for keeping some sense of normalcy in sleeping patterns because of the one longer flight.

Once in Dubai, connections to Europe are usually less than four hours, which is fine if you have access to the lounge, where there are showers, free wi-fi and comfy seating.

But despite expansion and renovations, Dubai International Airport continues to be a crowded mall-like area that lacks facilities for weary travellers, according to punters.

On the Skytrax review site, travellers still complain about toilet queues and lack of seating at Dubai. Another gripe is the long bus trips often required to get to the terminal after disembarkation. (Our recent one was more than half an hour and we were dying for a loo.) Singapore's Changi and Bangkok's airport have it all over Dubai in this regard.

But the on-board Emirates experience is terrific. In the past few years, the international crews have lifted their already good game to be more friendly. The food - in business class, anyway - was excellent on our flights.

And throughout all cabins, the entertainment system screens are the biggest in the sky. The system was recently voted world's best airline inflight entertainment in the Skytrax World Airline Awards for the eighth consecutive year.

The Skytrax awards also anointed Air Canada best North American airline and Cathay won the gong for best business-class cabin.

Beemer me up

Designers at BMW's subsidiary DesignworksUSA are turning their talents skywards. They're hard at work creating fresh cabins for Singapore Airlines (SIA), to be introduced in both new aircraft and via refits of existing planes.

SIA, the foreign carrier with the largest presence in Australia, last upgraded its cabins six years ago, about the time it was the first airline to fly the A380.

The new offerings, including seats, interiors and entertainment systems, will be introduced in the second half of next year.

Case in point

Sky Report's favourite suitcase has seen better days. In fact, it would probably qualify as biohazard. But as long as it still zips up over our unreasonable overpacking and doesn't pop open on the carousel, we see no reason to replace it - other than the shame we feel every time it pops out the luggage chute.

Fortunately, it appears we are not alone in our attachment to the grubby old faithful.

In a survey conducted by Virgin Atlantic, one in five air travellers couldn't remember the last time they bought new luggage, while 55 per cent said they would only upgrade their suitcase if it were broken.

Conversely, Virgin Atlantic has also noted an increase in posh designer cases such as monogrammed Louis Vuitton.

The survey revealed one in 10 of the owners of these items bought the nice luggage to impress or outdo their travel companions, while air travellers aged from 16 to 24 said they bought fancy suitcases in order to copy celebrities.

So if grunge comes back, Sky Report's luggage might actually become covetable.

Route watch

Qantas is reintroducing daily services between the Gold Coast and Sydney, a route it currently only services via Jetstar. From late October, there will be three daily return Qantas services. The Gold Coast Jetstar passenger lounge will be transformed into a Qantas Club by the end of the year.

Virgin Atlantic is to fly its first domestic service, between Heathrow and Manchester. The move is seen as the beginning of a foray into regional services by the British-based international carrier.

Weather

konnichiwa!

Singapore has bad weather for flying this few days. The visibility is quite bad because of the fog and haze, and there is this constant cloud layer. Thus, flying under visual rules is difficult.

From above, you could see the clouds covering most parts of Singapore. Landing marks used to mark out the different training areas in singapore, mainly area Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.

Seletar airport is under IMC most of the time while Changi airport is under VMC. 

Some of our DA40s

Just yesterday, a huge thunderstorm suddenly appeared on our radar, requiring paya lebar approach to issue a warning to the DA40s up there to land.

Airbus' recent deals

 China signed a US$3.5 billion deal to buy 50 Airbus A320 jets on Thursday during a visit by German leader Angela Merkel, who sought to reassure Beijing that Europe is committed to overcoming the eurozone crisis.

The deal is significant as it has much political significance and may help spur the growth of the aviation industry in Europe.

Airbus won a $7 billion order on Tuesday from Philippine Airlines, beating Boeing to a deal marked by diplomatic lobbying as the European planemaker appeared close to another major Asian deal in China.

The flag carrier plans to buy up to 100 new jets in total within the next five to seven years as it restructures operations to become a low-cost carrier and regain dominance of the local market from arch-rival Cebu Air Inc.

Those purchases would take its fleet to around 140 planes, far ahead of Cebu's 38-strong fleet, which it plans to double. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it was still in talks with both Airbus and Boeing for its next tranche of planes.

For this stage of its fleet expansion, the airline has ordered 10 long-haul A330-300s and 44 jets from the A321 family, with delivery starting in 2013, Asia's oldest airline said in a statement. The A321s include 10 existing models and 34 of a fuel-saving version available from mid-decade, the A321neo.

Industry sources said they expected some of these aircraft to replace older, less-efficient models, but most of the newly ordered aircraft would fuel expansion to counter Cebu Air, the country's largest budget carrier.

In Paris, shares in Airbus parent EADS bucked a weaker market to rise 0.5 percent to just under 30 euros.

Philippine Airlines will pay Airbus in cash, with part of the money to come from bank loans, said President Ramon Ang, who also heads Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp 

The carrier is also ready to issue more shares to fund its jet purchases, it said in a statement.

"The good Boeing planes we are looking at are the 777-300ER and the upcoming 777-X. We're also interested in the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner," Ang told reporters on the sidelines of the deal-signing event in Manila on Tuesday.

"We have the option on whichever type of aircraft to go," he said.

Boeing and Airbus are locked in a global contest for market share, in some cases more than halving prices to bolster orders of the newly revamped models of best-selling narrowbody jets, industry sources and analysts say.

On Monday, industry sources said Airbus hoped to sell up to 100 A320-family planes to China during the trip.

Such short-range aircraft, some of which are assembled on Chinese soil, have been spared any fallout from the row between China and European Union as domestic travel expands.

China continues however to block the purchase of some 35 larger Airbus aircraft to protest against EU plans to enforce a carbon reduction scheme that opposing nations deem unfair.

China regularly orders aircraft in large batches timed to coincide with high-level contacts with U.S. or European leaders.

Despite the new deals, Airbus is widely expected to lose its position as top-selling plane manufacturer this year to Chicago-based Boeing, which is enjoying a resurgence after falling behind its European rival for five straight years.

Singapore to Shanghai on SIA

The Singapore Girls at the entrance smiled and greeted me as i entered the plane. The smell of the plane put me at ease. Finally i felt like i am at home:) Another flight stewardess directed me to my seat and gave me a hot towel shortly afterwards with a smile as always:) I barely listened to the safety brief after push-back.(It was always the same). Finally, the plane began to taxi to the runway.

Ok. So, recently i flew to Shanghai on the Singapore Airlines Boeing777. It was a red-eye flight.

Well, the flight was the same more or less. Maybe, because i took the route too many times already.

Well, anyways, the flight was delayed as usual at Changi airport for around 10 minutes until we can take-off.

The takeoff roll was exhilarating as always, especially when the N1 increases from around 50% to Take off power. After takeoff, at around FL390, the plane levelled off. The inflight entertainment began and the  seatbelt sign was turned off.

So here was what i did. Feeling thirsty, i went to the galley to get a drink. So, the pretty stewardess who greeted me just now was there. I asked her for a cup of coffee and she smiled and proceeded to pour me a cup of coffee. Holding the cup of coffee, I walked back to my seat. Well, looks like i did not need the coffee to brighten my mood:)

i changed the channel to M! Countdown. To my delight, BoA was performing Only one:) After it ended, i changed to channel 9 to hear more kpop and channel 12 to hear some chinese songs. After some searching, i found that there was SNSD-TTS twinkle and tuned to it. After that i took out my flying checklist and began revising.

I shall not talk much about the food as it is nothing fantastic, but come to think of it, my favourite food is airplane food!

I got board about 3.5 hours into the flight. So bored such that i was sorely tempted to go and flirt with that air stewardess. Her name is Sharon by the way. Since there were few people on the flight, i decided to go and have a chat with her. So, she was 20 and that was her 15th flight as a Singapore Girl. She graduated from Ngee Ann polytechnic and decided to be an air stewardess to see the world. Well, we had some idle chat about kpop and talked about our travels for about an hour.(She also likes SNSD!! :)) Well some of you may be wondering if it is allowed. It is not. But since it was a red-eye flight and she was the only one t the galley area, she stayed up and we talked.

I was sad when the plane began to descend. But at least i got her number and some more coffee and snacks before heading to my seat. We promised to keep in touch.

So the plane descended for the runway. and the plane landed quite gently. The vertical speed was maybe -50 feet/min? After the plane parked at the gate, i was the last passenger to leave. The captain was out there and I thanked him. I think he probably knew that i was a pilot. As i walked out of the plane, pulling my  luggage, i caught Sharon's eye and winked. Hopefully, i will get to see her again:)

Recent United Airlines Incidents

A United Boeing 757-200, registration N17126 performing flight UA-96 from Newark,NJ (USA) to Berlin Tegel (Germany) with 173 people on board, was departing Newark's runway 11 when just before being handed off to departure the crew reported they blew a tyre and declared emergency. After contacting departure the crew reported they lost their engines (plural, RB211) and declared emergency. Departure reported streaks of flames were seen from the left hand engine, crew queried intensively left engine and then reported they had two "red engines". The aircraft climbed to 3000 feet, the next departure off Newark reported the United had blown a tyre on the left hand side on runway 04L. The crew reported the left hand engine was showing overtemperature with a chunking banging and vibration on the left side while the right hand engine had cleared in the meantime. The aircraft climbed to 4000 feet to burn off fuel and returned to Newark for a safe landing on runway 04R about 100 minutes after departure. The crew reported "ops normal" after landing and taxied their aircraft to the gate.

A replacement Boeing 757-200 registration N18112 departed Newark with a delay of 5 hours.

The FBI said the crew reported a burst tyre on takeoff resulting in flames seen from the left hand engine.

The FAA said the crew reported a problem after departure, however, the engines were operating normally at landing.

Observers on the ground reported repeated banging sounds from the aircraft, no smoke was seen however streaks of flames from the left hand engine (suggesting the engine suffered compressor stalls or surges).

United Airlines B752

A United Boeing 757-200, flight UA-409 from Newark,NJ to Seattle,WA (USA), was climbing through 14,000 feet out of Newark when the crew decided to return to Newark reporting smoke in the cockpit. During descent back to Newark the crew reported the smoke appeared to be going down and indicated they would be able to vacate the runway. The aircraft landed safely on Newark's runway 04L about 20 minutes after departure and vacated the runway.

The airline said the aircraft returned to Newark due to an unusual odour aboard which was later linked to the air conditioning system. 

A replacement Boeing 757-200 registration N553UA reached Seattle with a delay of 4:15 hours.

United B738

A United Boeing 737-800, registration N17244 performing flight UA-1124 from Houston,TX to Boston,MA (USA) with 146 passengers and 6 crew, was climbing out of Houston when the crew reported problems with an engine (CFM56), levelled off at 4000 feet, burned off fuel and returned to Houston for a safe landing about 2 hours after departure.

A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N36272 reached Boston with a delay of 5:15 hours.

I am concerned with the recent incidents.

In the commercial aviation industry, Mistakes cannot happen as passenger lives are at stake here.

I hope that the FAA gets to the bottom of this matter.

Boeing 787

The New Boeing 787 is a mid-long range widebody jet airliner developed by Boeing.
It can set 210 to 280 passengers per plane.

It set a new record for percentage composite used and is very fuel efficient. It is about 20 percent more fuel efficient than the B767!

It shares a common type rating with the B777. Thus pilots with a B777 rating can fly a B787. Also, It has a HUD (Heads-Up-Display)

The engine is either the Trent 1000 or the GEnx engines. It is much quieter thanks to the noise reduction technology.

Key Facts:
       1. 234 passengers in 3 class setup.
       2. 3Variants. 787-3,787-8,787-9
       3. Cruising speed: 0.85M
       4. Service ceiling: FL430
       5. Range: ~800NM

Singapore Airlines A340-500

The SIA A345 is fitted with 100 New award winning Business class seats!!
Singapore Airlines uses this plane on ultra-long haul routes such as from Singapore to Newark Liberty International Airport 
The flight, SQ-21 is the longest in the world! 
It covers 15,343 km and the duration of the flight is about 18.5 hours

The A345 cockpit!!

Silkair purchase of 54 B737s

Recently, on the 3rd of August, Silkair, the regional wing of Singapore airlines has announced the purchase of 23 B738s and 31 B737 MAX.
I was excited to hear this piece of news.
For those who don't know much about Silkair, It operates mainly A320s on Singapore to China, India, SE Asia routes. It is a full-service airline, and currently flies to 41 destinations across 12 countries

                                          A Silkair A320

Why was i excited?
When i flew Silkair, I couldn't help but feel that it is actually sort of a Junkyard for the non-profitable Singapore airline routes. Well. It has much more potential than that!!! The cabin environment and the service is unique. Also it serves destinations that have a lot of history and has a rich culture such as Yunnan, China for example.

Lijiang- Yunnan, China

With the addition of B737s to its fleet, There will be an increase in not only route frequency, But also The number of destinations. For example, I frequently complain about the lack of service to the 2nd and 3rd tier China cities. Most often, I find myself taking a SIA plane to Guangzhou, Shanghai or Hong Kong and transfer to one of the many China airlines around to get to my final destination.
Therefore, i hope to see more destinations being added into the network
:)

안녕하세요-Annyeonghaseyo

Congratulations!! You have learnt how to say Hello in Korean!! :)

Hey! I am a pilot trainee in Singapore studying Aerospace Electronics at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Just a quick self introduction. 

I am a Aviation Enthusiast(as you would already have deduced by now),

a pilot,

a Microsoft FSX flight simmer

a Singapore Airlines lover!

So yeah. I will be posting and discussing the current issues in the aviation industry as well as posting about the history of flight here. I may also post some tips on flying so please follow my blog:)