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Hello everyone, how do you do! I am in the B747-8 ‘Superjet’ simulator. A number of you have asked me to tell you what these switches are. They are located on both sides of the pilots instrument panels. They are the instrument/data/navigation and air data source selectors. Normally, the switches are in position AUTO so that automatic data or information switching occurs during flight. However, manual selection is also possible if automatic switching does not occur or for some non-normal procedures. The switches shown here are on the Captain’s side. The First Officer side has the same switches but labelled slightly differently for obvious reasons, because the source would initially be on the Right or ‘R’ side with automatic switching to Centre then Left. This ensures independent data and information sources. It’s a quick snippet and hope it clears up that question 😀. ‘Chi Di Gin!’, Later!✈️✈️✈️✈️

Hello! How do you do everyone. Now for something a little different, before we start talking about all those other topics I mentioned to you a few days ago. I thought I’d show you a bit of the ‘nether region’ of the simulator jack mechanism. I’ll be spending a lot of time training and checking other pilots this month. So take a look at this B747-8 ‘Superjet’ simulator at rest. Hope it gives you some idea of how these machines are constructed. ‘Chi Di Gin!’..Later😀✈️✈️

Hello everyone! How do you do! Thank you for being part of my aviation journey in 2021. I’ve enjoyed your interaction, comments and suggestions and will incorporate these in upcoming videos😀. So we’ve come to the end of 2021 and it has been eventful indeed. Started off with several countries getting on top of the vaccine situation and easing restrictions etc. all smooth for most of the year- Singapore fell off the trajectory of trying to maintain a zero virus strategy and so did Australia and New Zealand. Hong Kong and China maintain this to date with restrictions increasing as we entered November due to Omicron variant. You can tell that November was a rough time with flights around the world being cancelled and restrictions being re-imposed in Europe. Even the aeroplane nose wheel is going over a rough patch during this takeoff as we enter November. More bangs and roughness in December as we rotate for the new year. I’m naturally an optimist and the ‘Positive Rate’ call is how I look to the future- POSITIVE. I am confident of a good 2022 and for Madam ‘P’ and I, it will be a very exciting year in our lives. So to all of you friends, Airmen and women, We wish you a wonderful year ahead. See you next year-It will be good! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022. ‘Chi Di Gin! - Later!✈️✈️✈️✈️

My last simulator session before Christmas Day. I have one more session before entry into 2022. How do you do everyone! This is a simple message. Chi Di Gin! Later!✈️✈️✈️😀

Hello again everyone! Yesterday I flew with a very talented pilot who has come across to the B747-8 ‘Superjet’ fleet from the B777. He is finishing off his conversion on to the B747. The sequence is that he had to complete a full technical course of the B747, then he had 10 sessions (4 hours each) in the simulator culminating in two Simulator check rides. Next he had to do a zero flight time base training session (touch and go landings), in the simulator. Next phase is to fly the actual aircraft with a Base training Captain like myself for his first four takeoffs and landings. We went to Hanoi two days ago, and todays flight to Mumbai will complete his landings requirements before he goes off with a normal (non base training Captain) for remainder of route training. So it’s a process! I wanted to also show you some non technical creature comforts that we have on the flight deck. Take a watch/listen and hope you enjoy it- ‘Chi Di Gin’- later!✈️✈️✈️✈️

FUEL IMBALANCE PROCEDURES on the Boeing 747-400: Hello everyone! How do you do! I am in the Boeing 747-400 Flight simulator.As promised, this is the full video dealing with procedures for verifying that you do not have a fuel leak and balancing fuel. I’ve previously shown you the items to check on the QRH to verify that you do NOT have a fuel leak. One common factor in all the checklists for the different FUEL IMBAL EICAS messages is that there is a need to first verify that you do not have a fuel leak. So the preamble at the start of the respective checklist is identical. In case you are wondering why we have to balance the fuel, it is because if we didn’t, it can cause an increase in aerodynamic drag, result in extra trimming etc, thus increasing the fuel consumption. The fuel quantities that trigger FUEL IMBAL 1-4, or FUEL IMBAL 2-3 appear odd right? As in 1360 kgs and 2720kgs- this is because the aircraft is manufactured in the USA and the units of calibration used are pounds. So for operators in the USA for example where fuel units are in pounds, the quantities are 3000 lbs and 6000 pounds (which converted to Kgs comes to 1360kg for tanks 1-4 and 2720kgs for tanks 2-3)- it’s purely a difference in units used. A few days ago I had to balance the fuel flying from Penang to Phnom Pehn after the EICAS indicated ‘FUEL IMBALANCE’. Once you watch this video, you will know what that means😀. The last thing I’ll mention is the message ‘FUEL TANK/ENG’. This message shows so that the pilots can configure the fuel for each tank to feed its respective engine. This of course needs the fuel quantities in each tank to be balanced as for all intensive purposes, the engines consume similar amounts of fuel. Anyway- hope it all makes sense. ‘Chi Di Gin! Later😀✈️✈️✈️✈️

Hello everyone! How do you do. Last night I was training a new joiner Captain Jonathan to the B747 ‘Superjet’ fleet, joining from the B777. A very good pilot indeed and we as usual had some banter while waiting for the loading to be completed. Captain Jonathan wanted to send a special ‘hello’ to his daughter Madeline( Maddy). Senior First Officer Leo was our safety pilot- he joined the B747 in May this year. So this was how it went- Enjoy! ‘Chi Di Gin!’ - Later!✈️✈️✈️✈️

Safety issues: seat position. Here’s a snippet on safety in the passenger cabin. The snippet is about why it is advisable to keep your seat in an upright position for takeoff and landing. The term used to describe what can happen if you are in a reclined position instead of upright in a sudden stop or impact that wasn’t fatal although the aircraft may suffer damage is called ‘Submarining’. This is because you slide under the belt like a submarine slides under water so to say. There are lots of such incidents that occur - you don’t hear much about them because there were no fatalities…the media pays scant interest. People hate when the cabin crew come round asking them to put their seats up into the upright position. People also don’t like seat belts ‘I hate being strapped in’ is the usual complaint and will do anything to loosen their belt. We don’t like being told what to do etc etc. Watch my explanation in this clip. When these incidents happen, it is very quick- the aircraft comes to a stop in an awkward position and some people sustain injuries for simply not keeping seat in upright position. The other reason of course is to allow for unimpeded exit from the seats to the aisle for emergency egress. Be forewarned 😀. ‘Chi Di Gin! Later!

Hello! My Friday snippet has a new joiner to the B747 team. Captain Jeremy has just joined from the B777 as a number of crew are needed on the fleet. He was previously on the B777. This was his first landing under training from Hong Kong to Singapore. Importantly, for all my friends out there that have asked if there are any pilots from the Philippines in Cathay Pacific- he is from the Philippines!😀. There are several nationalities as I’ve told you before in Cathay Pacific. Chat soon! ‘Chi Di Gin!- Later!😀✈️✈️✈️✈️

Hello again! How do you do😊 Today, let’s continue with our current topic, :Engine SURGE on takeoff. The engine concerned today is the Rolls Royce RB211-524H-T engine as fitted to the Boeing 747-400. As I mention in the video, most of you have seen videos of aircraft experiencing a surge, with flames coming out of the rear exhaust section, loud bangs as the aircraft climbs out on takeoff. So in this video, I show you what the pilots see in the cockpit. The checklist that I showed on the daily story as you noticed covers for Engine Stall/Limit exceeded/ Surge. The pilot has to use knowledge and careful checklist action to determine what condition it is. Surges can be recoverable when a condition that caused it was temporary. Anyway, have a watch and see what I mean. Hope you like it. ‘ Hi Di Gin!’ - Later😀✈️✈️✈️✈️

Hello everyone! How do you do! Time for a snippet! This one I made in the simulator very quickly to remind you of the TCAS or Traffic Collision Avoidance System. This system alerts pilots of conflicting traffic and gives the pilots( in each aircraft, what action to take, to avoid a collision. On the B747-400, the avoidance action is manually managed by the pilot by disconnecting the autopilot and Autothrottle. Then the pilot must obey the command even if it conflicts with a previously given ATC ( Air Traffic Control), instruction. The thing is that the systems in the aircraft ’talk’ (communicate) to each other - so if a conflicting aircraft gives a climb command, then the other aircraft will get a ‘Descend’ command and vice Versa. So this then is a quick video telling you what is going on in the flight deck. ( It is NOT a violent manoeuvre per se but should be auctioned within 5 second when a Command is given by system). Hope you like it- ‘Chi Di Gin!’ - Later!😀✈️✈️✈️

For Throwback Thursday: Careers day at Heep Yunn secondary school in Kowloon, in Ma Tau Wai, Hong Kong. This is some of the kind of stuff I get up to outside flying in Hong Kong. I visit secondary schools when invited to give talks on aviation careers. Two other professional Senior First Officers from FedEx also joined me. We were there to get some youngsters especially girls/young ladies to get into aviation. The industry is desperately in need of female pilots, engineers, mechanics, AIr Traffic Controllers and more. It’s a process of catch up with a very long way to go- hence a visit to a girls school. I met some very intelligent, keen, knowledgeable young ladies. They asked surprise questions I wouldn’t have thought of- excellent day out. The year by the way was June 2018- that’s why no masks😊. ‘Chi Di Gin! Later! #heepyunnschool #cathaypacific