Around The World 2006 - Part 3

Part 3: Visiting Middle East & Asia

I’m pleased to welcome you again as we proceed with this round the world flight review, which began quite a while ago when we left Brussels, Belgium and will now fly longer legs between a few selected Asian destinations.

You've probably noticed that 'Around the World 2006' title has switched to the more appropriate 'Around the World 2006-2007', seeing that, as already mentioned in Part 2, the project takes more time than expected and will then also take place in this new year. A good opportunity though to give a rather new look to the articles as well as the project’s logo. In the meantime, a new aircraft livery will also be introduced in Leg 12. The new Flight Simulator X has now been released for several months, and though having upgraded to a new computer recently, I’m still flying with FS2004. The latter, which had 'ruled' for nearly 4 years, offers an incomparable array of add-ons and doesn’t need the NASA supercomputer to provide decent frame rates.

But let’s now board our aircraft again, which is waiting for us on the sunny Athens airport. In this part, you’ll still see the usual short explanations about navigation and IFR procedures, while other Airbus aircraft systems will be basically introduced, including a more detailed focus on the jet engine.

Leg 11 : Athens, Greece – Tel Aviv, Israel

A short leg again to begin with this third part – not more than 650 (nautical) miles or 1200 km, the longest one though up until now.

Engine 2 just before pushback and engine start

We’ll take off from runway 21L (southbound), fly the VARIX One Foxtrot Standard Departure, and then head towards the famous Rodos Island. From there, almost a straight line direct to Tel Aviv, with nothing but the great blue sea below. Approach of Ben Gurion airport will be classic, with the ILS Rwy 12 that is one of the easiest approaches in the area, as we’ll see below.

Flight Plan

From ATHENS-ELEFTHERIOS VENIZELOS (ATH/LGAV) to TEL AVIV-BEN GURION (TLV/LLBG) Alternate OJAI AMMAN LGAV VARIX1F VARIX UL995 RDS UL609 SOLIN UH2 RIMON SIRON LLBG

Prior to taking the air again, I think that it’s now justifiable, after 10 successive legs, to wonder how we actually start the engines of our A330-200 aircraft.

Starting the engines of an Airbus airliner is easy. The main reason for this is that engine start, like many other Airbus systems, is a partial automatic procedure.

To explain the procedure, I propose to start from the 'cold and dark' cockpit configuration. This is a simple procedure indeed, but we will take some time here to wander from the point and focus on some of the concerned systems.

First of all, we have to supply the aircraft with electrical power.

Before engine start, the aircraft can supply its own DC electrical power coming from onboard batteries (BAT 1, BAT 2, APU BAT). The DC electrical system supplies 28 Volt DC and it is mainly used to start the APU, or supply the aircraft when other sources are unavailable. When their voltage goes below a certain level, the batteries will charge from the AC electrical system driven by the engines – just like a car battery ! The AC electrical system provides 3 phase 115/200 Volt, 400 Hz AC provided by engine driven generators installed on each engine. A further generator installed on the APU is used to provide AC power before engine start (and after engine shutdown) or in case of loss of one or the two engine generators. And finally, in case of total loss of electrical power during flight, the aircraft can be supplied by an emergency generator driven by the RAM air turbine, using the high speed air flow to provide power a bit like a wind engine.

APU and engine generators will automatically work once the concerned engine runs, if their corresponding switch on the overhead ELEC panel displays no light. In this configuration, APU generator will also automatically stop once engine generators power become available (or external power is connected). Pilots may still disconnect any generator from the electrical system by switching it off ("OFF" will illuminate).

On the ground, the aircraft can also be supplied by external power. We’ll use the aircraft onboard system to start the engines.

The 3 batteries are switched on. By the same time, the avionics and the main panel CRT screens come alive.

It’s now time to switch on the fuel pumps, but let’s see first how is roughly working the fuel system.

On the A330 type, the fuel is contained in one center and two wing tanks. Because of in flight structural reasons, the center tank is usually filled last and used first. The wing tanks are divided into inner and outer cells which are connected by transfer valves. The engines are fed from the inner cells. There are two main fuel pumps and one standby pump in each inner tank. The main pumps all work in normal operations. If a main pump fails or is switched off, the standby pump takes over. The two center tank pumps work as long as there is fuel in the center tank. Fuel transfer from the center tank to the inner cells is controlled by inlet valves, which top up the inner cells while there’s still fuel in the center tank. After that, once one inner cells goes below a preset level, transfer valves open to allow fuel from the outer cells to flow into the inner cells. In addition to that, a crossfeed valve connects the left and right fuel systems, allowing both engines to be fed by both wing tanks, or one engine to be fed by both wing tanks in case of engine failure and single engine situation. Fuel transfer and valve operations work automatically during flight. The Flight Management System computes the best fuel load balancing in real time for the best aircraft performance. This was once the job of the Flight Engineer. Nowadays Airbus pilots are however always informed by ECAM messages, and can still manually operate on fuel transfer using the Overhead's FUEL panel.

Now that we’ve demonstrated that fuel pumps may be useful for the engines, let’s switch them to ON!

On the picture, left and center systems have already been set to ON. You'll notice that the center tank pumps show 'FAULT' : this is normal, since there's no fuel in the center tank needed for this new short flight.

The next step is to start the APU. The APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) is a small, single spool (N) jet engine located in the aircraft tailcone. APU, which is now common with every modern airliner, allows the aircraft to be independent of external pneumatic and electrical power supplies. The APU can then provide bleed air for engine start and cabin air conditioning and has its own generator to provide AC electrical power (see above). APU can be started on the ground as well as in flight. Starting the APU works almost the same as switching on a lamp. Switching ON the APU MASTER SW button (blue "ON" illuminates) arms the APU system for automatic startup sequence and opens the APU air intake flap. Just below, the START button will initiate automatic startup. When completed, a green 'AVAIL' will illuminate and will also appear on the upper ECAM, meaning that APU is available.

The latest image shows both upper and lower ECAM after APU start.

Now that the APU is running, we can use its bleed air for engine start. High pressure air (as well as electrical power) is needed to start the main engines. Bleeding air into the engine will initiate the spool rotation until it reaches a preset rate at which ignition will occur.

Some technical background about the jet engine is not superfluous here before going further.

The turbofan jet engine which is powering our aircraft, as well as most of nowadays airliners, is an evolution of the twin spool turbojet engine.

A spool is a couple compressor – turbine mounted on the same shaft, and then rotating at the same speed. The compressor and turbine are in most cases a succession of stages. Each stage includes a rotor grid which is integral with the shaft. The rotor grid is a disc fitted with a great number of rotor blades. In modern engines, the rotor blades pitch is variable as a function of the air flow to optimize performance. Each rotor grid is followed by a stator grid, whose purpose is to straighten up the flow to the axial direction of the engine. On most modern engines, the stator vanes pitch is also variable. Each grid will modify the air flow direction and speed.

The intake air will cycle throughout the engine. On the basic single spool engine (like the one that powered the first generation Boeing 707 or DC8), the cycle includes the compression, combustion and expansion. During the cycle, air pressure, volume and temperature change, linked together following thermodynamics laws. The compressor will make the first step. Air pressure and temperature will increase. In the combustion chamber, which is inserted between the compressor and the turbine, compressed air will be mixed with fuel by a complex mixing system. The fuel combustion will considerably increase gasses temperature as well as volume, while pressure will remain almost constant. And finally, gasses will first expand in the turbine driving the compressor, and then complete their expansion in the nozzle, providing the rear thrust that will propel the aircraft in the opposite direction, as result of the well known reaction law. The temperature will decrease during the expansion phase, giving the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) which is an important engine parameter to be controlled by the pilots, with the turbine materials thermic constraints in mind. A dramatic and sudden increase of EGT will result of an engine fire.

The twin spool turbojet (dating back to the sixties) has two concentric shafts rotating at different speeds. A good example is the PW JT8D engine, which powered many aircraft models including B727, B737-200, DC9 and MD80.

The low pressure spool (N1) includes the low pressure (LP) compressor and the low pressure turbine.

The high pressure spool (N2), located between the LP compressor and the LP turbine, includes the high pressure (HP) compressor and the high pressure turbine.

N1 spool rotation rate is often the main driving parameter of the engine, while N2 plays a part during engine start. As an example, take off rate on the CFM56-3B1 (powering the B737-300 and A320 families) will bring N1 to 5175 RPM and N2 to 14460 RPM. Meanwhile, N1 and N2 rotation rates will not be directly displayed as RPM (revolutions per minute) in the flight deck but as a percentage of a maximum rate. Jet engines are characterized by two maximum rates: the maximum take off performance (TO), which is the highest, but limited to a 5 minutes time interval; and the maxi-continuous performance (MCT), which is lower but unlimited in time. Because the gauge range exceeds 100% for the engine rate, this is probably the MCT constant that is used as reference.

The intake air is sucked in by the LP compressor. Unlike on the single spool engine, a part of the intake air will be derivated during the LP compression phase and will NOT be driven to the combustion chamber, therefore bypassing the normal cycle. There are then two air flows on such engine: the cold stream that bypasses the hot gasses generator and the hot stream which goes through the normal cycle. This introduces a new parameter: the bypass ratio, which is defined as the ratio between the derivated air quantity and the normal cycle air quantity, and can then be seen as cold stream air quantity hot stream air quantity.

For a twin spool turbojet, the bypass ratio is roughly equal to 1. Note that for a single spool engine, it will be equal to zero.

We can demonstrate that increasing the bypass ratio will increase engine performance, reduce fuel burn as well as engine noise.

The turbofan engine is a direct application of that concept. In a turbofan, the first stage of the LP compressor, which sucks in the total intake air, is an oversized rotor grid, called the fan. The first turbofans powered the B747, DC10 and L1011 Tristar in the seventies, to be followed by the Airbus A300-B1.

The bypass ratio, as well as the compression rate are greatly improved. The bypass ratio of the first turbofans was close to 5. The big turbofans of the new generation have a bypass ratio equal to 6, with a fan diameter close to 3 m. The General Electric/Pratt & Whitney GP 7200 and Rolls Royce Trent 900, designed for the A380, are currently the biggest and the most efficient engines on the market.

The global thrust provided by such engines is mainly provided by the fan. The fan produces from 70 to 75 % of the engine thrust. It can then also be seen as a streamlined propeller driven by a first generation twin spool turbojet. Besides, only the fan blowed cold stream air will be used by the reverser system.

Rolls Royce engines have a distinctive feature: they have 3 spools: N1 (LP), N2 (IP for Intermediate Pressure) and N3 (HP). In this case, the fan acts as the LP compressor on its own.

The following diagram shows a generic twin spool turbofan engine longitudinal section, where you'll easily locate many of the components that were introduced here.

Aircraft engine performance evolution always sees greater bypass ratio, greater pressions, greater temperatures, lower noise emissions, lower fuel burn and lower environmental impact. For example, higher temperatures in the turbine inlet (approaching 1500°C) are nowadays possible thanks to better materials as well as a complex cooling system allowing the blades to work above their melting point. The fan size, and therefore the bypass ratio, however, have a upper limit. The engine cannot grow indefinitely since it must still be able to be installed on the aircraft and the bigger is the fan, the greater will be its aerodynamic drag.

Now that we're more familiar with the jet engine – and if you are wondering whether we'll once reach Tel Aviv – let's continue with the startup sequence.

We'll perform an automatic start using the APU bleed air for both engines. Engine start usually takes place during the aircraft pushback.

Switching ON the APU BLEED (overhead AIR conditioning panel) will allow blowing high pressure air into the engine, and more precisely, into the High Pressure spool N2 (that would be N3 on a RR engine).

On the A330, engine #1 (left wing) is usually started first. Not difficult to remember anyway.

Checking APU BLEED is ON, we set the ENG START selector to IGN/START on the pedestal. Next, we set the ENG MASTER switch 1 to ON.

N2 spool will start rotating (monitor N2 rate increase on the upper ECAM). Once N2 reaches a preset rate, which is commonly 20% for every jet airliner, fuel is injected into the combustion chamber and ignition occurs, the complete engine cycle can start. While opening the fuel cutoff lever for each engine  is necessary on Boeing planes, fuel injection will be done automatically here at 20% N2 and pilots just have nothing more to do.

Engine 1 startup. Note the light smoke.

Once engine 1 is stable (monitor N1, EGT, N2 and fuel flow on the upper ECAM ), setting ON the ENG MASTER switch 2 will start engine 2 in the same way.

The following picture shows the E/WD (upper ECAM) once both engines are started and pushback is completed. ENG START selector is then set back to NORM mode. APU bleed is switched off, but we will leave APU running until we're airborne and above 10,000 feet. APU & APU BLEED should be started again after landing, so that the aircraft can still be powered after engine shutdown.

So, if we sum up, to start the engines of our A330 we just had to

1) set BAT 1, BAT 2, APU BAT to ON
2) switch ON the fuel pumps
3) start the APU
4) check APU GEN, ENG 1 GEN, ENG 2 GEN "no light"
5) set APU BLEED to ON
6) set engine start selector to IGN/START
7) set ENG MASTER switch 1 to ON
once engine #1 stable, set the ENG MASTER switch 2 to ON
9) once engine #2 stable, set the engine start selector back to NORM
10) set APU BLEED to OFF

Busy runway 21L holding point: Iberia A320, ATR42 and B737-300 from Olympic and a further Learjet will leave before us.

Because of the very brief engine start explanations, this picture's purpose is only to remind that we didn't forget to start the engines.

Take off completed, left turn towards VARIX Greek coast – farewell to Europe.

Being eastbound, approach to Tel Aviv is easier than parking your car between two others.

According to Jeppesen SimCharts 2004 database, there are no published STARs for Ben Gurion airport. The approach begins at SIRON, last fix of the flight plan and located right on runway 12 axis. We're then directly bound on the final leg, and incidentally overflying the whole city.

The descent. Approaching SIRON. A second sunset approach is on its way.

A major clouds and light effects upgrade was one of the best FS2004 new features.

Tel Aviv – Jaffa by night. Established on the BG ILS, airport and runway in sight!

Welcome to the Holy land.

The following sequence

1) set ENG MASTER switch 1 to OFF
2) set ENG MASTER switch 2 to OFF
3) switch off the fuel pumps
4) switch off APU BLEED
5) set APU MASTER SW to OFF
6) switch BAT1, BAT2, APU BAT to OFF

... will shut down the engines and come back to the 'cold and dark' situation.

Leg 12: Tel Aviv, Israel – Tehran, Iran

Though political matters are not to be discussed in this round the world trip review, this 12th leg linking the two countries by the air has of course some symbolic meaning. Also taking in mind the real world events for realism purposes, the flight path, which is avoiding Lebanese and Iraki airspace, will not really look like a straight line:

The following flight plan was made using an old Jeppesen HI/LOW altitude enroute chart for the Middle East, dating back to 1997! ... but its waypoints were though 'digested' by the MCDU.

From TEL AVIV-BEN GURION (TLV/LLBG) to TEHRAN-MEHRABAD INTL (THR/OIII) Alternate OIFM ESFAHAN LLBG NAT3C NAT J15 ATLIT GALIM H4A DAVAR ATS TIROS UB17 VELOX UR18 ALSUS UR78 NIKAS R55 BAN W6 ALE H55 TUSYR VB36 GAZ UVW701D EZS VG81 UMH G8 ZAJ R11 MIVAK MIVAK1A OIII

The flight plan flies over Aleppo in Syria; Elazig, Van and Uromiyeh in Turkey and then Zanjan in Iran. At Tehran, the usual ILS approach to runway 29L will be followed.

But it's now time to reveal the new livery of the aircraft! I guess you cannot wait any more, so here it is!

Yes I was really bored with the previous painting and I wanted something else. Only the tail logo, winglets and engines painting remain the same.

Talking about the engines, you've probably noticed that they have changed also. Our A330, a brand new aircraft actually, is now powered by Rolls Royce engines.

The aircraft was ferried from Toulouse via Brussels to carry on with the round the world trip (the ferry flight is not related in this article – it is quite long enough!).

Airbus A330 customers have the choice between three engine variants to fit out their aircraft: General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4168 or Rolls Royce Trent 700 turbofans. The RR Trent engines powering the Airbus A330 provide 302.5 kN (68,000 lbs) thrust and are a little more powerful than the GE CF6 engines. They have also a typical complete streamlining with a common exhaust nozzle which helps the exhaust gasses (cold and hot streams) mixing with noise reduction purposes. The reverser system is also different (we'll see it in action in a following leg).

As we've said above, RR engines have a three spool system N1, N2, N3. Don't worry, I will NOT resume the whole engine start sequence with these new engines: it remains exactly the same if we specify that the high pressure spool is now N3, instead of N2.

The main engine driving parameter, however, is no more the N1 rate but a parameter called EPR or Engine Pressure Ratio.

EPR is defined as the ratio between the total pressure at the turbine exhaust and the total pressure at the compressor intake (for a turbofan engine, that will be the fan intake).

We can then see EPR as hot stream pressure EPR = ──────────── intake air pressure.

Note that on the ground, if the engine is stopped, both pressures will be equal to the atmospheric pressure and we'll have EPR = 1.

During normal engine operation, EPR is greater than 1. If one engine is stopped during flight, we'll have EPR < 1.

Upper ECAM showing the RR engine parameters during engine 2 start. Note: the "N.WHEEL STRG DISC" warning message is normal and means that the nose wheel steering is disconnected during pushback.

The ND in ARC mode showing the route that goes round Lebanese and Iraki airspace.

Over the Zagros mounts @ 35,000 feet, 140 miles ahead of Zanjan

Reproduced with permission of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.

NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL USE

©Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. 2006

Reduced for illustrative purposes only

For ILS approach to runway 29L, we'll come from Rudeshur NDB on the MIVAK1A standard arrival. Right-sitting passengers will enjoy the Tehran scenery on final. Note the rather high elevation of the airfield

Base leg at 7200 feet, turning left to final and descending to 6600 feet. The 5036 foot hill visible on the chart just below the approach path appears on the left shot.

Tehran is built at the foot of the Elburz Mounts, the city is smoothly rising towards the mountain. The city heights benefit from less air pollution and cooler temperature in the summer, this is also where the lucky comfortably off people live. Fully established on the ILS.

Leg 13: Tehran, Iran – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Last destination in the Middle East for this 13th leg, Dubai is one of the most modern cities in the area, its skyscrapers seem to have sprung up from the desert as a symbol of the wealth provided by the oil industry. Because of the foreseen depletion of the oil reserves in the medium term, Dubai is already turned to the future with the development of other resources like tourism, trade and new technologies.

The flight plan is far more direct this time, a 678 mile line crossing Iran with the cities of Esfahan and Shiraz, then a short crossing of the Persian Gulf.

The alternate airport, Sharjah, is so close to Dubai Int'l that it should not be mistaken with it!

Dubai approach is similar to and as easy as Tel Aviv's.

From TEHRAN-MEHRABAD INTL (THR/OIII) to DUBAI INTL (DXB/OMDB) Alternate OMSJ SHARJAH OIII RABAM1A RABAM UP574 PAPAR LOPEG LOPEG1V OMDB

The final approach seen from the ground...

... and the flight deck, flying the RNAV ILS Rwy 12L.

Dubai skyline for this fourth sunset – unfortunately, some textures are missing.

Our virtual logo lined up with the real Emirates and Saudi Arabian ones.

Leg 14: Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Kathmandu, Nepal

Back to more tricky approaches on this 14th leg, Kathmandu is located in the Himalayas' spurs and is therefore surrounded by mountains. Probably because of the very poor means of the country, Tribhuvan airport doesn't provide any ILS equipment but only one VOR/DME approach. Icing on the cake, the latter VOR/DME was not working in the FS2004 scenery. Not very serious though, since the Airbus onboard navigation system can provide all the distance and bearing information we need through the NAV display.

Flight Plan

From DUBAI INTL (DXB/OMDB) to KATHMANDU/TRIBHUVAN INTL (KTM/VNKT) Alternate VECC KOLKATA OMDB EGSOS ULUPO NADNI A791 JI G214 RK G452 TIGER G452E DPN R460E LLK G589 SMR SIMARA VNKT

The flight passes over southern Iran, Pakistan, then Delhi and Lucknow in India. The SIMARA standard arrival from SMR VOR will lead to NOPEN intersection, that should be crossed at 11,500 feet.

Sunrise over India

Reproduced with permission of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.

NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL USE

©Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. 2006

Reduced for illustrative purposes only

NOPEN is precisely the initial approach fix for the VOR DME Rwy 02, which is the only available landing runway here. The (out of order) KTM VOR/DME being almost located on the airport (0.6 mile ahead of runway threshold), the 'VNKT' last waypoint of the flight plan – the destination airport itself – will play that role. After flying this leg, I realised that choosing the KTM VOR (if absent from FS2004 scenery, still there in the PSS MCDU database!) instead was of course better, but the most obvious ideas sometimes don't come when they should. Nevertheless, we'll only depend on the information provided by the aircraft navigation system – a wrong IRS alignment, in fact, would be deadly in this case. In real life, the aircraft would probably have to divert to the alternate, but once again, we are just simming here: the approach can be carried on, the virtual electronic system has 100% reliability.

Looking closer to the approach chart, this is actually not the most difficult one. Just a level descent with no offset – the main difficulty here, with no ILS signal, is that there's no glideslope to tell us if we are 'too low' or 'too high' precisely. From NOPEN, which is crossed at 11,500 feet thanks to an altitude constraint inserted in the flight plan, we'll use the autopilot selected mode to comply with the approach descent profile. Once the runway is in sight, we'll conclude with a visual approach. To do this, however, we will have to comply with the minimums specified at the bottom of the approach chart. First, the Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA), 5120 feet in our case (meaning only 807 feet above ground in the local terrain configuration), is the altitude in a non-precision approach below which descent may not be carried on without visual reference. Also, cloud ceiling must not be below 800 feet and visibility must be greater than 1500 meters. We'll see that all these conditions will be gathered.

NOPEN is behind, approach begins. Scattered clouds with ceiling at at 6000'.

Between D13.0 and D10.0 fixes, descending to 9500' (AP selected mode). We are lucky: airport already in sight in the cloud break!

Back to the right passenger view when we reach the 9500' level.

Visual approach, autopilot off. We're now below the MDA, but with full visual reference.

Still too high and too fast: note the 4 white PAPI lights and the rather high descent rate.

This looks better. PFD speed tape: the managed  final approach speed of 140 kts will be reached just before touchdown!

Leg 15: Kathmandu, Nepal – Phuket, Thailand

The first exotic destination for leg 15, Phuket is often associated with a distant paradise for western tourists, but was also badly hit by December 26, 2004 tidal wave.

To take off from Kathmandu, a special standard departure must be observed. A bit like for Sion in the first part and Ajaccio in the second one, aircraft must first execute a loop to get some altitude and get clear of terrain.

With take off from runway 02, the IGRIS One Bravo SID (which is here plotted on the terrain map provided by FS2004) is first a left turn that proceeds along (or remain within) a 5 miles distance arc from KTM VOR, this time included in the flight plan. IGRIS intersection, at the end of the procedure, must be crossed at or above 10,500 feet. The SID also requires a minimum climb gradient which is easily observed by the A330, still far below its MTOW for this medium haul flight.

From KATHMANDU/TRIBHUVAN INTL (KTM/VNKT) to PHUKET INTL (HKT/VTSP) Alternate VTSS SONGKHLA VNKT IGRIS1B IGRIS D20KTM R325 CEA M770A BUBKO M770R OBMOG L515R IKULA LANNO LANNO1A VTSP

IGRIS1B SID: flying the 5 DME arc

On the KTM – IGRIS leg, already above 10,500 feet with the Himalayas' peaks in the distance.

SID completed, passing IGRIS.

Thrust reverse in action after landing in Phuket with the VOR DME runway 09 approach.

Taxiing to the gate while another wide body takes off from the same runway.

Leg 16: Phuket, Thailand – Hong Kong, PR of China

Back to a beautiful (and freeware!) photographic scenery to conclude this third part, I'll provide many screenshots all the approach long to the new Chek Lap Kok airport of Hong Kong. The former Hong Kong international airport, Kai Tak, now closed and located in the city center, used to be the pilots' nightmare with the most dangerous approach worldwide. The new airport is built on an artificial island some 20 miles west of the old one and offers far more conventional approaches. Westbound approaches, however, like the one that will take place here, have their paths going through a very mountainous landscape.

Flight Plan

From PHUKET INTL (HKT/VTSP) to HONG KONG INTL (HKG/VHHH) Alternate VMMC MACAU VTSP STN1A STN W10 BKK A1 DAGON DAGON1B VHHH

The route includes Bangkok in Thailand and Danang in Vietnam, then the South China Sea. The DAGON One Bravo standard arrival ends at Tung Lung VOR where the ILS Rwy 25L approach will begin. I set cloudy weather in Hong Kong, a usual fact here, but with a good visibility in a way to enjoy the view.

Reproduced with permission of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.

NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL USE

©Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. 2006

Reduced for illustrative purposes only

Approach base leg @ 7000', 2.3 nm from TD VOR, descending to 4500'

Proceeding on the base leg, now @ 5700', 3.7 miles from TD VOR, with the former Kai Tak airport in sight.

Between TOLOE and LOTUS: localizer capture @ 4500'

Now on final – this beautiful scenery uses the Google Earth free version textures.

At 3900' with the mountain located north of the final approach corridor under the right wing

At 3170', 10 miles from destination

Less than 8 miles to go, airport in sight.

'Horizon 2006 heavy, cleared to land runway 25L, follow the Boeing triple seven on the runway'

The preceding aircraft (right) has vacated the runway, landing can be carried on.

A few seconds from touchdown

Just like the first shot of the leg, but 1422 miles or 2630 km farther.

This concludes Around the World 2006-2007 Part 3. In the next one that will travel across Oceania and Pacific we'll have the opportunity to fly the first true long range sectors, while other aircraft systems and further cockpit preparation will be introduced.

Any comments or questions about these flight reviews are still greatly appreciated.

Cédric De Keyser (Belgium)
cdk@ngi.be