AC -

Old fella · Post by **Old fella** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:12 pm

I think it would be quite cool to fly an Air Canada A340 on the Pacific run to places like Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc. with 4 engines to boot. Push a few buttons, point her in the right direction and blast away. I believe that would be quite neat.

In my dreams........................

Four1oh · Post by **Four1oh** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:43 pm

are you up to the challenge of staying awake?

Old fella · Post by **Old fella** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:48 am

Four1oh wrote:are you up to the challenge of staying awake?

.

At my age when the years are too short and days run to fast, ya try to stay awake as much as possible……
In all seriousness however, you are probably have a point on this type of long haul flying (14hrs+). It is to my understanding there is a relief pilot who rotates between left and right seat so either Capt. or FO can grab a few winks (only type of flying you are legally allowed to sleep while on duty).

If I wore a younger man’s clothes, this would certainly be my type of airline flying and I think I would enjoy it.

From your response, do I interpret this is your line of work with AC (B767/A340/A330)

Lever · Post by **Lever** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:45 am

Old fella wrote:(only type of flying you are legally allowed to sleep while on duty).

Actually you can sleep as a crew member up front on the narrow body fleet as well.... While only using the correct technique of course.

Many 703/704 operators now even have a 'rest under supervision' program that is in place.

Sleeping for dollars does sound pretty lucrative.

Old fella · Post by **Old fella** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:26 am

Thanks for pointing this out as I wasn't aware

babybus · Post by **babybus** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:58 am

Actually most flights out of YYZ to Asia have 4 pilots.
1 Capt,1 FO,1 Augment FO,1 RP.
On a 14 hour flight you can spend about 6 hours resting.
It's actualy less tiring than doing a 10 hour domestic multi-leg pairing.

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:07 am

I call it DOZING FOR DOLLARS 2 eats 2 sleeps ---LAND

co-joe · Post by **co-joe** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:51 pm

Better hurry, I think AC is getting rid of their 340's. Plenty of other metal to sleep long haul in though

tonysoprano · Post by **tonysoprano** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 5:03 pm

The bunks on the 777 are quite comfy. And if you can't sleep, you can look out the window. The 340 is now outdated. Imagine that.

qwert · Post by **qwert** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:27 pm

long haul flying takes years off your life... fucking sucks assssssssssss...

Rockie · Post by **Rockie** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:27 pm

qwert wrote:long haul flying takes years off your life... fucking sucks assssssssssss...

I wouldn't have phrased it quite like that, but no argument from me.

General Ripper · Post by **General Ripper** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:52 pm

qwert,
I'm relatively new to flying. Please enlighten me why long haul "fucking sucks assssssssssss..."?

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:02 am

Crossing multiple time zones. Flying through circadian low periods.

Basically doing the things that the human body was not designed to do and is detrimental to it's normal function. It takes a toll after a while.

Valcore · Post by **Valcore** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:31 am

Yes I will gladly take my itty bitty lil 737 any day.

Prospect · Post by **Prospect** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:02 pm

Ultra Long Haul flying is not that bad. Consider this.

On a typical Toronto - Honk Kong flight there are four pilots rotating every 4 hrs or so in teams. So in a typical 15 hour flight you are only in the cockpit around 7-8 hrs and the rest you're either sleeping or watching TV. I understand that the time change is hard on the body but don't forget that you probably will do maybe two flights like this a month for a total of 6-8 days plus maybe one more to Europe. Your body has a lot of time to recover between flights on days off. This isn't like working the night shift at TTC.

Rockie · Post by **Rockie** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:21 pm

In North America airlines typically pay by equipment type and the bigger the equipment the more money you make. That means the senior old farts fly the biggest airplanes, and the bigger the airplane the farther it goes.

In Europe they generally pay by status and years of service. So the senior old farts tend to fly the 737's between London and Rome starting at 08:00 local done by 17:00 because it's a lot easier on the old bod. Much better system.

pilotbzh · Post by **pilotbzh** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:29 pm

edited

tonysoprano · Post by **tonysoprano** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:01 pm

Old Fella.
Well, there ya have it.
Such highly experienced overseas pilots hanging around here. A wealth of information, indeed. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences with us guys. Now you know.

Jaques Strappe · Post by **Jaques Strappe** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:20 am

Valcore wrote:Yes I will gladly take my itty bitty lil 737 any day.

Have to agree with you. After 5 years of long haul, I aged 10. Sedentary for waay to long and captive to too many sodium enriched airplane meals. Not to mention ultra boring.

I much prefer two to three landings per day rather than per month but that is just me. Different strokes.

tonysoprano · Post by **tonysoprano** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:30 am

Jaques Strappe wrote:
Valcore wrote:Yes I will gladly take my itty bitty lil 737 any day.

Have to agree with you. After 5 years of long haul, I aged 10. Sedentary for waay to long and captive to too many sodium enriched airplane meals. Not to mention ultra boring.

I much prefer two to three landings per day rather than per month but that is just me. Different strokes.

Different strokes for sure. After 10 years of domestic, I found I aged more than I should have. 30 minute turns, multiple landings, de-icing, airport layovers, never enough time to grab a decent meal and when you were given one, it was that same sodium rich garbage anyway. At least now I have some choices. Domestic was "fun" as a younger man. I like the pace and the place I get to see now a days. It's not for everyone.

Jaques Strappe · Post by **Jaques Strappe** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:43 pm

Tony

You must have been bidding the "nasty" stuff.

One nice thing about AC is that you have a great variety of flying to choose from.

Old fella · Post by **Old fella** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:52 pm

I still think it would be neat to fly a four engine wide body jet transport to the far corners of the world like the Air Canada pilots do. Understand though, the days of the A340 are ending with AC………….
I didn’t even get to fly on one as a passenger.

Rockie · Post by **Rockie** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:00 pm

Old fella wrote:I still think it would be neat to fly a four engine wide body jet transport to the far corners of the world like the Air Canada pilots do. Understand though, the days of the A340 are ending with AC………….
I didn’t even get to fly on one as a passenger.

You can fly from YVR to HKG on one until next fall or so if you still want to. And the 330's will be around for quite awhile yet if you can forget about the other two engines.

SQ · Post by SQ » Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:03 pm

Jaques Strappe wrote:One nice thing about AC is that you have a great variety of flying to choose from.

that's true, but depending on your seniority #
junior F/O don't get the best.
why wouldn't AC create a merit #

... that would change a lot of the system for sure...

whiteguy · Post by **whiteguy** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:17 pm

Rockie wrote:
Old fella wrote:I still think it would be neat to fly a four engine wide body jet transport to the far corners of the world like the Air Canada pilots do. Understand though, the days of the A340 are ending with AC………….
I didn’t even get to fly on one as a passenger.

You can fly from YVR to HKG on one until next fall or so if you still want to. And the 330's will be around for quite awhile yet if you can forget about the other two engines.

Nope! All the A340 are supposed to be gone by June.