This edition of our newsletter is dedicated to Simon UKD239 (you will see why!) and being read by old and new members alike. UKDirect is pleased to  welcome back more ”old hand” who have stumbled across us through the  ether, hope you find it is as good as you remember!⁽¹⁾ The  wallpaper might have changed but the chairs in the crewroom still need  upholstering and the pay is as sh***e as ever!  It did get me  thinking  though (no, not a pay rise) that UKD is in its fifteenth year!!! In  that time we have seen five versions of MS Flight sim come  and linger  on, not including the abandoned Flight  program (‘don't give them what  they want - this is what we're making’�). Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were in office, and US Airways launched MetroJet (which folded in 2001).  Other notable anniversaries  include Manchester airport (75), Kai Tak Airport closed and Chek Lap Kok International Airport opened (15), and the BAC 1-11 (50).

Following on from a forum thread Simon UKD239 kindly (ie it only took a bit of pressuring from me!) wrote a long article about his experiences of Flight Simulation from a  newbie’s perspective. This went on to cover several topics and grew  too  long to publish here so I have dedicated a webpage on this site for it. A selected snippet is presented below.

Simon also suggested a website for tracking the Boeing Dreamliner although at times there hasn't been much happening!  The Real News   section below covers the latest problems to beset Boeing but I'm sure   they will sort it out and the Dreamliner will go on to be a great and   successful aircraft. A video about the new plane is waiting for you here too.

Finally a quick mention for a new annual Flight Simulator show to be held at RAF Cosford on 19th October, website here. Of course that flippin’ Simon (again) beat me to it on the forums!  :)


Newshound aka Mark UKD171
Growing old is mandatory.
Growing up is optional.

 -- Chili Davis, California Angels ballplayer

^{(1) Of course if you left because you didn't think it was that good then I hope you think this has improved! :D}

UK Direct B737-900  G-UKEV €”Jasper” en-route from Stansted to Groningen, fly-past and screenshot by Simon Pal UKD239

Do you have a screen shot you are proud of? Please send it in and share it with us.
To enter in the next e-magazine send your entries to Newshound: mark[at]planecrazy.me.uk

My college time is taking it’s toll on the repainting and as a result there is only one new introduction to the UKDirect fleet this time but I think the quality goes some way to compensating for the lack of quantity. As always go to the Fleet page to download them and if you experience any problems or have any questions please let me know.
 

G-UKFT  UK World Cargo Airbus A330-200F

Probably being loaded ready for Simon to fly it! :p

16 APR 2013   Boeing 767-283ER  Aeroméxico  XA-TOJ   C/n: 24727/301  First flight: 1990-04-05 (23 years)

A Boeing 767-283ER passenger plane, XA-TOJ, sustained substantial damage in a tailstrike accident during takeoff from Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), Spain.
At 14:58 Aeroméxico flight AM-002 took off from Madrid on a scheduled flight to Mexico City, Mexico. The tail impacted runway 36L, causing substantial damage to the underside of the tail. While climbing to FL140 the cabin failed to pressurize as expected. Then the oxygen masks deployed in the cabin.
At 15:20 the flight crew informed the controller at Madrid that they were returning due to pressurization problems.
The airplane entered a holding pattern and landed safely on runway 18R at 16:25.

Air Europa flight AEA71 to Caracas, Venezuela took off at 15:29 and suffered a punctured nose gear tyre, probably after running over debris left on the runway after the Aéromexico tailstrike. AEA71 was the seventh flight to take off from runway 36L following the Aeroméxico plane.
The Air Europa Airbus A330-200, EC-JPF, entered a holding pattern off the southern coast of Portugal at FL100 and landed safely back at Madrid at 19:39

17 APR 2013  Boeing 737-8GK (WL)  Buraq Air  5A-DMG  C/n: 34948/2074  First flight: 2006-09-28 (6 years 7 months)

A Boeing 737 passenger plane, operated by Buraq Air, sustained minor damage after being hit by gun fire near Tripoli International Airport (TIP), Libya.
Flight UZ035 was approaching runway 09 at Tripoli Airport following a domestic flight from Benghazi at the time of the occurrence. A bullet penetrated the flight deck and hit a water tank in the forward lavatory. The airplane was 9 miles out. Approach charts indicate that the airplane would have been descending from 2000 feet (610 m) to an altitude of 1350 feet (410 m) at the time it was hit. The plane landed safely a few minutes later.
According to a police report the bullet came from a Kalashnikov semi-automatic rifle. It was initially thought that the shot was fired by a reveller at a wedding in Qasr Ben Ghashir, but this is highly unlikely as the airplane approached from the west, whereas Qasr Ben Ghashir lies to the northeast of the airport.

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08 MAY 2013   British Aerospace BAe-146-200QT   Nusantara Air Charter  PK-JKC   C/n: E2113  1988-10-07 (24 years 7 months)


A British Aerospace BAe-146 jet of Nusantara Air Charter was damaged beyond repair in a ground fire at Wamena Airport (WMX), Indonesia. One person was injured. The airplane had arrived at Wamena after a flight from Jayapura (DJJ), Indonesia. Oil barrels were offloaded using a fork lift when a fire erupted. The fire quickly engulfing the airplane in flames.

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24 MAY 2013   Boeing 777-340ER   Pakistan International Airlines  AP-BID   C/n: 33780/705  First flight: 2008-03-18 (5 years 2 months)

A Boeing 777-340ER passenger plane, operated by Pakistan International Airlines, diverted to London-Stansted Airport (STN), U.K. following an in-flight security incident.  Flight PK-209 from Lahore (LHE), Pakistan to Manchester (MAN) , U.K. was descending through an altitude of about FL235 when the crew a 7700 squawk code, signalling an emergency situation.  The flight descended to FL160 and meanwhile RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled to escort the plane to London-Stansted where it landed safely on runway 23 at 13:10 UTC.  Initial information suggests that two male passengers had repeatedly tried to get into the cockpit and started making threats. Both men were arrested after landing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22658979

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24 MAY 2013   Airbus A319-131   British Airways  G-EUOE   C/n: 1574  First flight: 2001

An Airbus A319-131, G-EUOE, was damaged in an accident at London-Heathrow Airport (LHR), U.K. None of the 75 passengers and five crew members were injured.  British Airways flight BA762 departed runway 27L on a scheduled service to Oslo, Norway. At that moment, the fan cowl doors from both engines detached, puncturing a fuel pipe on the right engine and damaging the airframe.  The symptoms seen by the flight crew included: engine thrust control degradation, the loss of the yellow hydraulic system, and a significant fuel leak. After the loss of the yellow hydraulic system the crew declared a PAN, with the intention of returning to Heathrow once they had fully assessed the situation. ATC provided radar vectors for the ILS to runway 27R.
During the approach to land, an external fire developed on the right engine. An engine fire warning on the flight deck prompted the crew to declare a MAYDAY.  Although both engine fire extinguisher bottles were discharged and the right engine was shut down, the fire was not completely extinguished. The left engine continued to perform normally throughout the flight.  The aircraft landed safely and was brought to a stop on runway 27R at Heathrow. The airport fire service attended and quickly extinguished a small fire on the right engine. The passengers and crew evacuated via the escape slides on the left side of the aircraft, without injury.

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06 JUL 2013   Boeing 777-28EER   Asiana Airlines  HL7742   C/n: 29171/553  First flight: 2006-02-25 (7 years 4 months)

A Boeing 777-200 passenger jet, operated by Asiana Airlines, was destroyed in a landing accident at San Francisco International Airport, CA (SFO). There were 291 passengers and 16 crew members on board. Three passengers died and 48 were seriously injured.
Flight OZ-214 originated in Seoul-Incheon International Airport (ICN), South Korea were it departed at 16:35 local Korean time. Destination of the flight was San Francisco, CA.  The weather at San Francisco was fine with 6-7 knot winds and a visibility of 10+ miles. The pilot undergoing initial operating experience was in the left hand seat as Pilot Flying. An instructor pilot was sitting in the right hand seat. The relief first officer was in the jump seat at the time of the approach.
The pilot flying had logged about 9700 flying hours. Flight 214 was his tenth flight leg on a Boeing 777 while undergoing initial operating experience.
The flight was cleared for an approach to runway 28L, the ILS glidepath of which had been declared unserviceable in the current Notam.
The airplane was configured for landing with 30 degrees of flaps and gear down. Target threshold speed was 137 knots. According to preliminary information from the cockpit voice recorder, the crew did not state any anomalies or concerns during the approach. The throttles were at idle and autothrottle armed.  At 1600 feet the autopilot was disengaged. The aircaft descended through an altitude of 1400 ft at 170 kts and slowed down to 149 kts at 1000 feet.  At 500 feet altitude, 34 seconds prior to impact, the speed dropped to 134 kts, which was just below the target threshold speed. The airspeed then dropped significantly, reaching 118 knots at 200 feet altitude. The instructor pilot reported that he noticed four red PAPI lights and concluded that the autothrottle had not maintained speed.
Eight seconds prior to impact, the throttles were moved forward. Airspeed according to the FDR, was 112 knots at an altitude of 125 feet. Seven seconds prior to impact, one of the crew members made a call to increase speed.  The stick shaker sounded 4 seconds prior to impact. One second later the speed was 103 knots, the lowest recorded by the FDR. One of the crew members made a call for a go around at 1.5 seconds before impact. The throttles were advanced and the engines appeared to respond normally.  The main landing gear and rear fuselage then struck a sea wall, just short of runway 28L. Airspeed was 106 knots. The empennage separated at the rear bulkhead.
The airplane then ballooned, yawed left and spun 360 degrees before it came to rest to the left of runway 28L, 735 m (2400 ft) from the seawall.
A post impact fire occurred when a fuel tank ruptured inboard of the nr. 2 engine, spilling fuel on the hot engine, causing it to ignite.
The ILS glidepath for runway 28L and 28R at SFO had been declared unserviceable from June 1 until August 22

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Nightmare Continues

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner still keeps on  making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, so much so I haven't  changed the headline from the last edition (3 months ago).  In this  period the Dreamliner has been grounded for several months with Boeing  temporarily canceling all deliveries. If the battery problem has been  identified Boeing are keeping it to themselves with no answers being  released to the public or even Newshound!  A work-around the problem  which apparently satisfied the FAA has been to encase the batteries  inside a stainless steel jacket which presumably would contain any  future leakage or fire. With the new casing installed Dreamliners took  to the air again but have since been involved in further incidents  including another fire albeit this time not thought to be directly  linked to the batteries. The fire occurred on an Ethiopian Airways 787  on the ground at Heathrow and is thought to have been started by the  Honeywell International built Emergency Locater Transmitter (ELT) in the ceiling at the rear of the fuselage. The plane was empty at the time  but if a similar fire occurred on an airborne jet the consequences could be dire as there is no fire-detection in this area. Investigators think the problem may not be just isolated to the 787 as the same ELT is used on many other aircraft types.

A Dreamliner aborted a flight to  Florida and returned to Manchester with ’technical problems’ which  Thomson Airways described as "precautionary". Later a Tokyo-bound  Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines turned back after taking off from  Boston's Logan International Airport, in what the airline called a  "standard precautionary measure" after indicators warned of a mechanical problem.   It is not clear if the incidents were related to the  transmitter problem.

Boeing reiterated its commitment to the  expensive aircraft, saying: "We are confident the 787 is safe and we  stand behind its overall integrity."  Boeing's share price rose slightly after the news regarding the ELT.

Source: BBC

Time to get that grey matter working!. Email answers to mark “at” planecrazy.me.uk or use the message facility on FS Airlines.  Answers will be posted in the next Directions but if you email me your guesses I will reply straight away (in confidence - so no need to worry about embarrassment.

1>  Which callsign belongs to British Airways?
 
a)  Big Ben
b)  Speedbird
c)  British Airways
d)  Union Jack


2>  In what year did the first commercial jet aircraft make its maiden flight?

a)  1948
b)  1950
c)  1952
d)  1954


3>  If you are flying and see another aircraft with its red light to  your right and its green light to your left, in which direction is the  other aircraft flying?

a)   From right to left in front of you
b)   Directly away from you
c)   Directly toward you
d)   From left to right in front of you


 

Answers to last Directions quiz:

1. What does APU stand for?
   An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device ‘on a vehicle’ that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. Aircraft APU’s generally produce 115V at 400 Hz to run the electrical systems of the aircraft; others can produce 28V DC.  Once the APU is running, it provides power (electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic, depending on the design) to start the aircraft's main engines. APUs are also used to run accessories while the engines are shut down.
2. What does ETOPS mean?
   Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. This rule allows twin-engined airliners (such as the Airbus A300, A310, A320, A330 and A350, the Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777, 787, the Embraer E-Jets, the Bombardier Q400 and the ATR 72) to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to twin-engined aircraft. There are different levels of ETOPS certification, each allowing aircraft to fly on routes that are a certain amount of flying time away from the nearest suitable airport. For example, if an aircraft is certified for 180 minutes, it is permitted to fly any route, as long as it is always within 180 minutes flying time to the nearest suitable airport. ETOPS operation has no direct correlation to water or distance over water. It refers to single-engine flight times between diversion airfields, regardless as to whether such fields are separated by water or land.
3. What is FOD?
   FOD stands for Foreign Object Debris. (Formally called Foreign Object Damage) Airport’s employ road sweepers to remove FOD from runways, taxiways and gate areas. FOD is anything (loose screws, nails, pieces of paper, branches,etc) in the area that can be injested or blown around by an airplane's engine which would potentially cause damage.

The Muppet Rough Guide To FSAirlines
===========================

Simon UKD239 described the difficulties he had as a  newcomer (when he still thought ‘flaps’ were what let the cat in!) to  flight sim in a large article for Directions. It is too large to include in full here so what follows is an abridged article.
The brave among you may want to read the full manuscript by clicking here.

In December 2012 I became an official pilot for UK Direct. So in the great scheme of things in flight simulation I am still a considerable newbie  to all this virtual airline flying.  In this article I hope to explain  how to get about the skies in a manner that will make a profit for the  bosses and of course keep them happy. Oh, and you can make yourself a  few virtual dollars as well to spend at  the local virtual mall.

There are two huge factors that really have a substantial impact upon the reputation and finances of UK Direct.
    

• A crash landing.
• Running out of fuel mid flight resulting in a crash or having to land at a diverted airport.

Both of these issues can be  easily avoided by taking  positive action which I will explain how later. The reason behind the  importance of maintaining a healthy reputation  for UKD is beneficial to everyone. Mainly when you book a flight you will get a high amount of  passengers and cargo which in turn will  make your flight profitable to  you and boosting your bank balance so  that you can spend it carelessly  later.
My settings on FSX are simple but crucial, firstly DON’T have  the crash detector on. This is not a  cop out or unrealistic in these  circumstances as we have all experienced the beauty of FSX making us  either dock into another jet, or having  ground traffic trying to board  as a passenger. At the end of the day  this is a simulation and should  be fun. WE all know that the FSX program is possessed by forces unknown  and is prone to do some really frustrating actions.

Having booked  the flight and gathered all the information I need, I boot up FSX. I  always use the  flight planner section and file a flight plan within FSX. I favour the  high/low altitude airways + IFR. Set the cruise altitude  to fit the  trip and to burn fuel as efficiently as possible.
In FSX  use the ALT + Enter key to drop in and out of FSX as using alt+tab  causes issues.  Start up the FSA tracker software and simply enter the  magical fuel  amount. Then return back to FSX and your all set.

In these last few months I have trained myself to follow certain procedures without fail. These are as follows;

  Taxi speed max 25 kts
  Engage landing lights once at holding point for runway before getting clearance
  Engage full autopilot at 2,000ft to ensure no over speed (Auto throttle set at 220 kts)
  Disengage landing lights at 3,000ft
  Engage landing lights at 3,000ft when coming into land

I know that  this is probably not totally accurate in the real world but  it works for me and remember I'm sat in my office at home looking at a  screen having FUN!

So onto how to avoid those nasty crashes, oh damn run out of fuel over France, watch out incoming!
Firstly using my fuel up method I have not run out of fuel yet. But before that I did on occasion and my advice to solve it all is to use the flight   sim pilots best friend ever: PRESS P for pause!
Once paused   you can sit back and evaluate what to do. If a crash is inevitable then  simply ALT+Enter out of FSX. Go to the FSA tracker and simply press  exit. Its as easy as that. It stops all the negative penalties to you   and the company which damages the reputation. As explained before it   does have a knock on effect to us all.

I have been moments away   from landing after a few hours and have had to do this, frustrating I  know but really worth it for the good of everybody. I just kicked the wall and swore, can't kick the dog as he's a Rottweiler and I always lose the scrap to Mr grumpy chops!

As UKD is run so well,   professionally and user friendly as much as possible, there are some  facts worth bearing in mind. All jets have a status figure in   percentage. UKD policy is to service aircraft when they drop below  about 96-97%  Which does cost virtual money.  Hence why there is a  financial  figure displayed on the main FSA page. From that they can buy new jets  and keep the ones they have running up-to standard. Just like in the  real world it's not cheap. Repairs cost money, typically for a  normal  service of a B747 its about v$ 6m for an A-Check, but if left  too long  the amount can be tripled.  We as pilots can help reduce the  loss of the percentage rate of a jet just like in the real world by good landings.  The higher the touch down V/S figure seen on your end report file the  more stress to the hull of the jet which reduces the status  figure. (I think bad landings damage  the undercarriage; hull damage is caused by  high speed. Everything is  susceptible to wear and tear  - Mark171.)

So to  finalise this article its all about having fun while asking  questions  on the forum as they are all a great bunch of guys who have  put up with my constant stream of posts; but importantly make a little  plan for  yourself to ensure hardly any penalties and the knowledge that  when the wing does come off you can avert the damage to the company  reputation.(Wing coming off? Please report to the office asap...)


Original text by Simon Pal 239
 

The Difference Between Airplanes and Women:

An airplane will kill you quick . . .a woman takes her time.
Airplanes like to do it inverted.
Airplanes can be turned on by a flick of a switch.
An airplane does not get mad if you 'touch and go.'
An airplane does not object to a preflight inspection.
Airplanes come with manuals.
Airplanes have strict weight and balance limits.
You can fly an airplane any time of the month.
Airplanes don't have parents.
Airplanes don't whine unless something is really wrong.
Airplanes don't care about how many other airplanes you have flown.
When flying, you and your airplane both arrive at the same time.
Airplanes don't mind if you look at other airplanes, or if you buy airplane magazines.
If your airplane is too loose, you can tighten it.
It's always OK to use tie downs on your airplane.
 

Q.    What is the difference between ignorance and apathy?

A.    I don't know and I don't care