Cartridge Starters

Slightly off topic, but the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU); a Rover gas turbine in the right wing; of the Vulcan Mk2 had a cartridge start facility. The normal start method was electrical directly off the aircraft batteries, but for those occaisons in the air when you really needed it in a hurry the cartridge start was provided. The APU ran at a speed of about 23000 (yes – twentythree thousand) rpm. Using the cartridge; the very same as used on the Canberra and Hunter for the Avon engine; it reached operating speed inside 2 seconds. This facility could lead to a bit of excitement on QRA if there was no external power on the aircraft. When the the AEO switched on the baterries he had to then pause for 5 seconds (about that, it was a long time ago) before starting the APU as a cartridge start was automatically selected for that time before the electric start circuit became active. If he was a bit too quick the cartridge fired, which certainly got everybody’s attention!

The other aspect of this is that it does show what a tough little machine the Rover APU was.

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In A word “No”. The main effect of the Hemel incident will be to lower the buffer stock of refined oil products. This will continue until the storage capacity lost can be replaced. Delivery to most major aviation users is by pipeline, this is a flexible sysytem which can quickly respond to outages. Road deliveries to airports remain important and costs will rise in this area because of longer distances from bulk storage to user. The main problem is that the country as a whole is now more vulnerable to disruption in primary supply.

Contrary to what I wrote earlier fuel “rationing” has now been introduced at LHR. this is contrary to the information that was available for the first 48 hours after the incident. The implementation of rationing is to limit users by category; LHR based, non-based, long haul, short haul; to a percentage of their previous week’s uplift. The scheme should make little operational difference to short haul operators who can plan to arrive with excess fuel, either sufficient for the return sector or to minimise uplift. However it may cause problems for some very long sector operators. It does howver mean an increase in operator’s costs due to the fuel burn penalty for carrying additional fuel on tankering sectors and having to tanker in from airports where fuel is more expensive.

One has to speculate that some other element of the distribution system is not functioning as well as expected.

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Will the refinery explosion at Hemel Hemsted disrupt fuel to the Airports?

In A word “No”. The main effect of the Hemel incident will be to lower the buffer stock of refined oil products. This will continue until the storage capacity lost can be replaced. Delivery to most major aviation users is by pipeline, this is a flexible sysytem which can quickly respond to outages. Road deliveries to airports remain important and costs will rise in this area because of longer distances from bulk storage to user. The main problem is that the country as a whole is now more vulnerable to disruption in primary supply.

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A quick look at my last winter brief reveals the following:

There are two aspects of our operation that will need to be corrected for if temperatures fall below 0degC:

MDA/DA and approch height crossing altitudes
Acceleration altitudes

Note:

You will have to correct all MDAs for CAT1 and non precision approaches. DH for CAT2/3 do not need correcting.

But that doesn’t really help with your question, particularly as FLs are referred to, not altitudes, implying an en-route scenario. The only alt/temp correction reference I can find which might be applicable is to the Minimum Off Route Altitude (MORA), i.e. the figure shown in each grid square of the Radio Nav chart. There are tables for both wind and temps corrections:

When operating within 20 nm of terrain whose maximum elevation exceeds 2000 feet
a.m.s.l., commanders are to increase the standard MORA by the amounts given in
the following table, according to the wind speed over the route:

WindSpeed In Knots 0-30 31-50 51-70 More Than 70
Terrain Elevation
2000 – 8000 feet + 500 ft + 1000 ft + 1500 ft + 2000 ft
More than 8000ft + 1000 ft + 1500 ft + 2000 ft + 2500 ft

Temperature Correction
When the surface ambient temperature en route is well below the ISA value, MORAs
must additionally be corrected as follows:

Surface Temperature Correction to MORA
ISA -16oC to ISA -30oC MORA plus 10%
ISA -31oC to ISA -50oC MORA plus 20%
ISA -51oC or below MORA plus 25%

Hope that this helps and doesn’t just serve to confuse.

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I don’t know if they class an admonishment as a conviction

In order to receive an admonishment (Scotland) or a Police Caution (England) as an alternative to a court appearance you must first admit the offence with which you were charged. The purpose of the system is to allow the police to use their discretion in dealing with offenders who may for example have acted out of character and might not be expected to re-offend, or a first offence of a minor nature and it is deemed that a warning might be sufficient to return them to the straight and narrow. However, central to the process is the “admission of guilt”, if that is not made then an admonishment cannot be given and a court appearance is the next step. As far as the status of “admonishment” as a conviction is concerned, should you have committed a further offence and made a court appearance at which you were found to be guilty, then on sentencing the court would see that your record showed an admonishment. This would be viewed in exactly the same way as a previous conviction when deciding the sentence.

So to summarise, by accepting the error of their ways an offender whose “crime” might be first or minor avoids a court appearance and accepts an admonishment which is equivalent to a conviction but without incurring punishment. Without going into detail, that’s the way it is and you must accept it.

Now, what to do about it? I notice that you intend to contact the DfT – good, because they are the body who interpret the rules. Write/email/fax but do not rely on a telephone conversation. Give them all the facts and ask them the simple question:

“Will my admonishment for assault dated …..1999 disqualify me from the issue of an airside pass?”

Supplementary question:

“If the answer to the previous question is “YES”, at what date will the offence revealed become spent and no longer be a disqualifying factor?”

When you apply for a job with an airline the application form will ask about convictions, you must declare them all (Don’t even think about holding something back as non-disclosure can subsequently become grounds for summary dismissal). You may then include the information you have received from the DfT to show that they are considered “spent” and will not be a bar to obtaining a pass.

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One of the Fokkers is at EMA right now,

Where either of the last two Fokkers to be operated by bmi is currently parked is irrelevant. The Fokker 100 no longer operates revenue flights on the bmi network. The aircraft at EMA is awaiting painting prior to delivery to its new owners in Indonesia.

so there!

as you so politely put it.

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not that I am questioning you, but what is the source of your info?

A319 FCOM 3.1.20/6 Seq 080
A320 FCOM 3.1.20/6 Seq 040
A321 FCOM 3.1.20/6 Seq 085

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