Eighteen hours without a break is pushing the limits of boredom no matter what class you fly in.

I agree,

I have just got back from a San Fancisco trip this morning and it was a 14 hour flight. Any more is a real killer even with first class food, a bed and movies to watch, it’s still to long.

hope it all goes well mate….enjoy it.

Yes in Torrance. Wish we were still in Santa Monica! Would be great to meet for a beer…it’ll give me a chance to raise your blinkers too!

How about honkers!!! Are you coming here soon???

QUOTE=wysiwyg]Would it not be an idea to try them both so you can see the difference rather than base on conversation over the garden fence? So many Boeing-only pilots, so many misconceptions.[/QUOTE]

Firstly, the 777 is the best fleet for golfing layovers 😀 . Secondly, all my mates that have flown both types, all, yep all, have said that the 777 is the one to go for.

Max FL on the A340 is FL411. We manage efficiency levels a B744 can only dream about without having to radiate ourselves above the tropopause!!! The A340-600 can be a bit of a guzzler (in fact it will almost burn fuel like a 744!) at much lower levels but it’s not usually a problem as we generally get our level immediately while the Boeings are burning down their weight in the high 200’s!.

Out of Hong Kong and alot of ports you won’t always get your FL due to separation, therefore you won’t be at your optimum therefore you might become a little fuel critical, this happens all the time with our A340s. Being a few thousand feet of optimum in the 744 is a tiny fuel penalty. We only have to burn down our weight as we are so bloody heavy, I wait to see if a max weight A380 climbs right up to 330+ :confused:

Quote – “Having a bit more speed always has an advantage”…and that would be that you have to work on average 2 more trips a year to fulfill contractual flying hours! No thanks..

The speed is in reserve, so no need for those extra 2 trips. In fact my A340 buddies do more trips a year than us 744 boys. They do the aussie and New Zealand flights so they are not crossing enough time zones therefore they need less days of after a trip.

Out of interest, if I had to fly an A330 my conversion course would be 3 hours. How long would your B777 conversion be? 😉 :p 😉

About 3 weeks compared to 6 weeks if I did an Airbus course. 😀 😀 😀

You need a bit of time to recover as you have to have your brain removed before the Airbus course.
Only kidding, this joke was told to me by a mate who had to go to the bus from the 400. 😀 😀 😀

Out of interest, are you still staying in Torrance in LAX, we are over in Beverly Hills. Might be there at the same time, so might have a chance for some more banter and a beer. 😀

Well done mate, I always thought that these AIRLINE courses were a load of Bo22ocks and nothing more than a sales pitch to get more money out of already hard up students.

Good luck with the rest of your training and if you need any help or advice just drop a line.

It’s funny how 2 airlines can utilise their aircraft in such opposite ways! You’re right in saying that a sidestick is not the definitive of being up to date but if you try them both you’ll see what I mean.

Looks like I will get the choice of the 777 or the A330 next year. After flying and talking with alot of guys with both types under their belts, I know which one I am going to choose 😀 😀 😉

Not necessarily so. Up until the 777 Boeing were very guilty of utilising very low technology wing profiles (and compensating by utilising less efficient overpowered engines) whereas Airbus utilised modern efficient profiles. From what I have been told it is the wing (rather than lack of power) that prevents the B744 reaching the initial climb altitudes that the A340 reaches when both are at max weight.

Correspondingly the B744 typically asks for a climb to a more efficient level after several hours of cruise flight only to find it has been occupied all along by an A340 enjoying the efficiency of that level.

Just out of interest, what is the max cruise level of the A340? 😉

But isn’t the A340 more critical regarding flight levels. If you get stuck out of your optimum level you get very fuel critical where as the 744 can stay at any level around the optimum and still get to the destination without too much of a fuel penalty.

Recently we were departed 5 mins after a virgin A340 and due to the 10 mins separation required we couldn’t get our level so we opened her up to .87 and just over an hour later we were 10mins in front and shot up to our level and any level we wanted after that. Having a bit more speed always has an advantage. 😀 😉

Of course more people want to visit Rome in the summer as in the winter :p

We change aircraft for performance reasons not because of an increase in pax Nos. 😉