TAKE OFF FROM SYDNEY

Taking off from Sydney, with a lot of cargo beside normal full load of passengers , mainly chilled meat and fruits from Australia. Maximum weight for take off for the Airbus A340 is 380,000 kg, 380 tons for short. This is how the take off speed calculated, using the LPCNG or the Less Paper Cockpit Next generation. The application is installed in each one of the pilots' laptop.

Start with the ops status, with the aircraft type, registration, the flight number and the route pairing. SYD to AUH in this case.

Next, the environmental data is input, such as the runway in use, 16R for take off in Sydney at that time, the wind, temperature,runway condition and the take off weight.

And, the computer computed the take off data such as the speeds, take off run, flap configuration, ASDA and etc..

The pilot will 'rotate' i e start to pitch the nose up for lift off at 170 knot, or 315 km/h.. and the take off run is 3.8 km . Runway length is 3.96 km only... very small room for error.

V1 : the speed beyond which if one engine failed, the take off should be continued because the runway length available is not sufficient to bring the plane to a complete stop.

VR : rotation speed, as explained above.

V2 : safety speed. The speed at which the plane will be fully controllable even if one engine fail and can climb safely.

LAKERS F1L BICYCLE CLUB

I started to ride a bicycle when I was 5 years old and now I restarted to ride again at 50, why? Because my leg can't stand any more stresses especially the knee if I jog . I really need the regular exercise to keep myself fit.. So the best bet, bought myself a mountain bike ,Mongoose Salvo, RM 2500 with dual shock and joined the rider club of my residential area.

We had a ride at almost every weekend ( Sunday for the sake of my friends in Malaysia) and on my off days . I don't mind the travelling back home since I love this kind of activity, heart pumping during the hill climb and adrenalin pumping on the way down hill, with the fresh air in the morning in that we breath in... can't have these in the desert of Abu Dhabi..

Somewhere in between Semenyih and Broga, Selangor and N Sembilan border.

Nice weather, purposely went off track , trying to concur any hill that come in sight..

Fellow riders, young and old... ride together

Rubber and oil palm plantations .

These guys are really strong.

So now my request to the scheduler for my monthly flying roster to plan my off days on Saturday and Sunday, so that I can join the regular weekend ride, otherwise I have to do solo ride along the usual track.

MILANO TO VENICIA

On my recent flight to MILAN Malpensa Airport, I took a train ride from Milan to Venice, taking the opportunity before the snow fall that make travelling difficult. Was so tempted because the hotel that they put us is just about 3 minutes walk ( crew standard fast pace walk) from the Milan Grand station, like our Central Station in KL.

The train station, look like a heritage building on the outside but has a modern set up inside.

The train , average speed of 70/80 km/h, took about 2 hours 30 min journey to Venice.

The ticket. All written in Italiano... have to figure it out. At least the departure time clearly stated.

The Gondola station. As I step out of the train station in Venice, few men greeted offering the gondola service. I preferred to walk , taking my own sweet time.

The set up looks romantic. No wonder this place is a popular destination for the honeymooner.

In Venice, there is a big festival, couldn't recall the name, celebrated once a year just before Esther, and during that festival, everybody will wear masks... like these one sold on the street.

The street, in summer it is busier I guess.


















The big river, to cross from one side to the other is not a problem. Bridges all over...

Self portrait, travelling alone mah....

Just to say chiau... chiau... chiau.. to Venice

3 words that I learned in the train..

pronto.... hello

see see see.... yes yes yes

chiau.... bye bye

Bounjorna...

MAU KENA GARI KER?

Semasa di udara, tiada polis, tiada penguatkuasa. Captain ada kuasa mutlak untuk menggari sesiapa sahaja yang dipercayai boleh menyebabkan keselamatan penumpang penumpang lain dan pesawat .

NAGOYA

CHUBU CENTRAIR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

The last time I landed at this airport was in Aug 2007, a month before I left MAS . This is the second airport in Japan built on the manmade island. Officially opened in Feb 2005. Before that the Nagoya airport was situated quite near the city.

The airport, as we approached from the South for a landing.

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Landing time, done by my copilot, so that I can have time to snap this picture.

This is the Planetarium, among the attraction in Nagoya.

Bonsai...??

Walking along the covered shopping area, near the Ohtsu Canon.

Ohtsu Canon, the famous temple in Nagoya.

The city at night, shot taken before I close my eyes for the night.