Flying over remote areas

One of the air transportation's problems concerns the flights above remote areas, like deserts or oceans. These areas can be extremely vast and it is impossible to land there in case of a flight interruption because no appropriate airport can be found.

In the beginning, routes were made so that aircrafts wouldn't fly more than 60 minutes (considering the one engine out cruise speed) away from a suitable airport. This was a safe solution but implied pretty inefficient routes, which were very far from direct.

A first solution was integrated in aircrafts themselves, and some were equipped with three or four jet engines. For these airplanes, the loss of one engine became a less important problem and more direct routes could be used. But the 60 minutes rule still applied to 2-engines aircrafts, still unable to take economical routes.

Today, technological improvements allowed the aviation industry to reach excellent reliability and performance: engines break down with very small probability and 2-engine planes can fly almost normally with one engine out. Thanks to that, interesting routes can be used, thus allowing huge benefits in flight time, burnt fuel and of course CO2 rejected in the atmosphere.
This special use of twin-engine aircrafts is ruled by the ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) standards. An ETOPS approbation works for one air carrier for a given aircraft type equipped with a give type of engine. This way, the conception of aircraft and engines, their maintenance and the tracking realised by the airline are certified to fly further than the 60 minutes limitation.

For instance, Air France's Boeing 777 and their General Electrics GE90 engines use the ETOPS 180 approbation, allowing them to fly up to 180 minutes away (at the one engine out speed) from an airport where a suitable landing can be performed.
This standard allows the airline to use direct routes between France and Asia, flying over Siberia as it was the case when I took this picture.



For a private pilot flying a one engine aircraft, the ETOPS concept doesn't exist: in case of an engine failure we just have to choose a field.

Paris - Hong-Kong, 10h50.


->More details in the Wikipedia article concerning ETOPS standards

Factor 10

Three years ago precisely, I was passenger of a Boeing 777 between Paris CDG and New-York JFK airport. Around 20 minutes after take-off we reached the European continent's border, ready to cross the Northern Atlantic area to join the United States. 30'000 feet and some cumulus clouds below us we could see a special mount that receives around three million visitors each year. It is the beautiful Mont-Saint-Michel, and I used my camera to get this shot.

This summer, two Cessna 172 hours after leaving Paris to reach Morlaix instead of the United States, the Mont-Saint-Michel was once again on my way. Here is a shot of this superb area, taken 3'000 feet above ground, which means ten times lower than previously.

A few days later I went there to visit the mount, by foot this time.

It's hard to admit, but some places are even more beautiful when seen from the ground.

-> More details about the Mont-Saint-Michel on Wikipedia

One Zero Zero

That's it! Two years and nine months after my first flying lesson I crossed the line, the one that makes the total flight time a three digits counter.

For this special step I realized a navigation through the Sologne (a French region) followed by some sightseeing above some world famous castles of the Loire Valley such as Chenonceau, Amboise and Chambord. Combined with a drink stop at Amboise airfield, all this made an excellent travelling afternoon I won't forget!

It's said that the first 100 hours of flight time are the toughest to get. I will check that...

Toussus - Amboise - Epernon - Toussus, 3h18.

Window seat, please

The best seats onboard an aeroplane are the window side seats! This picture is an indisputable proof.

Like many dreamers, I let my eyes fixed on the outside world when I get the chance to obtain a "window seat". And the best gift is to spot another aircraft, somewhere else in the sky.

However, it might not seem that exciting. The crossing is so fast that this small traffic, some thousands of feet below, remains to our eyes a point with a large white trail behind. But this approximately 30 tons point is equipped with a pair of wings and flies! This changes everything...

Well done, yet another condensation trail that will hide some sunlight and participate to the United Kingdom cooling down. All our excuses! 

-> My other window seats shots

The jet engine's complexity

Why is it so complicated to become an air transport pilot?

A glance to the right side gives us some clues.

That complex thing is an aircraft's jet engine. Unfortunately, before being able to use one, we must have fully understood its principles of working. This implies looking in details at some technical points. And between the pneumatic, electrical, fuel or hydraulic circuits the ATPL (Air Transport Pilot License, the public transportation pilot's traffic code) is a really well stocked course. Especially for the "Aircraft General Knowledge" part.

A jet engine simply accelerates some air in order to produce a force that will push our aircraft really fast, allowing it to do its aircraft job: flying. However, it inflicts a cycle of operations to the ingested air that are not easy to understand, at all. On the menu we find some compression, combustion, adiabatic expansion and some theorems named after great scientists to explain all of this.

That is why the piston engine, propeller-driven aircraft suits me totally. It is easy to use and the working principle is just a bit more complex than for a moped.

But let's face it; I won't cross the Atlantic with a moped. This justifies the ATPL!

More details:

Wikipedia - Jet engine

The small plane's oil hatch

The small hatch hidden on the top of the engine hood gives access to this pretty yellow cap used to probe the engine oil's quantity.

In a car, the oil level remains a boring needle living on the dashboard.

When preparing for a flight, we like to be convinced that our engine is in its best mood. It would allow, amongst other, to reduce the probability of an unwanted country landing. Thus it is mandatory to check that enough oil is put at the engine's moving pieces disposal so that it can be correctly lubricated and cooled down. Where fuel would be to the engine what food is to our body, oil would be its water, allowing it to work normally. And we'd rather be correctly hydrated.

Then, when the remaining quantity becomes too close to the preflight checklist's limit, it's better spending 5 minutes and getting dirty than hurting the engine's feelings!

Cap locked, hatch locked. Preflight checklist can go on.

Flight to Dieppe

What would this yellow line be?

It's the result of a sudden need to see the ocean. That is why I went on a plane navigation to Dieppe (in the North-West West of France) to admire Etretat cliffs from above, this impressive limit where land simply stops.

With a very modest airplane, the ocean is one hour away from Paris. However this GPS trace of my Toussus-le-Noble <-> Dieppe trip shows my tendency not to fly straight. I did what I could, the wind was blowing pretty strongly from the Southwest today, but it wasn't rough so I won't blame it.

One day, I'll fly a modern plane telling me where the wind precisely comes from and with which intensity. This day, the yellow line will be straight.

Toussus-le-Noble - Dieppe - Toussus-le-Noble, 2h28.