Compaero,
Enicalyth has comprehensively addressed what we haven’t done, and I thank him for that.
What I might do is to spell out what we have done. I have benefited from the winds for LBV-IAH plus a deal of peripheral knowledge, and for
Tech Log and the readers of PPRUNE, we have left an educational and knowledge legacy of:
- The winds LBV-IAH.
- Since these can be extrapolated a bit (within limits), a look at winds for any crossing from West/Central Africa to the lower USA, and of course from the lower USA to West/Central Africa.
- A discussion on how a route can be built up from suitable city pairs.
- A look at the long range fuel consumption of the big jets in kg/hour – in this case the 777.
- Quantitative illustration of the variability of winds through the year.
- Shown that the fuel load of a 777 on this route can vary by up to 13 tonnes depending on season.
- For the general reader, a peek into the world of route and flight planning.
- For the ATPL holder or student, and after their simple calculation of great circle distance LBV-IAH with the application of CAP697 on flight planning, enough to let them experiment with NAM and NGM on the route.
- A subtle warning to the professionals that the BADA 777 fuel consumption tables need a bit of care.
- Shown the CAA reserve fuel policy requirements, and the particular requirements for an isolated airport, which may just help someone avoid running out of fuel one day (such as MMA MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight MH 372 Broome-Derby, Western Australia, Australia - July 30, 1971, VH-FKC: During the short late night hop both originating and destination airports became socked in with fog. The F-28 became dangerously low on fuel and after circling for some time the captain was preparing to ditch in the ocean. However local knowledge plus an alert Flight Service Officer got kerosene flares laid on the dirt strip at Fitzroy Crossing, and they landed, running out of fuel as the jet touched down. No lives lost or injuries occurred. In times after, I recall discussions with Ansett (who took over MMA) who operationally treated these ports at night as isolated airports).
- And some French puns.
Which is doing pretty much what
Tech Log does – helping and teaching people. And that is why we spend many hours making our contributions. The forum is open for all to contribute. I would suspect that you have interesting knowledge, possibly from work on Piano, and your own technical contributions and additions to knowledge would be most welcome here.
Cheers
OverRun