G-DMCA: I once, unwisely, asked the person after who it was named if he was planning to fly it - even if it was just a quick 'pole' - seeing that he'd flown every type that the company had operated, up until then. He fixed me with that 'Ming The Merciless' look and growled something along the lines of not wanting to go within ten miles of the ******* thing, let alone fly it. (Oops, not a fan of the McDonnell Douglas product then!)

The story goes that when the 757s were brand new, a stewardess entered the flight deck on turnround at PMI, and informed the captain that a gentleman was on the the ramp outside, asking to look at the aircraft. The captain turned round from communing with the new-fangled FMC thingy and instructed her that, unless he was from the CAA, to tell him to sling his hook, because they were too busy. She was back a few minutes later with some cock and bull story about the man saying he'd really like to take a look because he owned the aeroplane. "He says his name his Moto-Guzzi or something." WaaaH!! :eek: Panic stations!! Plogs fly up in the air, leaping out of seat, hasty straightening of tie, and down the steps, two at a time.

"Mr Mantegazza! A pleasure to meet you, Sir! Come aboard!" Grovel, grovel, forelock tug ...

Anyway, it's a great story, and hence G-SMAN.

I read an Airliner World magazine which said all A300's are being scrapped :(

Capt McAngus flew me to the Hannover airshow in a Monarch 1-11 (G-AWWZ) in 1976. Wonder if it's the very same Monarch MD to be ?

The story is mostly true GALHI and you have caught the moment . It was AGP in '86. Sergio joined us in the flight deck and was charming despite being rebuffed 3 times! He wished to show his friend the aeroplane.

Mr A.The esteemed gentleman did become MD.

Ah, AGP was it? I knew it was somewhere in Spain. Probably on a run ashore from his yacht in Puerto Banus. :)

He was very charming, some years later, when he joined us in the 757 sim at Luton, to observe us doing a base check. We wore our uniforms, which wasn't normal in those days. A Swiss TV company was doing a profile on him.

Spacegrand, I'm not sure if Mr A was referring to Mc senior, was it a cryptic referral to Mc junior after his recent appoinment? ;);)

I was told that G-MONR had reached the maximum number of 'cycles' permitted by Airbus.

Buster the Bear
 

Sorry old bear, no truth in that one, not even close, in fact you could operate it for at least 15 more years and still have cycles to spare. :ok:

Is there actually a set allowance of cycles an airframe can go? As long as the airframe is maintained, its irrelevant, surely?

Obviously contractural reasons would be taken into account.

Has a third aircraft left the fleet? ZBB went LGW-BRU today, totally unexpected.

The fuselage will have a set number of cyclic loadings from pressurisation that it will be able to take along with the wings due to cyclic flight loadings. Maintenance only goes so far too stop this damage until you eventually need a new fuselage... time to scrap it. It'll be scrapped way before any significant damage due to safety margins... Although the Aloha Airlines in 1988 incident where the roof peeled off mid flight... the aircraft had done far too many cycles due to it operating short hopper flights between Hawaiian islands and accelerated in high temperatures and salty air...

But normally you will be surprised how many it cycles are allowed, it'll be in the region of 100,000+ cycles...

MKY 661, you should know by now that the unexpected will always happen at Monarch, you should, quite frankly, expect it!

The answer is NO, a third a/c has not left the fleet.
Planned visit to enable the engines from G-OZBB to be swapped with those on G-MPCD.
All Airbus aircraft have a Flying hours & Cycle limit, which can be increased, it has been already twice on the A300-600 by Airbus.
There has been an increase with the A320FAM as well.
Boeing are also coming up with figures for all the Boeing/MD fleets to meet FAA requirements.

Equipment ZB684
 

Flying to sharm on 17/11/12 can anyone suggest what Monarch use and can i expect any IFT.:O

In flight towels? I'm afraid Monarch discontinued them a while ago ;)

Most SSH routes are A300 IIRC from Manc.

Apart from those on the 330,75 or indeed the 321. But it could be the 300.
Don't expect IFE.

Depending on where your flying from expect a 321 or 300 on the 17/11/12 Bring your own IFE!

can anyone tell me if MON 9108 ex LGW tonight to see the Northern lights was a one off trip or is it being repeated
Thanks!