Long Haul boredom

[shnee]

G'day all,
Just a question. On long haul flights what to you do to kill the boredom?
eg: read a book, play cards.
thanks,

Shnee.

[Rainboe]

I don't think you will get far asking professional pilots a question like that without providing more information about yourself and why you are asking! Why do you want to know? How boring do you think flying longhaul aeroplanes is? Do you really think pilots play cards, flying 350 people in a 747 at 39,000' and nearly 600mph? Don't you think anything has to be done? I find your query rather insulting and demeaning. I don't like 'trap' questions thankyou! Cards? 'Read a book'? Get out of here!

*I've looked at your history. Quite honestly I'm surprised you ask a question like this in print. You appear to be in the bizjet/GA area interested in applying for longhaul flying. I take it is the the lure of the lucre and the party life only that attracts you to longhaul flying. With an attitude like that, I suggest maybe it's not the place for you.

[low n' slow]

Come on Rainbow. It's a common idea amongst us who fly shorthaul/regional routes that longhaul can be quite boring enroute. We've never done it ourselves and I know there's a fascination with many to try it out. But those long hours on cruise seem scary to us who are used to making 2 landings per flown hour... Although not the most clever question (I understand how it must have come across seen from your side), but I think many of us are interested in knowing how you pass the time?
/LnS

[DooblerChina]

Rainboe, you really do take life too seriously.

There is lots to do on a longhaul flight but if I said I hadn't got the paper out at some time Id be a lying man.

[punkalouver]

Isn't that the time to catch up on all your reading.

[BelArgUSA]

Hola Shnee -
xxx
Let's see how we do again... Oh yes...!
I order a few after-takeoff cocktails (my round for the F/O and the F/E)... then after the third one (when we level-off at FL310) we invite a cute flight attendant to be the 4th player in a round of bridge... If too boring, she asks us to play strip-poker... then when she is down to her bikini, the F/O (who is generally a trained amateur gynecologist) will give her a 1st class physical...
xxx
Then when the SELCAL goes ringing... we let the answering machine say >
"This is flight nº 1234, unfortunately, we are not in the flight deck at the present time, so please leave us your call-sign, your frequency, and the time you called, and we will return your call as soon as possible"...
xxx
I wish it was like that...
xxx
OK, seriously now...
For me, it is listening to the BBC world service news on HF radios, get my 12th cup of double espresso, prepare the next position report to Recife, get the latest soccer game score and destination MET report from BAires operations to tell the passengers, and having a big discussion about company policies, or who is divorcing to get married to whom. or ask the engineer how to fix my old Peugeot 205 hand brakes...
xxx
Shnee, in a month's time, you get more landings, than I have got in the past 5 years... You are lucky not to be bored...
xxx
:)
Happy contrails

[galaxy flyer]

I always like the DL response to ATC's 3rd call...

"Sorry, I was on landline."

Non-yanks, that is the most common response from ATC for not answering.

[NuName]

EFB has solitaire:sad:

[Denti]

Damn, they deleted in on ours. I get bored to hell on any flight over 2 hours duration... But then, im used to 45 minute sectors normally :)

[Bob Lenahan]

On 2 hour legs we'd play chess. Late at night one of us would sleep.

[Semaphore Sam]

On a 3-man crew at night, on legs longer than 6 hours, if one of the three wasn't napping, it was a safety-of-flight violation! Three guys having napped during cruise (one-at-a-time, with the other two watching each other), were much more safe during a difficult approach than FAA-compliant sleep-deprived Zombies.

[BelArgUSA]

Was my first few months as 707 captain...
Assignment - flying Viet-Nam "Boat People" from Asia to Travis AFB (USA)...
Long flight and duty time, we had FAR 121 waiver for time limits...
xxx
In these days, (1978) "napping" was not yet blessed by the FAA...
xxx
One evening, we left Guam (Andersen AFB) to go to Hickam-Honolulu, refuel there, then continue to Travis AFB, California. Not too far from Wake Island, I needed to close my eyes for a while, I asked the F/O and F/E to stay awake and wake me up 30 minutes later...
xxx
I fell asleep...
xxx
Suddenly the SELCAL chimes started... lights flashing... Woke me up... to my horror and dismay, looking at the compass cards (HSI-RMI), we were heading some 180º due South... Clocks indicated possibly 3 or 4 hours since takeoff, and looking at the F/E's fuel gages, we were with 5,000 lbs fuel in each 4 main tanks, total showed about 20,000 lbs... Worst, the F/O was asleep, and the F/E's head was down on his desk table, eyes closed... took me about 2 minutes to get back to reality...
xxx
I answered the SELCAL on HF... was Honolulu for position report... These two b**tards exploded laughing... While I was asleep, they had moved the compasses to DG and rotated the cards 90º to the right, they had moved the clocks ahead 3 or 4 hours, and the F/E had tested the fuel gages, then pulled the CBs to obtain a very low fuel reading...
xxx
I almost had a nightmare that night... I had imagined preparing for flame-out and ditching in the middle of the Pacific, with 187 passengers, swimming my way to a raft from the wing of the aircraft...
xxx
That is what you should do to your new captains...
PanAm Leasing was a jolly operation... I know my buddy 411A will love this one...
xxx
:)
Happy contrails

[Rainboe]

There's a BOAC story (or 'legend'), never absolutely positively verified (I do like that sort of thing), but I shall repeat anyway as it's a good one- long haul boring flight in a narrowbody long ago- Captain calls for teas, then all 3 flight crew slip down hatch into electronics bay and close up behind them. Earnest young lady trips onto flight deck with tray of teas........

Another one had the pilots suddenly stripped down to underpants when she comes up with drinks. Not a pretty sight. I believe a dismissal resulted from that as it got back to 'the management'.

Nowadays, the most I dare to do is have the cabin crew up to show them the Aurora Borealis in full flow, or like last night, show them the Perseids meteor shower! I do have to confess though an evil pleasure in getting the girls to look at something in the middle of the night out of a dark flight deck- just as St. Elmo's fire is zapping the front window. They scamper off at a high rate of knots! I think Ma Rainboe must have dropped me on my head when I was young.

[Sunray Minor]

Thai Airways female cabin crew....always worked for my boredom.

[ETOPS]

Shnee

I think the word should be tedious. When you are responsible for all those lives and working in an industry where, when things go wrong, you can go from "safe" to "staring death in the face" in a few seconds it's never boring :ok:

Even yesterday on an 11 hour sector I was only in the cruise for 6 hours. That is 2 hours to cover take off/climb/descent/landing and 3 hours in flight rest (slept like a log ;) ) For the rest of that time I was busy doing what I do best - commanding the worlds largest passenger jet with nearly 350 people on board. Just navigating/communicating took the bulk of that - I did all the IFB calls whilst P2 did ATC and then fielding all the cabin calls (every 30 mins) plus the extra ones, pax not well, crew not well, where are we? etc etc and those 6 hours felt like 2 :eek:

But I did manage half the Telegraph crossword.........

[Mercenary Pilot]

I order a few after-takeoff cocktails (my round for the F/O and the F/E)

A skipper buying the first round? :p ;)

[kiwi_hockey_guy]

Or we could do as the french do......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxrj11zdBFM

NSFW

[javelin]

Warships works well on the 320 and 321.

3 lives, choose from a - z, 1 - 25, just like the board game.

Once you have a coordinate, see which c.b. it was and whether it would have shut down a vital system :ok:

On the 330 it is iPod and movie on the laptop.

[ST-EX]

I found some interesting sleepy pilots videos on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAoqqL0qPcA&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LbF7CTL0ak&mode=related&search=
Ok, they're probably not exactly long-haul, but I still scary stuff!

[galaxy flyer]

BelArgUSA

I always heard of an identical story done to a Captain on the AR routes, San Juan to NYC. Good one!

GF

[antic81]

I wonder if those french chaps still have their jobs?

[oceanhawk]

Started longhaul operations this year with a UK charter airline on the 767.
Surprising how little time there is on a 9 hour sector to look out of the window and watch the world pass underneath.Perhaps a few mins to sit back between reporting points over the Atlantic when using UHF, but otherwise plenty to do especially obtaining your oceanic clearance beforehand. The list could go on, but the hotel at the other end would be at the top.

[shnee]

G'day all,
Sorry if my wording didn't tickle people the right way. I was just a bit curious to see what is involved in a long haul opp. As assumed a long sector for me is 60 min with about 6 sectors a day. Anyway thanks a lot for the input.

Shnee. :D

[David Horn]

On the 330 it is iPod and movie on the laptop.Ah, so that's why the Airbus has the nifty folding table... ;)

[JaJaBinx]

Hey shnee,
as you see no-one has really answered your question, its because longhaul flying is boring as #hit and no-one who does it wants to acknowledge the fact in public.
LH is all about who you are flying with, if its a guy you know and get on with its OK, you chat,laugh,joke, read newspapers and do sidouko,s. If he is someone who you don't know with nothing in common its plain boring..no amount of ego will cover that!!
Seriously, on a 12 hour flight there are 11 fuel checks, 50 radio calls saying pretty much the same thing (over the pacific even the datalink sends postion reports automatically!!), 3 times you get area weathers from the ACARS, 1234 times you move the heading knob, 3 times you climb, and .......... er thats it.
Remember you only do half of the above cos you spend 4 hours in the bunk TRYING to sleep, at 3pm bodyclock time- great job satisfaction!!
Then you try to land the thing (and you fail badly cos you.ve only landed once in 6 weeks and you are a tad rusty),also cos you can't keep your eyes open- you are too tired.
This may seem to be a bit of a rant but LH is all about lifestyle. You put up with this moral-sapping tedious boring unsatisfying job for money and days off at home (which is a double-edged sword itself)
Personally I want out and get back to short haul where I do what I want to do with my life, fly planes and enjoy it.
JJB

[oceanhawk]

At TOM we fly a mixture of longhaul and shothaul. Indeed we fly more shorthaul and can choose the number of longhaul trips we want to do or not. Consequently almost everyone looks forward to their trips.Its the best mixture of flying i think.

[mini]

"reporting points over the Atlantic when using UHF,"

Typo surely... :ok:

[Chris777]

Rainboe, I wonder if you noticed that is the kind of question I normally ask!?
Not giving any information, etc, etc.
I agree, though, bit of a silly question.
But come on! What DO you guys talk about at 40,000ft for 5+hours.
Do you ever just sit there in silence?
Chris

[Rainboe]

Company gossip, company plans, why don't they tell us anything, scheduling problems, why are rosters such short lived fiction, why is the office printer always jammed? Home discussion points -last night the copilot was talking about how the local pub now has smokers driven to smoke outside who make a variety of loud noises when he's trying to sleep. We talked about cars, kept the new young lady on her third trip and first in a 737 up on the flight deck as long as possible and showed her the sights and told her what a terrific bunch we were as opposed to those common and rough pilots on the 757 fleet. News, politics, how awful the traffic is- why are the idiots out in force at half speed on Sundays, the shocking state of education, look- I went on holiday there this year, did you know Maldives Air taxi piulots fly in bare feet and shorts? How lousy politicians are and why do we bother voting for any of them, what are house prices going to do- have you thought about renting? Another bloody politician caught with his pants down in a public loo they all seem to be into something kinky. Aren't the stars nice, that's Jupiter over there- look, you can see all of Scorpio down here, why isn't the weather radar picking up those storms, German weather crap tonight what's Amsterdam like, can you see the Alps, can we get company on the VHF yet, how's the fuel checks, you WILL do a continuous descent approach at this time of night, won't you? How much fuel shall we take for the return, why the hell is Dalaman called Mugla Airport- no wonder we couldn't find any bloody charts for it. What exactly is 'Chicken Supreme' because it was bloody revolting, why haven't we got a curry? I was annoyed because my bottle of Tabasco had run out (it gives aeroplane food flavour). I was greatly annoyed with Monarch because he slipped in front of us on the approach and slowed up 15 miles out meaning we had to put the brakes on and extend flaps at night far too early. How far you got to go to get home? Christ, I won't get home till 4 am- I'm working tomorrow/got 3 days off- where shall I go on leave?

Sometimes, silence is nice. No atmosphere, just peace and quiet at 40,000' (apart from 2 jet engines 20 feet away and 500mph wind roaring past)

Just another bloody day in the office, like anywhere else!

[perkin]

Sounds familiar Rainboe, but if you'd like to do a swap of offices, I'd happily oblige :)