Virgin A330
 

Feedback would be appreciated, it seems to me that being a 330 pilot for virgin seems to be a pretty dull affair. Perth returns all day everyday wold not be my reason for becoming a pilot. 737 or e190 appears to give a lot more variety so are people only doing it for the money. At least in Q you also have international routes to choose from.

Surely you jest?
I thought the reason to becoming a pilot was you loved flying and aviation.
bad form in current enviroment when pilots losing their jobs.
if you dont want perth returns on an A330 I know plenty who will take your place.

Correct...

Is that how you talk in interviews? It doesn't seem like you're very motivated, at least not for the right reasons. If this is how you honestly feel, it's probably best to move to another career, there are thousands of people who can't wait to get into the position that you call a "dull affair".

So fly Flightsim somewhere else then.
There's more to being a Pilot than the destination mate:D

Now that you've heard from the relatively insecure Virgin A330 pilots, the answer to your question is yes. Pretty much like all airline flying in australia.

I'm not working for VA........

or anywhere for that matter:ok:

Ouch........

Know something I don't? :ok:

Are Virgin recruiting to the A330 then?

Doubt it.....

Nitpicker...oops...was replying to the earlier comment but would just mention that I stay away from the 3rd floor these days so would be the last to know.

For all those who went off the 74 to the bus to keep a base...we bow low:ok:

Cheers

Good plan:ok:

Different life stages Turning Finals. Young and single and wanting to see Australia? 737 is the go. Been there done that with a new family? You might find the dream just becomes a job.

330 people I know find it a lot less fatiguing. Bigger cockpit, quieter and less stressful than Ballina on a weekend using see and avoid. You don't have to worry anyway unless you a 3 years old when you join you won't see a widebody slot at Virgin. Widebody work is the realm of large overseas airlines with different cost bases. All the best.

i'm sure most ag pilots look at airline type flying and wonder wtf

Think you need to take a long term view.

If you asked a VB pilot say 4 years ago they would say that flying the 737 was getting a bit old and boring, but no one contemplated a wide body operation, other than those that realised that the organisation had, at some point, make the next obvious step and move into domestic wide body ops.

Same applies to the current 330 operation, I don't believe that the 330 will do Perth only forever. Personally I think it could go either way, the economics could mean that it is removed and the airline shrinks back to an all narrow body domestic fleet, after all there is a big jump in costs with a wide body, or it could gradually expand to other ports - both domestic and regional international (Singapore, China, Japan or anywhere within about 8-10 hrs of oz.

About the only thing I reckon I can count on is that things will not stay the same forever...

So that all said, the 330 operation is a good one to work on, the machine is nice, plenty of room, quiet flight deck and apart from the occasional red eye the flying is quite good.

Certainly beats working for a living!

Sooner or later they're going to have to put something bigger than a 737 in the golden triangle. There're only so many landing slots in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne but an ever increasing number of passengers.

:=:=

One fine hot Summer’s afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The Instructor was getting quite bothered with the student’s inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000ft above him and thought "Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh.. to be a real pilot.. going somewhere!"

The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the Company’s premier clients. He’d already set MCT and the cylinders didn’t like it in the heat of this Summer’s day. He was at 6,000ft and the winds were now a 20kt headwind. Today was the 6th day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000ft out of them the wind might die off... geez those cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail at 33,000ft in the serene blue sky. "Oh man" he thought, "My interview is next month. I hope I just don’t blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.. aahhh."

The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The Company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn pay cut. The F/O’s will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn’t anything to speak of anyway. Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O’s shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said "Now THAT’S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"

FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he’d like to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain" he called as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle. "The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a quid."

Discovery was into its 27th orbit and perigee was 200ft out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200ft predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn’t much help. The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir, isn’t this the kinda flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The Commander peered through the telescope and cried "Ooooohhhhh yeah! Now THAT’S flying! Man, that’s what its all about! Geez I’d give my left nut just to be doing THAT down there!" What the Discovery Commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon.:D:D

Brian,

That is without a doubt the post of the year! :D:D

And subsequently should be placed in a prominent area of every flight school out there.

Fuel-Off :ok:

Very, very good post. Just add a para on some low-flying pointy things and you'd have covered all the bases..

:ok: