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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2989.PDF
among the highest in the scheduled flying business, rose even higher. Things improved on Pacific routes too. With its 747-200s SIA used to operate Singapore-Hong Kong (or Taipei) - Honolulu-San Francisco. Since the -300s arrived, the aircraft have overflown Honolulu eastbound. The -400 allows SIA to overfly the islands in both directions. Load factors rose only marginally, Tan says, "... but the high- yield traffic increased dramatically". As SIA takes delivery of more of its -400s (the total firm order is for 14, with six on option), it will introduce them pogressively to other major European centres: Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, and Paris. The airline has seven -200s still in opera tion. It plans to phase out five during the next three or four years, and to convert two to freighters. Three of SIA's -300s will be Combis, and it will have another Combi "with a -200 body and -300 engines", says Tan. GUARANTEED FUTURE There is a guaranteed future in SIA's fleet for a high proportion of 747s. Strategically, Tan acknowledges, South-East Asia may need nothing but mass transport, but, Tan asks rhetorically, should SIA order more -400s or another type (bearing in mind that the six options remain)? The smaller long-range aircraft may yet have a role to play, but it would be in opening up routes which do not yet exist, such as Singapore to Spain or Eastern Europe. Procurement decisions will be made within a year, says Tan. Market growth is running at 7 to 10 per cent a year. The 747-400's introduction was not as smooth as the company had hoped. "The aircraft was delayed three months, which upset our advertising and promotion," says Tan. SIA also honoured agreements to sell old 747s, despite the fact that their disposal assumed replacement by the -400s, which meant an aircraft shortage and the need for tight scheduling. ' There were "technical snags", Tan says, but as the aircraft were scheduled on regional routes for three months while they were bedded-in, the snags did not lead to opera tional problems because the -400s were replaceable by short-range types. "Now the worst is over," Tan smiles. Deputy technical projects manager Chris Tay explains the "technical snags", and why they arose. "With all our other new types we were not the pioneer. With the 747-400 we were. We expected snags, but we didn't know what they'd be." Currently the aircraft has a 93 per cent technical dispatch rate. The main problems were "nuisance messages" on software in the -400's elec tronic flightdeck. Tan says that they were caused by transient current changes in the electrical supply, and produced warnings which the crew had to assume were real. When spares were needed, Boeing deli vered commendably fast, but on a few occa sions speed did not help, Tay points out. Developments designed to overcome prob lems discovered during test flying and early service have been so extensive, and pro ceeded so quickly, that spares holdings—and even emergency spares deliveries—became obsolete. SIA's inaugural 747-400 flight to Sydney went unserviceable there, and the spares delivered for rectification were dis covered to be of no use. With a superb computerised spares retrieval system which is the envy of other airlines, SIA operates Boeing's regional spares distribution centre from its hangar/warehouse at Changi Airport. This is in addition to hold ing 200,000 items for its own fleet. SIA had a fair amount of previous experi ence with some of the 747-400's equipment. The Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines are basically the same as those on SIA's Airbus A310-300s, and the Rockwell-Collins engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS) is fundamentally the same as that on the airline's 757s. However, neither the A310's Smith's Industrie FMS flight management system nor the 757's Sperry equipment had the capacity for the worldwide database that SIA's -400s needed, so the system installed in the big jet is a high-capacity Honeywell computer. In fact, SIA discovered during the 747-400's development that the database it needed did itiot exist, and persuaded Honeywell to put together the necessary global software pack age and make it commercially available to any airline. SIA wanted to avoid having to buy its own tailored network database. SIA had a considerable influence on the 747-400's design. As one of the early 747-300 operators, and a launch customer for the -400, SIA helped Boeing draw up its specification. According to Tay, the original Boeing proposition did not include rear stabiliser fuel tanks or the winglets. Without SIA pressure—quoting desirable features in the A310's flightdeck—Tay maintains the -400 would have had just a "modified 757 cockpit" and the 747-400's state-of-the-art flightdeck "is a result of SIA fussiness." Capt Freddie Koh, SIA's chief pilot for the 747-400, has had to familiarise his crews with the concept of operating this type of aircraft with a two-man crew. It is easier for pilots coming to the 747-400 from the two-man electronic cockpits of the A310 or the 757 than directly from earlier 747s. The 757 pilots have the easiest task "... because the checklist worked to Boeing logic," Koh points out. Most Airbus checklists are on screens; all Boeing checklists are on cards. For 747 pilots, becoming accustomed to having no engineer requires a significant SIA, a launch customer, influenced the -400's systems development mental adjustment. The EICAS monitors the engines and systems as the engineer used to do, but, Koh points out, there is a need to make a mental note of system faults which the automatic systems have dealt with—a task which a pilot might previously have left to his engineer. Good pilots will still check the state of fuel and hydraulics systems, rather than wait for automatic advice or warnings, says Koh. The 747 pilots missed their engineers most when it come to ground-handling, particu larly on a diversion. SIA had to send all pilots destined for the 747-400 on a ground handling course, so that they could advise handlers on basic functions such as refuelling. There is no shortage of volunteers for -400 crewing, but there is a pattern. Young pilots with families tend to be put off by the amount of time away from base which is inevitable in an aircraft with such formidable range. Older pilots who want to stay abreast of the computer age are keen. SMOOTH ENTRY Service entry has gone smoothly for the crews, says Koh, "... because we have intro duced the aircraft in small numbers and used experienced pilots. There were technical problems, but crew are always cautious with a new aircraft. "If everything goes right," he adds, "I think it's a dream. It handles beautifully in ground- effect. The workload in any normal situation is lower. Yes, Boeing have delivered." The aircraft was heavier than planned, according to Koh, and SIA is still monitoring fuel-burn performance against guarantees. Managing crews for extremely long-range operations is a new art. Legally, the captain who signs for the aircraft is in charge of it for the entire sector. SIA manages this situation on long sectors by having the same captain and copilot in the pilots' seats for landing as for take-off, with a second crew taking the controls for a few hours in the middle of the flight. The non-operating crew can rest on double-deck bunks in a small cubicle entered via a door at the back of the flightdeck on the port side. A "stick time" concept guides inflight crew deployment. For example, if the flight departs at an unsocial hour of the night, no crew shall be rostered for more than 7 • 5h at the controls. Crew hours and rostering practice were industrially agreed, and the Singapore Civil FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 September 1989 43
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