The reason for the slightly southerly crossing over the Pacific Ocean is that the retired aircraft, JA701J, was originally used as an international aircraft for short- to medium-haul flights, and therefore software that corrects for the north pole and the earth’s axis was not applied. Midway and Honolulu were selected as divert destinations for this flight because Anchorage Airport, etc., which is close to the poles, cannot be selected as an emergency landing destination in case of emergency.
The company’s Japan-Los Angeles route usually flies in a “U” shape over the North Pacific Ocean. However, on this charter flight (JL8132), the aircraft crossed more southerly than usual, flying over the North American continent from around Cape Mendocino on the West Coast, passing over Napa Valley and San Francisco, which have ties to the planners, and low-passing Victorville Airport, the final destination of the decommissioned aircraft, before The plane then headed for Los Angeles.
While there are several highlights of this tour, including “boarding an international ferry flight of decommissioned aircraft,” “live commentary on the flight by a current flight crew member,” “an original low-pass (low-flying) route through Victorville,” and “visiting Victorville and Mojave, which are destinations of decommissioned aircraft,” this paper will I would like to review the flight between Haneda and Los Angeles, which was an unprecedented route.
On May 16, JAL and JALPAC organized a tour to take passengers on a ferry (transport) flight of a retired Boeing 777-200ER (registration code: JA701J). The destination was Los Angeles. This was the first time in JAL’s history, and the first time in Japan, that passengers could board an international ferry flight of a decommissioned aircraft to be sold.
Some of the details of the route were shown on the bulkhead (partition wall) of the aircraft by pasting paper charts that were once used on the Pacific route, and in the galley, Aida and Yamashita’s personal items reminiscent of their training days were displayed. These unique efforts and in-flight decorations were a unique feature of the charter aircraft.
Onboard, Yugo Aida and Jumpei Yamashita, co-pilots of the 777 Flight Crew, gave an on-the-spot commentary of the flight as appropriate, and Rina Adachi and Teruhiro Ohno, Flight Operations Managers, gave a talk show on the theme of “what it means to be a flight operations manager,” which is something they almost never come into contact with passengers. They explained the details of their daily work and the special flight route.
Takeoff was a rocket start with full throttle off the runway. It climbed at a steep angle, swung its wings left and right (rock wing), and bid farewell to the land of Japan. The pilot, who was on board, thought that it must have looked quite spectacular from the ground, because the plane started to make a very sharp turn and then immediately reversed back. I was a little surprised when the captain later said, “Even that was modest, but we could have swung more.
Flight JL8132 was special from its departure. Boarding was by bus to the aircraft at the offshore stop (spot 213). Tour participants spent their last time in Japan, taking commemorative photos and writing messages on the engine cowl.
Reached over the West Coast the next morning. To Los Angeles
After the meal service, the lights went out. After a good night’s sleep, we were approaching over the west coast of California, and it was already noon there (although the date had crossed the change line and it was the 16th again).
At around 1:00 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. Japan time on the 17th), a scenic flight over California began. This is when the full-scale flight report began. The tour’s main event was a commentary on the scenery seen from the left and right windows, including not only topographical information but also memories of his training days and his relationship with the 777, while communicating in near real time with air traffic control in each area. It should be noted that although Mr. Aida and Mr. Yamashita are co-pilots of the 777, they were in the cockpit as non-flight crew members and made in-flight announcements.
After entering land from Cape Mendocino, California, the aircraft lowered its altitude to 20,000 feet (6 km) in Napa Valley and set course southeast toward Los Angeles. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was just visible from the right window, and from the left window, Lyre Island (waypoint: Fishtail), which had been a landmark when flying VFR (visual flight system) during the Napa training period, was visible. It was a beautiful day with few clouds, and the city of San Francisco could be seen very clearly.
By the way, this in-flight announcement was often interrupted in the middle of speaking, but in fact this was due to instructions from ATC, and after resuming the announcement, the pilot was told to “maintain altitude at ~~” and “next contact on ~~ frequency”. I was surprised to learn that they were communicating with each other more frequently than I had imagined.
About 15 minutes after passing over Auckland, General Manager Captain Takahiko Kiga in the cockpit announced, “We will begin a low-pass flight to the low pass of Victorville in 20 minutes. According to Mr. Kiga, this was “probably the first low pass of Victorville for a flight carrying customers,” which shows how special this flight was.
Seven to eight minutes after the captain’s announcement, he informed us that he had requested another low approach to Victorville from ATC. At this time, the local temperature was 32°C and dew point temperature -2°C. The live report indicated that Victorville was once used as George Air Force Base and had the second longest runway (4,500 m) in the world at that time. Victorville is now known as the “Southern California Logistics Airport,” where retired aircraft from airlines around the world gather and are temporarily stored until they are sold to the next destination.
With about 10 minutes to go to Victorville, the plane began another descent to an altitude of 15,000 feet, and a short distance ahead, Bakersfield, where ANA used to train its pilots, came into view.
About 100 km from there, following an announcement that they were in communication with ATC about the number of low-pass requests, they said, “You can see the windmills and Mojave Airport on your left. Looking out the window, we could see hundreds of these toothpick-like stick-like entities lined up in rows. They would probably be quite large if we saw them there, but we would not have noticed them unless we were told about them.
The belt sign comes on as we descend to around 10,000 feet. The descent proceeds to 8,000 feet by the time the aircraft passes Palmdale, a town between Mojave and Victorville. The aircraft then begins radar guidance by air traffic controllers for the final low-pass approach. An announcement is made that the local wind is blowing 17 knots (about 31 km/h) from the south, with gusts up to 27 knots (about 50 km/h).
Around this point, the aircraft began to rattle and shake as if it was being pushed up from below, and the actual conditions indicated that this was due to updrafts generated by the hot desert ground. When the runway was visible from the cockpit at 13 o’clock, the descent continued from an altitude of 6,000 feet to 4,000 feet.
The aircraft then left the airport once due to other planes in the vicinity, but began circling for final approach, at this time at an altitude of about 4300 feet. Since Victorville’s elevation is about 900 meters, the ground clearance was about 450 meters. With the happy announcement that “ATC has already given us permission for a second (low pass) lap,” we were told that we had lowered our gear.
As the landing checklist was completed and the final approach to Victorville’s Runway 17 began, an announcement was made about the numerous parked airplanes, saying that they were mainly visible from the left window, but also from the right window as they entered their second lap.
As the updrafts continue to shake the aircraft, the altitude gradually decreases from 1,000 feet (about 300 meters) to 500 feet (about 150 meters) above ground level. The descent continues until the aircraft is on the verge of a low-pass, not a landing. When we reached an altitude of 3,100 feet (about 950 meters, or about 60 meters above ground level), we saw countless parked airplanes out the left window. The sight of countless aircraft from airlines around the world, lined up in almost their exact livery, was truly a sight to behold. As I was overwhelmed by the bizarre scenery I was seeing for the first time, I was told that I could see about five JAL planes in mid-low-pass (although I could not recognize them because they were too fast).
After a quick first lap, the aircraft rapidly raises its nose and begins a go-around (climb back up from an aborted approach). A right turn is made to an altitude of 4000 feet (about 1.2 km, or about 320 to 330 meters to the ground). In the cockpit, the after-takeoff check begins and preparations for the second lap approach proceed. As announced, the aircraft flies a course parallel to the runway and returns to the earlier approach path so that participants in the right seat can see the airport. At this point, an announcement was made that the low pass for the second lap would not be flown on autopilot, but that Captain Kiga would switch to manual control and begin the approach on manual control.
He lowered his gear again and began a second low pass. ATC instructed the aircraft to “take 6,000 feet of altitude toward due west after the pass.”
After a second go-around at nearly full power, the aircraft turned west toward LAX and then south out of Palmdale. The altitude was 13,000 to 16,000 feet, and the climb continued. The aircraft arrived at LAX about 45 minutes after schedule due to congestion in the LAX area, but the main event, the first and unprecedented in JAL’s history, was successfully completed.
© Source travel watch
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