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Too
Much Flying.
The
Get Real Tour.
My
whirlwind book signing tour of Singapore and Japan involved five
jet flights in eleven days.
For
me, the opportunity to ride on different types of aircraft was
all part of the fun. This was especially so when flying into and
out of Japan because All Nippon Airways incorporate a brilliant
in-flight feature which is perfect for flightsim enthusiasts.
(More about that later). As I am almost pathologically shy, my
publicist agreed that this would be a secret
promotional tour. It all began on the afternoon of August 20.
1.
Qantas flight 71 from Perth to Singapore.
"New concepts in code
sharing".
This
was a five-hour flight in a Boeing 747-400. Qantas have
refurbished their 747 fleet to incorporate the latest
entertainment systems. This was my first experience with
individual seat-back screens incorporating movies and games.
Such things did not exist when I last flew on a 747 eleven years
ago. On this occasion I had a window seat and just before we
pushed back from the terminal, I took a photo of the Singapore
Airlines 777 that was parked next to us. Perhaps I had a
premonition of this aircraft's connection with the events that
were to unfold upon our arrival at Changi Airport? Anyway, we
taxied out to runway 21 and took off into the prevailing
southwesterly afternoon breeze. We were very soon enveloped in
the low cloud but of course inside such a huge aircraft we were
hardly aware of any turbulence. Upon reaching cruise altitude
about a half-hour later, the entertainment system was switched
on. The wide choice of programs included a moving map of our
route with height and speed information.
The captain informed us that we were encountering a 150kt
westerly wind along our track to the north!
Even
though we were in economy class seats the dinner was quite
delicious. My dinner jacket had been hung up in business class
so presumably it was feasting on lobster and champagne. Little
did I realize that my large suitcase was languishing in the
cargo hold of the Singapore Airlines 777 that departed Perth 35
minutes after we did. It was dark when we arrived on runway 20R
at Changi International Airport. After clearing immigration, I
waited in vain for my suitcase to appear on the luggage
carousel. After seeking help, I was escorted to an airport
administration office where I filled out a "lost
baggage" report. They informed me that there was a chance
that my suitcase (with destination tag "SIN") had been
mistakenly loaded onto the Singapore Airlines flight SQ226 which
was due to arrive at Changi later that same evening. Frankly, I
wasn't feeling all that hopeful and I contemplated the prospect
of spending the whole of the following day buying everything
that I needed to replace the contents of my missing luggage. (It
contained all of the disguises that I would need to wear during
my secret 7-day promotional tour of Japan.) Needless to say it
was an anxious wait until we received the news that the case had
been located and was being transported over from Terminal two.
It was not a great start to our tour and we all collapsed into
our hotel beds unnecessarily late. Presumably this new concept
in "code sharing" is a private initiative of Qantas's
baggage handlers and not officially sanctioned by Qantas
management.
2.
ANA flight 902 from Singapore to Tokyo (Narita)
" A real treat for
flight simulation fans".
The
following night we pushed back from the Changi terminal on
schedule at 11.35PM. In addition to the elaborate entertainment
system, this 747-400 was also fitted with external cameras,
which gave all the passengers a forward view of our taxi out to
the active runway. This is a fantastic feature for flightsimmers
and as far as I know it's only available on ANA and JAL. I
watched us eating up the runway as we barreled towards our point
of rotation. After which, the camera view switched to a downward
view of the Singapore lights as we swept northwards towards
Japan. At this time, we had not dared to tell our daughter that
the first day of our Japan tour would be at Tokyo Disneyland
because she would have been too excited to sleep. It was very
important that we all slept during the 6-hour overnight flight
because our tour would begin the moment we touched down at
Narita Airport. I was vaguely aware of some high level
turbulence during the night, but to be honest, I'm one of those
fortunate people who could sleep on a barbed wire fence. We
awoke at 6.00am in time for an on-board breakfast (We had
already set our watches forward one hour) and a little while
later watched our arrival (courtesy of the forward-facing
external camera) onto Runway 34L at a very foggy Narita Airport.
(There was no parallel runway 34R when I was last there in
1992.) The external cameras allowed us to monitor our progress
all the way up to our parking spot, where the man with the
paddles gave the signal for us to stop.
Anyone
who has read my novel "Get Real" will already know
that Narita Airport is located a very long way to the east of
downtown Tokyo (About a 1 hour 50minute drive), but only about
one hour's drive from Chiba City where Disneyland is located.
The Tokyo Disneyland is almost a replica of the LA Disneyland.
It was hot, steamy, crowded and fun! But I'm not going to
describe it in any detail because FS flight club members only
want me write about the planes I flew on right?
3.
ANA flight from Tokyo (Haneda) to Osaka (Kansai.)
" The flight with a
built-in wake up call".
After
an exhausting day at Disneyland followed by dinner at Chiba
City, we took the tour bus through downtown Tokyo to Haneda
Airport. This is located on the western side of Tokyo Bay. I was
too tired to note the flight number or even our departure time,
but I can tell you that the aircraft was an Airbus A321. (Just a
stretched A320). I confess to feeling quite unexcited by the
prospect of this 1 hour flight to Kansai. The single-aisle
interior of the Airbus looked decidedly old and "squarish"
with no entertainment system of any kind. We took off to the
south, turned right (west) and climbed in the darkness to our
cruise altitude. There was an alarming amount of condensation
pouring out of the vents above the side windows. I was keen to
stay awake and monitor our approach into Kansai. (This
"new" Osaka airport didn't exist when I last visited
Japan.) I must have closed my eyes momentarily because I fell
into a deep sleep. Not to worry, our captain woke us all up when
he thumped the plane down hard onto the runway. (A friend later
suggested that it might have been a fully automated landing.)
The Kansai International Terminal architecture is simply
stunning but even at that late hour, jackhammers could be heard
somewhere in the building. Structural engineers continue to work
at preventing the whole structure from sinking into the
reclaimed land out in the bay. (It's difficult to find any
Japanese who are willing to talk about this.)
I
won't bore everyone with details of the next few days' touring
to Nara, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya and Tokyo (via Mt Fuji). If
you have already visited Japan, you know that it is like no
other place on earth. If you haven't been there then make sure
that you treat yourself to a visit some time soon. I will tell
you a little bit about the cars that we saw because it's a safe
bet that anyone interested in planes and flight simulation will
also be interested in cars.
Stuck
in an evening traffic jam into Osaka, I had a good view into the
cars below from my high-level seat in the tour coach. I was
amazed to see how many of the large luxury cars and vans were
equipped with sophisticated satellite navigation maps of the
highway. I did not see all that many four wheel drive vehicles,
but "people mover" vans seem to be very popular. The
roads were full of Japanese made copies of imported cars. (These
copies are not sold in Australia.) In some cases there are hints
of styling cues taken from other cars, but sometimes the copying
is quite blatant. Copies included Jeep Grand Cherokee, Alfa
Romeo, the new Mini, the old Mini and Mercedes. (It's not just
"a bit like a Mercedes", it's an identifiable copy of
a particular model.)
Most
of the highway driving that we witnessed was quite disciplined,
the only exception being the usual idiots who try to make phone
calls while driving, or even more incredibly some guy reading
comic books while driving! (I told you I had a good view into
people's cars!)
I
must just briefly mention our ride in the bullet train. While
waiting at the station for a one-stop 31km ride into Nagoya, an
express train blasted past our platform at 230kmh. We didn't
even see it coming and we all nearly crapped ourselves. Our
train soon arrived and once on board, there was really no
sensation of speed as it was virtually silent. Eerily silent!
We
saw a lot more cars when we got to Odaiba in downtown Tokyo.
Right there is the biggest Toyota/Lexus showroom you could
imagine, with every available model on permanent display. Only a
fraction of these models are available here in Australia.
Anyway,
back to the planes….
Our
tour guide told us that the flight back to Singapore would be in
a "three three three" aircraft.
(Meaning
three rows of three seats). I asked him if this was a 767 or a
777 and he didn't know. He has been a tour guide for ten years
and he wouldn't know one aircraft type from another. It made me
realize that most non-aircraft enthusiasts are only interested
in the configuration of the cabin seats.
4.
ANA flight 901 from Tokyo (Narita) to Singapore.
"Triple seven equals
double the fun."
This
was my first ride in a Boeing 777 (see the picture) and from the
moment that I stepped in the plane I could see that it was
something really special. The smooth sculpted ceiling
incorporated vast overhead lockers and the large comfortable
seats all had their own video screens. There was a real sense of
spaciousness throughout and bear in mind that is the economy
class cabin that I'm describing. Once more, we were treated to a
forward view of our taxi out to runway 34L courtesy of the
external cameras. (See the picture). Watching the takeoff on the
screens was like sitting in a giant flight simulator. (I
instinctively wanted to reach for the flight controls.) From
within the cabin, the noise was muted even during the wide
climbing U-turn around to the southwest, which afforded us a
great view of the Tokyo Bay area. (OK, it's still noisy, not
like the unrealistically muffled club-room sound that you always
see in the movies, but it's still the quietest jet I've ever
ridden in.)The food was really good, and the time passed quickly
thanks to the on-board entertainment system. It was all over far
too quickly and in no time we all got to watch our night
approach and landing onto Runway 20R at Changi International
Airport. Afterwards, there were no men with paddles to guide us
in, just a system of automated lights.
With
our Japan tour successfully over, (I had managed not to sign a
single book), we had a few days to relax in Singapore's
relatively calm ambience and comparatively cool weather. The
hotel's swimming pool was sparsely populated by lithe tanned
bodies, with the exception of one pale, limp limbed Australian
who struggled back and forth with a uniquely asymmetric
breaststroke. (I won't name names but he was the only person in
Singapore wearing a "too much flight simulation"
baseball cap.) On our last day in Singapore, my daughter had the
opportunity to play her violin at the largest, most elaborate
wedding reception that I have ever attended.
5.
Qantas flight QF18 Singapore to Perth.
" So just how small a
city is Perth anyway?"
Our
morning departure in the 747-400 was to the south, up through
the rumbling turbulence of some
mid-level
clouds to our cruise altitude. After that, it was plain sailing.
You really know that you're on an Australian airline when the
flight attendants give cheeky answers to your questions and they
do it with a straight face. And the plane's captain gives cabin
announcements with information about your flight's progress.
(Unlike the Japanese flight crews who are presumably far too
important to speak to the passengers). During our flight, I
switched between the movie and the flight tracking system and I
came over all warm and fuzzy when the Western Australian
coastline first came into view. (Just to the north of Shark
Bay). August 31 was the last day of the Australian winter and as
we began our descent into Perth we were informed that Perth was
already experiencing a typically summer weather pattern.
There
was a strong easterly wind blowing, no cloud at all and
visibilty was good for many miles. So we turned southwest, out
towards Rottnest Island, then swung left. My family was sitting
on the left-hand side of the plane so we treated to a fantastic
view of the Swan River, and the city skyline. We crossed the
river near Canning Bridge and my daughter asked if we could see
our house? Not as ridiculous as it sounds and in fact I was able
to identify the private college at the end of our street.
Honestly it was just like looking at a scale model of the city.
Then we turned left again, descending as we headed nor-north
east to land on runway 03. I had done this particular approach
many times before on the flight simulator but this was the first
time I had experienced it in real life. What a buzz! We stopped
short of runway 06 to allow a BAE 146 to depart to the east as
we turned right to park at the International terminal. Now just
to give you some idea of what a small city Perth really is; traveling
into Perth on the same flight as us that afternoon were my
daughter's swimming teacher and her violin teacher.
That's
it. Fun's over, back to the daily grind. For a guy who almost
never goes anywhere at all, that was almost too much flying!
Bill
Smith.
leesmith@ca.com.au
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