[previous by date]
[previous with aircraft operation]
[next by date]
[next with aircraft operation]
Jakarta, Thursday, 1995-06-08 09:00 local (Z+7)
A very tiring and frstrating trip back from Jeddah. We finally got going 3 hours late. I kept wondering if the fatalism that seems to be inherent in Islam was helping those sitting in the back. By their theology, as I understand it, nothing happens that is not in the will of Allah. So, they really wouldn't complain about something that Allah had willed, right? <g>
For those not used to “emoticons”, a <g> stands for grin, <bg> for big grin. Sometimes you see a grin or smile as ;-) or just :) Look at them sideways. Likewise a frown can be ;-( In some fonts the effect is better than others.
We finally got into the air, and the first couple of hours went okay. Communications were by VHF (Very High Frequency) radios and all went reasonably well. However, as soon as we were over the Indian Ocean, we had to start using HF (High Frequency) radios. These are old technology radios—lousy transmission/reception quality—but they have the advantage of being long range. VHF is short range (line-of-sight) but good quality. In the U.S. all communications are by VHF. Anyway, we didn't know it initially, but we had a double HF failure. HF radio 1 wasn't transmitting or receiving. HF radio 2 could only receive. It was a communications nightmare. Indian ATC got so upset about not hearing from us that they asked other aircraft to try contacting us on the VHF emergency frequency. Aircraft above 30,000 feet are within line-of-sight of each other for hundreds of miles, and two aircraft can often reach each other though a ground station can't read both.
From that point forward, we had to use other aircraft to relay our position at each reporting point until we once again came within VHF range of land (India and Sri Lank) and then again for the couple of thousand miles of ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia. By the time we reached the Jakarta area, we were all pooped, and I started having trouble understanding one controller in particular. All of us were having trouble understanding him, but I more than the other two crew members. I've really go to work on this problem. I'm definitely going to get one of the new noise-cancelling headphones as soon as I get home—I need all the help I can get.
ATC in third-world countries is not known for being the best, and Jakarta ATC lived up to that reputation. They turned us onto the ILS (Instrument Landing System) at a bad angle and inside the outer marker (unheard of in the U.S.). It was the captain's leg and he handled it okay, but it caught all of us by surprise that it was as bad as it was. It makes you want to go to them after you get down and say something like, “Either do a professional job or get an expat to do it for you!” Of course, having an expat do it simply puts off the problem. All countries have to develop the infrastructure to provide technical competence using their own people.
Collapsed in bed after we got here, but got up this morning and established a new, personal best for the number of laps around the hotel track—10. That's 7 kilometers, 4.3 miles. Northing was dry when I finished. No problem, I put the wet running clothes in with the rest of my laundry and visited the clandestine laundry service on the 4th floor. Only one little gal was in there, down on her haunches industriously cleaning the floor tiles. She saw me, brightened, checked if anybody was watching, and then happily accepted my laundry. I don't know if my heart will be able to stand the excitement—a 55 year old Caucasian male conspiring with a little old Asian woman of indeterminate age to deprive the hotel of their exorbitant profit. Sounds positively subversive. <bg>
I'm scheduled to go back to Jeddah tomorrow morning at 07:30. I'll lay in the sun this afternoon at the pool. That'll wear me out. By 20:00 it'll be dark and I'll be in bed asleep. The only fly in the ointment is that I will have to spend my own money for supper. Often with the breakfast paid for by the company and the food on the airplane, you can avoid that. It's when you're on the ground more than 24 hours that you have to spend money. No problem, McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried, Pizza Hut—they're all within a half dozen blocks.
Everybody take care...Terry
[previous by date]
[previous with aircraft operation]