captainchris

captainchris Inspiring Aviators and entertaining Avgeeks
Pilot/Captain/Instructor/Examiner
44 yrs flying A320/A330/A340/A350

https://www.captainchris.com/links

17/06/2026

Welcome to the Airbus

One of my favourite little Airbus details is how every front seat works exactly the same way from the Airbus A320 all the way up to the Airbus A380.

On the inboard side of each seat you’ll find just a couple of simple switches:

Seat entry
Hold the fore-and-aft switch aft.
The seat slides back on its rails and then gently moves outboard, giving you plenty of space to step in and sit down.

Once seated
Move the switch forward to bring the seat back into position.

Fine tuning
Use the second switch to adjust the height until everything lines up perfectly pedals, sidestick, displays.

No drama. No surprises. Same logic, same feel, in every Airbus cockpit.
Intuitive design philosophy at its best:, consistent, and pilot-friendly.

14/06/2026

This is the kind of Aviation story that sounds like it’s from a Hollywood script.

At first glance this looks like an ordinary business jet departing from a remote airstrip.

Except that’s not ordinary and there’s a lot more to this story.

This Hawker 800 wasn’t departing from some exclusive jungle resort. According to reports, the aircraft was allegedly being used by drug traffickers before it was seized by the Guatemalan military and abandoned on a makeshift runway deep in the jungle.

What fascinates me isn’t just the backstory, it’s the flying.

As pilots, we’re taught to assess runway length, surface condition, obstacles, aircraft performance and escape options. As an ex-Aussie bush pilot I’ve flown in and out of some interesting strips, although I’d think twice here before even considering starting an engine.

However someone (with some skill) managed to get this aircraft in there… and later someone else had the challenge of getting it back out again.

I guess that Colombian nose candy creates enough incentives to overlook procedures and safety?

To all the pilots reading this: Would you attempt the take-off from this strip? 🛩️

14/06/2026

Looking back through some old videos, I came across this one from June 2020.

The world was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, and aviation had changed almost overnight.

A small group of pilots, cabin crew and aircraft, including this A350, continued flying cargo and a handful of passengers to a limited number of destinations. Airports like that would normally be bursting with activity felt eerily quiet despite the ramps filled with stationary airliners.

Landing on Heathrow’s Runway 27R, the scale of what was happening became impossible to ignore.

Parked beside the British Airways maintenance hangars were rows upon rows of widebody aircraft. A sea of tails, among them were dozens of Boeing 747s sitting wingtip to wingtip, waiting for a future that many of them would never see.

At the time, nobody knew what would happen next.

Would travel recover?
Would airlines survive?
Would those aircraft ever fly again?

Most of those parked 747s never carried passengers commercially again.

Although it was six years ago this week, it feels like a lifetime ago. So much has changed in aviation, and in the world, since that unforgettable summer.

For those of us lucky enough to witness it from the flight deck, it’s a moment in history we’ll never forget.

What are your memories of June 2020?

You could spend months planning to climb Mont Blanc.Buy all the gear.Do the training.Watch the weather.Then spend days h...
06/06/2026

You could spend months planning to climb Mont Blanc.

Buy all the gear.
Do the training.
Watch the weather.
Then spend days hiking to the summit.

Or…

Experience the ultimate adrenaline flying a jet with MigFlug.

Strap into an L-39 Albatros fighter jet.

Be over the top of Mont Blanc in minutes.

Roll upside down over Europe’s highest mountain.

Then blast down the valleys of Italy at fighter jet speeds.

No ropes.
No blisters.
No frostbite.

Just breathtaking scenery, pure adrenaline and a grin you’ll be wearing for the next week.

I’ve flown airliners for 44 years, but I can honestly say this was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

The summit lasts a few minutes.

The memories last forever with

05/06/2026

I noticed this week that Boeing have started following my social media accounts.

Naturally, I couldn’t resist taking this opportunity to have a gentle poke at the world’s second-best airliner manufacturer and the pilots who fly their aircraft. 😏

Before the Boeing crowd reaches for the comments section, I’m only joking!!!

In fact, it was a Boeing 727 cockpit visit when I was 12 years old that inspired my entire aviation career, and despite my love affair with Airbus, nothing will ever replace the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and check whether Boeing are still following me…

The Airbus A340-600This week’s news that European Cargo has ceased operations has prompted a social media outpouring of ...
05/06/2026

The Airbus A340-600

This week’s news that European Cargo has ceased operations has prompted a social media outpouring of photographs of one of the most beautiful airliners ever built.

For a major part of my career, the A340-600 carried me around the world. Together we crossed oceans and continents to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lagos, New York, Boston Washington, Orlando, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dubai, Delhi and Mumbai. Places that became far more than destinations; they became memories, friendships and chapters of a life lived at 38,000 feet.

The A340-600 was a remarkable aircraft. Long, elegant and impossibly graceful for something so large. Yet beneath that beauty was incredible capability and power. She wasn’t the fastest, the newest or the most efficient aircraft ever built, but she possessed something far more important: character.

Today’s aircraft are extraordinary. In my view, the Airbus A350-1000 is the finest airliner Airbus has ever produced. It is quieter, smarter, more efficient and more capable in almost every measurable way.

But aviation isn’t always about numbers.

Some aircraft find a place in your heart.

So while the A350-1000 may be the best aircraft I have ever flown, the A340-600 will always be the aircraft I loved the most.

Some aeroplanes transport passengers and cargo.

Others transport a lifetime of memories.

Thank you, A340-600.

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