Fifteenth entry for the Christmas Challenge.
Click to reveal AAR
Like some US president once said: “This might be the bigliest leg yet.”
It’s a sunny morning at Santiago.
As the ground crew plug in ground power, I start aligning my IRS and plugging my flight plan.
10 degrees of flaps on takeoff? Why not. However, the 747-8i has a couple of noticeable differences with the 747-400. In this one, the V-speeds are computed with the help of the EFB (electronic flight bag).
The EFB
It’s a really in-depth tool with plenty of cool functionalities (like Pilot Utilities, where I never need to calculate anything ever again!).
Tuning in the ATIS to get the required information (barometric pressure, outside air temperature, winds) to input in the EFB to get our performance calculation.
Pro tip: you need to make sure to press on the LSK (Line Select Key) next to EXT KBD to pop up the keyboard or you can’t write in required fields of the EFB. You select a field by touching it with your mouse like an iPad Touchpad.
Bingo! We’ve got our V-Speeds. Time to start the engines.
Spooling up the GEnx engines.
The checklist system in the 747-8 is also a little different. You need to use the Cursor Control knob and rotate it to change menus. You select a menu by pressing the SEL button on top of the control knob.
Taxiing
Now there is one very cool feature: the Airport Ground Mapping functionality. Basically, you press the ARPT display mode button to have the blue ARPT message on your Navigation Display. You may have to click it twice (first click shows the ARPT but without the overlay, second press with the overlay, third press removes overlay). If you don’t see it right away, don’t worry… you just need to toy with the ND (Navigation Display) Range Selector (click on outer knob ro rotate). You then get a nice airport overlay on your ND.
Runway feels a bit tight
Last checks before takeoff
Flight control surfaces check. Good to go. Let’s get this monster off the ground.
WOW!
Good-bye, Santiago!
Wingflex
The SID makes us do a whole tour around Santiago before going for the Pacific Coast.
The sky is really blue today
One last looksie at LatinVFR’s Santiago
Passing over the Andes… that’s a lotta clouds.
Contrailing
And here is the Pacific Ocean. Chile’s the last piece of land I’m about to see for a looong time.
Endless, endless clouds!
Endless, endless blue!
Flying over the Robinson Crusoe Island
The island was home to the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk from 1704 to 1709, and is thought to have inspired novelist Daniel Defoe’s fictional Robinson Crusoe in his 1719 novel about the character (although the novel is explicitly set in the Caribbean, not in the Juan Fernández Islands). This was just one of several survival stories from the period that Defoe would have been aware of. To reflect the literary lore associated with the island and attract tourists, the Chilean government renamed the place Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966.
The Waypoint is also called ROBIK, which I found amusing
In the distance we can also see the Alexander Selkirk Island
A slightly better view of the island
More cruising
Uh oh… Fuel Tank imbalance. I must’ve set the OVRD tanks by mistake.
The TANK/ENG message pops up to notify you that you need to configure the tanks. When you see this, you usually will need to turn off the OVRD tanks on the inboard tanks, and then close the outer (unguarded) crossfeeds. This very likely happened because I set the OVRD tanks at the beginning of flight and forgot about them, and the fuel imbalance happened over time.
However, even with the OVRD tanks off and the cross-feed off, I still have a fuel tank imbalance to fix manually. I’ll have to open the cross-feed valves and shut the Engine 2 and Engine 3 main tanks and wait for the FUEL IMBALANCE caution to go away. This way, Engines 1 and 2 will feed from tank 1 and Engines 3 and 4 will feed from tank 4. I “think” the fuel balance is calculated with MAIN 1 + RES 1 should equal MAIN 2. At least, that’s how I remember it was on takeoff.
After a while, the FUEL IMBLANCE caution extinguishes. I think my theory was right! You can also notice that the RES 1 and RES 4 tanks began to transfer automatically in main tanks 1 and 4.
Setting the tanks as they were at the beginning (no cross-feed, Main 1 for Engine 1, Main 2 for Engine 2, etc.)
That did the trick. We’re balanced now! 
Back to more cruising
900+ more nm to go? Pffffffff…
Reaching top of descent just after VINAP
Starting my descent to Easter Island
Consulting METAR online to get my barometric setting
I’ll have to swing west of the island to land before I can start my approach
The STAR (Standard Arrival Route)
Admiring the view
Doing some calculations on the EFB. That a very, VERY neat tool!
Before the last turn
The last turn
Lined up on final
Better watch that cliff!
(Clenching buttocks)
AP Off. Umpf!
I wasn’t sure if I had enough runway but the reversers installed on these GEnx engines are powerful as hell!
Full stop.
Taxiing
Tiny, tiny taxiways
Looks like I may have overheated my brakes during landing.
Parking brake on, chocks on, APU running, engines off, doors open.
I think we’re good to step out of the plane. Parking space is a bit tight though.
