A340 World Ranger Succeeds with the Ultimate Flight

Sharing the mission with us are some of the engineers responsible for the Airbus A340’s design who, together with Gerard Guyot, dreamed up the idea of the World Ranger’s flight during an earlier trip aboard the aircraft. “By adding extra fuel tanks, optional on other Airbus aircraft, to the ultra long range A340, we created a machine with the range to fly halfway round the world,” explains A330/A340 Chief Engineer Geoff Thomas.

In addition to highlighting the long range capability of the A340, the flight will also hopefully set four new world records – the fastest of the world by a subsonic airliner, the longest flight by any airliner, and the first and fastest Paris/Auckland and Auckland/Paris connections.

We have been led to believe that, on medical advice, we should eat light meals, and drink plenty of water. But our caterers have other ideas and, with the best part of half a tonne of food on board for the 22 of us, there is absolutely no chance of anyone going hungry, Lunch begins appropriately enough with caviar, as our track takes us increasingly east ward and yes, there is wine to go with it – though no cham- pagne, as the bottles have been judged too heavy.

Our culinary enjoyment is enhanced by our charming hostess, Susanne Steffen, from Lufthansa, plus a small oven- christened “Joe’s Bar” after its inventor-that will allow us the luxury of hot meals and drinks. Susanne, a stewardess with Lufthansa who flies on a variety of Airbus aircraft, is making her seventh flight on an A340 and despite the makeshift conditions, which include a galley in the middle of the floor, looks after us magnificently.

As we fly over the frozen lakes and snow dusted hills of Siberia, the sun dips toward the horizon, but it never completely sets and is soon rising to mark the start of a new day in the East. We have been flying near to the arctic circle, above which the sun always shines in summer, and this, together with our present cruise height of 33,000ft (10,065m), keeps the darkness at bay.

Someone has brought a large map on board and our progress is charted by an ever growing airline style line, allowing us to identify the Ural mountains below. Unlike a scheduled flight, however, out flight crew allow us free access to the cockpit so that, even when cloud cover hides our view, we can still follow our progress on the aircraft’s navigation equipment and listen to the crew’s conversations with air traffic controllers.

We also have freedom to roam around the aircraft, which is empty except for 32 seats. In airline service, our Airbus A340-200 would typically accommodate 263 passengers in a first, business and economy class layout, so we are really spoiled for space. Range with these passengers is 7350nm (13,600km), and the larger A340-300, capable of carrying 295 passengers up to 7150nm (13,200km) is also on offer.

Some seven hours into the flight we have consumed all of the 28. 5 tonnes ofextra fuel that we carried in special tanks in the cargo hold. We burnt this fuel in a sequence that alternates with that in the aircraft’s wings and tail, keeping the overall balance of the aircraft at its optimum and within the authorised limits.

Our geography lesson continues and, shortly afterwards we marvel at the majestic curves of the mighty Lena-the longest river within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

As the flight wears on, pillows, sleeping bags and air beds are produced by our resourceful crew chief Peter Niekerken.

Several of us retire-not for the night, since there are blinds to shut out the daylight-but at least for a few hours sleep. Its sleeper seat, and we sleep soundly- though only for a few surprisingly comfortable lying flat, instead of semi-reclined in hours at a time.

a having covered some 4700nm (8710km) and burnt almost 70 At almost nine hours into the mission we pass Khabarovsk, tonnes of fuel. At eleven hours into it, we cross the Japanese Russian air traffic controllers. We fly over Japan for a while, coast a more asiatic voice having replaced that of the passing east of Tokyo, before heading out over the endless seas of the Pacific – the next land we’ll overfly will be the Solomon Islands some five and a half hours away.

More than halfway through our flight, some 13hr 45min after takeoff, we climb to our maximum altitude of 41,000ft (12,506m), where we will remain for the rest of the mission. We have been climbing in “steps” as the aircraft becomes lighter with the consumption of fuel, and thanks to uncluttered airspace we have been able to do so at the precalculated optimum times. So far we have consumed just over 90 tonnes of fuel, and we have about 50 tonnes left in our tanks.

By now everyone has had the chance to explore the hygiene facilities aboard, which are rather like camping out. We have three chemical toilets-including two hidden from view by a curtain, with a sign that we raise or lower to warn others that someone is inside. Our mechanics have also rigged up a small washbasin, fed by water containers, which vents overboard through a plastic hose. Some hours into the flight, the hose ices up-the temperature outside is minus 50° or so- and the ingenuity of the engineers on board is called into play. Their solution is to use one of our air beds as a receptacle for the waste water.

At 14hr 25min after takeoff, we overtake the duration of the longest scheduled flight by an ordinary airliner, which is from Johannesburg to New York, and represents a distance of 6930nm (12,850km).

We cross the equator at 16hr 20min and 7880nm (14,600km) into the flight and, just over an hour later we fly over the Solomon Islands which, unfortunately, are cloud covered. We are luckier at New Caledonia, which we sight at an elapsed time of 19hr 20min. Now we have to make a “go” or “no go” decision because Noumea, the capital of the territory, is the last airport before New Zealand. We have burnt almost 120 tonnes of fuel, our reserves are fine, the weather is acceptable in Auckland, and Pierre Baud decides to continue, committing us to a landing somewhere in New Zealand (we won’t have enough fuel to fly anywhere else).

Soon after darkness falls, we approach the airborne time of the longest previous airliner flight, 20hr 9min, set by a Qantas Boeing 747-400 on the London/Sydney route in October 1989. By sheer coincidence, at that moment we receive a call from another Qantas Boeing 747 en route San Francisco/Auckland, which is curious about what we’re doing. Pilot Nick Warner explains that we’re attempting the longest flight made by an airliner, and that we’ll beat the Qantas record. “You’ll never do it mate,” says the Qantas captain, to which Nick is able to reply with satisfaction, “we just did”.

As we approach Auckland the tranquil atmosphere of the cabin gives way to eager anticipation- we’ve been airborne a long while, and some of us have never visited New Zealand. We begin our descent at an elapsed time of just over 21hr, and before long we can see the lights of Auckland. Nick Warner makes an uneventful landing at around 19. 30hr local time, and everyone is now very excited. We’re soon approaching the terminal where a crowd of journalists and officials has gathered to meet us.

Our flight time was exactly 21hr 32min, we covered a distance of 10,307nm (19,100km), and we still have more than 14. 5 tonnes of fuel left in our tanks – enough for at least another three hours flying. We calculate that a Boeing 747, making a single stop for refuelling on route, would have burnt more than twice the fuel that we did in flying from Europe to New Zealand.

The first task of our flight crew on leaving the aircraft is to present a rugby ball, signed by the French team, to a representative of the New Zealand “All Blacks”, who reciprocate with one of their sweatshirts. Television and cameras capture the historic occasion and emotions run high- we did what we set out to do, something that nobody and no other aircraft had ever done before, and we’re viewed as heroes. The skies are clear but it is only 12°C and, after the summer weather of Paris, we’re not really prepared for the cold. The warmth of our New Zealand welcome compensates us, we wish we could stay longer.

Our mechanics move into action and begin the task of checking and refuelling the aircraft. There are also toilets to be emptied, food to be loaded, rubbish to be removed, and all the myriad other tasks that accompany the turnaround of any airliner.

One of the important tasks of our team will be to top up the oil level of our engines, CFM International CFM56-5C2s, which have performed flawlessly. Engines such as these normally burn about half a litre of oil an hour and, for our record breaking flight, were filled above the usual dipstick mark so that they wouldn’t run dry on our very long flight.

It will take several hours to refuel the aircraft, so meanwhile the flight crew head off for a formal press conference. The crew are keen to freshen up with a shower, but we still have to satisfy press interest back in Europe. One journalist calls us on our portable phone and wants to talk to Pierre Baud, who’s in the middle of a shower. Pierre obligingly interrupts his shower to be interviewed for radio, whose listeners remain blissfully unaware that he is doing it while dripping wet! We take the chance of good communications to talk to the Airbus Industriechalet back at the Paris Airshow at Le Bourget, half a world away, and we learn that our progress is making the news around the world. We learn that CNN has been carrying regular bulletins on us – particularly satisfying as we’re both involved in global ventures-and that radio, television and the wire services are keeping everyone posted. World Ranger’s one stop around the globe record breaking fight should stand for many years to come as a strong reminder of this ultra long range airliner’s capabilities. What’s more, the World Ranger’s great circle route used established airways and air traffic control procedures, and normal range flight fuel reserves. The two legs-Paris/Auckland and Auckland/Paris represent the longest flights ever undertaken by a commercial airliner. We reboard the aircraft and say our au revoirs to the Air France airport team that has arranged and helped us with our turnaround, and to Air New Zealand and Auckland airport for the use of their facilities. Finally, with another 140 tonnes of fuel on board, it’s time to close the door and begin our long journey home.

It’s almost 15 minutes taxi to the start of our runway, during which we consume precious fuel, but that’s the way it is-we decided to make our trip without any special help, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Gerard Guyot winds up our engines to full power and we’re off on our return leg which, with a distance of 10,392nm (19,258km), is even longer than our outward trip. We head out over the Pacific again, this time at night and in a different direction.

Two and a half hours later we see the lights of Fiji, and at four hours into the flight we cross the International Date Line into yesterday though most people are laid out in their sleeping bags and don’t notice. We cross back into the northern hemisphere five hours into the mission and, a while later are treated to a spectacular display of St Elmo’s fire, during which the aircraft is enveloped in an eerie glow.

Our passage abeam of Hawaii is a disappointment because of cloud cover, and we all regret not having glimpsed this famous staging post of the Pacific. We have been airborne eight hours, have covered 3785nm (7,000km) and have used up 61 tonnes of fuel.

So far, all of the cruise has been Mach 0. 81, equivalent to a true airspeed of 465kts (860km/h) at our height of 37,000ft (11,285m). But with good fuel reserves, we decided that we can increase our speed slightly and, with just over ten hours gone, we increase our speed to Mach 0. 82 and, an hour later, to Mach 0. 83.

After flying over the largest expanse of water on Earth, our arrival over the Alaskan coast has us running for the nearest window. We have been airborne for almost 13 hours and the last land we saw was Fiji, ten and a half hours ago. We begin to sense the commitment of mariners such as Columbus and Cook, who went weeks without seeing land – without even maps to reassure them of land ahead. Passing near Anchorage a few minutes later, we have flown 6300nm (11,675km) and 92 tonnes of fuel are gone.

With more than three quarters of the trip behind us, we have time to reflect on the aircraft that has become our “mobile home”, cocooning us from the hostile environment outside as it moves the world past our windows. Our World Ranger is the first Airbus A340-200 ever built, making its maiden flight on April 1 1992, and is now carrying us aboard its 241st mission. Originally filled with measuring equipment for its lead role in the flight test programme, it has now largely served its purpose and will be refurbished for sale to a customer. Our aircraft is also the record holder for the previous longest flight by an Airbus aircraft, Toulouse/Perth, a great circle distance of 7700mm (14,270km), which it flew in 16hr 22min on October 22 1992. We have grown fond of our home and, while we will be glad to be back on Earth again, we’ll miss her. The ultimate in fiordlands flows beneath our wings as we traverse Greenland and its seemingly endless glaciers, having covered 8000nm (14,825km). We’re lucky to be following this routing and having such good visibility – most transatlantic routes pass a lot further south.

Our path approximates to a great circle route, but is actually slightly longer since we’re following airways – the corridors in the sky through which scheduled flights are channelled. It was planned and regularly updated by Computed Air Services (CAS) in Paris, using Jeppesen charts.

Passing north of Iceland, we talk by radio to several journalists, who broadcast the news of our approach to a Europe that is just beginning its day. We’re much lighter now, having consumed most of our fuel, with each of the four engines purring away on the wings now sipping little more than a tonne of fuel an hour. We’re on the home straight and its time to prepare for our arrival. As we pass Glasgow the clock stands at 20hr and 45min in the air and about 30 minutes later we begin our descent to the Le Bourget Airshow that we left just two days ago.

Bernard Ziegler caresses the runway in front of the crowds with the A340 World Ranger’s wheels and our long flight is over. But we’re still flying, thrilled to have been a part of the accomplishment and humbled by it. Our crew is mobbed by journalists as they descend the stairs and it’s a while before the stars of the moment can celebrate with champagne. We later learn that the A340 World Ranger had more than six and a half tonnes of fuel in its tanks at touchdown, enough for another one and a half hours flight.

Our flight around the world in just over two days’ has been a unique experience that we will revisit in our memories for many years to come. Much of what we’ve seen could, of course, be glimpsed by ordinary airline passengers – but not in such a short space of time or in such historic circumstances. Astronauts and other record breaking flights apart, we are the first humans to have seen so much of the world in such a short time and in armchair comfort, too.

For us at least, the world has become a little bit smaller, and our horizons that much larger.

1: Route crossing all meridians and at least as long as Tropic of Cancer (36,787km).

2: Qantas flew a Boeing 747-400 London/Sydney on Aug 16 1989 covering 18,000km in 20hr 9min.

3: Shortest distance between two points on the Earth’s surface which, for Paris/Auckland is 10,008nm (18,535km). 4: 48 hours 22 minutes.