MFM - KUL flight

Six months has passed since my JOG - KUL flight, and I'm due for another adventure.

Day 1

We started from Macau (MFM / VMMC) on a rainy day. Temperature outside was 26 degree Celcius, QNH 1006, runway 34 in use. Zero fuel weight was 48000 kg; I ordered 11800 kg of fuel which is the minimum required for the return trip.

Everything was ready and we were cleared for pushback and start. I expect something to go wrong, but what happened was totally unexpected. First, engine 2 was started normally, without any problem. We were still being pushed back when engine 1 was started. The engine started normally, then suddenly the aircraft lunged forward. Immediately I jumped on the parking brake and put the start lever to idle to shut down the engine. Apparently the fuel control unit has malfunctioned; engine 2 goes into takeoff thrust even with the thrust lever still at idle. Aborted engine start non-normal checklist (NNC) was carried out, and I requested the aircraft to be towed back to bay for rectification.

During takeoff roll, at about 100 kts suddenly a warning light lighted up on the front panel. It was the "LE FLAP TRANSIT" amber light. There was no yaw of any problem controlling the aircraft, so an abort action was not needed. Therefore the takeoff continued.



To be continued.

(Or maybe not.....)

My cameras - The Minolta years

I bought my first camera in 1983. It was about 3 months after my arrival in Newark, Delaware. It was bought during my first trip to New York city around August 1983. The camera was a Minolta X-700. It comes with a 50mm 1.7 lens .

Minolta X-700 with 50mm f/2.0

I also bought an off-brand flash and a Zykkor 2X teleconverter. Within the next 2 years I would add a Minolta 100-300 f/5.6 zoom lens and a Vivitar 24mm f/2.0 wideangle. The flashgun was replaced by a Vivitar 4600.

This is a Vivitar 24mm f/2.0, here shown in Nikon mount.

In 1985 I moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Also in 1985 Minolta introduced the first successful autofocus SLR camera, the Minolta Maxxum 7000. The top-of-the-line Maxxum 9000 was introduced later in the year. My X-700 was sold to a good friend, and with money from a summer job, I bought the Maxxum 9000 in 1986.

Minolta Maxxum 9000 body.

My first lens for the Maxxum 9000 was a Minolta 28-85 f/3.5-4.5. Between 1986 and 1998 I would add a 70-210 f/4, a 50mm 1.7 and a 135mm 2.8, all original Minolta lens. I also added a Minolta 4000AF flash, a data back and a power winder AW90. All equipment were kept and carried in a Tamrac camera bag. I also had a Slik U212 tripod and started to shoot slides, both Kodachrome and E-6 Ektachrome which I processed on my own, with varying degree of success.

Minolta AF 28-85 f/3.5-4.5

Minolta AF 70-210 f/4.0

Minolta AF 135mm f/2.8

Minolta 4000AF flash

I returned to Malaysia in 1989, went to Cessnock, NSW, Australia for pilot training in 1990 and finally becomes a co-pilot for MH B737 in 1992. Starting a family, money was tight and film was not as cheap as it was in the USA. The camera was hardly used; only for snapshots and only for prints. The Minolta 9000 was becoming outdated but still producing good pictures.

Then disaster struck. In 1996 the house I lived in was hit by a flash flood. In the ensuing chaos, trying to save the family, furniture and the car, the camera bag was left in the closet and drowned. I only realized it the next day which was way too late. The whole system was damaged beyond economical repair.

I was without an SLR for about a year, using my wife's Olmpus AF-1 Twin compact for family pictures. I would buy another SLR later, but I would never but a Minolta again, ever.

Anyway, that was for another story.

(all pictures here were taken from the internet. The damaged Maxxum 9000 camera and system is still sitting in a box somewhere in the storeroom)