Couldn't be any worse than Carrot Top or Zumanity.

What engine variants are on CO's 772s?
The RR or GE?

GE

If I recall correctly, they were originally GE90-90 units that have been uprated to GE90-94 level... meaning 94,000 lbs of thrust instead of the original 90,000 lbs. The newer planes already have the -94 configuration.

Good call. I believe it's the same engine with an upgrade package.

Edit: Just looked on the CO site. They have the "GE90-90B engines, rated at 90,000 pounds thrust each." I think what we were both thinking of is this, found on the GE web site, as I remember a release a while back from CO about it:

"...customers have the option to upgrade their original GE90 engines with the GE's Performance Improvement Package (PIP). The PIP provides customers with a 1.6 percent fuel burn advantage and an approximately 20 degrees Celsius increase in exhaust gas temperature margin allowing better levels of performance and a reduction in operating costs."

Unless we have of both. If so, CO doesn't have the current info on their site.

First - thanks to all pilots for flying us safely!

Question: Does the captain have control over the amount of Oxygen supplied to the passenger cabin? Is it true that the Oxygen levels are higher the more forward you are in the cabin (better Oxygen levels in F or BE)?

Oxygen is not supplied to the passenger cabin (unless the O2 masks are in use). The air is just ambient air with it's normal O2 percentage (about 21%).

The air pressure in the cabin can be controlled, to a certain extent, but would normally be at the highest normal pressure for your cruise altitude that the aircraft's design (max psid) allows.

The pilots aren't controlling the amount of O2 in the cabin by adding or subtracting supplemental O2 to the incoming air. It's a different mechanism.

Think of a balloon and blow it up with regular air. If the balloon is the same size as your lungs, and you take a breath out of it, you will capture all of the air and therefore all of the O2 in the balloon. Normal breathing.

Now if you take that balloon to altitude, it get's bigger because of the decrease in air pressure outside BUT, there is no more, or less, O2 in there. It's the same exact air. You haven't pumped any O2 in there or taken any out, the O2 molecules are just further apart. So when you take a breath out of the same balloon that has now doubled in size, since your lungs hold the same amount of air, you can only inhale half of the air in the balloon. Now you are breathing the same air as at sea level but only getting half the O2. It now takes two breaths to get the same amount of O2 as at sea level. When there is a decompression, the O2 molecules are so far apart that you can't breath enough air to harvest that loosely packed O2 out of it.

So, in the sense that pilots can control the density of the air in the cabin (pressurization), they can control how much O2 is available to breath by pumping more molecules from outside into the small space of the AC but they aren't adding O2 from a tank.

This is oversimplified and I hope I haven't just made it more confusing.

Actually, this is a common misconception about pressurization. The amount of air pumped in does not change (although some air packs have a high and low setting), what controls the pressurization is how much air is let out of the cabin. At the rear of the cabin/fuselage are two outlet valves that open and close to regulate the amount of air exiting the cabin. Those valves usually operate in an automatic setting to keep the cabin at its most comfortable level and to avoid pressurization spikes in climb/descent. The pilots can control the valves in a manual mode but usually only done in an emergency/abnormal situation and as directed by the QRH (Quick Reference Handbook, emergency checklist).
The distribution on O2 is equal throughout the cabin. And as pptp said, the amount of oxygen stays the same (ambiant air) what changes is the density of the air.

Good point. The bleed air is either on or off, not adjustable, so the only way to control pressure is to let more out or keep more in. I was a victim of my over-simplification (and that slipped my mind too).

Any idea of the nationality of ATC in China/Beijing? I've heard rumors that controllers are mostly Westerners, perhaps "imported" from HKG

Judging by their accents I would say they are all locals. HKG ATC definitely has a lot of Westerners.

This thread is an awesome read!

Wow, I had no idea! So one pilot puts the mask on during TATL flights and other flights when the other goes to the bathroom? That is so interesting; is it weird to put it on every flight like that?

Duh! You obviously haven't seen the greatest airplane/airport movie in history...AIRPORT 1970, starring Dean Martin, Burt Lancaster, Jean Stapleton, and many others! It is tres cool, and the intro scenes are so cool that they cannot even be discussed....ORD in the wintertime in this movie made me long to fly when I wuz young, ymmv. :-: