Flying in South California (video)

It's all about the Journey, not the Destination

Darren Williams, 20 years of flying experience from ultralights to fighter jets.

Golfcharlie, your youtube videos are just awesome. They inspire those who want to strive for that big jet job, but as they say, "Yes, it's all about the journey......Not the destination". 
 
A little about me and my journey.
Like many, my dream was to fly a jet airliner. In those days, here in Australia, the path to the airlines was to take general aviation route in its numerous forms. Charter, instructing, crop dusting, the list goes on. You needed 2000 hours plus just to get a job flying PA-31 in those days. In later years, some of my students were getting those same jobs with less than 500 hours. How times have changed.
 
My first job was flying charter in a Cherokee 6 and Tigermoth joyflights before taking the instructor route. From there progressed to become a very passionate chief pilot and chief flying instructor of a flying school. I also flew adventure flights on the weekends doing aerobatics in ex-military aircraft including jets as well as many other flying experiences like fire spotting during our bushfire season and meat bombing...uh, I mean parachute dropping.
 
I was fortunate to fly over 40 aircraft types from ultralights through to combat jets, teach 377 people to fly and experience the many wonders and delights that only flying can provide. The only thing I never got to do was to fly that big jet.
 
My lifelong love affair with nearly 20 years of it flying was ended by a mild stroke which saw me lose my medical. That was nearly 2 years ago which to this very day is still hard to overcome.

In the last couple years of my career, I saw a change in the type of students we had. It went from those who enthusiastically wanted to learn to fly to those who only just wanted to do the bare minimum for the licence. They had no desire to experience other things in aviation and looked down on anything that wasn’t a Cessna with glass or a new piper because it was either inferior to them or that was not going to be any use to them working towards the shiny jet. 
I have no doubt that most wanted to fly but it is sad to see that the majority had no real passion and a lot had a very limited knowledge of aviation outside of a Boeing or Airbus. I ask new CPL holders of today what are their plans for their careers only to get a quick “Cadetship, don’t want to do GA”.
The MPL will only make things worse. No real depth of knowledge or experience, and an over inflated ego to boot. The title of airline pilot will become less prestigious than a bus driver (no offence to bus drivers).
 
It’s OK to dream of being a captain of a modern jet airliner, but sadly most of today’s pilots don’t want the journey anymore, and have a huge sense of entitlement to the shiny destination.

Life as an Airline Pilot (video)

Part 1. Intro 0:00 to 1:38 , soundtrack: Audiomachine - Redemption
Part 2. City tour (Alicante) 1:39 to 2:30 , soundtrack: Thomas Bergersen - Immortal
Part 3. Flying Scenes 2:31 to 5:40 , same soundtrack (Thomas Bergersen - Immortal)
Part 4. Days Off, flying gliders 5:41 to 7:09 , unknown soundtrack title
Part 5. Flying Scenes 7:10 to 9:37 , soundtrack: Data Romance - Night Section

Rendered with Sony Vegas HD 11.0

Sunrise over a sea of Fog

We are coming down at 280 knots indicated airspeed.
Ahead, less than 100 miles, is our destination still fast asleep, laying between two mountains picking at 4000 feet and partially covered in snow.

The ride across Europe was smooth and beautiful. We flew into the night since we took off and the day has only recently starting to get up.

I am pretty sure we can spot the runway in our 12 O'clock, ahead of a low level cloud layer.
We're flying a long straight-in approach and our engines have been at idle thrust since we left our cruise level, we hope to keep it this way up to about 5 miles on final.

We picked up the ATIS a few minutes ago and it was reporting CAVOK with very good weather conditions for the season.
As we get closer, we can clearly see the fog layer slowly but surely moving towards the runway. Over my left shoulder, I can hear the Captain say something like "this could get interesting". He might well be right.

Passing through 15,000 feet, seatbelts ON. My colleague switches from VOR to the ILS in the navaid panels and we check the frequency ident against the airport chart.


Looking straight ahead, it's still hard to tell whether fog will be an issue.
However, this amazing reddish light filling the entire landscape is simply superb. Quite a great remainder of how lucky we are to be seating in the front seats of this Boeing 737.
God, the view from the flightdeck never fails to be awesome! What a sight, once again!

20 miles from touchdown, it's time to earn my money. Click click, clack clack and an oral warning confirms that the autopilot has been disengaged.

Quick glance at the engine gauges, N1 still showing idle thrust. Looking good.
Speed is getting back and the Captain extends the flaps to slow us further down. I'm following the Flight Directors, two cross beams that show the correct pitch and bank angle to stay perfectly centered on the ILS.

As we're getting closer, our shadow takes shape on the flat fog layer.
It is nothing short of breathtaking. Very rare sight as we have the sun in our back, one which I will remember for a while.

Nose up a few degrees to get rid of some excess speed before we pop the gear down.
The Tower controler confirms a half-mile visibility on the runway threshold with an estimated cloudbase of 200ft. Right on the limit.

"Gear down, Flaps 15" and landing checklist. Here we go.

We're only at 600 feet above the ground when we enter the clouds.
I am focused on my instruments while the Captain is looking outside, trying to spot the approach lights that will allow us to continue below the minimums (200 ft).
Small correction to the right, speed is glued to 147 knots, the glide slope is steady.
Quick glance at the engine display, N1 at 48%, marginally below the usual 51-53% for a flaps 30 landing. I can anticipate a slight loss of speed in the next few seconds and decide to add 2% thrust already.

"Plus Hundred" callout from the radio-altimeter and still nothing outside.
I run the go-around procedure in my head. If we are not visual by 200ft, I will hit "TOGA" (go-around thrust) and call "Go Around, Flaps 15" to carry out the missed approach as we briefed during the cruise. Straight ahead initially, climbing to 3000ft, Flaps 5 selected by 400ft with HDG Select engaged. Everything is clear in my mind.
On the PFD, the radalt counts down the remaining height: 260 feet, 250, 240, 230, ... 220 and finally here they are, approach lights in sight! "Minimums!"

We slip beneath the thin fog layer with no runway sight due to the reduced visibility.
I must now resist the temptation to push on the yoke but still get the feeling that we are high. My glide slope indicator is showing "half a dot" low with 3 or 4 knots excess speed. Gentle pull back and I almost immediatly set 700 ft/min on the VSI to keep it going down. At such low altitudes, it is no longer a catch up game with the ILS.

The runway lights finally appear. We're on profile and two Airbus A320 are watching us from the holding point.
145 knots over the threshold and by 20 feet the thrust is brought back to idle.
Firm touchdown just before the 1,000 foot marker. The runway is fairly short so no messing around.
The two reversers are unlocked and the engines spooled up to about 80% N1, delivering the full reverse thrust which slows us down very effectively along with the autobrake system.
"100 knots", "80 knots" and we vacate first right.

As a First Officer, it is my role to complete the taxi-in flow (checklist done by memory).
I mechanically turn the autobrake knob onto the OFF position, check the secondary engine gauges and hydraulic system, disconnect the FD's, reset the speed bug, ...

But to be honest with you, my head is still up there, just above the magnificent fog layer.

Thunderstorms and CB's (photos)

September came in with its lot of CB's, thunderstorms, heavy rainfalls and high winds.
Some rather relaxed days at work can turn and did turn into uncomfortable situations.
It brought a weather diversion, two crosswind landings in 40 knot gusts (one which I did as PF with a Line Training Captain in the left seat), lots of flights surrounded by CB's, St Elmo's fires (too busy to take the camera out on this one, unfortunately), ...

July, August and September were by far the busiest months and I spent the majority of my days off travelling, commuting home and flying gliders, giving me little spare time to update the blog.
I logged 300 hours in 3 months while it took me 8 years to log my first 100 hours ...

Here are a few picture from the 737's flightdeck:

Time to rest on the beach, 5 min walk from my hotel ...

Faith in a Dream

We're stable at 41000ft, it's deeply dark out there apart from a brighter spot on the horizon in our 9 o'clock. The dimmed flightdeck lets us enjoy an amazing canopy of stars. As I lean forward, I relish the reddish horizon just above the Captain's shoulders.
The view is about to get fantastic. I wish you were here to see this.

"Airline pilot? Come on, stop dreaming! There's no job out there".

Turning left by 10°, the morning light is slowly starting to flood the cockpit. The Alps are taking a sharper shape in the orange darkness as we progress further South. This never fails to be magical, I don't know how to describe it to you but this is truely awesome!

"Get a normal job and fly on your spare time rather, that's the best thing to do".

The Captain is glued to the window, some of the finest landscape is now seating all around us.
A mighty 747 crosses us 1000ft above, leaving miles of bright orange contrails behind.
The sun is cracking the horizon, God this is magnificient!

"Be realistic young boy, this industry is no longer what it used to be, find something else".

The mighty Mont Blanc, standing at some 15,800 ft in our 1 o'clock, is getting a truely amazing golden coat.
I'm speechless, the view from the flightdeck is incredible!
I grab my camera to catch the action, but no picture nor words can describe what we're gaping at.
I can't help but think of those who gave me these wise advice, probably stuck in the traffic at this time of day on their way to some boring job. If I had followed their recommendations, I'd probably be seating at a desk with no window either, wondering why I listened to those who once told me I would never achieve my goal.
Among them, a lot were people who dreamt of becoming pilots themselves but ended up letting the dream go.
Someone once said, people too weak to follow their dream will always try to discourage yours. There might be a clue there...

The Captain invites one by one our four Flight Attendants in the cockpit. They are as amazed as we are. I'm looking down at the approach charts with a smile spreading across my face. At destination I'll be flying a "non-precision approach" (no ILS) with a 30° turn on short final and a steeper than normal approach angle, a very nice procedure to fly. I remember quite well all those who claimed that flying an airliner was all about pushing buttons. They would have loved the ride if they were here today.

After the up-and-downs, the never ending struggle, the hits-and-misses and years of hard work, I'm pondering on how my job is awesome.

For every risk I took, there was someone to tell me I would not make it.
When I was looking for a tow pilot job, I called every single flying club in the country. Lots of them can be quite agressive on the phone, they don't need you, they want you to have such and such licences and ratings that you don't have, they are looking for people already experienced in this area, they expect you to be from the city, you have to be available on the next morning, you must be ok with working for them while earning nothing and having to do the cleaning, paperwork and maintenance, ...
You're never the person they're looking for, and when they do have something to offer, it is miles from what you were hoping for. So you keep looking, you get on a bus, you travel across the country and you do what you are supposed to do: you don't give up.
Then one day comes when fortune favors you, when fortune favors the bold.

The sun is now intensely bright, sunglasses on, time to set up the stunning six-month old 737 for my approach.

Hold on to your dreams,

Hang in there.

A base for a week

One hour drive from home to the nearest airport and another two commuting flights later, I make it to my assigned base for the next few days.
After checking-in at the hotel, a walk in the city centre reveals what looks like the perfect place to enjoy your summer holidays.
No doubt, this is going to be a nice week. I'm on earlies, which leaves me with a lot of spare time in the afternoon.

Day ON 1, 3:20 am, time to get up.
The hotel's jacuzzy would have been much appreciated as a way to wake up but it isn't available up until 9 in the morning.
4:40 am, all the crew meet and the Captain introduces me to the four flight attendants. We review the weather reports, flight plans, notams, airfield charts and fuel calculations.
Time comes to decide who will be flying which leg. I was expecting to be PM (Pilot Monitoring, in charge of the walkaround, radio communications, paperwork, FMC inputs, ..) on the first sector and flying us back home as our destinaton airport uses a narrow (30m / 98ft) runway.
The Captain, in fact an experienced and well rounded LTC (Line Training Captain) gives me the opportunity to do the landing there.

Three hours later and established on final with Flaps 5, I disconnect the Autopilot and Autothrottle as we break through the low level stratus.
The first glance outside immediately makes me feel way too high from where we should be (standard 3° glide path) but this in fact is all down to the optical illusion from the runway's non-standard width. Eyes inside to follow the flight directors and maintain the speed, eyes outside to follow the PAPI's (4 lights on the side of the runway to insure a correct descent angle) and down we go.

'100', '50', '40', '30' gentle back pressure on the yoke, '20' throttles back to idle, '10', touchdown.
'Speedbrakes Up', both reverses to the 2nd detent, 75% N1, 100 knots, 80 knots, idle reverse, 60 knots, override of the autobrake and the Captain takes over control to vacate on the taxiway.
None a glassy smooth landing but enjoyable nonetheless.

By 1pm, we're back home and the paperwork filled-in, I catch a bus to the city centre. Unfortunately, none of today's Flight Attendants are up for a meet-up in town tonight.
After a quick stop at the hotel, it's time for a city tour ... (see photos below).

Day ON 2. Wake-up at 6 am which, on earlies, is surprisingly late.
After an eventless flight into Scandinavia, we're on the ground getting the aircraft ready for the flight back home.
With a temperature of 17°C and a fair headwind, you would normally expect no issue regarding take-off performances. Calculating the Vspeeds (V1, Vr and V2) and take-off thrust setting, you start with lower fixed derates (22K, 24K, ..) and reduce it then further by applying an 'Assumed temperature' (equivalent to Flex on Airbus), depending on the runway length available, climb gradient required, temperature, airport elevation, QNH, wind, and of course aircraft take-off weight.
Now with a rather short runway, 180 passengers, 120 bags and 13 tonnes of fuel, we might indeed be very tight.
We skip the 22K calculations and give it a go with 24K but clearly it won't do it.
With 26K and no assumed temperature (full thrust), we can take-off at 70.0 tonnes on those given conditions.
Today however, our aircraft will weight 70.4 tonnes on take-off (assuming a 150kg fuel burn off during taxi).

Now there's a way to get an extra margin if needed and this is called a Bleeds Off take-off, something we very rarely get a chance to do. 
The bleed air taken from the engines pressurizes the aircraft as soon as the take-off thrust is applied (still on the ground), taking a little bit of thrust off the engines during the take-off roll, which in turns reduces the performances. If we do a Bleeds Off take-off, no more bleed air is taken from the engine and the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) takes over and supplies it up to 17,000 ft.
Checking the performances again, we're now able for a take-off at 70.55 tonnes.


20 minutes later, aligned on the runway and cleared for take-off, we set 70% N1 thrust on the brakes, release them and here comes the maximum thrust. Airspeed increases quickly but what's more noticeable is the closing speed with the runway's end. '80 knots' call, quick look at my PFD and answer 'check'.
I can see we're now reaching 100 knots, the aircraft does feel very heavy. 120 knots, still another 26 to be able to get airborne. We're now in the touchdown markers (yellow blocks on the runway in Nordic countries) of the other end. 'V1' ...... 'Rotate!'. 146 knots as I pull the yoke and lift us off the ground. The main landing gear passes a few feet above the runway's threshold and the mighty pocket rocket starts its 4 hour journey to warmer lands.
Passing 4000 feet, the Captain completes the After take-off checklist specifically adapted for Bleeds Off departures. The main point being to replace the APU bleed air with engine bleed air and then switch off the APU.

8:00 pm, a beer in the hand and a dozen FA and pilots to share it with, a great way to end the day.