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.

 

Another Day at the Office

Thrust levers advanced to 40% N1, engines stabilized and all gauges in the green, I activate TOGA and the full 52,000 lb blast (about 24 tonnes of engine thrust) shoves us back deep into our seats.
Full power setting today for our heavy aircraft loaded with tanker fuel, 180 adults, 5 babies and 6 crew members. The roar from the engines suddenly appears, the aircraft is shaking down the runway and our velocity is increasing very rapidly, looking for a 147 kt rotation speed and 18° pitch on initial climb. What a feeling of thrust!
Positive rate, gear up, the VSI (vertical speed indicator) pointing at 2500 feet per minute, another day at the office has just started.
To be more correct, it started some 1½ hours ago on the ground with the flight preparation, paperwork, weather and notams study and finally the crew briefing.
With flaps up and 4300 ft/min on the VSI, we're climbing like a homesick angel. After take-off checks complete, ATC gives us a direct and off we go. The climb rate is fantastic. Passing Flight Level 240, I engage the Flight Directors, Autopilot and Autothrottles. Most of our Captains encourage manual departures and arrivals and there's nothing more pleasant than to fly a 70 tonne aircraft in the calm morning air using raw data only. Our day is off to a good start!

I sometimes find it hard to believe this is what we do for a living.
There is no routine whatsoever. I have so far operated to 62 airports in 17 countries, shortest flight time being 25 minutes and longest of just under 5 hours. A third of my approaches were Non Precision Approaches, e.g. Localizer, VOR, NDB, or visual approaches.
I stopped counting how many people try to discourage the wannabe's stating how boring this job really is. The know-it-all's feel the need to talk about matters they know nothing about.
As we near the cloud tops, we can spot glimpses of blue sky overhead, in a few seconds we'll break through into the dusk canopy.
ATC gave us a clearance to FL260 initially and it happens to be just a dozen feet above the flat white layer. Even though close to the horizon, the sun is intensely bright here. The clouds are flowing under our wings and the feeling of speed is nothing short of amazing.
A company trafic is coming towards us 1000ft above in the opposite direction, the wingleted Boeing 737 passes overhead with a closing speed in excess of 1000 mph. The Captain and I are just in time to rush for our cameras and take a shot.

"Nowadays, it's all about managing the flight and watching the automation do the rest". So they said. Some pilots even like to call themselves "flight managers". The rest are pilots and do their job as pilots.
I struggled to get to know how the automatics work, it surely can be a good help at times but it will screw things up very quickly if you don't follow what's happening. When the automatic is turned off, the pocket rocket (737 nickname) reverts to basic Cessna modes and it is in fact a very pleasant aircraft to fly. There's nothing like flying a visual approach and establishing on final just 4nm from touchdown.

Climbing to the thin air at FL360, the flight attendants are getting busy at the back. The sunset is filling our cockpit with orange light. What a sight.

Top of climb,
Mach number : .80
Groundspeed : 520 knots
Altitude : 36,000 ft
Total heads on board : 191
View : Awesome

The Captain is doing the paperwork and the radios while I study the approach charts. On the next leg, we will swap roles. The flight attendants ding the cockpit and at the same time ATC breaks the silent environment and gives us a re-routing. We enter the waypoints and airways in the FMC, select a different arrival procedure (STAR) and activate the new route. The Captain quickly talks to the FA's while I grab the en-route charts to check the route, they have a toilet flush issue and we will have to get an engineer onboard to fix it at destination. I check the handling frequency, dial it in and call operations to have someone meeting us upon landing. I also give them the fuel figures for our next flight so that they can get the paperwork ready.
We have to hurry, this is one of those short flights...

I hand over the controls to the Captain and set up for the approach. He is a sharp guy but very helpful, the cockpit gradient is not steep and we really work as a team.
Low level chart briefed, notams and weather checked, MSA (minimum safe altitude), high spots on the approach, airspace classes, Top of Descend point, QNH and winds at FL300 and FL100 entered in the FMC for descent planning, STAR (arrival routing) briefed and crosschecked in the FMC with altitude and speed restrictions, final approach course in the MCP, ILS frequency, flaps configuration reviewed, navaids backup for the go-around (VOR and NDB), DA (Decision Altitude), land altitude in the pressurisation panel, go around briefing, landing performances, fuel reserves, flaps setting, brakes setting and cooling schedule, taxi-route reviewed, ...
I make a passenger annoucement on the public announce system. We are looking for a 20 min early arrival thanks to generous tailwinds.

Descent checklist complete and back at the controls, I enjoy the last minutes of daylight while the Captain asks for the descent. ATC clears us to FL100, 10,000ft in the Altitude window, LVL CHG (Level Change, autopilot mode) and down we go.
They later inform us that we are number 12 in sequence, it's definitely a busy airport. We dim the cockpit lights as we enter the clouds again, the surroundings darken the deeper we get in the cloud layers. Passing through FL200, I disconnect the autopilot.
We can already see the city lights straight ahead, the darkness magic has just begun.

Flying Across Europe (video)

Because pictures speak louder than words!
Watch on Youtube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9MaddCAmX8) for better quality (HD - 1080p 60fps).