Getting used to the tempo of commercial air travel

Hello! Longer time longer see again, thanks for coming back!

Since last post I've flown line flying full-time at Norwegian, gained my very first very valuable experience as a commercial pilot, and enjoyed every second of the 150 hours this far in a Boeing 737 cockpit. It's quite intense and I'm slowly getting used to the fast pace that is required for line flying on-time performance.

I've flown to 22 different domestic and international destinations in 13 countries with flight times from less than 30 minutes and up to almost 4 hours with 9 different instructor captains. I've accomplished 84 flights and have another 30 to go on so-called line training before I have my line check, which is an operational test of an ordinary flight together with a normal non-instructor captain. When I pass the line check, I will finally be regarded as a first officer finished with all initial training, and I will be able to fly with any captain on practically any flight in Norwegian's network. However, for my whole career I will have to do recurrent training in a simulator at least every 6 months when I will need to once again show my skills how to handle an abnormal situation that could occur, such as engine failures and fires.

After my line check I'll also receive my unrestricted MPL-license which is valid worldwide on any airline in case I need to look for another job. I do hope to continue fly for Norwegian though, and initially the plan is to be relocated to the base in Tenerife together with another 7 of my classmates. There we'll be around 45 pilots during the winter and mainly fly Nordic, British and German tourists from major cities. I look forward to it a lot; exploring the island, getting to know new people and fly new routes. Before the relocation and after the line check I also have some holiday when I'll visit Japan for almost 3 weeks, that'll also be great!

Photos:

 

 Me at work.

 

 

The main screens showing speed, altitude, location on a map with weather radar (the colors show the intensity of the weather) and much more. In the first picture we're cruising at the maximum altitude of 12 500 meters. We always try to fly as high as possible because then we use less fuel due to the lower air resistance but depending on the weight (number of passengers and amount of fuel) we can seldom actually fly at the maximum altitude.

 

 

 

 

The view from my office is not bad, there are so many cool cloud formations and mountain landscapes to enjoy.

 

 

 And sometimes we see other airplanes flying closely (always with at least the safety margin of 300 meters in altitude difference), which also is really cool. Not least the first picture with a KLM Boeing 747.

 

 

 Sometimes we even have some time to explore other cities during night stops, like here in Aalborg, Denmark, and Luleå in northern Sweden.

 

 

Just because I now regularly fly 79 ton passenger jets, that doesn't mean I no longer enjoy flying private small propeller airplanes. I've joined the flying club in Borlänge close to my family home and done a few flights with friends and family, and had great fun!

Skill test and landing circuits - now it's for real!

When I wrote the last post, we were almost finished with the simulator training. So after completing the final simulator sessions, it was time for the skill test. While all simulator training had been done with the same teams of two students, taking turns doing the roles as pilot flying and pilot monitoring, on the skill test we were supplied with a real captain instead.

The skill test was 2.5 hours long for each of us, and began with preparations for a normal flight. Then we took off and climbed for a short while as part of test for the normal procedures. Then, as always in the simulator, we were presented with some failures we had to resolve, which as usual demanded us to return to the departure airport (nearest airport). There the weather was bad so we had to abort the first landing attempt, and then we could just make contact with the runway and land at the second attempt.

Drawing a line there for the first part, we then repeated and took off again a few times, each time facing a new failure. Mainly engine problems forcing us to fly with one engine only (which is more difficult). We also practiced encountering windshear (rapidly changing wind) and various levels of automation failure, so that we had to fly manually to a higher extent than usual. Finally, we were presented with an evacuation situation and we performed the evacuation procedures.

Except for the simulator test, we were also orally interrogated on theory and procedure knowledge. In the end, everything went well and me and my training partner could return home as happy certified Boeing 737 pilots.

However, we were still not completely ready to begin working. A week later we had a meeting with one at the planning office, and then me and two friends were given the opportunity to switch base during the training period (until October), so that I could have Stockholm instead of Copenhagen, which I'm very grateful for. The schedule for July was however already decided, so I will begin my career in Copenhagen on July 18th (tomorrow when this is written) flying passengers to Barcelona and then other passengers back.

During the fairly long gap between the skill test and first flight I've mostly been at home enjoying the summer and studying procedures to stay recurrent. However for the whole of June we were on standby to perform the mandatory landing circuits without passengers. Finally we could get planes not used for scheduled flights and complete them on July 2 and 3. I and three friends together with an instructor flew in the morning on July 2 from Arlanda to Västerås and then did 42 continuous landing circuits with touch and go landings (taking off again directly after touching the ground). Each student did 12 landings, however one of us had already done half of his landings earlier (why total 42).

I got the honor to fly the first part starting at Arlanda, and the whole session was a great experience. Mostly similar to the simulator, but yet a slightly different feeling, in a good way. The rapidly increasing amount of splatter bugs on the windshield reminded us that we were actually flying a real airliner.

The last thing to be done before we could fly ourselves was to sit as an observer in cockpit during two days of normal operation. This is done shortly before one's first own flight and usually includes return flights to 3-4 different destinations. As I had been an observer several times before during the simulator training period, I was not unfamiliar to it, but being able to take part already from the briefing in the terminal and during turn-arounds, it felt quite important and worthwhile. My first such flight was to Malaga and back, and the scenery around Malaga was quite amazing. I really look forward to flying there myself.

Photos:

There are a few 737-300 Classic s as well at Norwegian. It was quite interesting to see the differences for myself during a flight from Oslo to Stockholm but we don't do training on this 737 version since there's no need for more pilots who can fly them.

After the successful skill test at CAE simulator centre at Arlanda.

The plane that soon will suffer from hot wheels and brakes, coming in to pick us up. Actually I never flew on this flight because the time was too short, so I had to wait another week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally in the first officer seat myself!

The mandatory selfies! 

A touch and go landing by a friend who then switches seat with another friend while the captain continues with the circuit in preparation for another landing. With a fuel consumption of 40 kg/minute there's no time to lose!

Reducing the gap between reality and simulation

I welcome you back as well as the summer, I've missed you both!

The last month has been packed with simulator lessons. They have been primarily in Oslo, and a few in Copenhagen why I've had to travel a lot from my home in Uppsala. With free commuter tickets and paid hotels it has worked quite well.

In total we as MPL students at TFHS/Lund University have 24 sessions in Boeing 737 simulators. Most of them, 21 sessions, are in full motion flight simulators, which means they move according to control inputs, acceleration and turbulence etc. and it all feels extremely real. The instruments in the simulators are of course practically identical  to the real airplane. Three sessions were in a fixed based simulator, which means they work the same except they are stationary.

Each session is 4 hours with 2 hours of briefing before and 1 hour of debriefing afterwards. During the first two hours of each session one of the two students is pilot flying while the other student is pilot monitoring. The pilot monitoring communicates with ATC, monitors the pilot flying's actions and configure anything the pilot flying asks for. After two hours there is a short break and then the pilots switch place. Since we're training to be first officers (co-pilots) the pilot flying always sit in the right hand seat, while the pilot monitoring sits in the left hand captain's seat.

After having done 20 sessions now we've experienced and practiced practically all normal and non-normal procedures that we need to know. On the 23nd session we'll have a final progress check reviewing the most important parts ahead of the skill test a few days later. The 24th session will just be some more repetition on aircraft handling doing 14 approaches and landings manually.

During the skill test which for me and my colleague will be on June 11th, five days after the last simulator session, we'll be paired not with each other but with a stand-in captain whom we've never met before. As I've understood it, we'll only be tested on our role as pilot flying and the captain who we'll fly with is supposed to act as in real life, giving us all the help we ask for. This means the skill test will only be roughly two hours for each of us. Some skill test contents are mandatory, like a fully manual approach ("raw data") and one engine inoperative approach and landing. Many other items may or may not be present on the skill test, and the instructor from the civil aviation authorities will decide. Taking the skill test costs around 7500 SEK, taking it once more if we got a "partial pass" costs around half of that.

After the skill test we need to do one more thing to get our certificates, and that is to fly an empty Boeing 737 without passengers and perform 12 landings. Typically a few students, probably 3-6, will board a plane in Oslo or at another large base, fly to a smaller airport like Västerås or Kristianstad and then take turns in completing our 12 landings. When everybody are finished the plane will be flown back to its base. The landings are done as touch-and-go landings which means we'll take off immediately after touchdown without stopping and do a narrow visual circuit around the airport. The whole process takes roughly 1 hour for 12 landings, and will surely burn off a lot of fuel and cost a lot of money...

Having got our certificates we're supposed to start flying normal airline operation from the beginning of July. We'll then be scheduled to ride passively two full days in the cockpit just observing routine operation, and then on the third day fly as first officers. During the first few days we're actually flying there'll be a so-called safety pilot (experienced pilot) sitting in the cockpit ready to take control in case we feel unwell being nervous or so.

Photos:

A left-over group photo from one of the very last days in Ljungbyhed, in front of a Piper PA-31 Navajo. Also one of the last opportunities to use our school uniform, next it'll be Norwegian's flight crew uniform!

 

Two more left-over group photos, from the hangar during the company course in Oslo in March-April.

Three happy student pilots on their way to some intense simulator training in Oslo.

A Norwegian Air Force Hercules on short final runway 01L at Oslo Airport. The hotel we're staying at in Oslo is adjacent to the runway why we naturally do some flight spotting now and then. The second photo is from the threshold of runway 22L at Copenhagen airport.

The cockpit of the newest simulator with cutting edge graphics in Oslo: A Boeing 737-800WSFP. By the way there are two Boeing 737NG (NG means 737-600/700/800/900) simulators in Oslo, one in Copenhagen and one in Stockholm. All are located in simulator centers owned by the Canadian company CAE at respective airports. The Stockholm centre is the largest and the one in Oslo the smallest, but the aircraft types available differ a lot.

 

The SAS museum is also located nearby our hotel. I'm curious how Norwegian's museum will look like in 50 years from now!