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!