What It's Like to fly The Whale (400):
Great post from Capt. Pprune himself about his new gig flying the 400 for Virgin (lucky guy):
Been flying professionally now for 11 years. Started on the EMB110 (Bandit) then the HS748 (Budgie) followed by a succession of Boeings, B757/767, B737-300/700 and now just starting out on the B747-400. (Jeez it's big!)
Done the whole gamut including night freight and regional pax work on the turboprops and short, medium and long haul (Inclusive Tour) work on the Boeings. Now doing permanent long haul on the Big Boeing. (Jeez it's big!) Mind you, I've only just started line training on the B747 and I have an awful lot still to learn. Biggest difference is the size and energy of the beast. Whilst practicing to carve my initials in the thresholds of the various destinations I am still surprised when I find we have 'landed' (I use the term sparingly and only if the aircraft is reusable) that my eye height is still at around 50 feet, which is where I used to only just start thinking about starting the flare, and the 16 wheels of the landing gear are making all sorts of tortured sounds and rumbles nearly 100 feet behind me.
Because we get to taxy the a/c from both seats it is a real challenge to keep on the centreline of the taxiways. Not a lot of clearance for the gear or the wingtips at some locations. Sitting about three stories up gives new meaning to 'perspective' when you are trying to manoeuvre 320+ tons of Boeing, fuel and SLF whilst still on the ground. With the main body gear steering the B747-400 can make quite tight turns but you still have a 'sense' of 'acreage' behind you. (Jeez it's big!)
Got five trips rostered this month (Barbados, Orlando, Newark, JFK and Los Angeles) but expect to average four. Once line training is completed will be able to bid for trips. Hoping to do some out of Manchester as it would save me commuting.
Arrive at work, check in and sign sheet. Collect paperwork which is all prepared for us by other mortals and aim to get to a/c about one hour before ETD. PNF does the walk round (Jeez it's big!) whilst PF enters route and sets up departure. Wait for final ZFW and then pass final fuel to fueler. Lots of automatic goodies such as Pre-departure clearances via ACARS and other snazzy stuff but I'm far too inexperienced to go into detail. Makes crossing the Atlantic much more pleasurable without having to fight to get a word in edgeways on HF with CPDLC and ADS. Also, getting the latest weather for en-route alternates is a cinch. Non of that remembering to tune into the half hourly HF Volmet.
Being able to take crew rest when there's three or more of you on the flight deck is also a huge bonus. Makes a big difference to how you feel after nine or more hours cooped up when you have to get your wits together for the approach and landing. The beds aren't luxurious but you can lie down fully stretched out with pillows, sheets and duvets. I have since found that the post-prandial nap is the best slot to go for.
Food... must learn self control. Nothing happens on-board until the pre-flight sandwiches, fruit, chocolate and crisps has been delivered. Hot drinks served in proper chinaware as are all meals. Proper cloth napkins and a menu based on the Upper Class meals. Weight control will be my bug-bear if I'm not going to have others say ("Jeez he's big!")
Best of all is the friendly crews, both flight and cabin, I get to work with. There is usually at least 18 or more of us. Never a shortage of familiar faces to meet up with once we settle into our hotel downroute. So far I've only been to Orlando and Barbados, destinations I was already familiar with from my time on the B767 so I'm looking forward to the east coast US and New York destinations as well as South Africa and the rest of the Caribbean.
I've found that the bigger and heavier the metal, the amount of paperwork increases exponentially. Lots of it and possibly one of the more difficult things to learn about the job. On the other hand, I've found the opposite is true when it comes to the size of the manuals. The B747 is truly a wonderful aircraft and now that I've got four as opposed to two engines to deal with there is a huge amount of redundancy available. Shut down an engine on this and apart from a slight performance penalty you lose no other important system which means that you are still fully CATIIIb capable with all four hydraulic systems. In fact, it is the loss of a hydraulic system that is probably the most restricting system on the a/c.
Overall, as Scroggs has already mentioned, now that we are long haul gods working for probably the best UK airline, there is no higher mountain to climb and I shall certainly look forward to settling down to finish my career flying the flag. It's a lifestyle issue and I certainly look forward to only having to report to work about four times a month with ample opportunity to top up a tan, buy goods with very favourable exchange rates and take my family in style to good destinations with one of the best staff travel agreements.
Each time I get on the B744 (Jeez it's big!) I can't help smile and remember the number of times I have said to myself that I will fly one of those one day. Now that I do get to fly it, I must remember to wipe the smile off my face.