Well I probably should tell you about the company so you know will know eventually what your working day will consist of should you succeed in getting on the scheme and being recruited into the airline. Start times are as per your roster, earliest I've had so far is 0430 and latest is about 1450, so quite varied start times.
Upon parking and walking in the rain and wind to the terminal we obviously have to pass through security, emptying your pockets and taking off jackets etc, trust me this could tip someone over the edge if they're having a bad day, but I'm sure the staff at the search point have seen it all before
On from that we walk through the length of the EDI main terminal to reach our crew room, so plenty opportunity for posing if that's what floats your boat
In the crew room we log into the staff intranet and 'check in' for our duty. Then usually whoever is in first, be it captain or f/o will start the process of printing the paperwork off. Once that is complete the P1 will brief the P2 on the current/forecast weather and any relevent NOTAMs along the route. The the crew will decide on a fuel figure for the flight, justifying why they took any extra if they did (WX/Icing/ATC etc) Then the figures will phoned through to the handling agent, and usually by the time we reach the aeroplane, the refuller is nearly done or actually done if the inbound landed with alot of extra fuel.
Once on board we stow our baggage if we have any (not our flight kit, just your clothes bag, you might not be nightstopping of course) then procede onto the flight deck. The P1 will perform the walk around, while the P2 performs the relevant checks, the actual checks done depend on whether the A/C was sealed up or was handed over by a crew. The P2 will start to set up the navaids for the SID expected, it's written on the flightplan, which bases its judgement on current winds from METAR reports, and will also plug the route into the FMS and calculate the performance figures (time permitting for the latter). The P1 will join P2 on the flightdeck after his/her walk around and begin to either check the performance figures or do them if the P2 is busy.
Once this is complete the before start checks are completed to the line, then the departure brief commences. Once this is complete, the loadsheet has hopefully arrived, and we interactively enter the weights into the FMC and onto the paper flightplan, ensuring no errors are made. Then the rest of the before start checks are completed. I usually get my clearence during the brief but it is personal choice. This must be listened to by both crew members, again so no errors are made. Once this is all complete, we had over the relevent paperwork to the dispatcher who then leaves the a/c and this allows us to close up and request push and start from ATC.
The way we set the aeroplane up for flight is by a set or memory actions triggered by an event, e.g receiving ATC push and Start clearnce automatically makes the crew perform the push/start 'set up'. We then follow the checklist to make sure we've moved the right switches into the right places! It sounds convoluted but it actually works very well, allowing you to CHECK each system is correctly set for start; since you've already moved the switch/control, and not just read and do from a list.
Thats about it really, the rest is just straightforward (hopefully) line flying, following a SID, fly along airways or by ATC headings, STAR or Radar vectored arrival and approach to land. The turnaround is always busy as above unless your finished for the day!
You have to be adaptable to change, ATC change runways, slot times move, weather changes, and all these changes can be in our favour and not in our favour and any combination inbetween. Add to that the infinate varible of passengers and people coming in and out of the flight deck means you can't be too settled in, as soon as you do that, it all changes!
And of course being ready for any non normal or emergency situation, remember we usually run the APU, and it could catch fire just as easily as the four on the wings could. Not likely, but possible! I find it as stimulating on the ground as in the air, it's almost like chess, trying to manage all your pieces correctly and get them in order to make your move. Or maybe I just suffer from illusions of grandeur, who knows!
Hope this was informative!
Atreyu
