LIFESTYLE..... LONG OR SHORT? YOU DECIDE

[jet jones]

Fellow aviators,

We of little knowledge will like to know how things really are in the real world. Would any pilots care to give a full(abbreviated is fine) description of a typical working day in the life of a long haul or short haul pilot.
Regionals are especially wellcome in the short haul category. To help clarification, the format should be as follows:

Type of Aircraft flown
Typical length of sector
left or right hand seat (optional)
Enjoyment factor(Mark out of 10)
Pet hates and loves
Typical activity on stopovers if any
Definition of a sector

This is not a rigid format and can be modified by funky ppruners, however do not deviate from the subject as the younger ones are counting on the educational content. Subtopics can also be added at the authors discretion. :)

Thanks to all future contributors

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live to fly

[Battery no charge]

Type: Bae 146 RJ100
Company: CFE
Position: F/O
Pet Hates:Impatient captains and Gash captains, going through security.
Enjoyment Factor: 10-5 depending on crew, route, type of duty. (apt sby scores a low 5!)

A typical three sector day will begin with a check-in time of 1 1/2 hours before schedule, but today I'm early. As it's going to be a night stop, I remove my overnight bag together with my flight bag from the car, which I am lucky enough to park adjacent to our crew room. I bustle up the stairs and press my lapel to the security monitor to gain entry to the 'building', stopping here and there, perhaps, to engage in idle banter with an even idler colleague on his/her way out/in.

Once through, the first thing I'm interested in is, who's the boss today?. Am I gonna wish I'd brought that good book to read tonight?; or am I gonna be glad I've got some spare cash for a couple on the town? Sometimes we're lucky enough to have the whole crew do the whole two day tour with us, and that can have an effect also, but not as much. Personalities vary widely, especially with captains. F/O's too but less so, as we are basically chamaeleons; within the boundaries of safety, we adapt. Also, each of us has their favourites. Today (and the next) I'm stuck with an old fart with white hair who used to be a station commander in the Navy. When he gets irate he stutters a little. However, he's a good old sort and we get on quite well. He's actually got a very good sense of humour.

So, I carry on through to the crew room and dump my stuff on the nearest available table. Out comes the kneeboard which will accommodate the voyage report (VR) and the SWORD flight plans in due course. After gathering the necessary VR, bug cards, envelopes and weather sheets for two days worth, I have to go back to the notice board to copy down flight numbers and times onto the VR. Armed with this information I now return to the crew room to sit at a computer terminal. From here I extract three SWORD flight plans for today's jolly, together with notams and weather for departure, destination en-route and alternate aerodromes. The SWORDS have to be ripped and stapled and the bug cards are filled in as much as possible. (i.e. flight numbers, flap settings, date, etc., etc.

This takes about fifteen minutes. At about this time the silvertop enters the crew room. We take one look at each other, cast our eyes skyward and sigh.
" I knew they'd lose my request form not to fly with you!" I say.
" Mine must have been stapled to yours, then!" he says in his stereotypical upper class accent.

This initial greeting tells me it isn't one of his 'off' days. He eventually lowers his frame onto the chair next to me and proceeds to read the day's weather and notams through half moon glasses. Whilst he reads one I read the other, and then we swap. He asks me: " If I was good enough to let you fly today, which sectors would you want to do?".
" Well, if it pleases Your Lordship, I'd like to do the last two today and one tomorrow." He hands me my two flight plans and allows me to decide on the amount of fuel I would like to take. After inspecting each other's fuel decisions we pack everything away. A quick look on the main board will tell you if there is anything new as regards change of operating proceedures since last you graced the company with your presence. Down we go to wait for a bus. I'm a smoker so I take the oportunity to light a fag whilst we wait.

The weather is good in Zurich but pants in Dublin where we will be ending up at 20:00. The aircraft is late in, but we have a T/O slot 1/2 hour after STD anyway. Eventually, Dot takes us out to the aircraft. Without a shadow of a doubt the worst part of the day is going through security. I make a comment about this and the Captain asks me if it is because I was molested as a boy by a security guard. I can't think of anything to reply so I smile bitterly at him. Privately, I know I shall have my revenge.

Once in the aircraft, we greet the inbound crew with varying degrees of courtesy depending on who they are. On this ocasion the Captain makes some remark akin to:
"Lock up your wives and daughters Battery's loose". Which is rich coming from him! I reply:
"Pot to Kettle, over".
After this nonsensical banter, if the aircraft has any defects, you will be told. Today we have no APU which is a pain but you can live with it. As I've said it's a nice day and we probably won't need the eng A/icing all the way down. (on a 146 you cannot have eng A/ice and eng air on at the same time for landing or take off as it bleeds too much power in the event of a go-around)

Eventually, I plonk myself down into my seat and get on with my pre-flight cx. I have to check various systems such as fire bells and set up the FMS. I also get the ATIS and the clearance. In the meantime the Capt is walking around the aircraft making sure that we still have wings and engines etc. The despatcher has been in to request fuel figures and crew composition for the loadsheet. Also to liase with the purser and request a boarding time. Again this all takes about 15 minutes and by now the captain has remembered where the flight deck is. The big heavy log book is placed on his lap and he proceeds to trawl through it looking for defects and making sure that the engines are not out of hours etc. The good Captains keep you in the loop and notify you of anything untoward. By the same token a good F/0 will have taken the time to have a quick look himself. As the purser comes in to inform the Captain that all the security cx are complete in the cabin I tell him that the same goes for the flight deck. It's also a good idea to inform him of any change in slot time of which you will be informed when you call up for clearance.

Once he has filled in the tech log he proceeds to brief you for emergencies, T/O and departure as well as the config for T/O (i.e. flap setting, eng A/ice on/off etc. etc.) Today we have no APU so we have to start Eng 4 (a generator engine) on stand with the GPU in before we push. Hopefully we'll remember to unplug it because I'm told it's a hell of a swing on take off if you don't!

With the brief out of the way we can do our before start cx to the dotted line. A timely arrival of the loadsheet means that we can set up our T/O bugs and trims based on the weight. Now we can complete the BSC list beyond the line. The slot has co-incided nicely with the late inbound and we can request push & start straight away. That's my job. More cx and liason with the ground crew ensues and once our genny eng has been started we disconnect and push back.

Take-off and climb are uneventfull. As I am non-handling pilot I do the radio and whilst the old dodderer is hand flying I also have to set the altitudes, speeds and modes. As we pass various waypoints I have to note down the times on my SWORD plan and compare them to the predicted time of arrival. This is arrived at by extracting the T/O time and adding the various leg times until I reach destination.

Once in the cruise I hand over radio duties to the Captain and dial up a relevant volmet frequency to get the various en-route, destination and alternate weathers. Difficult on such a 'long' sector to get them all at once. On return to the flight deck environment you will be informed of any changes. Somewhere along the line you have to estimate how much fuel you will have to hold with should the need arise. Provided that your SWORD times coincide, with a tolerance of about five minutes either way, you can safely use the figures on it to derive how much holding fuel you will have before you have to divert. Easy peasy and takes all of 20 seconds.

If you're lucky, in our airline, the purser will feed and water you somewhere along the way. Towards the end of the flight there is a landing brief to be completed, an ATIS to be acquired and bugs to be set for landing before you can do the descent cx. Close to the airfield (say 50miles) you have to contact the ground agents. The kind of things they want to know are return fuel figures, ETA and any special needs pax. Today I also have to request a GPU as we have no APU. They will inform you of stand number and any slots for the return. Again I return to the flight deck and tell the captain any relevant information adding that I have also requested him a wheelchair for his walkround. This, of course, implies that he will be doing the next sector and thanks me for giving it up to him. Damn, got it wrong again, Dad!

As usual Zurich bring us in high and fast but this is a fairly flexible aircraft and experience is a valuable tool. Runway 14 is huge and even the captain can see it! After giving way to half the Swissair and Crossair fleet we eventually make it on to stand C05. Before shutting the engines down I have to remember to kill the air con packs and engine air as they form part of the after landing cx and we don't have an APU. (normally we transfer the bleeds from eng to APU) On arrival, and shutdown cklist completed, there is a fair amount of paperwork to do, though mainly by the Captain involving the tech log.

Once the pax are herded off I put on my dayglo jacket and do the walkround. Essentially It's like any other walk round of any other aircraft. The fueler will, eventually, turn up and do the honours once you've told him how much you want. I sign the chitty and make my way up to the flight deck where I hope the Captain has not nodded off and has done everything I did back at Gatwick. Meanwhile the cabin crew are busy securing the cabin or having a quick fag down the back.

The return journey is much the same as the previous leg only the roles are reversed. The subsequent trip to Dublin the same only this time I will lose the landing because Dublin have low visibility procedures in force. Esssentially the CATIII is the same except that I am handling pilot but not flying pilot. It is all flown on autopilot and I make the selections of heading, height and speed and call for flap settings but at 50 feet when I call decide, if the captain is still alive and decides to land, he takes control. If he decides to go-around then I maintain control and 'fly' the go around on the autopilot (press the red buttons on the levers, call for flap 24 and airbrake in).

At some point we arrive at Dublin and usually leave the aircraft in the hands of our engineer. The whole crew then exits the aircraft and we call for the hotel transport, which picks us up outside the terminal. Sometimes the cabin crew are with us for the duration of the duty in which case they often come down for a drink. If they are on a split duty they have to get up early the next day and fly home with the flight deck who are, by now, safely tucked up in their beds. They will have arrived earlier that day and are, basically, doing our duty in reverse order. The next day we don’t start until 13:30 so those of us with UK/EU licences have no problems. I arrange to meet Capt Fishead (RAF term for Navy pilot) in the bar and we relax with a pint or two.

The next day is really much the same; back to LGW then on to somewhere else and back at about 19:00. By the time we’ve shut the aircraft down or handed it over, completed the paperwork and got back to the crew room you are talking about ½ an hour. The usual “ I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure”, is exchanged between Birdseye and I and we part company. He has to sign the VR and I have to complete the crew hours on it. I’m usually home an hour after landing, beat the wife and kids whether they need it or not, kick the dog, pull the cat through the flap backwards and then sit down to watch some telly or surf the prune network.

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Be good to your kids, they'll be chosing your retirement home!

[Captain Ed]

I flew short haul on the B-727, and long haul on the L-1011. I'll discuss long haul. Short haul is too much like work.

I got to really enjoy layovers at Portland OR. This is a fantastic city, one of the few left in the USA. One pairing called for a 36 hour layover, so I bid it, and held it for the last 3 years of my career.

Depart JFK at 1450 Local, so report at 1350. Nice. Get release, meet FO and FE, add fuel, usually 10,000# just to show them who's boss, and take crew bus to terminal. Look over log book, meet cabin team and brief them. We usually had 12, if I recall. I had a beef with TWA in 1986 when Carl Ichan gave us a 40% pay cut, so I authorized the cabin team to serve complimentary liquor to everyone. (Take that, Carl!) I did this the entire year, BTW. The girls loved me for this. Happy PAX, no accounting, no making change, etc.. It cast Uncle Carl about $82,000 a month.

The rest is just flying, which you of course know about. The flight to SEA usually took around 6 hours. WX at SEA is sometimes a problem, but with Cat 3A and this fantastic autopilot, who cares? Sometimes I didn't see the runway until the nosewheel touched down.

Turn around in :45, and off the PDX. Change clothes, and hit the local watering spots that all tried to out do each other with fantastic hors dourves (sp?). Example - 6 Oysters Rockefeller for $1 with a drink and McCormacks. Great stuff at the Elephant and Castle too, with their own excellent micro-brewery. Settle down in a restaurant and have a real meal, then to bed.

Next day, check the WX. If it's nice, rent a car and go sightseeing. If not, pick up someting to read after breakfast. Do Lunch in one of the great spots to eat, and around happy hour time, repeat the previous night's routine.

Depart PDX at 1430 Local, fly 45 minutes to SEA, turn around and fly around 5 hours back to JFK. Take 5 days off, and repeat.

God be with the days! :)

[jet jones]

WOW !!!! Amazing depiction of duties guys...Please keep them comimg. Battery no charge....absolute dedication..to the poing accuracy ....I think I can see you in your house now ...you make so real its unrreal

Capt Ed...amazing... five days off and do it again...I am going to do anything to qualify..So who's next??? :)

[Captain Ed]

JJ - I must add that this was an exceptional pairing. It went very senior, and I flew all sorts of crap until I got senior. I was hired in 1957, and got to fly trips like these around 1984.

The other way to fly great trips is to go back to being a very senior F/O, but I didn't want to do this.

[Iolar]

That made for fantastic reading. It was really inciteful into the lifestyle pilot's lead.

Thank you both Batt no Charge and Cpt. Ed.

[Alpine Flyer]

Dash 8
45' to 1:30, exceptionally 30' and up to 2h30
left (right when instructing new captains only)
enjoyment varying, but lower than 5 rare
Pet hates and loves: hate colleagues ignoring procedures without offering better alternative, "systemic stupidity", i.e. procedures, documentation, or just general work done without thinking, love flying in the mountains

Typical activity on stopovers if any: Most stopovers last minimum rest or less, i.e. 6 to 10 hours, so evening drink (if still available at midnight checkout time in airport hotel), sleep, breakfast (if available at early morning check-in time or worth mentioning in breakfast-abstaining countries). No nice stopovers with sightseeing, etc.

Definition of a sector: take-off to landing

Usual duty: 4 sectors a day (out and back twice), sometimes three sectors in the evening and five the next day, sometimes a "double" (w. intermediate stop) in the evening and a "double" back home after a 6-7hr hotel "break".

Sorry, inadequate time to duplicate BNC's "a la recherche du temps perdu". On the left seat I don't work that much anyway :-)

BTW, for enjoyment factor it's almost as important whose boss you are as who's your boss.....

[javelin]

Get up, drive to work, load 58 tonnes, take off, drink tea, eat fud, land, drink beer, get laid (in my dreams), party further, drink more, report, take off, drink tea, land, take Pro Plus, drive home, sleep, wake up, feel like **** , argue with the wife, kid, dog. Repeat !! In and amongst, have a damn fine life wth few regrets.

[woftam]

Flat Battery,brilliant mate!
:) :)
Edit: The frown was a mistake,but can't edit. (finger trouble) :)

[This message has been edited by woftam (edited 27 May 2000).]

[blackadder]

Battery no charge.
You've set a high standard of storytelling.
Great stuff. Thank you...

Any stories from the Desert mob? Q8 etc.

[Shamrock01]

Brilliant stuff all this.

Any Aer Lingus pilots willing to add something? Be nice to know what I've let myself in for!