A day in the life . . .
 

This forum is getting a bit gloomy at the moment, what with all the talk of "is it worth it?" and 95 pages of "will there still be an economy next year?" You lot need cheering up. So just for a change (and to prove that it really is all worth it) here is a typical day for a low-cost FO - one who until very recently was a wannabe himself.

I wake up naturally - no need to set the alarm as I'm not reporting until lunchtime. This makes a nice change, having left the house at 05:00 for the last three days. Today is a typical four sector day, the afternoon Norwich to Dublin and back, then the evening Manchester and back. I have some light breakfast and make sure there are a couple of bananas in my flight case. Banana Man (remember him?) was right - 'nanas are miracle food, a great source of energy when you're starting to feel tired.

A nice leisurely bath, then I shave and get dressed. Allow myself a couple of moments of self-admiration in the mirror. I know I shouldn't, but it does look good. Anyway, what the hell, that uniform cost me forty-five thousand pounds - why not get your money's worth? Briefly consider popping into the village shop dressed like this, then decide against it on the grounds they'll think I'm the bloke from Securicor. Jump in the car and drive to the airport.

Park up and stride as purposefully as I can through the passenger terminal. No-one realises my flight bag actually contains bananas - my secret is safe. Get to security, there is no queue and they're happy for me to leave my shoes on today (wearing the same pair of socks three days running must have done the trick). Put my bag, mobile, jacket, etc on the conveyor and walk through the metal detector. For once I don't set it off. Security lady compliments me on the size of my bananas - today is going to be a good day.

Walk round to the crew room. Being new and keen, I'm early and have the place to myself. Get a coffee, then check-in on the system and print off the paperwork - plogs, weather, notams etc. It's a nice aeroplane today with no defects, and the weather looks good - winds light and easterly with a high cloud base just about everywhere. The captain arrives and we discuss the weather and fuel figures. Agree on a fuel uplift in Dublin, then I phone all the figures through to the dispatchers. The cabin crew have arrived so we join them to brief the weather and discuss a couple of emergency scenarios.

The aircraft arrives. The incoming crew have left us with enough fuel to get to Dublin, have pulled out all the aerodrome charts that we'll need, and even plugged the route into the FMS for us - one of the benefits of working at a small base where everyone knows each other and gets on well. The captain does the walkround while I go into the flightdeck and start setting up. A quick scan to check all the switches are in the right place (they are) then I get the ATIS and pull out the performance manual. The good book confirms we can do a full-flex takeoff (the Q400 is hugely overpowered, and it's not often that we don't fully flex). I bug acceleration altitude and double check the data in the FMS. It was a box of mysteries when I first started, but it's amazing how quickly you pick up the basics.

The captain joins me, we review the performance figures and FMS data entry, then I brief emergencies and the departure (today I'm flying the first three sectors). I remember my first departure brief, back during the MCC, when I had to read it off a piece of paper. When you're doing it four times a day however, it soon becomes second nature. The passengers board, and today there are no discrepancies with numbers or missing bags. They're even sitting in their assigned seats - most important on this aircraft - so we shut the doors and I call ATC for push and start. On the push I start number two then number one. Two good starts (not like the sim, where every time you flick a switch you can expect something to catch fire or explode).

The tug disconnects and we run through the after start checks. These take the form of a memory item flow, followed by a challenge and response checklist. In the sim I couldn't get my head round the flows, so the only way to memorise them was to set them to music. "Flaps, aux pumps, autofeather sel . . ." to the tune of the Itchy and Scratchy Show from The Simpsons. It worked though - at least I don't have to sing them now.

Departure clearance is received as we taxy. We line up, and I have control. Of an airliner. With 70 passengers in the back. A few months ago that was a distant fantasy. Forget all that now - concentrate. "Set Power." Even at full flex (81% of rated torque) the acceleration is fierce. A bit of right rudder to counteract the props, respond to the "eighty knots both" call, and Vr comes up in seconds. Smoothly rotate to the flight director command bars, trim the elevators and ease off on the rudder. At acceleration altitude the autopilot is engaged - I have hand flown the aircraft for barely a minute, but I don't mind - it can fly much smoother than I can, and it gives me a chance to admire the views. We're climbing between layers of overcast, but pop out the top at around twelve thousand feet. The passengers are released and now we're climbing above a sea of cotton wool. God, I love this view. It makes me want to write poetry, but there's work to be done first.

I dispense with the Norwich plates, retrieve the Dublin ones and start setting up the navaids for our approach. We've got an hour to go, but the trick in this game is to stay ahead of the aircraft. Particularly this one - it might have propellers, but it will cruise at 360 knots true airspeed, which is almost as quick as a BAe146. Either way, it's a lot faster than the Duchesses I've been flying. The captain carries out a fuel check and has already got me the Dublin weather. As expected, it's runway 10, which means a relatively leisurely arrival, all the way round to the north and then west of the airport. I brief the arrival, noting the speeds ATC will expect from us. Dublin is a very busy place and if you don't adhere to the speed profiles, you'll cause chaos.

Briefing complete, landing weight calculated and speeds bugged, time to sit back and enjoy a banana. Before long we're coasting out past the Wirral, Manchester hand us to Dublin, and we start the descent. There's no holding today, and we're immediately given radar vectors in preparation for the approach. Through flight level one hundred, the landing lights go on, and I can see at least four other aircraft around us on TCAS - as usual it's busy. After a pretty much continuous descent, we're given an intercept heading to the ILS. I remember to arm approach mode (my bugbear) and the autopilot smoothly intercepts. Now it's all about the speeds - not below 160 to 4. With a Vref (landing speed) of around 120 knots it doesn't allow much time to configure the aircraft and get everything stable by 500 feet.

It's a little lumpy today, but the autopilot is doing fine, and I concentrate on power settings to maintain the speed. Inside four miles, we take landing flap, landing checks, and I start bringing the speed back towards Vref plus five. "Five hundred" and we're stable, cleared to land. The speed is within limits, but higher than I'd like and increasing, I pull off some power - not too much as the power levers are very sensitive. Three hundred feet, I take out the autopilot and concentrate on sticking to the flight director. We're over the runway threshold, "Fifty, forty, thirty". The radalt calls are quite close together. I flare but daren't overdo it - a tailstrike would ruin my day. We're still sinking quite quickly - a tiny dab of power, but I'm a fraction too late. Boing - my first bounce. How embarrassing. Don't panic, don't pull back, don't yank off the power - and the aircraft settles back onto the runway. Sixty knots, the captain has control and we taxy in.

The passengers get off and no-one says anything - perhaps they didn't notice? The cabin crew did however; "That was a nice gentle landing, then we realised we were flying again." Thanks ladies! We debrief and I make a mental note to be more gentle with power changes. The captain does the walkround, I start setting up for the return flight. It's a 25 minute turn round and the passengers are ready to board. I engage in what I think is some harmless flirting with the dispatcher, which escalates alarmingly. It seems that if we ever go tech in Dublin, I'm guaranteed somewhere to stay for the night. Another mental note to self - hide in toilet next time we're here.

The return trip is a mirror image of the outbound one. A firm but acceptable arrival at Norwich, but this is from an NDB approach to a much shorter runway - not a place to go looking for greasers. Very much a case of right place, right speed . . .

Off to Manchester now, and this is one busy flight. My record is 38 minutes airborne, but today we're on the easterly runways, so it will take a little longer. Brief the approach in the climb, no time for a banana, and straight away we're descending and being vectored for runway 05R. We turn onto the localiser and I manage to arm approach mode again - that's twice in one day, I'm getting good at this. Determined to get a good landing, the wind is variable less than five knots. Autopilot out a little earlier this time, give myself a chance to retrim and nail the flight director. Nail the speed, supersize your scan rate. Nail the centreline. "Fifty, forty." The radalt calls are much better spaced now, I've got a ten thousand foot runway to play with, and we'll have to roll a long way before we can turn off. "Twenty." "Ten." I leave the power levers alone. Just as I start to think we're floating, the main wheels kiss the runway. A greaser! One of the smoothest landings I've managed in anything, let alone a Q400. Grinning like a kid at Christmas, I hand over control to the captain as we slow down.

I'm happy but tired. That landing took a lot of effort, and I'm glad he's flying us back home. Another 25 minute turn round and we're off again. In the evening light the clouds have a pinky glow to them. I marvel at the view one last time as we sink down into the murk, back down to the real world. The captain demonstrates an immaculate wing-down crosswind landing, we taxy back in and shutdown. Back to the crewroom, I key all the trip data into the computer, file the paperwork, make sure I've validated my car park ticket. We walk back through the terminal to the car park. It's dark now and I'm too tired to do anything else tonight. Tomorrow is a nice easy two sector day, and I'm looking forward to it already. I know the novelty will wear off one day, but until then I'm enjoying every minute.

Is it all worth it? Oh yes.

Thanks for that!! A Great read. Deffinately keeps the spirits up!!

NICE ONE!

Poetry
 

What a great piece of literature, was better than poetry! a superbly written piece that can't help but provide enthusiasm and promise!

Thanks so much for it GSXTY! Bright shiny day which really let me feel energized:)

Awesome write up!
I am tearful in work.................shussh :)
Barry

Just when things were starting to get on top of me, thats reminded me its all worth it! Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed and amusing account.

Good luck with your Dublin stop over!

Good one!!
 

Hey GXTY,

A very well written article :ok:

I could visualize all you mentioned. :D

Im wondering when will i be in the same kind of situation as yours :}

This is what it's all about! Less of the doom and gloom and more posts like this I say! Good effort GSXTY, good to see somebody actually living the dream.

A great read. Congratulations on your writing style - much better than what's printed in most aviation mags! I share your enthusiasm; I may be flying a different turboprop (the competitor ;) ) on a different type of operation, I also love every minute, even after a year into the company! It seems the novelty hasn't worn off, and all the hard work, time, effort and money was indeed worth it.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers :cool:

Thank you for reminding me why I started training in the first place!

Pretty accurate description of a standard day, and all the reasons I still love the job. Almost enough to come back to the Dash, but all that 'manual' stuff sounds much too much like hard work, although this 'part-time' 4 sectors malarkey sounds lovely. Give me the 195 anyday. :ok:

Such a shame you're stuck in NWI. :}

Regards to Captain H. Top bloke. :ok:

They're all top blokes in NWI - it's just when I venture out into the countryside I start to get nervous . . . :)

G SXTY you're a legend, probably one on the best things I've read on here!:ok:

Brought a smile to my face just reading it, wonderful. Thanks! :ok:

Great Account.

So how long have you been flying these planes after you became qualified? And would you like to move onto bigger planes in the future? Such as 350 seaters?




Very Interested Student.

Brought a smile to the face and an excited feeling in the stomach!

Very well written aswell. That's exactly the sort of thing that keeps peoples' eyes on the ball. It is worth it if you really want it, but it is very easy to get ultra negative.

Cheers G SXTY, you're a top bloke.

Thanks for the kind comments guys, much appreciated. I know how dispiriting this game can be, and how it sometimes seems like an impossible dream. Believe me, if I can do it . . .

Anderson8. As you can probably guess, I have only recently started with my airline, and I was lucky enough to get the job within 3 months of qualifying. I wanted a flying career because I love flying, not to drive the biggest aircraft I could find. 350 seats means longhaul and sitting in the cruise for 8 hours plus - I can't imagine anything as boring, and I really don't do jetlag.

If I've got one ambition, it's to get into training. My lot offer good opportunities for that, so I'm a happy bunny.

Thank you very much for that post, G SXTY! After an airline had rejected my application to their sponsored flight training programme some days ago, I really needed some motivation.

thank you very much.....please lets concentrate on the positive ignore the likes of www,aircrafts will still fly even when oil will cost 1000 dollars a barrel.

Whats the salary like working for a company like yours? Enough to get by i imagine?

You'll thank me when you're rotting in the debtors jail.. :E

There's plenty of space here for inspirational posts that help motivate and inspire. That has always been an important function of this forum and I thank G Sxty for making it.

Just because we are entering a massive airline downturn is no reason to give up on dreams.

WWW

G60,

Why do you have to hand control of the plane to the Skipper after landing? Doesn't he like your driving or something? :p

Just because WWW's message is a bit depressing, it doesn't mean he's not worth listening to. I hope to God he's wrong, but I've a sneaking suspicion he might be right. Anyway, that's for the other thread. You all know the one. ;)

Superpilot - SOPs. That and we've only got one steering tiller, and it's on the captain's side. My arms aren't long enough to reach it.

:ok: Onya G-SXTY. You deserve it. Hurry up and get those hours so you can sit next to me and carry my bags. :}

Wanna hear 'bout my day? :E

Nice insite to the career i hopefully want to be in one day (already on my 5th PPL lesson:hmm:)

Few funnny things to note

It's a deal Reddo. But weren't you the one who told me I'd never do another NDB approach after passing the IR? :{

Oh well, I lied. :E

Character building. :ok:

Excellent post G SXTY - very motivational which is nice to see. :ok: Not that I think people should overlook 'the other topic' as there are some wise words to be drawn from there too.

G-SXTY - great post! Met you at the last PPRuNe wannabees day - I knew you were a gentleman, and knew you'd get where you deserved to be - well done!

A great piece about some of the rewards available, but you also need to know what G-SXTY, and thousands of others have been through. For those slagging WWW, he can come over as negative, but when you see some of the idealistic, naieve and uninformed rubbish on these forums from some people who know no better, and some who should know better, it is a good reality check.

It warms my heart to see posts like G-SXTY's, and chills me to the core when I see posts in other forums of peoples blinkered ignorance to the sheer costs, effort involved, and luck required to get a flying job that pays.

Good luck to all, but make sure you have thoroughly researched what you are getting into. It's tough, expensive, and requires a little bit of Lady Luck, but as G-SXTY has proved, it can be done.

Echo exactly what dwshimoda said.

Yes we should listen to everyone's opinion about things, we need a balance. Not all positive, not all bad. People need to realise that these people are here to help, why would someone like WWW just ne here to put the dampener on everybody for no reason? And for the most part, the pilots who still frequent the wannabes forum know a lot more than us as they have been through it. Don't discredit something just because it's not something you want to hear.

Having just posted no more than 5 minutes ago in another thread how I had just gotten my PPL(H) and had wanted to transfer to fixed wing and go the whole way to ATPL, and how I was having 2nd thoughts about it, I then go and read this absolutely amazing post, and remember what I had always envisaged a career in flying to be, and this just nails it on the head.

Cheers G SXTY, Excellent excellenr write up. You've definetely given me much to think about!!!

G-SXTY... Nice article and now back to the books!!!

More 'day in the life' examples.
 

Dont know about anyone else but I'd love to here more from newly qulaified pilots or long timers??

G SXTY, excellent post. I imagine a rather typical day for many airline pilots. You are a rarity, not too many pilots can express themselves as well. As you may have notiiced.

After reading it. I wasn't tempted to contribute the story of my one and only flight this week, it only lasted 25 minutes culminating in a crosswind landing that was not pretty but perfectly safe. Since then I've been grounded by weather, such are the perils of VFR only flying.

Now that was a good normal day. Your next assignment is to write about the not so normal day. The bad weather, delay, tech problem, fractious passengers day. The one where you crawl out of the flightdeck looking for the nearest bar. That should be interesting, given your talent for storytelling.

LOL, maybe but he could always spin it to make the company look good!

G-SXTY, nice post mate. I take it you are a Flybe driver?

It's a great job, huh? :ok:

Damn, that's my cover blown then. ;)

Corsair - that's a very interesting suggestion. Fortunately I haven't had much in the way of 'non-normal' days, but my luck can't last forever. Leave it with me . . .

(If you ask very nicely, someone like Reddo might share their experiences with you. Although thinking about it, her job sounds quite boring. Flying VVIPs round the world in shiny new biz-jets and getting the FO to do all the work - where's the fun in that?)

Very nicely written G SXTY. Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm just going to finish my ATPL exams, do the CPL/ME/IR and I'll be joining you up there! :ok:

Great post and nicely written, pretty much sums up my working life as a CRJ F/O on european short/mediumhaul routes :)

Will be going to BHX and MAN a lot next week... If i see a FlyBe Q400 passing i'll wave to them :ok:

G SXTY,

I remember you saying a while back that you took the modular route, did the airline make a big deal of you being modular when you applied? Do you know if there are many guys that have went down the modular route?

Obviosuly FlyBE these days take a large majority of their pilots from Integrated courses, just wanted to know what their intake of modular pilots is like.