My day as an airline pilot.
I read about how it all works in that industry (good and bad), so i wanted to feel it.
You guys told me that sim is cool because you dont need to face tight schedule and you fly how you want, what you want and where you want. But still i wanted to put my simming to new level of understanding
At first i wanted to plan all very realistic, but i decided to skip that part for beginning. You gotta start somewhere, so i eased up things a little.
I took Star Alliance routes and planned Route from London to London. Flight time taken from skyscanner.com from various airlines operating b737s or airbus a320s.
EGKK EBBR DEP: 14-00 ARR: 14-40 FLTIME: 40min - unrealistic route
EBBR LFMN DEP:15-20 ARR: 16-55 FLTIME: 1h 35m
LFMN LOWW DEP: 17-30 ARR: 19-10 FLTIME: 1h 40m
LOWW EDDF DEP: 20-00 ARR: 21-15 FLTIME: 1h 15m
EDDF EGKK DEP: 21-40 ARR: 23-10 FLTIME: 1h 30m
This route should give me around 7 hours of flight time for a flight day.
i shortened ground time because i dont really know how long they should be.
All flights are pretty short, not longer than 450 nm.
I prepared all papers, plans, fuels etc a day before flight.
All flights are done in VATSIM network.
I used FSPassengers X to log flights etc.
Instead of commuting to work, i took my actual work
So here how it all was:
woke up 8-20, light breakfast then "commuted" to work.
got dinner at 12:30.
arrived to office a little before 13:00
met my f/o for today - me
climbed into 737-200, started preparations.
London - Brussels
should depart at 14:00, due to problems with aircraft departed at 15:18, arrived at 16:17, flight time 44min, block time 58 min. Short flight, i was unhappy with delay (as it turned out it was my fault)
Landed with V/s -180 fpm
Brussels - Nice.
After 40 min on ground departed to Nice (sea, bitc....ops - beaches and stuff)
Dep 16:50 Arr 18:38 flight time 1:38, block tome 1:52.
Good flight, too bad i dont have FTX Global or GEX. Its cool to look down from cockpit. I calculated ground speed by time, using DME. it was consistent with what FSPX showed me.
Overflared on landing, so float a lot, and landed with V/S -46 fpm.
Nice - Wien
After 50 min on ground departed to Wien. Got my first coffee here.
DEP: 19:28 ARR: 20:55 FLTIME: 1:19 BLOCK: 1:33
Calm flight, but routine started to show itself. That constant wind sound, and i got hungry. Since i were hard off schedule - i couldnt eat on ground. Since flights short, i couldnt eat inflight. So i ate bananas, and peanuts. Those peanuts are something. They do have some load of calories required to operate.
There was LOWW APPROACH ATC online, so i made ILS 34. landed with V/S -73 fpm.
Wien
I planned to have some food here, but going 1:30 late off schedule i couldnt eat here.
I jumped into 727-100. Guys! Thats BIG cockpit, WOW! Only there i understand that in 737-200 i felt like im sitting in a closet. Its so tight!
A started to feel tired and its no longer fun. No food, no tea (im a tea guy), no entertainment, no hanging/chatting in da web, - just maps, charts, gauges, fuel and nuts. I wasnt sure that i need to continue, but noway i give up. Capt. Reeel Goose is a hard-ass mcrappity smacker, so - I Started 727, all checklists etc, requested IFR to Frankfurt.
Wien - Frankfurt
I rocketed outa LOWW via SNU2C departure. well, at least it sounded like rocket, guess how it feels after half of a shift in 737
its bigger, slower roll rate etc, so i needed some time to get things sorted in my mind.
DEP: 22:21 ARR: 23:42 FLTIME: 1:06 BLOCK: 1:30
Flight itself was normal. I had ATC from LOWW to EDDF, and EDDF was pretty loaded with traffic. I did ILS 25L and landed with V/S -237 fpm with bounce. crap i thought
i was hungry, tired, sleepy, taxied to stand, and started preparations for final leg.
Frankfurt - London, Gatwick
ATC gave me dep from 25R, i accepted it, taxied around airport(and you know its BIG port), stopped at holding point and was stunned by what i did...i was holding 25L instead of 25R. I waisted a lot of time taxiing to wrong runway! Things got serious, now i realized how i tired. I requested rwy cross clearance, taxied to 25R, took-off and departed via TAU3Q. I was instructed to climb to FL320 shortly after turn to TAU VOR.
DEP: 0:21 ARR: 1:48 FLTIME: 1:03 BLOCK: 1:35
Had EGKK ATC online, so i did ILS 26L and landed with V/S -152 fps.
I fly frequently outa Gatwick, but only now i felt like im home now
Taxied to stand 21, shutdown.
My simulation was from 13:00 till 2:30 straight. That makes 13 hours 30 minutes. If i count "commuting", that'll make 17 hours 30 minutes on foot. I did procedures, i calculated fuel'n stuff, hand-fly all except cruise. I didnt used things, pilots cant use inflight.
=======================================
Finally i cooked some food, got tea. That tea rocketed me right into heaven. No more constant wind rumble'n nuts.
I put quiet music...got shower and fell asleep. woke up, went to work today, then returned and slept half of the day. It turned out that i needed some rest after that kinda rest i cooked for myself
But it worked! I needed some rest from music, now i renewed my horn playing force
Seriously, through all that feeling tired and hungry, all that chart paper and crappy communication quality in VATSIM, i really felt like im inside that planes, like im a pilot. Europe felt so small, like there is no frontiers. My city felt bigger than Western Europe! Life space felt so tight, like all that Nice beaches n stuff on the other planet, and your planet - small cockpit. Those cool destinations so near, but you cant touch it. No sea breeze smell for pilots, just hot asphalt smell. Calm Alps, nope - screaming APU down there instead. All in all, that was very unusual experience. At some point, far beyond feeling tired, i started to see into it much deeper. - Guys, those pilots job not so shiny at all!
But that was cool! Next time I'll plan more realistic day