Dear steemers and fellow holidaymakers.
I have been flying for twelve years now commercially on the B757/767 which were/ are fantastic airplanes to fly. I now am lucky enough to be on the B787 which is truly an amazing piece of engineering and every pilots dream in terms of having the latest technology available to us, increasing safety and efficiency.
Compared to the Boeing 737, the Boeing 757 due to it's rb211 engines and a thrust rating of around 45000 hp each, was the equivalent of driving an overpowered sportscar versus a Lada. Hopefully I don't offend to many 737 pilots by this comparison.
Ten years or so ago we were still allowed to do full power take offs with an empty aircraft (on so-called ferry flights). To position an aircraft to where it needs to be. Empty, the climb rate of the 757 was phenomenal. 1/3rd of a fighter jet, almost defying gravity, which considering it's empty weight of 65000 kg is incredibly impressive.
I also had a go flying the B767-200 empty which had overpowered engines and on a ferry we did a climb to 42000 feet in under 12 minutes.
Both aircraft had virtually identical cockpits which allowed us to easily transfer between the two. Even though the systems behind it were different it allowed for easy interoperability.
The lifestyle was great as our rosters combined shorthaul and longhaul flights which gave us the best of two worlds. Most airlines you have to pick either shorthaul or longhaul.
Time moves on and so does technology!
If you compare the cockpit from the 757 with the 787, the 787 is like stepping into an alien spacecraft. Vice versa stepping back into a 757 cockpit feels like hopping on board a WW-II U-boat.
I would love to post more about the features of the 787 what it is like to fly it. Before I spent hours on writing these blogs I am awaiting what responses the above gets. Meaning if people are genuinely interested I would love to tell more stories
Wow what an upgrade. I'm also a pilot but no where near your calibre. I fly light aircraft as a hobby. Please keep posting, I wanted to be an airline pilot but after 9/11 the airlines were not hiring and well I couldn't risk getting a loan for the money.
Please keep posting. I would love to hear more about the lifestyle. I enjoyed your post about the frequency of tests. I was invited to Oxford Aviation Academy for a trial on the Future Pilot Scheme. I loved looking round the simulators.
I'll be posting about my light aircraft adventures. Here's one from today
https://steemit.com/pilot/@wphelpandfix/a-morning-at-the-airfield
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thx for your comment, it’s funny because I really miss light aircraft flying but haven’t done so for years now. In life is all about perception. I remember my first flight on the 757, nervous as hell, which was a base check flight in Chateauroux. Basically had to do 3 take offs and landings and show that you can reasonably do that.
I can remember still how crazy I thought it was to fly this massive thing around at 1500 feet. Now 7000 hours later it seems the most normal thing in the world when I hop in the front. Not different then flying a light aircraft.
It is only when I do the walk around it still surprises me how big these planes really are.
Airline flying is still a good job, but unfortunately due to the likes of RyanAir, people nowadays end up with massive loans and struggle to pay those loans off. Quite often living in places they don’t want to live, but what do you do if there are no other options. Whilst truck drivers are limited in the amount of hours they can drive without rest. Pilots for some reason are allowed to fly 16 hours straight if the conditions are right.
Seniority is also not helping, everytime you change companies all that seniority you build up in the company is lost and you would have to start at the bottom again.
As a first officer that usually means you will have to wait years again to become a captain.
I always say, in the old days 20 years back it was a fantastic job, nowadays it has to be a crazy passion, if u want to do it and even then you would only know what the job is like once your already in debt, so it is quite risky in that respect. It is still a very good job and you can’t beat the scenery, but sometimes get’s over romanticized. There is nothing fun about being tired, sitting next to someone you dislike for ten hours over the ocean in an alluminium confined tube, in a relatively stressy noisy environment.
787 luckily isn’t that noisy, and luckily most of my colleagues are nice :). But just showing you the downsides of the job.
I think you made the right decision, I will check your posts soon, have to sleep now!
Will post more about flying!
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Thanks for the insight! I'm a student pilot (sailplanes) who's about ready for his pre-solo exam. I love flying. I wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. It's sad that getting into aviation it's so darn difficult these days. FAA and their humongous hour requirements, certifications, and mainly the cost to get into it. But, I'd be happy to tow banners and make some money flying.
Unless you are wealthy, this means to get a job as a pilot, so you can afford to fly. That's the way every aspiring pilot should look at this. Just my opinion.
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Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! Readers might be interested in similar content by the same author:
https://steemit.com/fly/@oudekaas/flying-the-boeing-787-from-a-pilots-perspective
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so lucky you are ;) great knowledge about plane
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thx hassanabid
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I love the way cheetah suggested that you might like to read your own post... I think people would be interested on different levels. interesting for holiday makers and enthusiasts alike. I've upvoted and resteemed
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Haha good spot, yeah I guess that makes my content very unique 😁
Not sure if reposting old posts is being frowned upon, but cheetah don't seem to mind.
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what license do you have ? FAA or EASA?
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EASA
I like fun facts will follow :)
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oh cool ,I have an FAA Commercial License ,I'm going to convert to to EASA ,have to pass the 14 written exams through Bristol Distance learning..
And thank you for the follow ,I already followed you :D ,it is great to find fellow pilots in there
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Hi lolcat, were you already flying commercial, are u moving? Which company are you looking at?
I be interested to hear how long it will take your in terms of study to pass the 14 exams.
Sounds like hard work 😄
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hey oudekaas,
I have obtained my Cpl in florida ,flew 152s since then .to be honest ,the only reason I'm converting my license is because I'm aiming to join the Turkish Airlines ,I lived a couple of years in Istanbul ,loved the country ..
Well yeah ,the 14 exams are quiet a huge load to take all at one go , as you know ,I got 3 sittings to do ,5 exams per sitting ,except the last one ,which consists of only 4.
I have finished 5 exams now ,easy subjects though ,HPL ,Comms ,both of them ,Airlaw and Met.
I would say that it would take about a 4 months of hard studying ,or just 6 months of moderate studying ..
It is hard work indeed :D
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Awesome I like Florida! do they take non-typerated pilots at turkish?
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yeah Florida is Great ,well I'm going to join an A320 Type rating course,
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nice! Be interested to hear how you get on! It is unusual to hear that you are just joining an a320 course 😄. Where can you do this? Must be very expensive?
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https://www.l3airlineacademy.com/career-programs/atp
I noticed they are now called l3airlineacademy instead of ctc. I did this course and once you are throught the selections and paid the 9k quid u then go through quite a demanding course.
If you pass the course you end up in a pool where partner airlines like easyjet pick their pilots from. In my case after finishing the course, I ended up in the pool and got selected by a big charter company.
The type-rating would then be paid by them.
It is worth checking if this is still the same and how long it takes for placement.
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aww thank you so much Definitely going to give it a go . I will definitely keep you posted on how things would go :))
It is great to have you as a steem friend ,going to learn a lot from you
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No problem 👍If u have any questions let me know! I have never flown the airbus but I can maybe help u with structurizing things if you start with a course.
Mainly it is about being organized and just making sure you get the standard procedures right the rest is motivation and flying within the boundaries of the rules. Preparing on a flightsim at home I find very useful, especially in the beginning! As it is all about getting the flow so it becomes second nature and yoou have more spare capacity to deal with issues thrown at you.
But first get those exams out of the way! 😀
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How is the study going?
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