Familiarization flight with Transavia
One of the countless drawbacks of 9/11, a few of you may have realized, is that even for air traffic controllers it has become increasingly difficult to visit a cockpit of an airliner, indeed most of the airlines adopted a closed cockpit door policy. I used to take every opportunity to at least say hello to the crew and was always happy to take the jumpseat for an interesting landing. But those times are over I’m afraid, probably forever and I don’t even ask the cabin crew anymore as I know the answer will be a polite: Sorry it’s not possible…
In the past Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) had agreements with various airlines which offered us ATCO-s the chance for fam. flights to see the place where all that actions happen. One of my most memorable experiences goes back to 1996 when I flew in the cockpit of a Swissair MD-11 between Zurich and Montreal Mirabel. So I was particularly happy when we learned about the great new initiative: Transavia Airlines (commercially rebranded as transavia.com after the basiqair period) was willing to renew the nice tradition of familiarization flights for air traffic controllers, offering us Maastricht controllers a quota of 50 flights a year.
Needless to say I was amongst the first ones to apply and received a confirmation email the previous day that I will fly on the 8th of March with TRA5143 from Amsterdam to Alicante and back on the same day.
Having spent the night in The Hague it was an early wake up as I needed to be at the check-in at Schiphol around 0545 to make sure we don’t miss our 0700 EOBT because of me. Transavia flies mainly from Amsterdam but have quite a few destinations from Rotterdam too.
After checking in with my special confirmation number I boarded the aircraft (a Boeing 737-700, PH-XRB) where preparations were well on their way. The crew, Captain Iwan Tol and First Officer David Grootveld, welcomed me in the cockpit and after a short introduction I took the jump seat in the middle.
The F/O has nearly finished entering the details of the SID and the rest of our flight planned route into the FMS. The pilot flying on the 2hours 10 minutes first leg was going to be Captain Tol.
The aircraft was now ready to depart but we had a slight delay since the special service that was supposed to take care of a wheelchair passenger could not locate our aircraft. 25 minutes later with all doors closed and paperwork and “Before Start” checklist completed, the first officer requested and received start-up clearance from the tower. After push-back and both CFM56 engines running smoothly and finishing the “After Start” checklist the captain ordered the tow bar to be disconnected. The mechanic gave the all clear. In the meantime we received our taxi clearance and we found out that the runway used for departures this morning was RWY 36L, Schiphol’s newest runway, the Polderbaan, which caused some disappointment in the cockpit: our departure would be further delayed by the long taxi time. Our stand was at least 15-20 minutes taxi time from the holding point of 36L. It was a usual busy morning in Amsterdam and we followed a stream of blue aircraft towards the departure runway.
Winter hasn’t ended yet, it was a typical dull early March morning weather, with northerly wind of about 12 knots, low level clouds and light rain but nothing our crew and aircraft couldn’t easily cope with.
In the meantime the purser, Frans reported that the cabin is fully prepared for takeoff and the crew quickly went through the “Before takeoff” checklist. They were briefed about our departure procedure: after takeoff to the North with a climbing right turn to the South we were to follow the LEKKO1V SID. Takeoff speed and flap settings were calculated and the crew was also prepared for the eventual rejected takeoff before and N-1 (engine-out procedures) after V1.
We got the clearance for takeoff on RWY36 by the Polderbaan’s own Tower controller and Captain Tol pushed the throttle levers forward to speed things up: at a takeoff weight of nearly 60 tones the B737 quickly accelerated down the 4800 meters runway. F/O Grootveld called V1, immediately followed by “Rotate” then the control column was brought back gently as the aircraft got airborne. Once a positive rate of climb was established, Captain Tol ordered the gears up. He was flying the aircraft manually: at 11NM from SPY he turned the aircraft right to magnetic track 073, then at radial 196 SPY turned further right (with a maximum IAS of 220 knots) to intercept radial 183 from SPY, to further intercept radial 208 PAM which took us to LEKKO where we joined our flight plan route on the UB31. Passing 2000 feet AMSL we called Schiphol Departure on 119.05. F/O Grootveld read out the “After Takeoff” section of the checklist and passing through the transition layer he set the altimeters to1013 hPa.
Departure soon handed us over to Amsterdam ACC’s Sector 3, where the controller issued several FL-s to ensure our continuous climb. Transavia’s B737-700-s are equipped with General Electric CFM56-7B24 engines. With 24 K pounds of thrust available on each side the engines produce an impressive rate of climb. In a few minutes we ccould call Maastricht UAC’s NICKY Sector passing FL220 to FL260 on course to WOODY. Judging by the intensity of the R/T, our Brussels sector friends were busy too, nevertheless they provided us with some quality service: again, we received several clearances with different FL-s but our climb was unrestricted up to our requested cruising level of FL410. We had been neatly separated from other traffic by 5 miles and were cleared direct to KOVIN waypoint. It was a busy morning in the Belgian airspace, traffic was clearly visible all around us both visually and on TCAS. We were entering French airspace in the climb as we called Reims and after KOVIN we followed the UY317 to Bordeaux ACC’s airspace where we the flight was cleared direct to AGN.
Our flight conditions were absolutely smooth at FL410 and with the autopilot engaged the crew had time for questions. In fact Captain Tol started a systematic introduction of the cockpit layout, starting with the overhead panels then showing the 6 large displays, known as the CDS – Common Display System, which is identical to that of the Boeing 777. These LCD screens provide the pilots with all the data they need: these are the PFD (2) – Primary Flight Display, ND (2) – Navigation Display, and an upper a lower DU – Display Unit, showing engine and system parameters.
It was a lot of information for me to digest, meanwhile the crew listened to the available VOLMET information to get the actual weather information at aerodromes beneath the cloud layer, just in case we had to divert due to an engine failure, something I was not particularly looking forward to. It is part of good airmanship I was told, but there is no sign of a problem, the fuel flow was under control and the Boeing was happily flying at Mach .79 and we also have a few minutes to enjoy the spectacular view of the Pyrenees.
Entering Spanish airspace Barcelona ACC directed us to VLC (Valencia) VOR/DME which is a straight line almost to our destination. Before we reached our Top of Descent point the FMC – the Flight Management Computer – had been programmed for the STAR, APP, and LDG RWY. Another briefing followed to prepare the crew for what they had to do all the way down through the approach and landing. The STAR to be followed was the VLC 2L for Runway 10 which ends at the IAF named VILNA. From VILNA we were expected to pick up a DME arc onto the LOC.
We checked Alicante ATIS : the crew expected more than 10 km-s of visibility, clear skies and hardly any wind. Captain Tol prepared for a nice visual approach for Runway 10, with high speed which would hopefully compensate for our initial delay. Nice plan, but it remained only a plan. Unfortunately an Easyjet B737 ahead of us was also heading for Alicante and was clearly slower than us. As we had no chance to overtake it, Iwan started to slow down the jet slightly already. As our crew predicted, the Easyjet crew opted to follow the STAR all the way instead of a direct visual approach. Our pilots were a little frustrated by the fact that was no chance to execute the most fun part of the flight. Instead the Spanish controller asked us several times to slow down to minimum speed. “Descent” then “Approach” checklist followed including checks of altimeter settings to the local QNH and the NAV. Setup. By the time we were established on final we were 9 NM behind the Easyjet, and its wake turbulence was clearly felt. Fully established in LDG configuration, it was time for the “Landing” checklist.
As the landing gear was lowered we received the landing clearance. Height calls were made by a synthetic voice at 500ft and again at 100, 50 and then in 10 ft decrements to touchdown before Captain Tol greased the 737 onto Alicante’s Runway 10.
Our turnaround time was about 50 minutes. The aircraft was refueled and I had the chance to accompany Captain Tol for the walk-around.
Later in the cockpit I received a very detailed explanation about the load sheet, the centre of gravity calculations and all other settings based on it, something I had never seen before. Transavia’s B737-700-s are configured in a single all-economy layout with 149 seats. The aircraft is almost full on the return flight and a take-off weight of 58655 kg was used for calculation. The details of our flight plan were entered to the FMC: we were ready for departure. The pilot flying this time was F/O David Grootveld.
The same checklists were read and after the appropriate ATC clearances we were airborne again from RWY 10. Our requested cruising level was FL400 northbound and we get there in several steps. We flew almost parallel with our inbound route.
During the quiet period of the cruise I asked the pilots about their background. Captain Iwan Tol previously flew cargo in the United States on Beech1900C then got qualified on the F27 Friendship. He’d been with transavia.com for 7.5 years now. He started as a FO on the B757 and flew that type for 3.5 years. For one winter he also flew on a contract for Ansett Australia on the B767-300ER. On the B757 he became a Ground School Instructor. The last 4 years he had been flying the B737NG, the -700 and -800. He’s got promoted to Captain beginning 2002 and he’s now a TRI – Type Rating Instructor – on the B737. He simply calls himself a “self improver” whose job is also his hobby! By the age of 33 he has amassed about 5500 hours total flying time.
His colleague F/O David Grootveld also has an impressive background and a wealth of experience. He started flying in 1984 with the Royal Netherlands Air Force on helicopters, TH-55, UH-1 Huey, and AL III which he flew for 6 years as an instructor, test pilot, and on royal flights.
When the Luchtmacht bought new helicopters, with 2 other instructor pilots he spent 2 years in the United States to get some experience on the CH-47 Chinook. Later he worked at the Boeing plant “Rotary wing” in Wilmington, to do the transition to the Dutch CH-47 equipped with the all glass cockpit. Back in the Netherlands he flew the CH-47 for 5 more years. In the meantime he acquired his commercial license on fixed wing aircraft as well. For the last four years he’d been flying the B737NG as F/O at transavia.com. He joined the civil aviation at a relatively later stage but he said he would not want to have missed all the other stuff he did. At the time of our flight he had a total of about 7500 flight hours, approximately 4700 Rotary wing and 2800 fixed wing hours.
We were approaching the airspace of the Maastricht UAC again and Reims Radar instructed us to start our initial descent to FL360. Having received the actual weather report on ACARS we found that the weather did not improve much since our departure: wind was reported at 320/13 kts variable between 290 and 350 degrees. The visibility was more than 10km however some low level clouds were present with light rain. The main landing runway was 06 so the First Officer anticipated a RIVER arrival. Descending through the Brussels sectors I heard from the pilots that the typical vertical speed restrictions we use in MUAC regularly, are not very often heard at other upper airspace units. Our routing took us to the Haamstede VOR then RIVER. We were lucky this time, we were first in the sequence and Amsterdam asked us to maintain high speed. F/O Grootveld only slowed down the aircraft at passing FL 50 complying with company standard operating procedures. From RIVER it’s almost a straight-in approach and we intercepted the ILS of Runway 06. Having read the appropriate checklists, we were established before the aircraft got out of clouds. The last minutes on any flight are extremely busy and TRA5144 was no exception. Having received the landing clearance F/O Grootveld put down the aircraft on the “piano keys” – 11feet below sea level. The touchdown was barely perceptible, despite of the variable wind.
The volume of traffic at Schiphol was of course much heavier than at Alicante and the fast-speaking controller requested us to leave the runway at the first available high-speed exit. Luckily our stand was not so far away and we were parked only 7 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.
After parking and engine shutdown followed the “Shutdown” checklist. It was time to say goodbye to the crew and in return for the great experience I invited the two pilots for a visit to Maastricht UAC. It was a fantastic day: flying is of course always fun but it was particularly pleasant to meet two pilots who really love their job, proud of what they do and they seemed genuinely glad to have a visitor in the pointy end from the “other side”.