It's 7 am in New York City. All dressed up and somewhere to go ... I descend 19 floors of the Club Quarters Grand Central, to street level, where a Black Suburban operated by Golden Touch Transportation is awaiting lil ole me. Off we go, navigating the side streets of Manhattan, while trying not to run over the sea of people already out and about.
36 minutes later, we arrive at the Newark Airport. Now the night prior, this was an hour and 10 minute ride from the Airport to the hotel ... so the Transportation company and I agreed on an hour and half in the morning, because that last thing I want to do on day 1, flight 1 of this new adventure ... is be LATE. (I prefer punctual, over anything else)
Roll through Security, stop, and look at the watch - I'm 40 minutes early. Now what? Coffee, Starbucks in particular. Already had a Spark and my Meal Replacement Shake ... but more Coffee for what I'm about to endure ... cannot hurt.
I walk up to Starbucks, take a look at the people sitting inside ... and I see a guy that just might be my LCA. Line Check Airman, my training Captain. I stand there for a minute in line ... looking for one more clue beyond the picture I have in my phone of this guy ... and there it is, the red wording at the bottom of his badge. Now do I go interrupt what he's up to, or go through the line and meet as I walk out, do I give him his 40 minutes of space as I have? Being one that hates to not have met someone the first time I see them, I walked over and introduced myself. Instant, good connection. I'm already at ease.
We spent some time talking about my past, which gave him a good idea of my experience level. I call this the dog sniffing the other dogs butt time ... sizing each other up so we have an idea of how we are going to work together. I don't think that will ever change ... and I think its very necessary.
As our pre-set time to meet arrived, we headed off to the Flight Planning Room to find our two Bunkies. Oh, sorry, they are IRO's (International Relief Pilots). One airline, two sets of titles. Ok, you know what, I don't care what I'm called later ... I'm here to fly my trip and collect a check. That's it. The rest is ... well, I guess details - ha!
Jeff walked in first, everyone introduced ... and then he was delegated the task of plotting our route across the globe on an Orientation Chart. He went to work right away (soon as it's finished, he's free to go). Then Jeff walked in. Wait ... what? Oh, two Jeff's. Well that's easy. Jeff tall and Jeff not as tall. Or you could say Jeff Senior and Jeff Junior. No ... I hate that airline Seniority derogetory stuff. If the 3 of whom are more Senior had a heart attack, I don't want Jeff 'junior' thinking the junior guy can't do just as good of job as any of us would ... to get everyone on the ground. But I digress ...
I got some more good iPad info from Steve, my LCA. We spent quite a bit of time looking over the flight plan, the weather, the alternates along the way, pulling different .pdf files into the iPad for use at the gate, enroute, etc. All stuff I have been doing for years, so no big deal yet.
Then we went to the jet. Sounds crazy, but other than riding on the 777 just a few times years ago, I hadn't been inside one yet. Not since I got the bid mid October, 2014. All that training, all those sims, a fresh Type Rating ... and I hadn't even been 'in' the jet yet! Stowed my bags and Steve and I went outside to do the Walk Around.
First impression ... it's a BIG AIRPLANE. I knew it was a square acre in size, I know the dimensions. But when you stand under it, and look up, when you see all the tires, look at the size of the Engine inlet ... that puts everything into perspective. Thusly. Steve pointed out the 'gotchas', the things to look for, then we split at the tail as I finished the walk around and he went to look for a gate code - LOL! Gate codes ... always in pursuit of the code to get back into the loading bridge. That's after the gate agent has verified who you are to get down to the jet. So in reality, Pilots are still trying to get back to the jet once you get to work. That's whack.
As I walked back inside, the crew was being briefed by Steve. I thought it was cool, that everyone was seated except the 3 Pilots, and Steve was sharing the details of our venture along with tying to build todays 'Team'. He of course mentioned it was my first flight on the jet ... and I got the usual 'oh, you Junior', 'ah, fresh meat', and one was very nice and just said 'Welcome, congratulations.' Ah, at least one of you is my kind of person.
This was short lived, as I knew it was time to get to work. Since it was my first leg, and Steve is really looking at me for what the Training Center has done with me ... he's going to let me do everything that I possibly can ... and if I miss something, he will fill in. So at this point, I had been away from the process for a week, I hadn't even thought much about it ... but somehow I just sat down and dug in. Fingers on fire, going through my Flows as I could, along with loading the Flight Management Computer with our 7,661 mile route, winds, performance data, etc.
All of this of course, now ... while trying to get the airplane out on time. THAT is the first goal, but it always comes after we are ready. Being the new guy, you don't want to be the reason the flight leaves late .. but you want to learn the most you can at the same time. And that was the ground rule before we started, do as much as you can, as fast as you can .. so we can push back onetime.
We did. I missed one switch. The airplane tells you though, I swear it's built for tired Pilots (and new Pilots) (:
As we pushed back, and I was feeling like I had not done too well ... Jeff (tall Jeff) says 'Shawn, I gotta tell ya man, you're kick'n ass for your first flight.' Jeff tall lives in OH, but has a little drawl, so I like listening to him talk. Steve looked at me, and said 'Yeah, his eyes aren't even glazed over yet.' Both of which were a compliment, because Steve told me he would be talking to me and pushing me until my eyes glazed over ... and that would be his cue to stop talking and let me breath.
We started the GE Engines and taxiied the square acre machine to runway 22R, full length. 636,550 pounds would soon be rolling down the runway, and Steve has delegated me as the Flying Pilot for this first (and the next) leg of our 4 day trip. Plenty to do, checklists, watch for traffic, watch where he is taxiing. And there we are, at the end of 22R, cleared into position on the runway. Steve reminds me to make a smooth, slow rotation (I get the feeling this has been a problem in the past for other guys coming off other equipment). But he don't know how I fly, so it's fair game to comment.
Cleared to go, start the clocks, stand the power levers straight up, check stable ... and hit TO/GA. The power levers go to Take Off power, the big GE's wind up ... and we are accelerating. Thusly! Even at 636,550 pounds. V1, Rotate ... nice and slow - in fact, it reminded me immediately of the 757/767 on rotation .. needs a good bit of 'pull' to get the nose wheel off the ground, but then all is normal. The Airbus is not like that at all. 'Positive Rate' ... gear up. And we are off.
It was bumpy, and the turbulence is something you sometimes have in the sim, but getting used to how the machine rides in the bumps is part of the learning curve. Normal control inputs are what I love to find while learning the new jet .. so I can learn to fly smoother than the autopilot, but doing this first takeoff in the bumps .. it felt like I was fighting the jet. For now ...
Once we got above 9,000, it was smooth .. and felt like the simulator. I hand flew it up to about 20,000, then turned it over to the autopilot ... which remained on until we landed in Shanghai.
Once the Howgozit was received, Jeff 'less tall' put the times on the Master Flight Plan while Jeff 'tall' figured out the breaks based on time. When they were done, they left us to go on their break (which was 6 hours, 15 minutes).
The next 5 hours ... Steve covered the finer aspects of not only the airplane, but flying this thing Internationally as well. A LOT of information. Thankfully, the Spark, MNS and Starbucks were still driving the grey matter at warp speed. I held on, not sure how much I retained - just so much information, but I held on.
I had a few questions about the bunks. There's no training on that, which seemed odd since half your life aboard the 777 will be spent in this thing. Not that it's hard to figure out, put two sheets on it, cover with a blanket, place your two pillows in there and 'bunk'. But I had more etiquette type questions, common courtesy stuff. The last thing I want to do on the first flight ... is something dumb. I like to be prepared, for the most part. Can't know it all, but don't need to look like a duck out of water either ...
About 900 miles North of Fairbanks, AK ... we had truffles. That sounds funny, especially for a guy from IA. But that's what happened. They were good. As I thought, truffles .. on an airplane - ok.
Time came for our crew rest. Steve said I should try the bottom bunk since I was taking my entire backpack with me. I didn't know if I would sleep, watch movies, read magazine on the iPad, listen to music ... or all of that. Plus, I like to brush my teeth, and I planned on trashing my daily contacts for a new set once our rest was over. I just need a smaller bag to organize all I think I'll need, as there is not enough room for a backpack and me in the bunk.
The first order of business, is making your bunk. You get two sheets, a blanket and two pillows. The lower bunk .. is low. Maybe 6 or 8 inches off the floor of the jet. So you make this on your knees. (strike one against the lower bunk). Once that is done, then it's time to figure out just how you're going to rest in here ... uniform has to go. Hang all that crap up, put your shoes in the shoe holder ... climb into the bunk ... and pull the curtain closed. Pull the curtain closed for a few reasons. One, Steve opted to hang out in the first class seat for a while. Then he would coming to the upper bunk. So, if I were sleeping, I don't want to be woken up by light (it's pitch dark in the closet ... I mean bunk). Secondly, I don't need to see Steve ... uniformness. He's a nice guy and all, but it's just not how I roll. So pull the curtain ... AND snap it shut.
I slept a sum total of 1 and half hours. Watched a movie first (Divergent - GREAT movie ... second view). Goofed around on the iPhone for a bit, then to sleep I went. It was smooth for the most part ... because bumps of any significance would wake me up. I was not that tired, but didn't know if I could keep the energy level up till the end of the 15 hour flight, so I napped.
The phone rang in our closet, I mean bunk ... right on time. My phone went off just after Steve hung up. 'Shawn, you awake?' Yep! I left first, while he stayed curtain closed. I closed the doors, and off the nearest open Lav I went. New contacts, brush the pearly whites, and look for drool - bahaha
Got back in the seat about an hour before landing. I was slightly out of sorts, I didn't feel as sharp as when I had left. Searching around for my Spark, which I had planned to drink with my Lunch MNS pack ... I realized my Spark was in my roll bag, on the other side of the cockpit, buried under another roll bag. That, was not going to happen with 4 guys back up front. Suck it up .. time to work.
Again, Steve had me do everything (meaning my job and his job too). That got my mind working again. All this time, the radio is full of unintelligible chatter. To me, the biggest challenge of flying the globe is interpreting the broken english clearances from ATC so we do everything right.
The plan was to let the jet auto land itself. With my hands and feet on the controls so that I could gain a great sight picture as to what I would be looking for landing back in Newark a few days later. So we briefed it up, loud enough for all 3 other guys to hear as they followed along in their iPads.
Checklist complete, down we go. The Chinese like to see at least 2,000 fpm in the descent, and at times, asked us for 3,000. Plenty of tools to make the Triple come out of the sky. All employed.
The entire flight, there was not much to see. Disappointing for me, of course. The arrival was not much different until we got down to about 3,000 feet. Then the murky water came into view, along with ship after ship after ship leaving the area. All in perfect spacing, like marching soldiers. I kept an eye on the store (the jet) as I glanced around at this new 'to me' land.
Turned final and the training kicked in, asking for flaps with each speed reduction. Got the jet all configured to land on time, and let it fly us down the glideslope. As it corrected itself for the slight crosswind, I felt it. I smiled ... like 'hey, good job jet ... that's where I would have done it.'
'50, 40, 30, 20 ... 10' and it touched down. It truly lands itself the best of anything I have ever witnessed auto land. The Airbus was scary to watch, this thing rolls its BIG FEET onto the runway almost perfectly.
Autopilot off, kicked the breaks off, metered my feet to match the next turn off ... and there we are, in Shanghai - 14 hours and 10 minutes after liftoff from New York.
Amazing thought, right? 7,661 miles, very near the North Pole, in 14 hours and 10 minutes. Delivering 250 people safely betwixt the two big cities. Pretty cool.
Taxiied to the ramp and the only different thing at this point, was following a 'follow me car' to our gate. The airport is massive, multiple large terminals and airplanes everywhere. The tower cannot see anything on our side of the terminal, so they relinquish control to the follow me car for us to get to our gate. Other than that, it was all very familiar.
Out through Customs we all left, them checking all of our passports (11 flight attendants, 4 Pilots comprised our Crew). Took a lot of time! They kept all of our passports as we congregated outside the checkpoint.
Once our passports were back in hand, we began the walk to outside, where a motor coach was waiting to take us to the hotel. We all boarded fairly quickly, everyone was beat. Except me, I was wide awake.
Off we went for the hotel, which is downtown, almost an hour from the airport. The flight attendants were playing music. And the music they were listening to ... would lend one to guess the generation. Didn't matter to me, I love music. Most all music. Later, some people were asleep.
Except me, I had my curtain open, looking at everything. Jeff 'less tall' was seated behind me, his first time there too .. he was looking outside the entire time as well. Plenty to see.
Arrived at the Marriott City Centre Shanghai about an hour after we boarded the bus. Maybe 45 minutes, I was keeping track of time so much anymore. We all checked in, and off to the 50 hour layover we went.
From there on ... two challenges - 1. When and how long to sleep, 2. How do I get on Facebook in an area that bans it from it's people?
I didn't figure either one out until last night, now I have a handle on both.
Thanks for following me around the globe :)
Oh, by the way, in about 11 hours, we will reverse the entire process, departing Shanghai as United flight 87, back to Newark. If you would like to follow us, go to Flightaware.com, and type United and 87 into the appropriate search boxes. Departure date should be 25th.
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