May 23 2007
The way back
Strangely, even after having done my first transoceanic leg, the trip back to the United States was even more challenging.
The day started out with sending Kristie on her way to the airport, which you can read about on her blog, but she wasn’t able to ride with the crew to the airport because of the security procedures at CDG. Basically, we’re taken from the layover hotel straight to the airstairs of the jet.
Procedures are a lot different overseas. The ATIS looks different, you get your clearances different, even arranging pushback is different. You’re given your squawk code and a 1 minute pushback clearance window, after which both are void. It’s strange.
Anyway, understanding the French controllers is a HUGE challenge for me at this point. At times I wish they’d just speak French and I’d have a better chance to understand them! 
We’re doing an RNAV departure which minimizes the need for speed, altitude and heading vectors so you more or less follow the magenta line. Also, the climb profile is different — something they call the “ICAO II” profile where you maintain takeoff power to 1500 AFE (above field elevation) while holding a speed around V2+20, then at 3000 feet, you start accelerating and retracting flaps on the speed schedule.
A couple ‘cleared directs’ and climbs and we’re on our way. I take about half a millisecond breather only to realize that we’re well within our 90-minute prior position before entering the North Atlantic Tracks. But this time we’re dealing with Shanwick so the rules are a bit different.
Shanwick Oceanic wants us to give them an “alternative track” if our requested track isn’t available and indicate what the next best flight level would be if our requested isn’t available.
It’s really important to get this squared away because you can’t ask for an Oceanic clearance more than 90 minutes away, but it needs to be no later than 30, but you can’t enter their airspace without a clearance in hand, unlike you can while traveling east.
Once that’s all taken care of, the captain sends me back for first break.
And I need it. Holy cow.
The room in Paris was far too hot, ventilation almost nil and I probably got a good solid two hours of sleep because I don’t sleep very well when the room is too warm, I was anxious about the flight and forgot to bring along my melatonin to help me sleep.
Not good, but the two hour nap onboard really helped.
After my breaks up, I go back to the cockpit, switch with Staplegun and the captain and I go over some more transoceanic navigation items, including track changes, emergency procedures and a SATCOM (satellite communications) demonstration where we can dial numbers thru the FMS and have voice conversations with dispatch, maintenance or in this case, FlyChicaga from the website (who didn’t answer) but luckily Iain did so I could learn how the SATCOM works.
Iain asked where we were and all I could really tell him was someplace over the North Atlantic!
Enroute both times, it was undercast so you really have no idea what the open ocean looks like below and the only indication you’re approaching land are VOR symbols starting to appear on your NAV display or the RMI needles slowly springing to life.
The captain starts his break, Staplegun comes back and we start the ‘coast in’ procedure where we’re getting back onto the North American airway system over northeastern Canada.
When we “coast in” we’re usually getting a new ATC clearance, climbing/descending off the assigned track altitude, speeding up or slowing down (we fly an assigned airspeed while on the track, no slower, no faster) and such. It’s a big relief because I’m leaving the odd world of the N. Atlantic route structure back to the normal airway system that I’m much more familiar with so it starts to feel a lot more like a domestic flight.
Then it’s just a basic arrival into CVG with a visual approach and landing a few hours later.
My observations? The flights are A LOT shorter when you’re working them. When you’re sitting in back, it really feels like a 9 hour flight goes ON and ON and ON, but when you’re actually a working crewmember, it’s pretty fast, especially when you account for your crew break period in the rest seat.
My challenges are going to be to develop a rhythm of the operation so I can transition from the training environment to the ‘regular line Joe’ environment and not make a name for myself as “Oh, geez, there’s that dead weight FO!” So I’m trying to actively study before my next trip on Sunday where I go to Madrid.
Interesting thing about Madrid. Since this next trip will be out of JFK, the time between takeoff and hustling to get the oceanic clearance is a lot shorter so it’s going to be hectic once again. And Madrid may prove to be a lot different than the operation in and out of Paris.
Stay tuned, thanks for reading. I apologize for the poor sentence structure, but it’s 0100 out here in PHX!
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