Nice Nice!

Back flying again after the Christmas and New Year quiet period and we flew into Nice from Madrid Torrejon.  It was good to get back in the air again and as pilot flying I was quite happy with taking off from a huge runway.  I was also looking forward to landing at Nice but as we got closer the weather was not as we expected.  The wind had picked up and was coming off the hills and it was very turbulent on approach, especially when flying at 3000 feet over the sea on the run in.  With warnings of severe turbulence and wind shear on approach we cautiously made our approach for runway 04 past the Cap Antibes.  It WAS bumpy! After fighting the controls all the way down it was a relief to finally touchdown!  I looked back at the passenger to ensure they were okay but he had slept through the whole thing!  So, we packed up the aircraft and went to the hotel - its looks like we will have 2 nights here so there will be time to enjoy ourselves!

Christmas Stand-down

Not much has been happening as we went through Christmas and New Year - so consequently the posts have been few!  I seem to have had a lot of time in hotels waiting to fly, but not doing so, and now I am having a few weeks at home whilst I take all the vacation owing from last year.  I'll be back to update the site soon!

Standby Moscow!

You can always tell winter has arrived in Europe by going to Moscow! Even though the UK is still mild (suggesting Autumn), Moscow is -5 degrees celcius!  So, I need to remember to pack a hat and gloves because after we arrived yesterday I nearly got frostbite from trying to put the engine covers on!  Flying in the cold is no problem, but the work starts after you have landed - we had to pack up all the drinks from the aircraft and put them in a warm room so they don't freeze, and we do the same with the chocolate too!  Then the aircraft water systems have to be completely drained so the pipes don't burst, which includes the toilet.  Then all the covers go on outside, so snow doesn't get into anywhere it shouldn't.  So, after landing, it's a good hour before you can be on your way to the hotel.  And in Moscow, that means joining the traffic jam and spending one and a half hours in a taxi to the hotel!  Thankfully, we have a days standby here before we fly back to warmer climes.  Hopefully, the aircraft will still be working when we return to it!!

Flying Again!

After my last post, and spending the day in Basel relaxing in the hotel, I did get called to perform a couple of flights!  Firstly, we ferried to Geneva but we were late off because the refuellers seemed to be suffering from 'weekend-itus', which meant that it took an age for them to arrive and even longer before they worked out how we could pay for the fuel!  Still, we eventually got off and climbed above the low cloud that seemed to be covering the country.  It was good to see blue again after a few days under the gloomy skies.  We broke cloud at about 500 feet on the approach to Geneva, and a leisurely turnround saw us enroute to Paris with passengers.  It was the easterly approach into a CAVOK Paris Le Bourget, at night, so we had a great view of 'Paris by night' as we flew at relatively low level past the Eiffel Tower.  My first night landing in a long time was very smooth, which is very unlike me so something must have gone wrong!  That's it for this tour - I have my airline home already booked!  Next tour in a week, and judging by the way the temperature is starting to drop over Europe, real winter operations will be starting soon!

Ground Happy?

Sonce my last post, I have flown....twice!  I did manage to get a flight from Moscow, bringing passengers to Paris which was a pleasant trip.  Since then I conducted a flight from Madeira to the UK, but that is it.  The rest of the time inbetween has been spent either off duty or doing some 'safety teaching' at the company headquarters.  At the moment, I have just come from there and I am sitting on standby in the Airport Hotel at Basel.  Our planned flight this morning was cancelled by the passenger, so we are waiting to see what the company will come up with next.  It is fairly certain we won't get to fly today, but I am hopeful that they can come up with a plan for tomorrow.  In the meantime, I can add some more content to the side tabs - checkout 'First Aid Oxygen' where I will be writing about the Puritan Bennet bottle.