This week saw me going to destinations other than Murcia and Dublin! I went to Porto (Portugal), Torp (Norway), Nimes & Carcassonne (France) and Alicante (Spain).
I was on earlies this week, so I was flying in daylight, which made the approaches easier. I’m getting a bit more confident and accustomed to the fast pace of turn-arounds and have been fine tuning my organisational skills! I was allowed to do more manual flying as well to get a better feel for the aircraft and did some of my approaches manually, which helped with improving my handling skills.
The Captain demonstrated a visual approach into Nimes, and it was especially difficult because of the turbulence on the approach, which suddenly kicked in below 4000ft. Â The approach for Carcassonne was also interesting because it was a circling approach, and the PAPIs were set for a 4 degree glideslope. Â This made the approach path much more steeper than usual and we were aware of the different aspect of the runway due to the steeper approach. Â The approach into Alicante gave amazing views. Â We were landing on the northerly facing runway, which meant we had to fly out over the mediterranean sea and make are approach from there. Â On the way down to Alicante, we passed over the Pyrenees, and the view was amazing.
I didn’t find the earlies as difficult as I thought they would be since I managed getting in bed early, to get enough sleep. Â I had to wake up pretty early – around 3am since I need 30 minutes to get ready and it takes just under an hour to get to the airport. Â I enjoy the drive in the morning – the roads are nice and quiet and it helps me to wake up!
I’ve really enjoyed this week and have gotten to see a few more destinations and different types of approaches. Looking forward to next week!