My first flight in a real B737.

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boing
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My first flight in a real B737.

#1 Post by boing » Sun Jul 24, 2016 10:17 pm

Time for another pointless little story. I have to say that, of course, but the story is not pointless since it captures another time, another place and another whole mental attitude in the history of commercial aviation. The story will horrify some and leave others wondering what the point is but it may leave the people it is targeted at with a little chuckle of remembrance of times gone by that will never return, for good or bad.

I joined an airline and was assigned my first duty as a flight engineer on the Boeing 737. What you say? The Boeing 737 is a two pilot aircraft, it doesn't have a third pilot. Well, it did and in a most unusual way. As part of airline pilot union negotiations when the Boeing 737, the very early one with long thin motors instead of short fat ones, came into service it was agreed that it would be operated by three pilots instead of the two pilots it was designed for. Union feather bedding you may say - well not entirely. The aircraft was used on very short routes into pretty small airports and at that time there were none of the present electronic flight planning aids, everything was done with an Operating Manual, a pencil and VHF communications to the company. Considering that you could sometimes fly three legs into small communities between two major cities in just a few of hours the B737 flight engineer could be a very busy fellow and essential to achieving short turn-around times. Regardless of the arguments the B737 had a flight engineer. The flight engineer's kingdom was a seat that folded out of the aircraft cockpit wall, immediately behind the center console, after the pilots had accessed their seats, and when it was in the down position the pilots could not get out of the cockpit door and the flight attendants could not get into the cockpit. The routine pilot workspace in the 737 was very cramped but there was an even smaller fixed seat on the left side of the aircraft designed to be used by FAA check pilots on check rides, you can imagine that checking a B737 crew was not a popular activity with the FAA people since this fourth seat was tiny, in a cramped location and totally uncomfortable. So that is real estate we are dealing with.

So, this is my first flight in the real B737, it is a qualification ride wherein I will be flight checked by a suitable qualified line flight engineer. I turn up in flight operations massively before I needed to be there, all scrubbed, well rested, immaculately dressed, creases sharp, shoes bulled, my documents and flight bag perfectly arranged, the usual stuff. At this time flight operations was different to the way they are now, in those days dispatch and the local crew desk were actually in flight operations - now they are unified for the whole country 1500 miles away on the end of a telephone. In this operations room the only concession to modernity was a bank of half a dozen computers in the center of the room. As you entered the operations room the bank of computers was ahead of you, the dispatch window to the left and the crew desk counter to the right. Being new I did not want to bother anyone, heck, I did not even know whether I was authorised to talk to the dispatchers or the crew desk workers. I used the computers to make a print-out of the planned days work and the names of the other crew members, there would be four of us in the cramped cockpit, the Captain, the Co-pilot, the check engineer and myself. Unfortunately for the check engineer he would have to sit on the tiny fourth seat while I practiced my duties. Time passed by and I waited, then I waited, and then I waited some more. Eventually I selected a pilot using the computers who did not look intimidatingly senior and I asked him what was going on. Having told him what I was doing he asked to see my trip print-out, he looked at the names of the other crew members and howled "You are in deep trouble !" and with no further explanation but with a big grin on his face he wished me good luck.

Eventually, a few minutes before the proper check-in time for the flight I screwed up enough courage to approach the crew-desk:
" Excuse me but I have a check flight and the crew is supposed to be here in a couple of minutes, am I in the right place?"
"Who are you flying with?"
I gave him the names from the trip description, an expression moved across his face.
"Don't worry, they will be here in time."
Note that he did not say "on time", I missed that important point.

I waited and I waited, ten minutes passed check-in time, something must be wrong. I took executive action and left for the aircraft sure that there had been a major communications failure. The gate area was full of passengers and I let myself through the jetway access door (before security got insane) and went down to the aircraft - no one there, not even flight attendants. I waited and I waited some more. Eventually the flight attendants arrived. We were now at 30 mins. before departure, although I had not been officially checked out on the line I made a walk around inspection of the outside of the aircraft as per SOP and returned to the cockpit to lay out all of my manuals and paperwork. As I finished this task a youngish fellow was heading for the cockpit carrying a flight-bag.
"Hi, are you Boing?"
"Yes"
"Where have you been, we have been waiting for you in operations, Fred behind the desk said you were here but we couldn't find you anywhere. What are you doing here so early?"
It did not seem worth explaining.

Seconds later an older pilot with a smiley face appeared - the sort of face that could be smiley or stony, I appeared to be lucky.
"Thought you could hide Eh? No such luck."

Immediately behind the second pilot was a tallish thin pilot in uniform who disappeared out of the jetway door returning just a few seconds later with "She's a good one L**".
He then turned to me with "Hi, I'm L****, see you have your set-up done, that's great."
My set-up had been done for about 20 minutes.

There followed the process of L** and B****, the co-pilot, diving into their seats followed by hands flashing all over various switch panels. L**** tucked me into my seat and told me to get on with the flight planning. Somewhere in all of this someone had ordered four coffees which appeared on a tray borne by a flight attendant who obviously knew that crew very well. The FA shouted over me "Hi L**" to be returned with "Hi Mary, that's Boing, we will be beating up on him today." Mary said in that case she would make sure there was plenty of coffee.

In about two minutes the flurry of activity stopped. Miraculously the aircraft was ready for flight except that I was still completing the take-odd data. L** told L**** that he should write me up for being slow with the paperwork. OK, it was pretty obvious now that I was being given an initiation ceremony but I still felt a bit of a clutz.

Ten minutes later we were starting engines and moving out towards the runway which would be a slow taxi because it was the rush hour. Then it happened.
L** said "OK. out of your seat B**** this is Boing's leg."
B**** said "Fold your seat up and get it out of the way". I did.
B**** stepped back over the console, I moved forward into his seat.
L**** stood up by the cockpit door, B**** moved on to the tiny seat and L**** took over my folding seat in his proper position as flight engineer.
Meanwhile L** had been taxying the aircraft and using the radios.
L** asked B**** to repeat all of the appropriate checklists to make sure everything was completed and asked for a "ready" confirmation from everybody.
I said to L** "I hope you know what you are doing Sir". The Sir not being necessary but it seemed appropriate.
"You are a pilot aren't you, just fly the aeroplane I will do the rest".

Which is how, on my flight engineer check-ride, I flew an aircraft that I had never flown before from one major US city to another and, actually, it worked quite well which boosted my self-confidence and reputation considerably. Could this happen now, I doubt it? This was in the days when promotions were slow, pilots stayed on one aircraft for a long time and crews got to know the aircraft and each other in ways we can't even imagine today. These were the days when the aircraft was flown by hand for a considerable part of the flight and people like this Captain had, in reality and for good reason, total understanding and command of the machine. These were the days when Captains had that air and attitude that permeated the passenger cabin as well as the flight deck, an air of easy going command that made bolstering their self-importance unnecessary. It was a time when turning up for work was fun.

.
the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

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