MD-11, a pilot's perspective - The long haul home.

[JasonB 117]

A new thread has been started in order to bring attention to the final chapter of the story of an MD-11 pilot's perspective. The previous chapters can be viewed [a href=http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=136&topic_id=155457&mesg_id=155457&page=]here[/a].The long haul home...Tonight we are in Aruba preparing to push for the long haul home. Our MD-11 has been working hard for the last few days, it has been to Vancouver, Canada, back to Amsterdam, down to St. Maartens, Aruba and back to Amsterdam. Tonight it has returned to Aruba via St. Maartens and we will be flying back to Amsterdam tonight, such a busy aircraft.It is a warm and humid night in Aruba, the outside air temperature (OAT) is reading 29C at 2110hrs, humidity is reading 88%. However we are sitting in the air conditioned cockpit of the MD-11, PH-KCB, we call her Maria as in Maria Montessori. KLM's other MD-11s are named after notable women such as Amy Johnson (KCA), Ingrid Bergman (KCK), Audrey Hepburn (KCE) and others.We have just loaded in the flight plan that will take us over the Caribbean Sea after we depart Aruba, we will overfly Puerto Rico, the only land we'll see until the Irish coast. Then we'll over fly Ireland, England and ultimately reach the Dutch coast after 9 hours and 25 minutes of flying time if all goes smooth and as planned. Our fuel upload is 174,209 lbs, of that 10,700lbs set aside for reserve, 3740lbs for our alternate to Brussels National and 7000lbs holding fuel. The enroute weather forecast does not look too good tonight, however flying in the dark with lightning down below should make for a spectacular light show tonight. It is looking to be somewhat of a turbulent flight for the first half of the journey across the atlantic.As flight preparations come to a complete, the last of 223 passengers have boarded the aircraft and now it is time to head home. The lead flight attendant comes into the cockpit and in a thick dutch accent, informs us that all 223 passengers are onboard and are about to close the cabin doors. Not a moment too soon, the ground chief lets us know that 51,000 lbs of cargo have been loaded into the hold, of which 8,600lbs are perishables so we need to keep the aft hold a little cooler in order to preserve our valuable cargo.The airbridge is pulled away from the aircraft, beacon lights are turned on and we inform ground that we are ready for push. Parking brake is released and we are pushed straight out and to the left facing northwest. During push back, the #3 engine is started and monitored, one by one the rest of the engines are started in a 3-1-2 procedure. The MD-11 is a marvel of technology, most of the systems are under automatic control and this is where the pilot

[wijnand 11]

Hi Jason,I like your story very much!! (being from Holland I especially like the KLM-part ofcourse!!).Are you, apart from Beta-tester, a pilot in real life?O yeah, you are right: Douwe Egberts is really good!!! :-beerchug Regards,Wijnand (EHBK)

[JasonB 117]

Wijnand,No I am not a pilot in real life, though I do have aspirations to obtain a private pilot's licence at some point when funds permit :-)About Douwe Egberts, we have a bag of it sitting in the cupboard, my wife is part dutch, part belgian so when we were in Belgium last year, I had Douwes every morning, that was the best coffee I had ever tasted... ever!I have a soft spot in my heart for KLM and would do anything to fly with them. Next year we plan on going to Belgium for at least a month so you can take a guess who we are going to fly over there with :-)Cheers,Jasonhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/priv/img/f...ig_md11beta.jpg

[Guest pilot-joey]

>Wijnand,>>No I am not a pilot in real life, though I do have aspirations>to obtain a private pilot's licence at some point when funds>permit :-)>>About Douwe Egberts, we have a bag of it sitting in the>cupboard, my wife is part dutch, part belgian so when we were>in Belgium last year, I had Douwes every morning, that was the>best coffee I had ever tasted... ever!>>I have a soft spot in my heart for KLM and would do anything>to fly with them. Next year we plan on going to Belgium for at>least a month so you can take a guess who we are going to fly>over there with :-)>>Cheers,>>Jason>>>>>http://www.precisionmanuals.com/priv/img/f...ig_md11beta.jpgAs we are talking dutch-style I also want to join in, haha! I really admire and enjoyed reading your trip reports, and hopefully we can make them today or tomorrow by ourself with this beautifull bird!Especially great you picked one of KLM's best MD11 flight and review it here to us, many thanks.Douwe Egberts is indeed very tasty, in Dutch: Lekker!Best regards, Joey

[3-2-1-Now 126]

Hi,Great story, again!! :D Best regards,Robin.

[onurksn 1]

Beautiful, detailed story as the previous ones. "Thick dutch accent" I can almost hear that ATC reading it, not to mention an outstanding night cockpit shot.I guess imagination is a big part in our love of this hobby, the passengers in the back and all. It is really hard to explain this to someone else.I am looking forward to the FS9 version which will be out soon. As KLM is an MD-11 classic it is definitely one of my priority liveries along with Lufthansa Cargo (one passenger - one freighter :)).Thank you Jason for taking the time to write these awesome stories.:-beerchug

[tcas_climb 45]

Enjoyed that story Jason thanks!Just a question.....what cost index did you use on that flight?Bryan