"In 1 month he got his PPL and the 737NG training." do you mean from scratch ? can't believe itGood video anyway. What a pity I don't understand dutch "il n'y a que nos amis belges pour faire ça"

"In 1 month he got his PPL and the 737NG training." do you mean from scratch ? can't believe itGood video anyway. What a pity I don't understand dutch "il n'y a que nos amis belges pour faire ça"

Indeed, from scratch! You see him taking his PPL exam with Jetairfly.Also, it is worth to be noted that his landing back in Brussels was THAT soft, the 737 didn't even know that it was landing to deplaoy the speedbrake.IMO, Tom did an extremely well job flying that thing for the first time, after starting from scratch only 1 month before the actual, attempt, I admire him for that!EDIT: And also, this jet he flew was actually brand new from the Boeing factory! No revenue flights done with that one at all at the time of recording (looking at the weather, that was in early summer)

Edited February 23, 201214 yr by Renzo

Wow...that was one cool video and what he experienced I'm sure most of us in here has as a dream...getting the chance to find out how well we would do in the real bird!I was lucky enough to get the chance several years ago to try a spin (t/o and landing) in a real full motion 737 simulator at SAS Flight Academy (which these days is Oxford Aviation Academy) at Arlanda (ESSA) and I actually did pretty well but of course that was only a sim although far more real than we will ever get in front of our PCs but still is was the thrill of my life :(

That's not really true Renzo.OO-JAX was shown in the beginning of the program, rolling out of the hangar. By that time (early march), she already had quite some cycles. (We're not going to wait 4 months before putting a plane on the line, it'll generally take no more than a week.)The actual flight was done on OO-JAQ, which has been with us since 2009.Also, he is NOT a Private Pilot now, they gave him a crash course with just the amount of material he needed in order to be able to do the flights he needed.I'm 100% sure I could not pull it off in the same time, but someone with the basic capacities needed to become an airline pilot would be able to take this exact course quite comfortably in about two - two and a half months.

Qoting Renzo "Indeed, from scratch! You see him taking his PPL exam with Jetairfly."and what about the PPL theoretical exam ? Guess there is one in Belgium as everywhere in the worldQuoting Thomas "Also, he is NOT a Private Pilot now, they gave him a crash course with just the amount of material he needed in order to be able to do the flights he needed"This is now quite clear, at least for me. Thanks

Also, it is worth to be noted that his landing back in Brussels was THAT soft, the 737 didn't even know that it was landing to deplaoy the speedbrake.

Hmm, I doubt that... I downloaded and watched the episode last night -- the landings in Oostende were touch and gos, in which the speedbrakes werent's supposed to deploy. And after the landing in Brussels the captain made it clear that, apparently, it was SOP to reach for the speedbrake lever to make sure it deploys. Besides, AFAIK, deployment of the speedbrakes doesn't rely on how hard the landing is, but on main gear spinup with the speedbrake lever armed, or deployment of reverse thrust.