With someone I am familiar with, the whole process is much more relaxing and more to chat about, helped by a very friendly and tech savvy 54year old captain from Pakistan. This flight was much shorter than the one to Chiangmai last week and the load was also lighter. Taking off took a long time as there was a queue for departure. It seems that the Singapore queuing culture in Singapore can't be avoid everywhere. This also showed me that morning flights are the peak period of the airport and I'll better do things faster to avoid being caught in the jam in future. The engine burns fuel even when on idle on the taxiway, and if i get stuck for too long, my fuel plan is gonna get screwed up.
Soon, we took off from RWY02C and headed straight towards Vietnam over the eastern seas of Malaysia's coast. The radios involved along the way were much lesser than the one to Chiangmai, thus reducing the workload of the PM. Very soon, we arrived at destination but was slightly delayed in theair due to some military exercises. Upon touch down, I finally see how does Vietnam looks like as I've never been to this country. The airport looks old, with parking bays used by the American planes during the war still standing beside the runway. The terminal is very small as compared to Changi Airport, and there was a "follow-me" car to bring us from the main taxiway to the gate. That was the first time I've seen this.
At the gate and awaiting the unloading/loading to be done, the captain gave me the chance to set up the FMGC for the return flight. I was very grateful for that and jumped onto the left-hand seat to get it all ready albeit with some data absent due to the unavailability of the load sheet. The buttons are softer and much nicer to press as compared to the one I'm used to in the sim. Other than that everything is the same.
Before I can take more looks of the airport, we were back on the runway for our home bound leg. Some less than two hours of cruising, I descended into the haze above Singapore international airport. Almost took the wrong taxiway to get to the gate with the FO and me not really paying attention to things, but luckily it was discovered before turning into the wrong route. This tells me to be always alert as everyone can make a mistake no matter how experienced he is.
Locked up the aircraft and it was time for lunch. There's no taking of work home or thinking about work when leaving work. What a perk it is unlike my days as a software consultant before I embarked on this journey. How lovely~
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| 0550hrs, reporting for flight.. Thank god I stay in the Eastern region of Singapore |
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| The sun rises as I did the walk-around |
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| Nose |
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| I was in disbelief as I spotted this floppy disk drive on the centre pedestal |
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| Look at the queue for departure |
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| On descend to Saigon, a bumpy one with all this cloud |
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| Follow-me car |
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| For a short while during cruise, I hopped on to the right-hand seat. What a great feeling it was. |
Two days after the flight I was back to the sim for training. After three lessons of VOR CANPA approaches, the lesson plan changed for a NDB CANPA approach at the similar airport. NDB flying is a pain in the butt since the days in Ballarat and nobody likes it. Did my chart preparation the day before and reading up on the FCTM on how I can fly it more accurately.
Setting up the FMGC is roughly the same except for the RAD NAV page. Other than the VOR that has to be tuned, the NDB will have to be set up as well. The VOR has DME equipped which is crucial for the CANPA distance/height planning approach. Has there be no DME, we have to refer to the distance t runway threshold found on the PROG page of the MCDU. That will be damn hard to fly having to look at the PFD, ND and MCDU. Luckily my instructor allowed the DME to be serviceable haha.
The lesson was carried out mostly similar, with take-off to radar vectors to holding to approach. Well I managed to fly the NDB interception pretty ok and the approach was good. Now that I've gotten my controls sorted out, I no longer fear the approach. The biggest challenge for NDB is the clustering of the ND. VOR and NDB arrows with the stations and waypoints and runway all jumbled up on the screen. Ah well, just gotta live with it.
Happy week for me, but it's sad that my next real flight in the cockpit will be next year. Lots of patience and heck lot more of training needed.
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