FL 380 – Yet Another Aviation Blog

It’s two for the price of one today! Next flight on our Nordic Expedition will be from Trondheim to Bodo. SAS operates this route with B737-700 via Bodo. We have to get up early, ETD is 08:05 am CET.

It’s not really that cold today in Norway. Around 11°C (52F) at the airports we visit on this tour. Take off in Trondheim will be on runway 27. We’ll be climbing to FL370, only to descend again immediately after reaching TOC. Landing in Bodo will be on 25.
We will then spend a little time on the ground. At 09:25 am CET the flight is scheduled to continue to Tromso. Take off will also be on 25, we’ll then follow SID ABTA1B, cruise on FL210 for a short while and land on runway 19 in Tromso. Approach will be on SID AND4M. I don’t trust ATC vectors in this case, as there is a lot of dangerous terrain around Tromso. We don’t wanna take any risks…

Let’s get started! Wonderful day for flying.

Some other SAS aircraft sitting at the gate, while we prepare our flight.

On the way to the runway.

And up up and away!

Time to enjoy the Norwegian landscape. That’s why we’re here!

Cruising at 37,000 feet.

Brønnøysund Airport ahead.

Some more scenic views from above.

About to enter this overcast layer of clouds.

We made it through!

On approach for Bodo. The Glide Slope has a significantly higher angle due to terrain in the flightpath.

Short final.

And welcome to our first stop, Bodo.

We arrived a little early, so we’re in no hurry during the preparations for the next leg to Tromso.

Ready to go further up North!

Great location here.

We’re climbing quick, not much time to reach the CRZ altitude on this short leg.

Following the SID.

And some shots from en-route.

This looks interesting! You can clearly see that we’re closing in on 70N…

Descending already.

The approach path into Tromso will take us through a lot of dangerous terrain.

Glide Slope alive, gear down.

And the runway ahead.

I like this view.

I’ll let the pictures on short final speak for themselves.

We have reached Tromso. Not much going on here.

On our short way to the gate.

Welcome to Tromso Lufhavn!

Next flight will be something special, we’re going to Spitsbergen, flying into the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled service!

I decided to go back to Norway and explore this beautiful country a little more. This is the itinerary I came up with:

As you can see, the first leg will be from Amsterdam to Trondheim (ENVA). From there on I will visit Bodo, Tromso and Longyearbyen on the island Svalbard (which is also the northernmost airport [78N] in the world with scheduled flights). From there I will fly down to Oslo, across the country to Stavanger and finally back to Amsterdam. This makes for some nice short flights, except for the one from Svalbard to Oslo.

First leg today was from Amsterdam to Trondheim on KLM Cityhopper Embraer 190. This was also my first scheduled flight with the E-Jets. I always liked those planes, but never took the time to understand them. I can fly Airbus, Boeing, MD-11, ATR, CRJ, Fokker and even the older EMB-jets. Of course most of them only in normal ops, but I know their systems and how to operate a regular flight with them.
The types I fly more often, like the 737NG, 747 and 767, I would say I know quite a lot about them. I have to say that I probably never had such difficulty in learning a new aircraft-type than with the E-Jets. Their design philosophy is completely different to anything I knew. Their Autopilot has so many different modes, the FMC is completely different to other aircraft and the systems are really something special. I took the time to read through a lot of pages in the operating manual and learned the systems while doing some test rounds in the sim. Today I finally felt ready for my first scheduled flight and I have to say that the E-Jets are lovely aircraft. Their degree of automation is something you have to get used to, but they are a joy to fly. And definitely the best product Wilco/Feelthere have ever released.

But now enough about the plane, let’s get started. ETD is 09:30 CET. We’re starting at the A-ramp in Amsterdam, that’s where all the KLM Cityhopper operations are handled.

The routing will take us towards the northern tip of Denmark and then pretty much straight through Norway up to Trondheim, which is the third most populous city in Norway. Take off in Amsterdam will be on 36R and we will land on runway 09 in Trondheim.

Say hello to PH-EZA. This will definitely not be my last flight on the E-Jets.

You can see the design philosophy behind the EMB 170/190 series when you take a look around the flight deck. Very structured, very sorted and clean. Only a few big displays. Even though the info on the screens can look a bit chaotic at first.

This aircraft is a nice addition to all the Boeings and Airbus out there. Very modern design.

We’re on our way to the runway.

And our first scheduled take off was a success! Everything went according to plan and checklists.

It payed off that I studied all the different Autopilot modes. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to control this thing – other than flying it manually.

She’s kind of a slow climber. FL is 39,000 feet and we will need some time to reach this altitude.

As we’re getting closer to Norway the sky gets cloudy.

When I went to the lavatories I found this FA sitting in the cabin. She looks a little creepy if you ask me, more like a Zombie-FA… The real ones on my KLM Cityhopper flight from AMS to DUS were definitely better looking!

We’ve already broken through the clouds and are descending towards Trondheim.

The airport comes in sight. Now another exciting phase will start: Will I be able to land her safely?

So far it’s looking good.

Beautiful landscape, as everywhere in Norway.

Another critical moment. Until now the Autopilot was flying the ILS-approach. I wanted to see if I remembered all the tricks to get this thing to fly an ILS. It’s not as easy as in a Boeing or Airbus, you have to configure exactly the right modes on the Autopilot…and it has a lot of modes!

From now on I’m hand-flying this bird on final.

Still looking good, just about to touch down.

We made it! The first successful scheduled flight on the E-Jets. I’m a little proud of myself. The landing was a little bit hard, but still within limits. Not bad for the first one (apart from the Touch-and-Go’s during practice).

On our way to the terminal. This Atlas Air B747F seems to be a good way to transport freight to this remote city.

And here we are. Next to this SAS 737 at Trondheim Lufthavn!

Thanks for reading! The next leg will be on SAS 737-700 to Bodo, further up North.