Final Line Check (FLC)

Apologies for not updating my blog recently. I have written some info, and have photos ready, but have been a bit busy with work recently.

I had my Final Line Check (FLC) on Friday. The flight was with the Airbus Chief Training Captain (Confusingly also known as 'CTC'). We went from Manchester to Mahon (Minorca) nice and early in the morning and back by about lunchtime.

It was an uneventful flight but wasn't my best flight to date. However, I obviously managed to demonstrate enough safe and consistent flying to be signed-off to fly on the line.

I now have a few days off, before I start flying back in Newcastle with normal Captains. However, my roster has me flying with Training Captains for the next 4 flights in any case! Apparently this is just luck of the draw given 2 of the 7 Captains at Newcastle are Training Captains. It does however give me a nice gentle introduction to normal line flying. I'll keep you updated....

Coming back from Zakinthos (ZTH) we were heading straight for the Cb on the left. However, our next routing took us towards the right, so going to the left to avoid didn't make too much sense. We decided to try and go through the middle. A couple of requests for 'right 10 degrees for weather' meant we managed to get nicely through the middle with no adverse affects to our smooth flying. They might look nice and fluffy, but pilots always try and ensure that these type of clouds are avoided at all cost. They are full of turbulence, severe icing and can cause extreme damage to aircraft if flown through!

A nice picture of a glacier while flying over the German Alps enroute to Italy and the Adriatic Coast.