A young pilot's life

Getting her some fresh air from undergound to stay cool and chilly in the burning Spanish sun. 

The morning dew settles over the Alps, creating this beautiful sight in early dawn. As we enjoy this view in good company of a satisfying cup of coffee, we keep in mind the minimum altitudes we have to reach in order to safely continue our flight towards Amsterdam.

Flying westbound from Hong Kong we check the latest escape routes as we approach this huge mountain range near the border of China and Kazachstan.

The North Sea Canal begins here near IJmuiden, with its enormous steel factory Tata Steel releasing clouds of who-knows-what into the air.

Flower power! A few minutes after departure we got this beautiful sight of The Netherlands with its millions and millions of colorful flowers in bloom. On the far left side the Keukenhof - or Garden of Europe - can be seen.

Some old school instruments providing us with backup flight data. They are not as accurate as our main instruments, but can be of a really good help if everything else fails.

Meeting up with another ‘Jumbo’, which is trying hard to make some more clouds high up in the sky. 

Time-out!  After a flight across the Atlantic this giant is settling back on the tarmac of Paramaribo before her flight back to Amsterdam.

The last sunrays are illuminating the Mode Control Panel as the night falls. Approaching Chicago, we are picking up some very good tailwind - more than 200kts! According to Air Traffic Control we even set the record for the day at 725kts or 1340km/u groundspeed. Woeeeeshhhh..!

Slowly banking this giant overhead the mountainous area of Mentougou - China. As the flight attendants are preparing the cabin, we are enjoying the view of this wonderful area just north of Beijing as we descent on the Standard Arrival. 

Sky conditions: Smooth with only some cirrus clouds Speed: Mach 0,85 Timing: Just ahead of schedule View: Amazing!

Waiting in line for our departure from runway 01R at San Francisco Airport. Staring at her behind ;)

"Could you guys wake me up when the Aurora can be seen?" That's what I asked the guys sitting front row - one male captain and a female first officer. Because of the long flight we are on a three-pilot mission, so we have the ability to rest on board. As it was my turn to rest and I knew there was a good chance of seeing this magical phenomena again, I asked them the above question. I just cannot get enough of seeing the Aurora.

As our Jumbo is gliding its way towards San Francisco airport we could enjoy this spectacular view of San Francisco and the famous Golden Gate Bridge trying to hide in the clouds. A few minutes later we will make a visual approach on runway 28 Left, park our machine and enjoy a good big burger!

Left or right? Miles ahead of us there is this massive, so-called, cumulonimbus cloud. Warm convective air is skyrocketing until it meets and gets stopped by the tropopause, creating an anvil-shaped top as can been seen on this picture. The conditions inside this cloud could make the ride far from comfortable. So again, left or right?

This is one of the ways we can keep in touch with the ground crew for handling issues, fuel figures, questions about the ground equipment and much more. Right now the chocks are in place, tons of cargo is being loaded, 165.000 liters of kerosene is finding its way to our aircraft and hundreds of meals, snacks and beverages are being stowed on this ship.

Two out of four... That is going to be quite unfavorable for our takeoff performance. We shut down engines number 2 and 3 on purpose to save fuel, since it is rush hour for runway 16R at Narita Airport - Japan. Once we get closer to the runway holding point the engines will be started again.