This story is about my visit to Novosibirsk which happened in the middle of May, 2015. My airline had set me a task to check some pilots from our Novosibirsk base, so I selected three Captains and planned routes to deal with this order.
--==(o)==--
We have two bases - one is located in Moscow, Domodedovo (DME), and the second is in Novosibirsk, Tolmachevo Airport (OVB).
The interesting fact is that Novosibirsk is the place of birth of the airline, our postal adress is stil Ob-4, Novosibirk region, though Globus started in 2008 in Moscow and opened the base in Novosibirsk only 5 years later.
Why I've named Novosibirsk as a "birthplace"? Globus and Siberia Airlines both fly under the brand name of S7 Airlines. Siberia Airlines was founded in Novosibirsk in 1990s and only in the beginning of 2000s they opened the base in Moscow.
So, historically Tolmachevo is considered to be "The Nest" of our birds!
As we have two bases - the main in Moscow and the small one (only 7 crews) in OVB, all that managers who usually wash pilots' brains, are very far away from the second. But as all the pilots must follow the same rules, there is a need to create a system of supervision that would guarantee that everything is going in the same manner and every pilot complies with the standards.
3 years ago we selected several Airbus Captain from Siberia Airlines and trained them to fly B737. May be you know about the traditional antagonism between "Boingers" and "Airbusers"? If not, just believe me - it does take place!
That is why our management (me also) has some worries that these pilots would want to bring some Airbus "techiques", which could affect crew coordination especially if one of the crew members is a DME pilot.
--==(ะพ)==--
Novosibirsk is located very close to my native Barnaul and since my childhood I have visited it many times. In 1996-98, when I was a cadett of the flying school of Buguruslan I always used the train route which started in Novosibirsk to get there and vice versa.
My career as an airline pilot started in 2003 in Tolmachevo, again. As a passenger I flew to my first base (Norilsk) and then made my first flight as a first officer of Tu-154.
Russian Jumbo. Ilyushin-86. It could carry up to 350 passengers in its three-row cabin. This bird is going to become a museum.
So, I have planned several flights with OVB pilots.
The first one was the flight from the Nest to Yakusk.
Yakutsk... A vvvvvery cold place. I hardly believe that a common europoean can ever experience temperaters even only half of those, which are usual there!
I've opened this town to my company in 2009. It was December and the temperature was somewhere below-50C!
Could you imagine -50C? This is the temperature that makes you breath with the pain, and your opened eyes very quicly feel glassy, because your tears (you will have the tears!) revert to ice.
It is not the lowest temperature that could be there.
So, my colleagues are preparing
Antonov-148, she is from Irkutsk.
A320 of Aurora, from Vladivostok.
All doors are closed, engines are running, the airplane is moving to the runway. FO sends three signals to the cabin crew to tell'em that they should be prepared for the departure within a couple of minutes.
...And then there were three hour of a night flying.
Arriving to Yakutsk just before the sunrise.
Turning to the runway
On final
Closer
Very close
Yakutsk has a very rough runway. You should keep your head safe when landing the bird sitting in a pilot's seat! I didn't know this lifehack in my very first flight... nowadays I know L)
All passengers have left our plane. I have some time to look around.
Sunrise
In an hour we are ready to depart again.
The typical view of the Soviet architecture. Most of Russian cities still look like this.
The FO reads the checklist
Then, we are moving to the runway
Just got into the sky
Bye-bye, Yakutsk!
Do you remember what is the month?
It is May! All lakes are still covered with ice!
Flying back to the Nest
The FO flies the bird today
The Captain is calm
Some apron views.
When I was a Tupolev-154 FO I used to fly all company's Tupolev's birds. We have had about 50 planes and this is (at this moment already was...R.I.P.) the last one which is preparing to be cut...
Stopping for towing.
Tupolev-154, though not an easy-flying, but a very nice bird...
Bye, 85724...
Regional turboprop, Antonov-24. A very old airplane, but still is very useful in that region.
Before ending this post I will show you the city
A brand-new bridge.
The city center. Lenin's monument - in the Soviet past each town must had a momument of Lenin.
The citisens considers this chapel as a center of Russia.
Nearby Tolmachevo airport.
Another Tupolev. This is a monument, the airplane, again, was operated by Siberia Airlines. Of'course, I flew this bird as FO.
Meteo station.
Militaries also have their apron it Tolmachevo, and hour hoter is unfortunatelly close to it. This helicopters are very loud, and if only they be there! But also MiGs, Tu-134s and 154s and even An-22s often terrify crews' rest..
This is my cousin, Dmitriy.
It was the meeting with readers. Whom does that bottle of a milk-shake belong to? :) Of course, it is mine! :)
The hotel
And, of course, preflight preparations :)
All the best!
No comments:
Post a Comment