Flight description

Where clippers from all over the world used to haul goods, today aircraft take off and land spectacularly. In the heart of London, just 20 minutes from Tower Bridge, is a very special runway. Built on the former quay walls of the Royal Docks, it represents a great challenge for man and aircraft not only because of its short length of just 1,500 meters but also because of an unusually steep approach procedure.

BOMBARDIER OR AIRBUS

During filming in June 2018, the aircraft type was still called Bombardier CSeries. In the meantime, Bombardier’s jet division has been merged with Airbus, and the model was renamed to Airbus A220. While Airbus and Boeing are improving their “old models”, the CSeries is a clean sheet aircraft, developed from scratch in 12 years, even with some Swiss know-how. Peter Koch, chief of the A220 fleet and featured captain of this episode, is a stroke of luck: there is hardly a pilot who knows better about the most modern passenger aircraft in the world.

SKYFALL

“We’re much too high and too fast” has occasionally slipped from experts who watch the approach to London City for the first time. The reason for this is the unique descent procedure. CPT Peter Koch: “On the final approach, you have to keep meticulously under the Heathrow’s traffic and at the same time glide over the skyscrapers of the Financial District. One arrives very early at low altitude, which you then have to hold for a long time before touching down at the earliest possible point after an unusually steep angle of 5.5° instead of the default 3°.”

NATURAL FEELING

You look into happy eyes as soon as pilots talk about the CSeries’ cockpit design. Movements on the side-stick of fly-by-wire controls generate electrical impulses, which are then executed by motors at the control surfaces. On the CSeries, the side-sticks also provide haptic feedback, which leads to a whole new feeling of being in control comparable to the classic steel cables of the old days. The analog movement of the thrust levers, whose position always reflects the rotation speed status, adds to this: there’s no better way to feel an airplane.

SPRING BREAK

An aircraft’s passenger door doesn’t only have to close reliably and be airtight: it must also be locked and opened by hand. At the factory, SWISS specialist Gian Caligari shows how to inspect all the core parts of an aircraft door during construction. His motto: “If we don’t do it right, we won’t do it at all”.

EXCURSION for ENGINES

How are new engines tested under real conditions? They are attached under an additional small wing, called a “stub wing”, to the upper part of the fuselage. Marc Kirner, director of the Pratt & Whitney testbed, shows us this unique facility at Montreal-Mirabel. It will not only inspire friends of Boeings 747SP in a specially upgraded version.

PQUAD

As the exclusive engine supplier for the CSeries, Pratt & Whitney quickly added a small factory building directly adjacent to the Bombardier plant. New engines now have only a short way to be wed to a new aircraft. Daniel Mainardi, director of the facility, not only explains the meanings of the four Ps but also gives the crew from Zurich a rare insight into the production.

UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE

“How about a tour of the airport- in a rubber dinghy?” This question of press manager Andrew Scott catches the Crew off guard. During this very unique tour in the fire engine boat, Peter and Tina learn interesting and amusing things about the former Royal Ship Harbor, the goals of the current expansion and the procedure of England’s first “Remote Tower”. In the future, tower controllers will sit in front of a video wall two hours south of London and control air traffic from London City Airport (IATA: LCY, ICAO: EGLC) via remote control.

UPRIGHT HEAD POSITION

“In the past, the eyes had to follow the flight-instruments –now the instruments follow the eyes.” Especially during take-off and landing, the frequent and necessary changes of gaze between the bright “outside” and dark “inside” were an unnecessary strain on the pilots’ perception. With an additional glass screen in front of their eyes, pilots can now see the surroundings and important data simultaneously without the need to look inwards at the dashboards. The head-up display increases the accuracy of the touchdown point and ensures full use of the runway, which is crucial for this short landing in London City.

THESE WINGS FIT LIKE A GLOVE

The more precise an aircraft is manufactured, the more independently it flies straight ahead. “One secret of this precision lies in the fact that all parts are first aligned to the millimeter and only then the holes are drilled”, enthuses Cseries director Robert Dewar as he guides the crew through the factory. “And our robots fortunately and unfortunately do this job better than humans”.

GO FLY BY YOURSELF

All those who would like to re-fly the featured routes on paper will be able to download all relevant documents for free again: from the original flight plan with handwritten remarks to the load sheet and the weather charts: The PDF portfolio  “PilotsEYE Flight Briefing” is available at http://PilotsEYE.tv.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THIS EPISODE

Although the cockpit offers few spatial alternatives, the PilotsEYE technicians were again able to find new positions for the numerous cameras. This time, there are also new perspectives: head, hand and foot space. The stabilized camera – which also shows the lateral movements of the aircraft – was attached more centrally to film transverse positions even more authentically. And for the first time, the subtitles now also appear in Italian, the seventh language alongside DE, EN, FR, ES, TR and CN.

WALLPAPERS – YOUR SCREEN ART

The most beautiful motifs of the pictures by graphic artist Thomas Uebe, prepared for mobile phones for the first time, are available for free download:
Motifs: VIEWTASTIC – INHALER – RHEINFALL – LOOKOUT SWISSERNLIGHTS – XING – GETOFFWITHME – NEWGENERATION – LONDING – HEARTLAND – EQUALEYES – ROSETINTED – FIRSTCRY – SKYFALL – BEAUTYLAND

A special moment also for the Producer

“Recently, we have seen more and more young pilots who have found their dream job through PilotsEYE films,” says producer Thomas Aigner. “This makes us proud and happy because our films were made thanks to the trust of the old hands who opened their doors to us. Doors that now become the entrance for the boys.”

Fun facts PilotsEYE

Publications: 21 episodes
Facebook: 55,000 subscribers
YouTube: 360,000 subscribers | 47 million downloads
TV odds: Kabeleins: Market share 9% (adults 14-49)
Broadcast: Kabeleins, ZDF Night, Davinci, planet (Sky)

At the age of 16, I followed the early episodes of PilotsEYE.tv for the first time and phrased the decision:

“This could become my dream job one day”. My biggest desire became reality.

Pierre König, Sen. First Officer SWISS

DVD:  EAN 4260139481217 ISBN 978-3-943781-51-9 ASIN: B07TMRS9F1
BD:  EAN 4260139481316 ISBN 978-3-943781-61-8 ASIN: B07TNVXND6

SUBTITLES:  ENGLISH • GERMAN • FRENCH • SPANISH • CHINESE • TURKISH • ITALIAN (new)

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Both pilots’ Commentary on the secondary audio track

Auto-looping for continuous playback

Code-free / Worldwide