IACE 2014 Maxime Baud

Transcription

1 IACE 2014 Maxime Baud

2 Let me introduce myself. My name is Maxime, I am 20 years old and now studying in University of Geneva but planning to be an airline pilot. I have about 90 hours of flight at the time of writing. Everything began in november when the chief instructor of Geneva flight school told me about the IACE. After a few researches, my decision was made, I had to do this exchange. Two months after sending all the necessary documents, I received a mail that invited me to the selections at Lucern in April. I will not detail those, to go straight to the most important : the exchange. I have been choosen to go to Germany with another cadet : Pierre Hochstrasser. Before beggining I want to thanks Pascal Brongkoll for the pictures he took during the exchange and that I partly use in this report. Day 0 : The start of an amazing trip As the departure of the Super Puma is in Buochs, Pierre was really cool and invited me to sleep at his home in Aubonne and do the trip together. This is a really great opportunity before the exchange, because apart of the selections, we never had the chance to meet and get to know more details about each other. Day 1 : A long day in perspective Wake up at 4:00 am in order to be on time at Buochs and not miss the Super Puma. But the only idea that I will fly in a few hours is enough to cheers me up. One breakfast, two nap and a couple of hours later we finally arrive at Buochs and can already hear the Super Puma coming. After saying our last goodbye, everybody board in and we take the heading of Dubendorf for a hot refueling. As you can see in the picture, the weather is not so nice. Since the flight is in VFR, the pilots can show us all their skills : slalom between clouds while flying 500 feet AGL at 110 knots ; pretty impressive. The second part of the flight, from Dubendorf to Egelsbach is somewhat less interessant because we are this time in IFR and a lot higher (about 7000 feet AMSL from what I read on the instruments), but not without giving us a beautiful view when approaching Frankfurt. When arriving to Egelsbach, we are warmly welcomed by the german escorts : Sascha Heck and Pascal Brongkoll. Without one realizes, we take the bus that is going to be our bus for the next two weeks and go to Frankfurt airport, the meeting point for all European cadets. At this point we are waiting in the terminal for all the other cadets to come. We are 2 swiss (Pierre Hochstrasser and me), 1 french (Victor Agopian), 2 belgian (Aurore Heuse and Pieter-jan de Smet), 2 dutch (Alicia De Graff and Dion Kootstra) and 5 british cadets (Jake Anthony Cooper, Jamie Hurrell, Robert Taylor, Luke Hooper and Eton Chung) to stay in Germany. As soon as everyone met we get back on the bus and move to our first destination : Cologne. We use this time to get to know each other and sleep a little bit. The youth hostel we are staying in for 2 nights is pretty nice. Just the time to drop off our bags and Michael Bidinger (the head of IACE Germany) brief us for the whole journey and takes us for a tour in the city.

3 Day 2 : Today is going to be an great day Today we drive to the Tactical Wing 31 of the Luftwaffe in Nörvenich Air base. After a short introduction of the wing, we get a full presentation of the Eurofighter and his systems by a mechanic of the base. The first impression you have when you see it, is : «Wow, this is huge!». Icing on the cake, 3 eurofighter in training took off and made low fly by over the runway and offer us a small airshow. In front of the Eurofighter The afternoon begin with an official meeting with the general of the Luftwaffe and other main sponsor of the IACE in Germany. This is a very great opportunity to speak with such high military representative. We can't thank them enough for everything they have done for the IACE. Our group at the reception In the second part of the afternoon we have the incredible luck to visit one of the A310 «flying hospital» of the Luftwaffe. From the cabin to the cockpit, the crew is explaining us everything. Unfortunately we soon have to get back to the bus and return to the youth hostel. To end the day we all go in a nearby park to play football and rest a little bit. Me in the cockpit of the A310

4 Day 3 : The aerospace Airbus factory The main activities for today are the trip by bus from Cologne to Hamburg and the visit of Airbus factory in Bremen. The feature of this factory is that it produce some launcher system to put satellites into orbit. It is also involve with the construction of the International Space Station. The visit is starting by watching a little movie about the history of Airbus and his activities. Following this, the guide takes us in a building nearby in wich we can have a look at the production line of the launcher system and visit an exact reproduction of the ISS. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures at any time due to some possibilty of industrial espionage. An other feature of this factory is to manufacture the cargo loading system of the A400M. So obviously, we go trough the hangar in which an A400M is parked and tested : what a wonderful plane. At Airbus factory in Bremen After this very interesting visit, we continue our travel to Hamburg and arrive in the military base that will host us for the next 2 nights. To make good habits, we have a tour in the city and spend the rest of the evening in a bar : not need to say, a lot of fun. Enjoying a good meal

5 Day 4 : Airbus and gliding The schedule for this morning is the visit of an other Airbus factory. Again? Yes and no. This time, this is the headquarters and the biggest site of Airbus in Germany. This is where the A320 and A380 are fitted with their cabin interiors. They also produce all the fuselage of the A380. Yeah, this is for us! We first are warmly welcome by one of the high representative of Airbus in Hamburg for a little briefing and a breakfast. We then get on a bus that takes us right in the fuselage assembly line of the A380. I never had the chance to be so close to an A380, and I can't help but feel so small standing right next to this gigantic plane. I think that you can't even imagine the size of it, unless you have seen before. Such a big stabilizer The next stop on the tour is the final assembly line of the A320 Neo. Personally it's my favorite airplane, perfect size, so much capacities, I really hope to be able to pilot it one day. Sadly, the visit come to the end and we must go back to the base. All ready to go! For the afternoon, we are going to glide thanks to the SC Uetersen club. I have never flown in a glider before. Although I have my PPL, I must admit that I am a little stressed to fly in a plane without an engine. For me it's never good when you don't have a propeller running to cool yourself. To take-off, we use what we call a winch. Basically there is a cable attached to the glider and being rewind at high speed. With a little bit of creativity you can imagine that you are a fighter taking off from an aicraft carrier. Unfortunately, due to a thunderstorm nearby, we can't find any thermal and can only do one circuit. Even if it was short, that was a very intense flight for me. It's a complete different way of flying with such new feelings, I will never forget it. We then play football and talk with some young local pilots for the rest of the afternoon and have the chance to share a BBQ with the members of the gliding club on the evening.

6 Day 5 : Heading to Berlin This morning we are travelling from Hamburg to Berlin with the bus. Not much to say about it, apart of a huge traffic jam near the capital due to an accident. As stopped completely, we take advantage of this to walk outside and relax our legs. Not the only one to get out. This tour in Berlin will a be little bit special, because we are not visting by foot or by bus, but with bikes. Moreover we have a fantastic guide : Freddy who makes the tour even more interesting. From the Fernsehturm to the Reichtag via the Brandenburg gate and the Berlin wall, he details everything. I am not going to detail everything, but instead here is some pictures of what we have seen : At different locations in Berlin This night our local escort takes us to a bar : the cessna 36. It's a bar in which the structure of a Cessna 152 is attached to the ceiling. It's pretty fun and they make really good cocktails ; they even have a private DJ. I will remember it whenever I come back to Berlin. The cessna 152 in the bar

7 Day 6 : Relax on Royal Luise and sunset at the Reichtag In order to relax of this busy week, we are invited by the crew of the Royal Luise to spend the day on this amazing boat. A little bit of history : the Royal Luise is a 18 meter long boat wich was first use in 1832 by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilheim III. It was rebuild in 1998 by a private owner and now own by a non profit club. Enjoying in the water So everybody onboard, let's go! It's warm, the weather is sunny and the beer is cold. What could we ask more? I know, a dive in the lake. After this quite refreshing and restfuling day, we return to the bus and head back to Berlin. Laying on the deck The main goal of visiting the Reichtag so late is to be able so see the sunset from up there. Unfortunately for us, a thunderstorm is coming and it's already quite cloudy. Being slightly disappointed, we still make the visit. But at the very end, a hole in the clouds come out from nowhere and offer us the most beautiful sunset ever. Sunset at the Reichtag

8 Day 7 : From north to south via Wasserkuppe Today we will go from Berlin to the south of Germany, so the whole day will consist of bus travel. As there nothing quite interesting to say about this trip, let me show you how we usually spend the time in good spirits during those long hours in the bus : Everybody seems tired Although, at about half of the travel, we make a little detour to Wasserkuppe. It is a little village located in a wonderful and feeric environnement. It was one of the leading place for gliding in the middle of the 20th century. The local guide takes us to a museum where there is a huge collection of glider which come from all era. After this little break, we return in the bus and stop in an other military base to spend the night. Always a lot of fun in the bus Such a beautiful panorama!

9 Day 8 : Airbus helicopter and party in the park This time we are not going to visit an Airbus airplane factory, but an Airbus helicopter factory, subtle difference. As in the other plants, we unfortunately aren't allowed to take pictures. In front of Airbus helicopter On the first part of the visit, we go in a building in wich two kind of chopper are built : the MH90 and the tiger. Mainly, the MH90 purpose is to transport troops or fret like our Super Puma (which is also made by Airbus). At the opposite, the Tiger is used as an anti-tank and attack helicopter. In the second part, the visit focus on the maintenance of large range of helicopter. It goes from the MH90, to Augusta bell, and EC135/145. We then head to Munich in order to eat and get ready for this afternoon. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding of the schedule with the management of Airbus Eurofighter who thought that we would have come yesterday, the visit is cancelled. To replace this, we decide with the other cadets and escort that we will go to a park nearby in wich there is a huge party organize by a school. For the next week, we are going to stay in the same military base near Munchen. The officers Jenski (or TJ) and Bassing from the base, know well the exchange as they have already hosted cadets the previous year. So at our arrival they are in front of our building to warmly welcome us. They even prepared some supplying of food and drinks. Everything is so well organize, you really feel like they want us to feel comfortable here. The supplying and our hosts

10 Day 9 : The Tegelberg ascension «There is no way that we are not climbing this mountain, even if we have to be totally wet when arriving at the top. So let's do it.» That's how we did not climb on the Tegelberg, the escorts decided that it was too dangerous and we will not be able to see anything because of the clouds. So instead, we go to visit the Neuschwanstein castle which is nearby. So beautiful, it looks like a movie or Disneyland (not because of the crowd, but really because Walt Disney took inspiration for the cartoon «The beauty and the beast»). Then we decide to get back to the starting point of the Tegelberg, the weather improved so there is a little chance to finally climb. Add our motivation, and it's enough to convince the escorts to go. The Tegelberg is mountain which rises at 1720 meter AMSL and the start is about 800 meter AMSL, so that makes a total of 900 vertical meters. From what TJ say, an average person climb it in 3 hours ; but we are not average, we are air cadet. The Neuschwanstein castle The climb is difficult, the ground slippery, our bodies tired and our clothes completely soaked by the rain. But finally, when we arrive at the refuge, all of this is a distant memory and we enjoy a well-deserved beer. And then icing on the cake : «Guys, we made it in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Almost half as much as a normal people do.» Due to this well filled day, the evening is rather calm, just some Uno games and a flagpole that everybody will remember. Pretty cloudy today Enjoying a beer in the refuge

11 Day 10 : Descending the Tegelberg and a bridge What a better way to start the day than to descend a moutain under the rain and a thick fog? Nothing. Everything is here to make us feel like we are in Switzerland. Joke apart, as yesterday, everybody is motivated by this stroll even if our legs are still a bit sleepy. In fact, we don't really have the choice, a survival training lovingly prepared by the Bundeswehr is waiting for us at our arrival. As we arrive at the bus, we are happy to be able to put some dry clothes but wonder what is going to happened next. So : the schedule is first to drink some hot chocolate and then go on a bridge and rappel it. Everybody wondering if we should really go After a little training to one of the extremity of the bridge, we go to serious business, rappelling from 30 meters high and land on a boat who is waiting for us on the water. I am third in line, no time to be afraid. I step over the security fence and go down with no problem. As the boat is full, the military guys bring us to the shore nearby and return to the bridge in order to get the others. When everybody is here we all have the right to a fun boat ride on the lake. Bye bye, see you soon Yeah, I did it! Since the last 24 hours were pretty busy, we have a free afternoon in the base. We take this opportunity to do some laundry, play football and rest a little bit.

12 Day 11 : Transall and Grob aircraft On this morning of «1er août» (the national day in Switzerland) we are visiting an other wing of the Luftwaffe : the LTG 61 Penzing. The goal of this wing is to transport freight, vehicle or people anywhere in the world thanks to the C-160 Transall (that will be replaced soon by the A400M). After a short briefing we go straight to the plane for a guided tour. Such a beautiful plane As in the Airbus A310, we are welcomed by the crew who presents us every part of the plane : cockpit, interior and external all accompagnied by other Transall wich are practicing touch and go on the runway nearby : all that is needed to be in good mood. During a touch and go The visit of this afternoon is the Grob manufactory aircraft. Before this day I was not aware of the existence of this aircraft brand. What is interesting is that their planes are used by the Royal Air Force as well as Lufthansa and other companies to train their future pilots. I am sure that we could have learned much more interesting things about Grob aircraft but our guide is normally an engineer and so is not very comfortable with this presentation and to tell anecdotes. A grob aircraft We leave the manufactory a little bit disappointed but not without having still fun to visit it. This evening, as it's national day for Pierre and me, we decide to buy a drink to everyone in order to celebrate. The night continues in playroom nearby in which we spend a few euros to play billiard.

13 Day 12 : Dachau concentration camp and Munich Beer, sausage, bretzel and sweet mustard. Four kind of foods that you usually eat during the day or in the evening, but not in Germany. TJ prepared us a real german breakfast to start the day in fine fettle. It's quite strange at the beggining but finally we all enjoy it and even ask for more. For the first time since the beginning of the exchange, we are not going to visit a place to have fun but with a goal of meditation and understanding of history, in fact we are going to Dachau concentration camp. The whole camp have been transformed to a museum and a memorial for the victims of the Nazis during WWII. Even if there is not much left of the old buildings, there still the foundations and add the explanations of the guide, you can easily imagine a little bit of the true abominations that happened here. As an air cadet you have to understand that sort of things in order to better understand the actual world and others nationality. Listening the guide For the fun part of the day we have a little presentation of Munich and stop by an old bar to drink a beer and eat a typical german meal. In Munich

14 Day 13 : First Delta in my logbook I can't wait to fly in it Great day in perspective. It's sunny and the schedule is to fly all the day. The whole LSV Kaufbeuren club mobilized in order to makes us fly. We each have two flights planned : one above the Alps for half an hour with a Robin (D-EAEP) and the other with a glider. Having agreed with the others, I am on the third rotation of the Robin. While we wait for the plane to come back, we play football with half of the group as the other half go for gliding. I am very lucky because the pilot who go with us is an instructor and agree to let me fly in dual as I already have my PPL. That mean that I will be able to log it in my logbook as my first flight with a foreign aicraft : so happy right now! The refuge at the top of the Tegelberg «Okay, we are cleared to take-off, wind is calm. Full power, Vx and rotate. Head straight to the Alps.» The Robin is not a powerful aircraft but is very handy to fly and perfect for local flights like this one due to his large windshield. Even if I have already flown in the Alps in Switzerland, it's always very impressive to fly so close of the moutains at 100 knots. Moreover, the instructor who is very familiar with the area have many stories to tell us about what we see below us. Little thought for the refuge on the top of the Tegelberg as we fly over it. Aaaannd it's already the time to fly back to Kaufbeuren. As soon as we land, I meet Pierre who was gliding up to now and introduce me to the gliding team. Shortly after, I embark in the glider At the top of the climb I hear the pilot : «Hey we can't find any thermal. So do you prefer a long and boring flight, or a short and fun flight?». I decide to opt for the second solution : best decision ever. We begin to descend rapidly toward the ground to gain speed and make a huge resource to then be in situation of zero gravity : one of the best feeling in the world! You feel so light and it's so comfortable, really unforgettable. We do an other one before continuing with a steep turn wich is really the opposite feeling : you feel so heavy, quite difficult to move any of your limbs. All good things come to an end, we land on the runway and I return with the rest of the group to enjoy a football game and a BBQ.

15 Day 14 : Aviation museum and Allianz Arena If you love aviation you can't go in Munich without going to Oberschleissheim annex of the Deutsches Museum : one of the biggest aviation museum in the world. It has an enormous collection of plane : An-2, Mig, eurofighter, F15, old sailers, seaplane,... They have everything. Here is some that you can find : Every kind of plane is here The afternoon is composed of two parts : the visit of the Allianz Arena and then get back to Munich. I am not a big fan of football, but I have to admit that this stadium is particularly impressive when you stand in front of it. Even more when our guide takes us in a maze of hallway through the inside of it. It leads us directly to the locker rooms of the Bayern Munich team and the entrance gate of the field. Quite epic when the music is added. In the second part, we return to Munich and have some free time. I go with Pierre and Victor for shopping, walking in the city and eat an ice cream. Inside the stadium

16 Day 15 : Helicopters and 737 simulator I am a bit sad, today we have to leave the military base and say goodbye to our friends. We only spent 8 days with them, but we were considered as a member of a big family. So it is with great emotion that we do the farewell and exchange some gifts. On this day we have visited 2 wings of the Luftwaffe and we are going to our third one : the Hubschraubergeschwader 64. It is the only wing that is composed only of helicopter. They use the CH-53HG. Like in the others wings, before the visit begin we are brief on what they do. First we go in the hangar in which th CH-53 is parked. This is really a huge helicopter, even the Super Puma seems small next to it. It can transport up to 55 passengers at once. In the early afternoon, we visit the tower of the base. As the controllers show us their workplace, a CH-53HG take-off right in front us and pass at 30 meters of the tower : it was already impressive this morning, but this is a higher level. Little surprise for this afternoon because we are flying on a 737 simulator in Stuttgart. I team with Pierre and we allocate tasks : I will do the take off and he will do the landing : «50 %, stable, TOGA, V1 and rotate. Positive rate, gear up please.». Pierre did the landing very well, one of the best in the group. I practiced a lot on FSX and even with add-on for the airbus family, but it is worthless compared to this simulator. You really have the impression of flying the real thing. The Boeing 737 simulator at SimInn For this evening we have a farewell at Sinsheim aiport (which is mostly a gliding field). The fun fact is that we are not going to sleep in a nice and warm room but in a glider hangar on cot. A lot of people are here and as usual we have a BBQ. We exchange our gifts in a corner of the shed and sign the last certifcates available to keep a souvenir. (Note to future Swiss cadets : the Swiss Army knives are really appreciated as long as the chocolate). We lit a fire and stay as long as we can next to it. Nobody seems to wants to go sleeping, we know that this is the last night together and enjoy a maximum those last moments. Eventually at 3 am, we finally go to reach our beds.

17 Day 16 : Heading back to Switzerland Last day in Germany, last day with this amazing group. After saying goodbye to our hosts and check that everything is packed, we get into the bus and drive to Frankfurt. Since we are the first cadets to arrive, we enjoy a last meal together at one of the airport's restaurant. As the others come, we begin to say goodbye to eachothers not without emotion. Among this flood of feelings, there is some good news for Pierre and me : after a little discussion with the cadets who were in Switzerland, it appears that the pilots of the Super Puma are romands and therefore are probably coming from Payerne. We are already thinking of asking them if they would accept to disembark us there instead of Buochs as it is closer from Aubonne and Geneva. When everybody is here, we finally get into the bus for a last time and head back to Egelsbach. But first, we leave the Belgian cadets exactly where, 16 days ago we met them and take back the last two missing Swiss cadets. When arriving to Egelsbach, the Super Puma is already waiting for us and all ready to go. As we hoped, the pilots come from Payerne and speak french. One phone call to the Ops later, they are totally okay for us to stay until the end. The Swiss cadets in front of the Super Puma Everybody on board, take-off and Switzerland here we come. As we move away from Frankfurt, I think back at those last 2 weeks, at all the things that I have done and see, all those people that I have met : it's really times that I will never forget in my entire life. On the way back to Switzerland

18 Feedback : This exchange was really amazing. I have met so much people, did so much things that I wouldn't be able to do normally. Moreover it's first a human experience than an exchange. I would recommend it to anyone that want to do it. It's really unforgetable, only good experiences. And guys if you read this, you were the most exceptionnal group that I have ever been in. Really wish to see you again soon. Special dedicace to Pascal for the pictures. ;) I want to thanks again all the people who welcomed us and hosted us during this exchange. You did a really good job and we are all thankful for that. I hope that you enjoyed reading this report. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any question about this exchange at : baud.maximejh[at]gmail.com