Having been inspired by the excellent trip reports by Rik Vyverman and Alex Shahverdiloo, I decided to share one of my favorite routes of my favorite airline with you. I am still in the flightsim stone age (FS98) but hope you'll enjoy the report anyway.

FR8096  HHN - BOH
STD:  15.20		STA:  15.45		A/C:  B737-800  EI-CSD 

HHN control tower

It's Saturday, 17th of August, approaching 2:15 pm. After the glance at my watch I realise that there is still plenty of time until my duty officially begins, but I decide to have a look in the crew room anyway. As I enter the building that combines the crew room with the control tower, I come across the man who will be keeping me company in the right hand seat today: First Officer Ralph Köhler. As soon as we enter the crew room we are greeted by our four cabin crew and have a quick briefing:

Four sectors today, Hahn - Bournemouth and back, then Hahn - Shannon and back, with all flights having a load factor of 75%+.

Before we know it, we see our bird on final approach from Oslo-Torp and a quick scramble for everyone's belongings follows. We then make our way to the terminal building, pass security and wait in the departure lounge until disembarking begins. We then make our way to the aircraft.

EI-CSD on stand

After a quick word with Bobica Milojevic, commander of the four previous sectors, I settle into the left hand seat and begin the paperwork while Ralph does the walkaround and the cabin crew prepares the aircraft for boarding. On this flight we will be carrying 154 passengers and as Ralph takes his place in the right hand seat, the first passengers make their way into the cabin. As boarding reaches completion, I decide to introduce myself to the passengers:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, a very good afternoon and welcome aboard your Ryanair service 8096 to Bournemouth, this is your Captain speaking. My name is Tom Flynn and assisting me today is First Officer Ralph Köhler. The expected flight time is a little over an hour and we will shortly get under way. I will be speaking to you later on, giving you more information about the flight as well as the latest weather in Bournemouth. Meanwhile, please relax and enjoy your flight with us, thank you for your attention."

Patrick Muller of Hahn flight ops comes into the cockpit and I sign the load sheets. Our slot time is approaching and as Patrick leaves the aircraft, Ralph calls "Cabin Crew all doors to automatic and cross check" over the PA. Once the doors are closed I request clearance for taxi and pushback is started. Once disconnected, we are cleared to make our way towards runway 03.

Flight deck

Approaching the threshold of runway 03, I use the PA once again: "Ladies and Gentlemen, your captain speaking, we will be departing now so make sure your seatbelts are securely fastened. Cabin crew, prepare for an immediate departure." After having been cleared for takeoff, I advance the thrust levers to 95% N1 and at VR 145 we lift off. As the landing gear is raised, we are handed over to Kirn departure and cleared to Charleroi straight to cruising altitude FL320 and advised to continue as filed. Ten minutes after departure, I switch off the fasten seatbelt signs and almost straight away, purser Lars Jacobsson appears on the flight deck with coffee for us. It is a gorgeous day, so I enjoy the view until we are handed over to Brussels control and cleared for Oostende, where we will cross the English Channel. At this point I decide to keep the passengers informed of our progress:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, once again your captain speaking from the flight deck. At the moment, we are approaching Oostende from where we will cross the English Channel towards Clacton on the Essex coast. From there we will head towards Yeovil on the Dorset coast and then begin our descent towards Bournemouth, passing Southampton and the Solent estuary. We are currently cruising at 32,000 feet, 10,500 metres, at a speed of 300 knots. The latest weather in Bournemouth is 21°C with broken cloud and we expect to be landing punctually. I hope you will enjoy the rest of this flight and thank you for your attention." Seeing as my German is almost non-existant, I let Ralph do the translation, while we approach Clacton.

Cruising at FL320

Passing Clacton VOR, we are handed over to the new Swanwick control centre and cleared straight into Bournemouth to FL150. While initiating descent, Ralph illuminates the fasten seatbelt signs and tunes into Bournemouth ATIS. Having passed Yeovil NDB, we are handed over to Bournemouth approach who advise us to expect an arrival to runway 26 and we are cleared to 7000 feet. Ralph calls "Cabin crew 10 minutes to landing" and 15 nm out we are cleared to 3000 feet and told to reduce our speed to 180 kts. Finally, we are cleared for an ILS approach to runway 26 and as the landing gear is lowered, I use the PA again:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your captain speaking. We are now 7 miles out of Bournemouth and will be landing very shortly. Cabin crew, seats for landing please." Once the localiser is intercepted, we are cleared to land.

Seconds before touchdown

After a very smooth touchdown 15 minutes ahead of schedule, the thrust reversers and speedbrakes are engaged and we slow down quickly to the taxi speed of 20 kts. We are cleared to taxi to the stand and after being guided into our parking position, the engines are shut down and the seatbelt signs switched off. I combine a goodbye with instructions to the cabin crew: "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Bournemouth and thank you for flying with us today. Cabin crew, all doors to manual and cross check please." Once the doors are opened, Ralph and I work our way through the checklists. I then get up to do the walkaround and as I leave the aircraft with pursar Lars, I stand on the apron and realise that this was only the first of four sectors. "No rest for the wicked", I think to myself and start the walkaround as Lars commences boarding.

EI-CSD on stand at BOH

This report is based on the real world operations of Ryanair's Hahn base and is dedicated to base captain Tom Flynn and all staff based at Hahn, not just those mentioned in the story. Keep up the good work, folks!

I would welcome any feedback, positive or negative and thank you for reading this report.

Nico Schwab
schwab_nico@yahoo.ie