International Hotel Booking - Tale Of a New Boeing

We have started taking deliveries of the B737-900ER, over the past two months. And the newest -900ER, -900, 800, -700, -500, this includes the B737-300. We are qualified to fly all the 737 versions that Continental operates, as a B737 First Officer. And the Boeing 737, b-777, the Boeing 787. Continental Airlines has many new Boeing aircraft on order.

Tail number N37413. It has lots of new technology and I had the
opportunity to fly it for the first time yesterday. And fun to fly, heavy, it's long. This airplanes actually holds one more person than the Boeing 757-200, in fact! The B-737-900ER is big for a 737.

The autopilot had more functionality as we were now given control over altitude and speed intervention during vertical navigation climbs and descents and one of my favorites is the ability to see a profile view of your flight plan and the terrain underneath you. They are now integrated into one electronic display instead of 3 separate instruments. The most noticeable was the standby instruments. I noticed quite a few differences, after sitting in my seat, however. My first impression was it's exactly like the B737-900.

Our departure was at 7:25 am and I was flying with a captain who recently turned 60 and was taking advantage of the new FAA regulation that allows pilots to fly beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60 that used to be the norm. It was a nice day to work a day trip to Florida as the weather from the previous day in EWR had moved out and there was a break before thunderstorms were to move into EWR for the evening rush hour. Lauderdale (KFLL) and back. Our flight yesterday took us from Newark (KEWR) to Ft.

It worked as advertised and was a welcome addition to our cockpit resources. I was anxious to put it to good use too, after studying about the new technology the company provided us. The airplane flew great and responded quickly to my inputs. It was an uneventful takeoff and climb out. North Carolina and then over water until we reached KFLL, i flew the first leg to KFLL and the route of flight took us over land until we reached Wilmington.

These storms were above our altitude and this picture is one of the larger thunderstorms we flew around. We encountered scattered thunderstorms and were navigating around them to provide a safe and comfortable ride for our passengers. Georgia (KSAV), 000 Ft) we were on AR21 about 134 nm off the coast of Savannah, at Flight Level 400 (about 40, about an hour and a half into our flight.

I was glad
this one was over over the ocean, knowing how dangerous these storms can be and how much destruction they can cause to the people on the ground. It's always a fantastic site to see these storms from this position.

I started hand flying the aircraft and clicked off the autopilot that we use to reduce our workload during the flight so I can get a feel of how this new aircraft will fly at slow speeds. We were configured at flaps 30 and slowing to our approach speed, at about 1200 feet above the ground. And notice to airman to assure our arrival into KFLL, length, runway conditions, we checked the weather. We started our descent when I briefed the approach and selected flaps 30 and our arrival speed for landing.

The captain took over the aircaft so he can taxi us to the gate in KFLL, as we slowed to taxi speed. I smoothly took over the brakes from the autobrake system and stowed the thrust reversers, after the captain called out 80 kts as we were slowing. The autobrakes applied smooth anti-skid braking and I applied idle reverse thrust while commanding the rudders to keep the aircraft right on the centerline, when the wheels smoothly began to spin up to 150 kts (Vref) the autospeed brakes deployed. At 50 feet above the ground I began to flare and slowly reduce the power to touchdown.

I commented to the captain that it was a great plane to fly, as we prepared for the flight home. It was smooth and responsive and the new technology was outstanding. My first experience with the B737-900ER was wonderful.

Over water and then back over land by Wilmington, 000lbs of fuel and our 2:32 flight plan was routed similar to our route down, the plane was loaded with over 22. 173 passengers and 3 lap children, 6 crew members, we had 184 souls on board the aircraft which included two jumpseaters. We were 100% full, on the return flight to KEWR.

This flight also found us holding for 20 minutes for volume and gusty winds so air traffic control could space aircraft out further due to the weather conditions. But a new aircraft and a heavy load added to the stress of this arrival, these conditions are challenging for any pilot. It was perfect weather conditions to test the aircrafts ability to fly such a heavy load in very gusty wind. Newarks weather had cleared up and on the descent it was cloudy with winds gusting up to 35 mph.

This plane was headed back to KFLL for another turn this evening while the captain and I went home for some much needed rest. We taxied to our gate and cleaned up the aircraft for the next crew. The touchdown and rollout were excellent despite the heavy winds. The captain did a fantastic job and the aircraft flew as expected . We finally turned and lined up with runway 22R in EWR and were given clearance from air traffic control to land.

Check back often, thanks for reading! The privilege of flying a brand new airplane that is still under warranty is always exciting, while we fly mostly new aircraft. The new technology of the Boeing 737-900Er is a welcome addition to the Continental Airlines Fleet.