Bombardier has been trying to make their way into the modern medium haul commercial jet market with their ‘CS’ series of jet. These modern jets boast their large windows, composite bodies, and highly efficient engines.
Air Baltic is a launch airline with the CS300 and recently they allowed for cameras to follow them around operations of this aircraft. This video shows the entire process for one leg of flight from the flight briefing to takeoff.
Flying a plane isn’t just about getting inside, turning on the engine and taking off. You have to be acutely aware of what’s happening with your aircraft including what dangerous materials might be onboard and any maintenance issues. From the flight briefing the captain needs to meet with the flight attendants and brief them on the day’s schedule.
When out at the plane either the captain or the first officer does a walk around the airplane and checks for anything that could be wrong or out-of-place on the plane. They check everything from the landing gear to the engines looking for anything out of the ordinary.
In preparation for the doors to even be closed they need to get the load sheet from the dispatcher who double checks all the numbers and gives them to the pilot so they know exactly the weight of their aircraft for calculations.
Finally they’re ready to take off and continue on to the flight. For every major step of the flight the captain briefs with the first officer so they’re on the same page all throughout the flight.
It’s quite an interesting process from takeoff to landing.
