Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 14, 2005 Lounge 1 at Schiphol : Christmas decorations My aircraft this morning F-GUGC Airbus A318 (rare aircraft-type) tailview of F-GUGC: sorry for blur and reflections; my window under (F-GUG)C Note: 2 curtain positions (1 for business-class and 1 for Economy-plus) Seat-pitch not much Fellow sister A319 will leave in about 1 hour, also for CDG Following the queue for 36L: visible are 737 of KLM, 763 of Martinair and 321 of Iberia City of Haarlem, right after take-off from 36L Just breaking cloud-tops at around 4000 feet Air France ah-moi serving me the croissant and coffee Other ah-moi, but started from the front... Decending into CDG, just above the clouds at around 5000 feet Both ah-mois still busy while passing clouds for approach to CDG Between 2 layers of clouds and sun just peeping through about 10 minutes out Breaking hard after landing on 26L at CDG CDG: guess who's home-base this is ? Cabinview with friendly ah-moi: my seat was the last one (window) on the right (22A) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 14, 2005 Return flight shown still on time, but actually about 30 minutes late (I was told at check-in) Only 26 passengers between CDG-AMS (9 local boarded at CDG, rest in transit) Seat-pitch a bit better than on Air France Nice Recaro seats and no other passengers to be seen (row = 3/4/2) Welcome on Board Varig - the Brasilian Star My window-seat Concorde statue outside the terminal and close to Hilton hotel Waiting for line-up and take-off clearance at 27R Due to light load, very steep climb after take-off (look at wing angle) Enroute CDG-AMS over Belgium Brazilian ah-moi granma (but VERY friendly) serving my sandwich and orange-juice My ham-sandwich and orange-juice: delicious ! Nice sun-set glow on winglet Approaching runway 06 at Amsterdam-Schiphol Greenhouses have permanent lighting on day and night (rose-cultivation) Spotters-place next to runway 06: hi guys Leaving the runway (06): note the ATP of Westair Luxembourg on the right Finally back at SPL: 10 minutes before sun-set I took a picture of the 737/BBJ KLM is using for the Amsterdam-Houston all business-class flights; happy to catch her strobes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibrahim 0 Report post Posted December 14, 2005 Waooo Realy Nice Trip Report.. I Love your Wing View And Cloud Stunning Scenery.. More Ah Moi Pic Arrr.. HeheheHe Thank Pieter.. Cool Baby Bus Too.. Congrat On The Strobe Light Pic.. Lucky laaa You !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chaity 1 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 Nice report, Pieter. There are some Christmas trees hanging upside down in the first pic You were flying Varig's MD-11 on your way back ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meor 0 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 (edited) Pieter C., correct me if i'm wrong. I notice that the Ah-moi on air france wearing that "little wing" (what is it called?) on their uniform. what is it for? Edited December 15, 2005 by Meor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 You were flying Varig's MD-11 on your way back ? Pieter C., correct me if i'm wrong. I notice that the Ah-moi on air france wearing that "little wing" (what is it called?) on their uniform. what is it for? Thanks, guys, for the compliments/input It least it gives you "the feel" of doing a flight between AMS-CDG-AMS yourselves !!! Chai, YES, flew back on MD11 of Varig from CDG to AMS: flies like a rocket !!! Meor, If you mean the 2nd ah-moi: the round one you mean? that's the Skyteam logo; the one with the wings as in the 1st ah-moi pictures, just says "AF" ... part of their uniform, I guess, designating their cabin-crew status... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meor 0 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 Thanks for the info Pieter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 Thanks for your trip photos, Pieter. I really enjoy looking at it! No nice chick on your trip? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Walter Sim 1 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 lovely pics Pieter. Love the md-11! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Smith 1 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 Fantastic Pieter! Very jealous you flew on A318 (and MD-11)! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 15, 2005 No nice chick on your trip? S V, French girls are known to be good looking, however I was not lucky with this AF-crew Prefer the Air-Berlin (German) girls, though The Varig crew cosisted of 4 male- and 4 female F/A; purser was female and spoke VERY good French and English, besides Portuguese/Brazilian...in our Y-class (with the 26 passengers) we had 4 crew, so very personalized service !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sanjay Thaker 0 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 nice pics pieter.....enjoyed them...we dont get these pics often..thanx! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TK 0 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 Pieter seems to be lucky wit the beacon light... MD-11 and A318...what a joyride you had. Good one Pieter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicholas Wan 0 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 pieter...still waiting for you to come to m'sia.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azman MN 1 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 Hi Pieter, thanks for the report and nice pics! A318 very short but still have 3 classes? Love the 3-4-2 seating of the MD-11. Was the same on the Swiss ones too. You could travel in 2s, 3s, 4s, no problem. The best is if the plane is less than 90% full then you and your companion have a good chance to sit on the ones with the 3 seats. Wonder why no triple7s have same arrangements? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 pieter...still waiting for you to come to m'sia.. A318 very short but still have 3 classes? Love the 3-4-2 seating of the MD-11. Was the same on the Swiss ones too. You could travel in 2s, 3s, 4s, no problem. The best is if the plane is less than 90% full then you and your companion have a good chance to sit on the ones with the 3 seats. Nicholas, Holiday for February approved as per today (just received the OK-slip from my boss), so watch this MW for further developments Azman, Indeed, AF has 3 classes on their A318; all cabins really felt "cramped" but seat width was very good...business class was rows 1-4; full-economy rows 5-9 and economy (or Tempo) rows 10-21 (no row 13)... Actually, flew on PP-VTJ, which is an ex-Swissair MD11, so I guess they didn't change much of the seating-arrangments; on the CDG-AMS Varig flight, there was free-seating, so choose a window-seat behind the wing, just to make these great pictures What I noticed, however, was that the flaps were lowered to the 3rd slot during approach, but went back to the 2nd slot during a level-off, and later were lowered again to slot 3 and 4 for final landing....I always thought raising flaps was really a no-no and should have been avoided at all costs; maybe, TK or Radzi can explain more about this "weird" flap-setting on Varig ??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S V Choong 4 Report post Posted December 16, 2005 Pieter are you going back to Kudat with your wife this time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan Kong 0 Report post Posted December 17, 2005 Cool pictures Pieter. MD-11 rocks! hmm that Varig Grandma.... i bet she is a leading stewardess Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Azahan 1 Report post Posted December 17, 2005 pieter, congrats for being on an A318. there is none here in our backyard..... cheers for sharing. i always enjoy your euro pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 17, 2005 Pieter are you going back to Kudat with your wife this time? No Sabah trip planned in February, just a spotting trip to the Peninsula and other Asean countries hmm that Varig Grandma.... i bet she is a leading stewardess Nope, she was just a "commisario de voo" or "air stewardess" ; the purser was a different blonde 50+ lady cheers for sharing. i always enjoy your euro pictures. As much as I'm always enjoying your Asian pictures... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric M 0 Report post Posted December 18, 2005 Hi Pieter I saw you made a same trip as I did earlier this year, although Air France bumped me into one of their A319's I'll bet their is not much difference to the A318, is there? Also the sandwich Varig is providing on the flight to AMS is a good choice in my opinion. For the short flight, this 'catering' is better then AF and KL offer in Y-class! My flight was on PP-VQK that time, and seatplan was exactly the same as on yours. Nice pictures too! Did you go out of the terminal for spotting or did you just transfer from T2 to T1 to catch your return flight? Anyway, you were lucky that RG didn't cancel your return flight They do that all the time... Thanks Eric Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted December 18, 2005 Eric, The catering on AF was very disappointing indeed, only a COLD croissant (no butter or marmelade/jam) plus a small glass of water or cuppa tea/coffee CDG is an enormous airport and because the weather was lousy, took the free shuttle between T2 and T1 and back about 3 times in a row, just to get the numbers...pictures: out of the question (see also my Concorde picture for the weather conditions)...checked-in about 2 hours before departure, and because of the slight delay was even able to chat with the captain mr. Paulo Giovaninni, a really nice guy (" sorry, due to safety regulations I cannot allow the jump-seat to you", after I told him I was interested AND it was my b-day so would have been a nice b-day gift)... If RG had been cancelled, I would have been disappointed but would have taken KL or AF back to AMS the very same evening... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites