Trip Report

Well, its over 😳 -- The whole trip took a whopping 28+ hours, but now its done, and I'm happy to say I'm back home with my parents, at last. Current time here is 2:34am, and I'm tired, but here it goes, as promised...

From the beginning of the journey, I had a little notebook, in which I would take notes on everything, every part of the trip, and also remind myself of any questions I wanted to ask you. My handwriting in the notebook was horrendous because I had no platform to write on, and for that reason, I'd rather not post pictures of it but if you so please, then I'll be more than happy to, if it validates my points.

Lets see, we started out with NWA 5922, DFW - MEM. Originally, this flight was scheduled to be carried out in an A319, but then apparently they decided to use the CRJ, so thats what we flew. I checked in to DFW 2 hours prior to departure, and its a good thing I was early, because we sat there for a long while discussing where I needed visas, and where I didn't need visas. The lady didn't want to understand that I had already taken care of all such requirements, but I guess she was just doing her job. I had to pay $145 for overweight luggage, but I had been expecting that. That left me with a total of $5 to spare on the trip.

Afterwards the bags were checked in, I said my goodbye's to my brother. As always, its hard not knowing when I'll see him next, but thats life for you. I moved through the short line for security checks, and I thought everything was going well, until. . .

Guess what, I was selected for "random" security checks. With no disrespect intended, these things are nowhere near random, because for the past 5 years, everytime any member of my family, (including a minor like myself) has been "selected". It drove me crazy, but I complied to make things move along. I was detained and questioned until 30 minutes prior to boarding, but I'm not going to complain, 'cause I'm home!

When I was finally allowed to go to the boarding area, I asked the staff member who was at the counter of the flight status, and she said the aircraft had arrived, and was ready for use, however the jetbridge was broken. So we had to go out side of the airport through a side door, then board the plane through airstairs. The CRJ was Very cramped, to say the least.

Because the weather was so hot, and the aircraft was struggling to reach a decent temperature, the FA's made us close the windows, with exception of the Exit rows. Of course, I was really disappointed, because I had been hoping to look out during taxi/take off, but immediately after take-off, I raised the shutter, and admired the view.

Initially after departure, it was pretty smooth, but then as we tried to clear the dense clouds, it got very bumpy, and the pilot had me swalling my throat a couple of times. I got very nervous not knowing what was going on in the cockpit, but as always I was overreacting, and it all worked out. We cruised at FL290. In midflight, somebody couldn't hold themselves in the cabin, and it made everything smell really disgusting. I quote from my notes, "Guy let one rip. . .stunk the whole flight!".

Finally, we approached Memphis. The captain announced a temperature of 81F, and 7mi Visibility. The approach was a little wobbly, but nothing to worry about this time. He touchdown just beyond the threshold smoothly, and didn't need to use full reversers due to the length of the runway. He went into the highspeed turnoff, and taxiied to the gate.

Our next flight was from Memphis to Amsterdam, via NWA 58 -- equipment = DC10. Immediately I noticed that the aircraft was very, very loud when its engines were turned on. That didn't bother me too much though, I just admired the enhancement 😉 . We were scheduled for a dusk departure, and the aircraft was fully booked, so there was no room to move around. I found the seats quite spacey, however I was in the very rear of the plane, and there was only one TV screen in the very front, which made things difficult, and boring.

The pilot was cleared to taxi to runway 36C, and we were #2 for departure. The traffic ahead of us were two NWA CRJ's. Once we turned on the runway, he equalized N1, and I could feel the strong vibrations surging through me. He performed a smooth rotation to V2, with very little sink, making me think he did a good job. The lights of memphis at dusk were breathtaking, which makes me dread not having a camera at the time. I also happened to notice that when the aircraft turned, it seemed like the aileron movements were very slight, or is it just me?

Anyways, you might think the flight went perfectly, but as we were getting out of the NewFoundland area, disaster struck. At FL310, the aircraft entered the worst turbulence I've seen in my life. Cups were flying all over the cabin. Cabin Crew was yelling in dutch and english, "Take your seats, take your seats!!". They were serving drinks at the time, and lost control of the trolly thing. People started screaming. I just read holy passages from my religion, and hoped everything would be ok. I seriously never thought I'd make it. The engines revved up and down, and the aircraft shook very, very violently. Before I knew it, the captain descended to FL270 just to get out of there. I bet he was scared too. When he got a chance, he climbed up to FL350, and all was good from there.

Arrival into Amsterdam -- Amsterdam was covered with overcast clouds, but despite the conditions, the descent was smooth, and the pilot executed a great landing.

Schipol was very busy that morning, so I just went straight to the gate of my next flight, which happened to be 35 minutes away by foot. Eventually, we boarded KLM451 - equipment = A330-200. This flight was bound for Bahrain via Abu Dhabi. I've been in this aircraft many times now, so it wasn't too special, but nice nonetheless. The pilot was cleared to r/w 24, and was #4 for departure. Ahead of us were MartinAir, Alitalia, and Transavia. As we were in the hold short position, I looked out to the left and watched a learjet perform an outstanding VOR-DME approach/landing. It was the first I'd seen in real life, and the skill requirements amazed me!

The rotation was smooth, w/ little sink. I was seated right next to the wing, meaning I didn't see much land unless the aircraft was turning in my favor, but I still enjoyed watching the wing function. I happened to see vortices form immediately after departure.

About 4 hours into the flight, I wrote the following comment in my notebook out of spite.

"I'm sick of this!..When is it gonna end..My butt hurts!!" -- Now I look back at it and laugh 😂 .

Approach into Abu Dhabi was very dark, and the cabin lights were on for the most part, so unless I wanted to see my reflection in the window, I had to stick my head to it. When the captain turned for final, and let the gear down, he switched off the cabin lights, and I could see the city lights looming before me. Very, very nice. When we arrived, we waited as those whose final destination was Abu Dhabi disembarked, and then took on new passengers to Bahrain - Amsterdam. We were on the ground for about 1 hour, then took off for my final leg of the journey.

We departed Abu Dhabi on r/w 13L. Smooth rotation, gear up, and I was on my way! After about 25 minutes of flight, the captain began to descend, but I was worn out waiting for him to land. The last few minutes felt like the took forever.

Arrival into Bahrain was comfortable, and certainly a relief. I went through immigration, and it took about 30 minutes till I got my bags because of the density of passengers, but then I walked out to find my parents waiting for me. We commuted back to Al-Khobar, and now, here I am -- Home! 😀

I hope you enjoyed this trip report. Hopefully, next time, I'll take pictures if possible. Now, back to setting up me sim! 😉