Rio Ebro

Ignition

Spanish CB

Backlit Virga

River Tejo Bridge

The beautiful suspension bridge that joins the north and south banks of the Tejo river in Lisbon seen from the left downwind leg of a visual approach for runway 03 in Airbus A320 CS-TNP.

Jersey

The British channel island of Jersey off the coast of France seen from Airbus A320 CS-TNP while in the climb out of London Heathrow bound to Lisbon.

Connections

The rising Sun off of Airbus A320 CS-TNP's sharklet in the climb out of London Heathrow on this early morning flight to Lisbon. A calculated takeoff time (slot) and minor unexpected maintenance issues delayed our London departure. Fortunately, a powerful jetstream is helping us make up for it by boosting our groundspeed. Our passengers should make their connections.

Porto

The beautiful Portuguese city of Porto seen from high altitude while enroute from Lisbon to London Heathow in Airbus A319 CS-TTD. A powerful high pressure system has been offering clear skies for numerous days and the much needed rain has been no where to be seen. 

English Overcast

Airbus A319 CS-TTD popping out of the English overcast just after taking off from London Heathrow. The French ATS were, once again, on strike so this flight to Lisbon was planned via the NAT (North Atlantic) region thereby avoiding French airspace and associated delays.

November Skies

Descending towards Paris Orly in A320 CS-TNM. Its November and the early setting Sun allows for some amazing skies.

Bamako off the Nose

The capital city of Mali, Bamako seen off the nose of Airbus A320 CS-TNV while enroute from Accra to Lisbon at FL340. The Niger river is clearly seen dividing the northern and southern parts of the city as the cockpit pedestal integral lights are reflected off the windshied. On this occasion, a large "no-fly-zone" has been established to the north east of Bamako due to the risk of terrorist activity.

African Plotting

Flying in Africa means spending alot of time in remote areas, far away from any suitible enroute alternate airport. Thats okay and measures are in place to do this safely. Careful plotting of the flight progress on dedicated charts such as the one seen here is only but one of those measures. Airbus A320 CS-TNV approaching the famous Richat structure (Eye of the Sahara) while enroute from Accra to Lisbon at FL360.

The African Atlas

The High Atlas mountain range in Morocco seen off the port wing of Airbus A319 CS-TTV as we fly from Lisbon to Accra.

An Airplane

A CargoLux Boeing 747-8 preparing for takeoff from Luxembourg's runway 24. We were next in line for departure in Airbus A319 CS-TTE. Taking off behind such a large and heavy aircraft demands special attention to wake turbulence and no less than two minutes are required between its departure and our own.

Beautiful Lisboa

The night approach to Lisbon's runway 03 is known among pilots to be one of the most beautiful in Europe with the Tejo river and it's "25 de Abril" suspension bridge as key elements to this amazing view. This "pic from the office" was shot from Airbus A320 CS-TNN's cockpit jumpseat upon arrival from Rome.

The Pearl of the Atlantic

The Portuguese island of Madeira seen moments before starting the VOR approach to runway 23. The airport, known as Funchal, is actually a half-an-hour drive away from the city with the same name which equates to about a quarter of the way around the island. On this occasion, we were arriving from Lisbon in Airbus A319 CS-TTB on one of the very last days of 2016.

Peaks and Valleys

Snow covered peaks and shining lights in the dark valleys of the Alps seen from Airbus A320 CS-TNR in the climb out of Milan-Malpensa.

Torino

The northern italian city of Torino, half engulfed in fog, off the nose of Airbus A320 CS-TNR bound to Lisbon out of Milan Malpensa.

Take-off!

Airbus A320 CS-TNR lined up and standing-by for the takeoff clearance from Milan-Malpensa's runway 35R. The RVR (visibility along the runway) is 450m making this, technically, not an LVTO (Low Visibility Takeoff) which occurs when the RVR's fall below 400m.

Italian Freezing Fog

Airbus A320 CS-TNR being de/anti-iced in a 2 step procedure prior to departure from Milan-Malpensa due to the prevailing freezing fog weather conditions.

Mountainous Moon

An amazing moonrise at flight level 280 over the Alps while flying from Lisbon to Milan Malpensa in Airbus A320 CS-TNR. By now we have briefed and are ready for the CAT III B no DH ILS approach to Milan's runway 35L. Touchdown RVR is at 450m so, if required, reversion to a CAT II approach is still an option. It's that time of year...

Layered Sky

Milan - Malpensa to Lisbon in Airbus A321 CS-TJE

Peeking Peaks

Milan - Malpensa to Lisbon in Airbus A321 CS-TJE

Onset of Day

From Porto to Paris Orly in Airbus A320 CS-TNH

Sharklets!

A320 CS-TNS during the turn-around in Sal (Cape Verde). This chartered flight from Porto and back was my first chance to experience one of TAP's few Sharklet retrofitted A320's. Besides increasing fuel efficency by reducing wing tip vortice induced drag, the Sharklets also make the airplane look a whole lot better which, I guess, is always a commercial advantage. The C-17 in the back also has wingtip extentions which serve the same purpose. Those are, however, called winglets instead of Sharklets which is an Airbus trademark.

Outside In

City of Lights

An amazing view of Paris from FL360 shortly before starting the descent towards Luxembourg in Airbus A319 CS-TTC. Can you spot the Eiffel tower?

Crepuscular Radiation

Spectacular crepescular rays shooting through the broken Stratocumulus clouds over Munich's airport. Airbus A319 CS-TTG on a long final for runway 26L

Ice Vortex I

What do you get when you put a cold atmosphere, jet engines and a heavy Boeing 747-8 together? This! A violently twisting and turning contrail. As the water vapor produced in the engines combustion chambers meets the cold atmosphere, it instantly condenses into water droplets (if its cold enough, the vapor will change directly into ice crystals in a process called deposition) thereby creating a contrail (condensation trail). As the contrail meets the powerful but invisible wingtip vortices of a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8, it makes them visible and the result is amazing. From Porto to Paris Orly in Airbus A319 CS-TTH looking out for wake turbulence.

Ice Vortex II

What do you get when you put a cold atmosphere, jet engines and a heavy Boeing 747-8 together? This! A violently twisting and turning contrail. As the water vapor produced in the engines combustion chambers meets the cold atmosphere, it instantly condenses into water droplets (if its cold enough, the vapor will change directly into ice crystals in a process called deposition) thereby creating a contrail (condensation trail). As the contrail meets the powerful but invisible wingtip vortices of a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8, it makes them visible and the result is amazing. From Porto to Paris Orly in Airbus A319 CS-TTH looking out for wake turbulence.

Crack of Dusk

The setting Sun escapes between cloud layers shortly before the approach and landing at Porto inbound from Zurich in Airbus A319 CS-TTQ.

Cross Jet

Much like a migrating bird, the subtropical jetstream moves south in the winter thereby affecting the portuguese latitudes. It also intensifies in strength and is often accompanied by moderate clear air turbulence (CAT). Here, the powerful jetstream calls for an almost 20º drift correction in order to fly the required track to LIDRO waypoint where the standard arrival to our destination begins. With a true airspeed (TAS) of 416 kts, a drift correction of this magnitude requires a serious crosswind which in this case blows at 146 kts. Airbus A319 CS-TTN from Lisbon to Funchal at FL330.

Crossing Traffic

High altitude crossing in the early morning while flying from Porto to Paris - Orly in Airbus A319 CS-TTQ.

Barcelona by Night

Night falls on Barcelona seen off the nose of Airbus A319 CS-TTG enroute from Venice to Lisbon.

Filtered Sunlight

An awsome December sunrise greets us in the climb out of Porto towards Paris - Orly in Airbus A319 CS-TTN.

Local Instability

Hot industrial smoke pierces the overcast and rises in the cold morning air as we descend towards Paris in Airbus A319 CS-TTN. High atmospheric pressures have materialized low visibility weather conditions and we are set up for a CAT III B approach in Orly.

Organized Chaos

Three crossing traffics, each separated by 2000ft, shoot by as we navigate in the opposite direction. This is RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minima) airspace which means that we will have a minimum vertical separation of 1000ft (about 300m) with the aircraft passing above and below us. This allows for more airplanes in the same airspace but before operating here, several strict requirements need to be met. A319 CS-TTU from Porto to Zurich.

Cloud Monsters

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability creates some late afternoon "cloud monsters" as we cruise by in A320 CS-TNU from London-Gatwick to Porto.

The Glory of the A321 Pilot

The shadow of Airbus A321 CS-TJG in the climb out of Funchal with 199 Lisbon bound passengers on board.

Gateway

Not much of a photograph, but interesting nevertheless. Dense fog engulfs Paris Orly where low visibility procedures are enforced due to an RVR (Runway Visual Range) of 275m. We are performing a CAT III B ILS approach to runway 26 with a regulatory DH (decision height) of 20ft. This shot reveals where the fog is disrupted by engine exhaust and wake turbulence from the aircraft on the glidepath and effectively making visible an otherwise invisible ILS.

Solar Fan

Ignited by the setting Sun on A319 CS-TTR's tail, the CFM56-5B fan blades glow as if they marked the entrance to a blast furnace. This shot clearly reveals the high by-pass nature of the engine in which only a small portion of the air that goes through the fan disk, about 1/6^th , has access to the engine core via the low pressure compressor. The rest of the air remains cold and is shot out of the rear of the engine by the fan producing the vast majority of total thrust.

The Book

Pics from the Office has proudly evolved into a bilingual (English-Portuguese) book made from a selection of some of the blog’s best photographs along with improved text explanations. The book offers altogether good value-for-money and is available online as well as in most Portuguese book stores. For orders and information visit www.facebook.com/picsfromtheoffice or e-mail  mathieuneuforge@hotmail.com

Trail Blazing

As a byproduct of the combustion process, hot water vapor (steam) is expelled into the cold upper atmosphere by the engines. If the temperature is low enough, the vapor instantly condenses then freezes into ice crystals. In this shot, the water molecules seem to cry for attention in the short period between the engine exhaust and evaporating back into invisible vapor. Flying from Zurich to Lisbon in A320 CS-TQD.

Porto Squall

A powerful Cumulonimbus releases its fury as it plows through the vicinity of Porto and its airport. A close lookout is kept  for early indications of windshear as we establish on the ILS for runway 17 in A319 CS-TTK inbound from Paris Orly.

Mushroom Cloud

This spacecraft or mushroom looking Alto Cumulus cloud releases a shower as we cruise by in A319 CS-TTU from Vienna to Lisbon. The precipitation, which evaporates long before reaching the ground, is called virga.

Back Light

A solitary cumulus, backlit by the Sun over the coast of northern Spain, dissipates as our flight progresses from Porto to Geneva in A319 CS-TTG.

Air Lines

A persistent contrail lingers in the cold upper atmosphere as it merges into its shadow at the horizon. Our own contrail's projection can be seen at the bottom of the photo as it is being created in the cruise from Porto to Paris Orly in A319 CS-TTE.

Perfect Departure

Airbus A319 CS-TTR lined-up on Porto's runway 35. This time, an encounter with just the right light and "cloud-scape" created this painting-like cenario. After a quick mental review of engine-out procedures, we're off for yet another departure bound to London Gatwick.

Sun Flare

The Sun has dropped behind the western horizon but its blazing effect persists among the high altitude cirro-stratus clouds as we cruise from Porto to Paris Orly in Airbus A319 CS-TTQ.

Distant Thunder

A distant Cumulonimbus is highlighted by the ever familiar and always amazing colors of the setting Sun as we track from Geneva to Porto in Airbus A319 CS-TTL. Cumulonimbus clouds are the only ones able to generate lightning and hail. They feed essentially on heat and moisture. The one in this pic has reached maturity and is now in its dissipation stage.