Air traffic control gives the take-off clearance just right in time.
"Take off". That´s the call-out to go.
With his right hand Johan Milo first applies just a little thrust.
The engines are running normally. Now he sets full power.
Up to a speed of 80 knots / 150 km/h the take-off would be aborted with a problem in any case.
So far everything OK.
Now abortion only with a serious problem.
"V1" - now take-off in any case.
Johan takes the hand of the thrust levers.
"Rotate" - 170 knots / 315 km/h.
Johan pulls the yoke, and the Boeing 747 is "airborne".
The Jumbo Jet indeed departed in southern direction,
but now needs to fly a 360 over the airfield in order to avoid noise.
Then it´s getting dark soon.
The mood among the pilots is good.
This Africa trip will bring Johan Milo to his goal captain an important step closer.
It was very exciting. That was my first take-off from the left seat.
So far I have been only a co-pilot. Now I'm trained as a captain.
Everything went very well. We flew a so-called "standard departure" after take-off.
This is conducted in order to make as little noise as possible for the people in the area.
We are now over Frankfurt and on the move direction south.
Time to relax a little bit.
Without flight attendants, the loadmasters and pilots must take care of themselves.
There is no lack of food on board anyway,
and Ben is the first to prepare his dinner.
The oven will now be steadily in operation, because the food has definitely business class quality.
Loadmaster Greta goes downstairs to check the freight.
Air cargo always means some risk of fire - depending on the content.
Every two hours, the freight must be checked for that.
Most important is the check after the take-off.
We check whether the temperatures are still correct and whether the cargo has moved at the take-off.
I check that there is no smoke or so - just to make sure.
The later the hour, the deeper it goes into the African continent.
The pilots have changed positions.
Daniel Hickl now sits on the right, so that check-captain Ben can make a rest.
Daniel is 28 years old and co-pilot.
On this Africa-trip, he will sit on a front pilot seat only during cruise flight ...
... and not, as usual, perform take-offs and landings as well.
Johan needs to collect take-offs and landings for his training as a captain ...
... and therefore gets priority.
For Daniel remain the tasks of the cruise flight: navigation, monitoring, position reports.
In Africa, it is always a little different than in Central Europe or, say, in the United States.
Here we do not have a continuous air traffic control coverage yet.
Respectively: it is getting better.
But to increase the level of security, there is a certain frequency we use - 126.9 ...
... to communicate with other aircraft.
We communicate our position, in which altitude we are, from where to where we are flying ...
... what call sign - that´s the first thing ...
... our present position, the time ...
... and what's our next position, and the estimated time there.
In other words, on this frequency all aircraft listen,
and can report, when appropriate, if they are near.
On Daniel´s position reports no one answers at the moment.
We are quite alone at this time because the passenger aircraft are flying rather all at the same time,
and we are flying ahead of the whole group that flies to Africa.
We expect to arrive at five clock in the morning local time.
Most passenger planes arrive at 8 clock, because it is more comfortable for the passengers.
Ben Hesselink, the check-captain, uses this phase of flight to rest.
The rules expressly allow the rest, and for the pilots there is a special sleeping room.
The bunk reminds of camping.
Perhaps that´s why the Dutchman feels so particularly well on this aircraft.
Done.
Is that comfortable enough to sleep?
I can sleep very well here.
If I turn off the light, then I sleep two hours very well!
With 500 knots / 900 km/h the Jumbo races southwards.
Actually a breakneck speed - but over the wideness of the black continent it doesn´t appear fast.
You can tell the seclusion.
If you look down - you see no lights. This is otherwise only the same over water.
But in Africa it is still very, very dark. Rarely populated, no electricity.
Flying here still is exciting, I have to say.
9 hours after the departure in Frankfurt/Hahn, the Jumbo is shortly before the South African airspace.
About an hour later: the landing.
The international airport of Johannesburg is the largest in Africa.
It´s a big area, and so it takes ten minutes for the Golf Bravo to reach its parking position.
For Johan a good opportunity to train taxiing from the left seat.
The marshaller appears like a dwarf from the forty feet / twelve meter high cockpit.
Immediately the unloading of the aircraft begins.
Loadmaster Greta could sleep at night only a little. Now once more concentration is required.
Greta and her husband John have to work about one more hour.
Then they can go home.
It was a smooth flight. The weather was very nice on the way ...
... and the first flight of the new captain and the landing were also very good.
Everything went well, which was very nice.
How do you go on now?
Now we'll go down and take the bus to the hotel.
Then get some sleep and today afternoon we will see - a cup of coffee or so.
In the evening we go somewhere nice to have dinner. That's the plan.
Ben, Johan and Daniel now want to get as fast as possible to the hotel.
The aircraft is taken over from another flight crew in a few hours.
Till Sunday evening, the pilots will spend most of the time in the hotel.
Unfortunately, there are now some hassles. The rooms are not ready.
One hour they have to wait until they can enjoy a real bed.
The pilots spend a lot of time together during the stay.
Not far from the airport, there is a bar, that is appealing to aviation enthusiasts and flight staff.
The three were never here so far.
The South African loadmasters gave the advice that the bar is worth a visit.
Ivan, one of the owners, is pleased about the visit.
The walls are covered with airplane pictures.
The main attraction is an original 747 cockpit.
It was taken from a retired aircraft of South African Airways ...
... some years ago.
We have left everything original.
At night all the lights go on. There is a timer, and all lights are glowing.
Ben is familiar with this cockpit. The Dutchman was a pilot on this aircraft type for many years.
The big difference to today is, that we have flown the whole world with this type.
We only had the 747, and thus we used it for the flights to America, South America, Africa,
to the Middle East, Far East and Australia.
That was really nice. We flew the whole world with it, and that was very special.
Today we have, for example, the Boeing 777 for the long haul, and the 747 for the Middle East.
But at that time it was the only large passenger plane, and that was very special.
These belonged to the best years that I've experienced in aviation. All with this aircraft type!
A journey into the past.
Beautiful, that old thing.
The hardest part of the trip to Africa begins - appropriately enough - with rain.
Now, the three pilots take over an aircraft,
that came from Germany a few hours earlier.
Coincidentally, the same plane as on the outward flight.
As the youngest of the crew, Daniel, has the "honor" to conduct the outside-check.
When it rains, the seniority principle applies.
Weather is of course a big issue in aviation - especially during thunderstorms, as we have one today.
As long as one is on the ground, it's always fine.
But there will be no delay, as I´ve heard, because the storm is only in the vicinity.
This is not so bad for us.
When the storm was directly over us, they would close the airfield.
We have the latest technology on board and weather radar.
So that we can nicely navigate around the thunderstorm cells.
We don´t fly into thunderstorms. This would be too dangerous.
And now I'm going to my colleague and the captain and tell them that everything is in order.
And then we are ready to go. See you later!
In the cargo hold of the Boeing 747 are only empty pallets.
South Africa exports a lot to Germany. However, these are mainly commodities.
These are transported by sea.
Again Johan is sitting on the left seat and Ben on the right one.
The preparations for the return flight have been mostly conducted by the headquarters in Germany,
so that the pilots can focus on flying.
The return flight will be exhausting.
The first leg goes to Nairobi. There cargo will be loaded. Then finally: back to Frankfurt-Hahn.
Two flights so. Valuable experience for Johan on his way to become a flight captain.
Check-captain Ben is a little louder for the first time.
He tells Johan to take the turns closely and courageously.
Otherwise there is the risk to come off the taxiways with the main landing gear.