My first take-off with passengers on board

After weeks of training in the simulator in Stockholm and base-training in Chateauroux, it was time to get into an aircraft with passengers on board. My first line training session was about to begin.
At home I triple-checked if I didn’t forget any of my uniform items. Scarf, wing, hat, extra tights… Yes, I was ready. Uniform-wise anyway.

It felt special arriving at the crew center for my first real briefing. I was totally excited and a bit nervous… The training captain, the safety pilot and I made our way to the gate, which in Amsterdam is quite a long walk.
There they were: MY passengers, unbelievable. The moment I was dreaming of for such a long time was suddenly there.

The next weird sensation was entering the aircraft. The year before getting the job as a first officer I was a stewardess at this same company. And now, instead of turning right into the passenger cabin, I turned left, into the cockpit.
Stepping in the righthand seat felt unreal and I did the aircraft set-up that I had practiced a million times in the simulator.

After engine start and pushback came taxiing. Finding my way around Amsterdam Airport was a challenge. As my company has B737’s with tillers on the righthand side I could taxi myself. A lot of companies only have tillers on the left side, so the captain always taxies. I was totally focused on taxiing gently, trying not to make people nauseous before we even took off.

We were cleared for take-off and I entered the runway.
Then came the take-off. Checking the wind one more time, and off we went. That sensation of accelerating a full aircraft over the runway is so cool.
„Positive rate” „Gear up”

There I was: 24 years old and flying a Boeing 737-800 with 180 passengers on board! Woohoo!