End of groundschool!

So it’s been a long time since I last updated my blog, and a lot has happened since then! As I sit typing this, I’m in my room in Arizona after just going for a swim - hard life eh? Since I last posted, we’ve finished ground school (and passed), moved out to the US and had our first 2 weeks of flying. We’ve been up to quite a lot so far, but I’ve been having IT issues so unfortunately I haven't been able to post for a while!

In my last post I left off talking about module 2, and what subjects we had and what they involved, It was a difficult couple of months, but we made it through and were then confronted with the beast that is module 3. It contained 6 subjects;

Meteorology: The study of weather, both local and global, and how different weather phenomena affect us as pilots. Incredibly interesting and useful, but a large topic, and quite difficult.

Aircraft general knowledge: A very broad subject, covering systems such as air conditioning, emergency systems, airframe construction, engines and also electrics. Again, fairly interesting but very large and difficult.

Air law: A subject with lots of substance that wasn’t particularly interesting, but necessary all the same. A lot of numbers and facts to remember, but not overly taxing.

Operational procedures: Similar to law, lots of numbers and facts relating to things like how many fire extinguishers we need with X amount of seats on board, how oxygen systems are used, North Atlantic Track system (if you've flown to America from Europe you’ll have used a north atlantic track).

VFR comms: Learning how to talk to air traffic control under visual flight rules (i.e. you’re navigating with reference to the terrain). Fairly easy, although some tricky questions.

IFR comms: The same as VFR comms, apart from it relates to communications and procedures when navigating with reference to the aircraft instruments.

Im glad to say that I passed all of module 2 and 3, although it took a lot of hard work and late nights. I was incredibly happy with my marks, but that being said it is most certainly not the end of the hard work! My marks in each subject when we finally finished were:

Human performance - 96%

General Navigation - 96%

Mass and Balance - 97%

Principles of Flight - 95%

Instruments - 99%

Radio Navigation - 99%

Performance - 93%

Flight Planning - 94%

Aircraft General Knowledge - 95%

Operational procedures - 94%

Air Law - 98%

Meteorology - 98%

VFR comms - 100%

IFR comms - 100%

This left me with an average of 97%, which I was incredibly happy about. Ground school was an incredibly tough 6 months, and I completely underestimated it when I arrived, but putting in the hard work and time certainly paid off for me. My next post will be about our first couple of weeks of flying and life out here in the states, so stay tuned and hopefully my IT issues will be resolved quickly!

Adam

Exams, Module 2, and some big news

It’s been a while since my last update, and quite a lot has happened since! For starters, we finished Module 1 of exams, then sat our mocks and our real CAA exams - a very stressful period of time. I came out of the exams feeling relatively happy, until everyone started talking about them and trying to find out if we got the same questions! In Module 1, we had 4 subjects;

General Navigation - Learning all about time, distance and how we locate ourselves on the earth. An incredibly math filled subject (which is why I liked it). We looked at coordinates, different types of map projections, the solar system, altitude and generally how we find our way around.

Principles of Flight - Basically how aircraft fly. We looked at how a wing works, how the way a wing is designed affects its characteristics, lift and drag, flaps and control surfaces, subsonic and supersonic flight, stalling and forces in different stages of flight (climbing, turning etc).

Human performance - A very interesting subject, looking at a whole raft of topics. We covered basic human anatomy, such as how the eyes and ears work, to the psychology of how people interact, especially on the flight deck. We looked at several case studies, trying to understand how different factors acted together to cause accidents, and how the aviation industry has reacted to these different occurrences to mitigate future risks.

Mass and Balance - Another practical subject, this time with lots of graphs, and again a lot of maths. We looked at how we load an aircraft to provide optimal performance, take off and landing limitations and fuel planning, different regulations governing the maintenance of aircraft, and how very minor things such as a new paint scheme can actually add a lot of weight to an aircraft, degrading its performance.

Module 1 was incredibly hard work at first, but we all seemed to get into the swing of things relatively quickly. There’s not much time to do anything other than revise, which makes eating and sleeping difficult, but being efficient with my time definitely helped me. In all honesty, the 2 months flew by, and before I knew it we were sitting our mock exams. After that were the real ones, and I’m happy to say that I passed them all!

General Navigation - 96% 

Principles of Flight - 95%

Human Performance - 96%

Mass and Balance - 97%

This gives an average of 96%, which hopefully I’ll be able sustain throughout the rest of my exams!

We’ve also started Module 2, and have almost finished 3 of the 4 subjects that we encounter;

Performance - Affectionately known as PoF2, this is all about how an aeroplane performs (e.g take off distance and climb performance) in different weather conditions and temperatures, and has lots of graphs to get stuck into.

Instruments - All about the different instruments we find in the cockpit and how they work, from light training aircraft to large, modern airliners. One of the more interesting subjects, as we learn specifically about displays and controls we are likely to find on the aircraft we will (hopefully) be flying in a few months time

Flight planning - Lots of maths, requiring us to calculate safe return points in case an engine fails, range and endurance calculations and lots of fuel planning. We also have to be able to understand approach and departure procedures, enroute charts and get our heads around a lot of regulations.

Airway manual, very useful for flight planning

One of the approach charts for London Heathrow that we have to understand

Radio Navigation - This involves learning about the various radio navigation aids and instruments that we will be using throughout our careers, how they work and what limitations they have. Another very interesting one, as this will be a huge part of our flight training, when we eventually come to it!

Along with starting Module 2, I also had the pleasure of attending an open day at CTC, with a great opportunity to speak to lots of aspiring pilots. It’s funny really, thinking that only a few months ago I was in the same position, desperately hoping that I would be able to have the opportunity to train at CTC, and now here I am, offering advice to others. It was an incredibly worthwhile and eye opening day, and I was able to meet some genuinely lovely people, who I sincerely hope are able to have the same opportunities as I have. I was also able to jump in the 737-800 sim for an hour or so, which was incredible after having to walk past it every day for the previous 2 and a half months.  Besides being able to have a chat with the aspiring pilots whilst they flew it, I also got to fly a circuit at geneva, and take a few snaps on my phone (incase I don't get to go in again for a while).

A320 sim

737-800 sim

I managed a couple of trips home over the past 3 weeks, and got to catch up with some friends and see my girlfriend, which was a long deserved treat after her months away in Scotland! I also managed to surprise her on her birthday, as I told her we were in lessons all weekend so i wouldn't be able to come home - the look on her face was worth the 3 hours stuck in traffic!

I’ve also had some big news in the past couple of weeks - I’m now going to be doing my flight training in Arizona, at Goodyear Airport, instead of New Zealand. There’s 4 of us from my course going, and a large part of our decision was that it is 2 months faster going to Arizona, which hopefully will mean we’ll get a job that much sooner. It also means we get to fly the brand new DA40’s, which are an absolutely beautiful bit of kit, and of course we’ll be able to explore the vastness that is the USA. I’ve been trying to convince the guys that we need to get a mustang and travel Route 66, but I'm not sure they're so keen - at least I’ve still got a few months to convince them!

Phoenix Goodyear Airport

One of the pools

The DA40 I'll be flying

Another DA40

DA40 cockpit

The industry seems to be in a good recruiting position at the moment too, with easyJet, Ryanair and BA all recruiting quite a lot of pilots onto the A320/737, so hopefully the future is looking bright for us, and there shouldn't be too long a wait in the hold pool before we get to start our careers in earnest!

Hopefully I’ll be posting more frequently soon, but we’re now half way through groundschool! Things will get far more interesting when I actually start flying, but before you get to read about that you have to get through ground school with me! Only 3 months to go!!

Adam

Meet and greet and APD1

So, the big day had come. Time to move away from home, and start my adventure to become a pilot. After many months of waiting, preparing and signing forms, I chose the day before I moved out to pack my bags… big mistake! Having managed to locate everything I needed, I said my goodbyes and packed up the 2 cars we were taking and headed off down the M4 for the 2 and a bit hour drive. We stayed overnight in the Dale Farm House B&B again, although I got a lot more sleep than I did for either of my assessment days! 

Suited and booted, I made the short drive to CTC’s Nursling training centre, filled with both excitement and nerves. When I arrived, I parked up and immediately found one of my course mates, who, like me, was trying to work out where we went in! We decided to wander round the building, and found the reception. We were escorted into the presentation hall (via the Sim hall, all I can say is WOW), and were then given our name badges and some information for our families. After a couple of us had spoken to the chief flying instructor, we all ended up gathering in a circle and getting to know each other. Once everyone had arrived, we were treated to a presentation by some of CTC’s top brass, then we were split into two groups; my group went to collect our accommodation keys, then we were taken to collect our uniform - all very exciting! Whilst this was taking place, the parents were taken on a tour (including having a look around the sims, lucky!). After everyone had regrouped, it was photo time! This took place whilst the other courses already in ground school took pleasure in staring at us like we were, well, the new kids at school.

Meet and greet

Now was the interesting bit; getting to our new accommodation. As the rooms were on a first come, first choice basis, I aimed to be the first person arriving at our flat… and I was, but by the time I’d managed to unlock the door, Connor had arrived. We both made our room choices (I think I got the best one). I was pleasantly surprised by our flat, as the building its in doesn't look the nicest from outside; once we got into our flat however, it was lovely! Nice new carpet, a huge communal area with brand new leather furniture, a big double bed and a bathroom you could play football in (also a tiny toilet that is basically unusable, which has been named the hobbit toilet).  We started the long process of carrying all of our stuff up the 3 flights of stairs (we’re in the penthouse). This took a while, as I brought quite a lot with me (not as much as Connor, who needed to borrow a van). Everyone had arrived by this point: Me, Connor, Jake, Matt and Mattia.  With everyone’s goodbyes completed, and after a quick shower, we decided to go out for dinner and get to know each other a bit better.

The kitchen

The lounge

My (slightly messy) room

An early start and a pre arranged shower schedule led to a smooth start to our first day, and gave us all time to take some selfies in our uniform. It didn’t stop us from getting stuck in the traffic though, something no one had warned us about! Very excited, and somehow on time we arrived at CTC, and proceeded to get lost inside the centre. We found our way to the classroom, and then settled in for the fun that is APD1 (Airline Preparation Day). Throughout the day, we were reminded constantly of how we were now airline pilots, and that this should reflect in our behaviour and standards. We were also reminded of how much work ground school would be, and given effective tips on how we should work and revise. We were given free lunch too, which is always nice! So after a long day, feeling more apprehensive about the coming months than we did before, it was time to go home, and prepare for our last weekend of freedom.

First day in uniform selfie

Cliché photo in front of the sims

P.S. I know I’m posting this about a month too late, but I’ve been very busy! Hopefully I’ll be updating this a bit more frequently now that I’ve settled in, although exams are only a month away now - more about this in my next update!

Adam