The First Few Steps

Hello once again from Mesa! It's been just over three weeks now, and I am now nine lessons into my flying. After the induction week, we were put into groups. The way it works here is that the class is split into groups of 4-5, each group is then assigned to an instructor with their own scheduled days off. So my instructor's days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, and therefore I never fly on those days.

The first lesson we had was a mock pre-flight with a walk through of the Garmin G1000 cockpit system, which was very helpful for getting to grips with what to do before our first proper flight. The G1000 was tough because even the instructors had limited time on it, plus it's the first time that Piper have ever installed the system on the Archer aircraft. 

A typical day for me goes like this: 

1. Getting to the academy at least one hour before our briefing
2. Check the weather forecast and ATIS
3. Complete Mass and Balance and Performance sheet 
4. Check the squawk book to see if there are any technical problems
5. Do the pre-flight checks
6. Brief with instructor
7. Flight
8. Debrief

Control surfaces and hinges look okay to me

The flights are done as missions. Each lesson covers a range of areas, whilst at the same time consistently practicing the basic skills that you will have learned in the earlier lessons. I've just finished my 9th mission which was an introduction to IFR flying. I am also one week away from my first solo! What I find is that the learning curve is very steep, and there is a lot to cover in a very short period of time. It is important to constantly practice the checklists and emergency drills as if your life depends on it because it is so easy to miss out something, whether it's a minor issue like forgetting to switch off the strobes lights to not sumping the fuel to check for bubbles or big pieces of sediment.

As well as the actual flying, there is a lot ground material that must be studied. Everyone gets given a study material such as: radio procedures, checklists, emergency drills, charts, aircraft guidebook, and aircraft maneuvers. You get assessed four times before you take the CPL skills test where everyone has to demonstrate that their flying meets the required level, and to show that checklists and drills are done properly.

The studying doesn't end at ground school

As you may know, we're the first class to come to Falcon Field airport and the first to fly the Piper Archer TX with the G1000 system, so there have been a few teething problems. One of the main issues with these new aircraft seem to be the oil pressure and temperature. It is quite clear being that these aircraft are being flown at temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius that they won't run as well as we'd like them to. The school have been very good about keeping us in the loop with the technical issues that the planes are suffering from, and I have to give praise to the engineers who work unsociable hours to get these aircraft back on the ramp for us. 

I wouldn't be happy if I was an aircraft in this heat.

Despite the issues that we've head, I'm having the time of my life at the moment. I look forward to waking up at 03:00 to go and fly. I love checking the weather, doing mass and balance, performance and the walk around because it makes me feel like a real pilot. It is very intense, but in a good way. I'm constantly striving to get better, and when I make a mistake, I find it a great challenge to keep practicing until I can get it right. 

What I love the most though is the view that I get during an early flight. Although it sounds alien to wake up at 3am, I can tell you that it is worth it when you see the sunrise breaking through the clouds after takeoff. When you're in the air and you see that sunshine past the mountains, it is like nothing else matters during that moment in time. 

Waking up at 3am is worth it for this view

I can safely say now that I am fully confident that I took a risk on my career future to do this. What I've found is that flying gets harder. I thought the Skills Assessment was difficult, then it turned out that it was easy compared to ground school, and now the flying is more difficult than ground school, and from what I've experienced in my introduction to IFR flights, I'm pretty sure that the Instrument Rating will be much more difficult. If you really want it, you'll put the effort in and you'll have fun whilst you're doing it here. More to come...

Dreams can come true