Is Newer Better?

During my time in flight training, I had this rather unique opportunity. OAA currently have a mix of new and old aircraft in their fleet as they make a transition over the space of several months to completely replace their aging Warriors and Senecas. So me and my fellow classmates were in a rather unique and somewhat interesting position; we all started on a Piper Archer TX which for those that don’t know, is completely glass cockpit, and doesn’t even have standby instruments! And after completing our required single engine hours in the Archer TX, we had the option to move onto either a Seneca II, or a new Piper Seminole (glass cockpit) for our CPL Skills Test. Since I knew that I would definitely be flying the rather aged Seneca IIs back in the UK for my Advanced Flight Training, the Seneca II was a no brainer. It was a rather shaky start to begin with, and to be honest, I didn't really perfect my instrument scan until I got back to the UK.

With the Garmin G1000 system, you have everything you need directly in front of you, with this magical purple diamond, which shows your magnetic track, and therefore no drift correction is required. On the right screen you have the MFD which can show an array of parameters such as:

• Up to date Jeppesen Navigation data
• Traffic Alert
• Terrain data
• Engine indications

All the information you need as a pilot is only ever a glance away. The positive of having this set up is of course the ease of use, the workload is severely reduced, and although we weren't supposed to, that purple diamond we had on the PFD was always used to indicate immediately whether we were drifting off a planned track. Also, learning in a glass cockpit closely matches the environment that we will/may step into once we land our first job in an airline.

There are cons to this approach though, for instance the over-reliance on the instruments, particularly when using the track diamond on the PFD and the traffic alerting system on the MFD. When I used to fly around in the practice area, it was very easy to reduce the amount of traffic reports on frequency and just assume that you are safe by seeing where the traffic was on this lovely nice display. This problem became much more pronounced for me when I made the transition from the shiny new Archer TX, to the prehistoric Seneca II. For those that don’t know, the Seneca II has been in production since 1971, so as you can imagine, it did smell, and there were quite a few INOP placards stuck around the flight deck. A lot more needs to be thought about, especially since all of the dials are now completely different with their own source to show the necessary information. Then you have the fact that there are absolutely no indications of air traffic, your eyes are the traffic alerting system.

I found it more difficult to go from glass to steam gauges because your eyes pretty much go from being used to staring in a small area, to suddenly needing to look all over the place. 

Piper Seneca V - The New

Piper Seneca II - The Old

Eventually all the large FTOs (Flight Training Organisations) around the world will clear out their aging aircraft to make way for a fleet of newer ones, which will be easier to fly. I do however feel to some extent that this eventual transition paints a pretty sad picture, in that the art of aviation is slowly beginning to disappear. Take the Diamond DA42 – Twinstar, it is one of the most advanced training aircraft in the world, which is not only glass cockpit, but also has a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) system which alleviates any need to prime, do engine run, prop cycle etc.

Whilst having a glass cockpit and FADEC system is all good for saving time and thus money, and even preparing us a bit more for the airliner roles, I do believe that it runs the risk of taking away certain skills that our aviating ancestors were so incredible at. When I prime an engine, cycle propellers and check the mags, it reinforces what I learned in ground school. The same applies in the air; I know that when I get to cruising speed, I take the props from 2400RPM to 2200RPM because it makes the propellers more efficient at that speed. Even when making the mixture more lean or rich when climbing or descending to adjust for air density. And going back to the instruments, I know that if my planned drift doesn't work on a route or in a hold, then I have to do a bit of mental dead reckoning. Even having to sync the RPMs together manually by ear was a satisfying feeling on it's own. All of this comes together to make flying a true art form.

I seem a little sentimental, I guess you could compare it to the same way I hate how many cars are being released now with electronic handbrakes. Yes the crusty Seneca II smelt funny, and yes some of the instruments were slightly inaccurate, but that's the magic of it, sometimes it became about feeling the aircraft as you flew it. 

The newer tools will be great for future cadets, and I do want to make it clear that I don't want to slate the large FTOs since it is in their interest to keep up with their competitors. However for the reasons already stated, I do really hope that the large FTOs around the world continue to create pilots with the same airmanship, and for newer cadets to take responsibility so that they do not become over-reliant on these newer toys. I do feel though that the newer generation will miss out on something.

Employed!

On the morning of 7th October 2014, I was informed that I had my efforts on my Ryanair Assessment had been successful, and that in January 2015 I would begin my Type Rating with CAE on the Boeing 737-800!

The start of the application process with OAA is rather straight forward. As an integrated student, I was able to simply submit my CV, IR, CPL and Ground School Exam Certificates to the careers department who would then send them onto the airline (it's actually CAE who conduct the initial recruitment process). Around three days later I was informed by email that I would need to go through a telephone interview. I received a call on the next week, which wasn't really an interview, more them asking questions about my licenses, total hours, number of ATPL exam attempts etc. So after this, I was granted an assessment date at a place called Simtech, near Dublin Airport.

The process from here onward then suddenly increases speed to Mach 2; the payment for the interview needs to be made rather quickly, and in my case, it was by the next morning. Then you are responsible for your own travel and accommodation, so that has to be booked quickly. And then there is the paperwork side of it; application form along with several written references, updated CV, and Flight Training Report. Of course, this was all completed without a hitch and I was ready to go. 

They recommended a hotel called the Metro which is located around a 15 minute shuttle bus journey away from Simtech, so this was where I stayed. I arrived into Dublin at 15:10 and was checking into the Hotel at around 16:15, which gave me plenty of time to settle in and relax before the most important day of my life.

My luxurious room

The hotel isn't bad, however the area is a bit strange in that the view from my room were some stables on one side, a retail park on another and a sort of nice looking council estate further round. The room itself was pretty nice, although the TV looked like something my family had in the early 90s (not that I'd be watching much TV).

Eventually I needed some food, and fortunately as I was in the hotel restaurant, chowing down on my lamb hotpot, I managed to spot a German guy (who I didn't know was German at the time) and asked him if he was also at the Ryanair Assessment, to which he replied yes. So after initial introductions, he informed me that he had already met a few others who were also doing the assessment, and that they had already arranged a meeting later that evening. Of course I went down later to have a mingle since it seemed a good idea for us to all get comfortable before the assessment, and they all seemed like very nice guys who all came from different flying academies. After a small discussion about the next day, we headed up to get an early night.

The next day, we all met up for breakfast, and we all seemed rather relaxed which definitely made eating the breakfast easier. I ordered just the Continental which only includes the cold stuff, since I wasn't really a fan of how dry and frazzled the bacon looked. After stuffing my face with a few croissants, and washing it down with coffee I was ready and we made our way to the shuttle bus.

The shuttle bus dropped us off at around 08:15 at Simtech, which is pretty much in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere. The place is also a training centre for Cityjet and Aer Lingus so there are a few other people there just doing their Type Ratings and MCC courses. The people there are really friendly and let you their drink tea and coffee etc, so straight away I felt at ease.

Inside Simtech

The day starts just after 09:00 with a brief about the sim and Health and Safety. The guy makes it clear at the beginning that they’re there to take all of us, and that if they say no it’s nothing personal as they have a responsibility of not making people waste €28,500 on a type rating when they aren't confident that they’ll make it, which is a fair comment. After the introduction and Health & Safety brief, we were all provided with a departure and approach plate for the sim, and here we were put into pairs. On my day they put people who had previously flown a 737 sim for their MCC with people who had never flown it. After that, we were briefed quite thoroughly about the sim; what was required, power settings and even some useful tips about the departure and approaches that we'd be doing, which was a lot more than I was expecting.

Afterwards we all went downstairs in a classroom where we all briefed each other on the sim, I was up first with my flying partner and I went first as PF. The sim itself is fixed base, and is supposed to represent the Boeing 737-800, however the general handling of the aircraft was tough, and I found it particularly difficult to get the thing in trim. At first I was doing well to keep the aircraft within +/-200ft. That said, by the time I'd finished the departure, I did get pretty used to it, and the assessor does make allowances.

The sim didn't bring any surprises really; SID, speed changes, climbing and descending, entry into the hold, emergency in the hold, followed by a procedural ILS (which turned into a LOC only) to land. It is a very busy time, so teamwork here is vital. I was a bit more current than my flying partner, who had also done his MCC on a different aircraft, so I had to do a bit more in the way of leading the flight. The emphasis here is on CRM, especially since they know that the sim is rather difficult to control, they want to see that their cadets do what they can to work and help each other.

Immediately after the sim, my flying partner went up for his interview, giving me around half an hour to eat a few snacks from the vending machine and catch my breath a bit.

My time eventually came, and soon enough I was escorted into the interview room by my sim assessor who was also one of my interviewers that day. The Interview Workshop which OAA run for all of their integrated students played a huge role in the success of this interview, as I found many of the techniques useful here. To some who are inexperienced, it can seem intimidating at first, and I say this because there is this kind of good cop, bad cop feel to it. Looking back on it, it's pretty obvious that all they were trying to do here was to see if I could put up with the pressure that they piled on. 

As surprising as it sounds, I rather enjoyed the day, and I left the assessment centre feeling rather satisfied with how everything went, all that was left at that point was to wait two weeks for an outcome.

Preparation is the key to any interview. I started preparing pretty much soon after I had moved home from Oxford (3 months), which involved reading through my OAA Principles of Flight and Performance books, Ace the Technical Pilot Interview, Handling the Big Jets, and a host of feedback questions which were supplied by the school. However I would say that the most important part of that interview is how you come across as a person, and although that may seem like common sense, it is the most important lesson of the interview workshop and I think something that is often overlooked when preparing for an airline interview. When I prepared for the HR style questions, I had written out and practiced out loud my answers so many times that I was dreaming them. Sound mental? Maybe, since I had prepared to the point where I thought I was going to go insane. But it made my interview quite enjoyable as I was able to just naturally fire out the answers that they were looking for, and it also landed me the job. The interview also costs £260 plus expenses, so I don't really need to emphasize here that you want to make sure that you succeed!

It is also particularly important to note, especially for the Ryanair assessment that the end of school report (which every flight school should write) is probably one of the most important assets a cadet can have with them in that interview. I remember Mr Bad Cop having a thorough read through mine before he started asking me questions, so it pays dividends to really put in the work throughout the course.

And that's the end of one chapter and the exciting beginning to another with many more tales to tell. Words cannot describe how excited I am to know that in a few months, I will truly be living out my dream of becoming an airline pilot. Stay tuned, because there is a lot more to come... 

When 1 becomes 2

The light at the end of the tunnel was fast approaching, but before I could dive head first into the job market, I had one more thing to complete, and that was the MCC and JOC (Multi-Crew Cooperation and Jet Orientation Course) which was conducted over three weeks:

• Four days of ground school

• 20 hours MCC - Pilot Flying (PF) and Pilot Monitoring (PM)

• 20 hours JOC - Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring

The reason for the MCC is quite simply to teach us newly qualified ME-IR Commercial Pilots how to work in a multi-crew environment, especially since all of our flying had been single pilot operations up to this point in training. The main emphasis is on CRM (Crew Resource Management):

"using all available sources; information, equipment and people to achieve safe and efficient flight operations"

This is the definition by John K. Lauber, a former member of the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board).

After the MCC it's onto another 20 hours in the simulator for the JOC, which primarily applies what's learnt in the MCC and incorporates smooth handling of the aircraft.

The ground school essentially covers human factors for the first couple of days. As mentioned, CRM is vital in aviation today, with a highlighting of the Tenerife Air Disaster in 1977, where a KLM B747 collided with a Pan-Am B747 during take-off, which was later put down to poor communication between the flight crew and ATC in low visibility conditions. It is said that this accident caused for huge changes to be made in the aviation industry. The purpose was to greatly improve flight safety.

A lot of material was covered in the first few days such as:

• Challenges of being a First Officer
• CRM
• NoTechs; i.e. non-technical skills such as leadership and decision-making
• Personality traits
• Communication
• Threats in Aviation

The good thing about aviation is that there are many reliable and well trained people involved. The bad thing is that people are fallible and they always will be; we are prone to just simply getting it wrong; whether its pressing the wrong button, reading back or saying the wrong thing, even going to the wrong place. 

I found these first few days extremely interesting, and although a lot of it was common sense, it was good to be reminded of just how vulnerable we all are at making errors. The flight deck is a highly complex environment, and with the current trend of these big machines become ever more computer driven and automated, overall control is being somewhat taken away from the human, which is nice if it works, however it leaves us vulnerable to becoming more reliant on something we may not necessarily understand. With that said, it is important that we all understand the risks involved in absolutely everything that we do in the flight deck, and that's what these first couple of days glanced over. 

The last two days of ground school was a run through of the flight deck and checklists. Fortunately me and my flight partner had pretty much lived in the cardboard bomber, which is a cut out of the B737-400 for about a week before the start of ground school, so it was relatively easy to take in, and left us with a lot less pressure for the first MCC session. 

As mentioned, the aircraft simulated is the Boeing 737-400, which originally came into service in 1986, it is therefore only one year younger than I am. Aside from that utterly useless fact, the aircraft was developed as a higher capacity version of the already popular 737-300, and also as a replacement for the aging 727, and to compete with the Airbus A320 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80. It went on to become a popular choice in the short-medium range sector with 486 deliveries to date.

I think the aircraft is an excellent tool for OAA since it not only gives us a good foundation for our first job, but also because the aircraft instruments are a mix of old and new. 

B737-400 Instruments

If you have a small glance at my marvelous photo above, you get a glimpse of this wonderful office. From left to right on the Captain's side you have the ASI, PFD Altimeter, Standby Altimeter and Standby Attitude Indicator. Move one level down you have the RMI, EHSI and VSI, followed by Fuel Gauges and then the Engine Parameters in the middle. The only real difference between the Co-Pilot and Captain's side is the lack of Standby Altimeter and Attitude Indicator. You will also notice that there are these two computers on either side of the central console with green tron-coloured screens, this is the Flight Management Computer (FMC) and this is pretty much where a lot of magical wizardry happens. Here you can set things like the SIDs, STARs and the company LNAV route for the Autopilot to follow. This is also where a the pilot can set performance parameters and holding patterns.

The Mode Control Panel on the top controls the AP (autopilot), FD (flight director) and AT (autothrottle) system. Here you can select heading, speed, altitude, climb and descent rates. You can also as mentioned, set it so that the FD follows the FMC. Usually one person operates it at any one time, if the PF is hand flying, then the MCP belongs to PM, and once autopilot is engaged, MCP is then under the control of the PF.

Of course at this point, it is fairly obvious to say that there is a lot to learn and cover in the three weeks, and I haven't even mentioned the overhead panel and centre console. You may recall me saying that me and my flying partner Stef lived in what they call the cardboard bomber, which is a paper mock up of the 737-400 flight deck.

We lived here for a week

What this does is help you become accustomed to the position of the buttons when doing checks, and to get used to the scan (as much as practicable). We spent countless hours in here and with good reason: firstly spending as little time as possible on the ground and secondly making the inflight checks as fluid as possible. The results of this benefited us in a number of ways:

• More airborne time - Flying is more fun and productive than sitting at the stand and looking for buttons
• More mental capacity - More space in the brain to learn and actually fly the aircraft well under high workload situations
• Instructor will be happy - Easier for him to teach and progress with the syllabus 
• More value for money - This last one should be fairly obvious. The course fees are beyond reach for a lot of people so makes sense to use the time productively

As you can see, there's plenty of reason to put the extra effort in before starting the MCC.

The checks are read off an A4 laminate, which is simple enough. However unlike the checklists which were done in the Archer and Seneca, these are challenge and response checks, making it a two man task. It is worth noting that some checks such as the Before Take Off and After Take Off checks are read and do by the PM, simply because the PF will be too busy at during these stages. I mean take for example the after take off checks; it is of course it's more important for the PF to have full focus on the departure procedure, so the check list is therefore delegated to the PM who has the capacity to comfortably deal with it. 

Checklists are as important as ever on an airliner, even more so due to the increased payload and the complexity of the aircraft, therefore making the flight deck environment more complicated. The challenge and response style checks emphasize the importance of team-working and coordination in order to conduct a safe and efficient flight in a commercial airliner. Strict adherence to SOPs are the best way to mitigate any issues that may arise due to adverse operational, environmental or human factors in the flight deck. 

B737-400 Centre Console

As well as the checks there are other profiles that need to be committed to memory, for instance you have the pre-start and pre-descent prep, otherwise known as the ABCDEFG:

• ATIS
• Bugs - V Speeds and Altitude bug for acceleration altitude or approach minima
• Comms - Appropriate comm or nav aid frequencies tuned
• Either - ADF or VOR selected on RMI
• FMC - Setup if required
• General Brief - Emergency and Departure/Arrival Brief

Then you also have the take off, climb out and approach profiles which of course have to be done by memory since there just isn't enough time during these critical phases of flight to be reading and doing something. Again it's challenge and response; for instance the "80kts" call out by PM on the take-off roll must be checked by the PF with a subsequent "check" response. Not only does this ensure that both the Captain and Co-Pilot's ASIs are reading the same, but it also ensures that both pilots haven't suffered a stroke, and is essentially a point where either the PM or PF can take control and safely bring the aircraft to a stop before V1, which would be the next call out by the PM. Again the same role reversal would occur if say there was no response by the PF as "V1" and "Rotate" are called. SOPs vary slightly from airline to airline, but the point here in the MCC stage is to teach its importance of cross-checking and crew coordination.

On the Friday before starting the MCC, we were asked as a class who we would prefer as a flying partner and also for our preferred flying times. You get a chance to either do the morning sessions which start anywhere between 06:00 to 09:00 local time, or the evening slots which start at 17:00. Me and my flight partner both agreed on taking the later slots since it seemed to make more sense in guaranteeing more sleep and being more awake for the sim sessions (that's a differently worded way of saying we wanted the lie ins), the only downside to this was that we missed out on a lot of the world cup games! 

Each simulator session lasts two hours and there are two sessions a day, alternating between who starts the day as PF or PM. MCC usually starts on a Monday and finishing on Friday, followed by the weekend off and the same routine in the next week for JOC, however there are sessions that run over the weekend depending on the instructor and how big the classes are so there is some flexibility, and the person responsible for the scheduling does genuinely try his best to help individuals wherever he can. 

The lessons all have their own learning objective, building on top of what's been learned the day before. Day one is mainly General Handling, from start up at the stand, with a full taxi to take off. On day one I went first as PF. I remember the feeling of sitting in that seat and holding the yoke for the first time, that was when it truly felt like I was an airline pilot. Even starting the checks, running through the switches on the overhead panel, starting the engines individually, getting pushed back, starting the taxi and lining up on the runway, these were the things I used to be fascinated with whenever I was a passenger, and now I'm actually doing it. Our instructor was impressed as we managed to get our aircraft airborne in about 30 minutes from strapping in, and it was extremely rewarding to know that all of our hard work had paid off to make our session as smooth and productive as it could have been. 

I'm not actually as confused as I look in this photo

The first thing I noticed about flying this aircraft is how absolutely critical it is to quickly and accurately perform checks and at the right times, especially the memory items since things are happening so quickly, even more so on a complex SID. The actual handling itself for me wasn't too bad since the aircraft is heavier and therefore the increased wing loading makes it more stable so long as it's treated nice and smoothly. It is vital to ensure that the aircraft is always in trim, particularly so when configuring for an approach as the landing gear and flaps generate an incredible nose-down pitching moment due to the change in downwash. During straight and level flight, little blips of the trim wheel to keep the aircraft in balance will stop you from getting exhausted too, if you really want to exercise your biceps, you've got arms day in the gym (usually Fridays for me). Another thing to consider too is that this aircraft is big, heavy and slippery. Momentum = Mass x Velocity, the mass is huge, velocity is huge, and the wings aren't affected by prop wash so this thing doesn't like to slow down or turn as easily as the Seneca did. A good way to look at handling a big jet is that it is all about handling the inertia. For example during a climb, the aircraft is probably climbing at a rate in excess of 3000ft/min, so it is vital that the the level out and power reduction is anticipated well before hand or the passengers will suddenly feel like they're in outer space. The same thing goes for corrections during a hand flown Non-Precision or Precision Approach; anticipating rather than turning onto the Localiser is the key if you want to stop the approach looking like a worm (which I successfully did on a few occasions). As you can see, a lot of the Principles of Flight and Aircraft Performance topics come into play here.

There is a variety of interesting scenarios that get taught during the MCC. As well as the routes, there are also emergency procedures such as engine failure, rapid decompression and loss of a hydraulic system. In these cases, the instructor wants to see that you are both using each other as much as possible, along with the other resources that would be available to you in a real flight; whether it's ATC, company, or cabin crew. The Engine Failure lesson was when we made use of the QRH (Quick Reference Handbook) for the first time, which is essentially a step-by-step guide on how to deal with certain technical issues. With most of the critical emergencies, there is typically a memory item before referral to the QRH, so for example: In the event of an engine failure, the PM will know to cancel any master caution of fire warnings that appear on the MCP, he then diagnoses the problem, then the PF checks and confirms. PM will now perform the memory items for an engine failure. Once the memory items are complete, and the engine is secured, the PF will call for the QRH. PM will now refer to the correct section in the QRH and carry out the rest of the engine failure drill. 

This is where it is important to not only manage the time effectively, but also to methodically come to a decision (through the use of DODAR) on how to fix or mitigate a problem and continue conducting a safe flight.

The JOC concentrates mainly handling of the aircraft. Autopilot is still used, however there is an emphasis on performance and handling. For example, working out descent points in order to reach certain points in a STAR by a specified altitude or speed, and also planned descent rates to intercept a glide path from above. There are also unusual attitudes which is quite a lot of fun, particularly when control was handed from PF to PM so that we could give each other some scary situations! One particularly interesting one I remember was the demonstration of Mach Tuck, which is a phenomenon that occurs when the aircraft is accelerated past it's sonic speed, causing these weird magical compressibility effects due to shockwave formation. This moves the centre-of-pressure rearward on the wing, causing the aircraft to nose-down in a rather unpleasant fashion.

The last of the JOC sessions then focused on raw-data flying of SIDs, Precision and Non-Precision Approaches, so no FDs or AT. This was primarily to get us prepped for that all important simulator assessment which most airlines such as Ryanair conduct nowadays.

CRM at its finest

I'd say that these last few weeks of the APP First Officer course were by far the most fun, but also the most serious. As mentioned, this is the closest everyone gets to the experience of flying on the line, therefore it is important not to forget that this part of the course is by no means a time to relax, it is in fact just as important as the rest of the course. The lessons taught here pave the foundations for the rest of a cadet's flying career, not to mention the fact the Chief MCC Instructor will write a comment in a student's final school report, which airlines do look at! 

And that's it, the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. After 19 months at Oxford Aviation Academy, I am now an unemployed commercial pilot... Was it all worth it and would I do it again? Yes and yes. It's by far the greatest thing I've ever gone through, and the people I have met along the way have been nothing short of incredible. I don't think there's anything else I could have done which would have been as challenging and rewarding. 

My goal now is to put all of my tools to use and to hopefully get an interview as soon as possible, hopefully I won't need to wait too long and if all goes well, my next post will be as an employed First Officer! 

Back With a Few More Qualifications

As my millions of fans know, there has been a huge gap in my writing and it is now time for me to fill this void and once again continue with this blog.

Setting bugs

First things first, I'm sure that you are all dying to know how I am doing, so I'll fill you in with the main important milestones since my last post; Yes I am now an MEP-IR rated Commercial Pilot, and I have officially completed the APP First Officer course! Although it has been several weeks while since I moved out of Oxford, I can still look at my Flight Crew License and be proud of what I have achieved, and I know that many others will feel the same when they get theirs.

Southampton looks better from up here

The first thing I'll talk about is my experience during the Instrument Rating. In my last post many many centuries ago, I talked about the initial stages of advanced flight training and how much was expected of anyone who goes through this part of training. Progression was fast, and the learning curve didn't get any shallower, however there are a few things that make the Instrument Rating a little less scary than people might think. I did rather quickly get used to the structure of the flight. After around the fifth flight, I was already doing full IR flight profiles which go in this order:

• Instrument departure from Oxford
• Clearance and entry into controlled airspace
• Radar vectors onto Precision Approach
• Establish on the ILS/DME at destination airport
• Low approach and go-around at minimums (Simulated low cloud base), start diversion
• EFATO on go-around
• General Handling (limited panel)
• Timed turns
• Unusual attitudes
• Possible climbing and descending (examiner's discretion)
• Continue with planned diversion
• Track inbound towards the Hold at diversion airfield, using only the NDB
• Hold and commence non-precision approach when cleared to do so
• Asymmetric non-precision approach, followed by a go-around at minimums into a visual circle to land 
• Land and breathe a sigh of relief

Ok, I realised as I was typing those out that it does look a little bit scary, but it's something you quickly become accustomed to... Of course it is a lot easier to say from where I'm sitting now. It is vital to also remember that this conventional profile is not set in stone; for instance the ILS could be out of service at the destination, so a non-precision approach at the destination followed by an asymmetric precision approach at the diversion airfield is entirely possible. Therefore it is very important to prepare for 'what if' scenarios.

Flying partner Stefano turning onto final

Of course you are expected to prepare everything yourself since you are the PIC. Me and the three others in my group worked on a system where we would all help each other out for the pre-flight preparation. For me, I wanted to be there as much as possible not just because it helped me to become more familiarised with the pre-flight, but also because it enjoyed it and I knew that my fellow comrades would do the same for me. 

About to practice some procedures

We also developed quite a good relationship within our team, and also with our instructor too, which as I've mentioned before is quite important during the stressful parts of flight training. Although the task is serious, I do believe that it is essential to also have light hearted banter wherever it is sensible to do so.

Finding sometime to enjoy spring

Before I knew it, my 170A was fast approaching. Just a quick explanation; the 170A is an internal progress test conducted by the FTO before you go up for your IRT. It's pretty much a way for the school to see whether or not you are ready to go for the test, and to iron out any potential creases they may find. It goes without saying that if a student makes a complete mess of his 170A, the school examiner isn't going to sign him off, only for the IRT examiner to turn around later on and ask the school some questions as to why the student was so bad.

The route for the 170A is decided by Operations the day before the exam, and it is up to the student to check and prepare accordingly. My route was to Bournemouth with a diversion back to Oxford. This was the most popular route for 170As and IRTs so luckily, I was already familiar with a lot of it so there shouldn't have been many surprises.

On the day, my flying buddies Stefano and Joe came in to help with the preflight early in the morning whilst I did the flight plan, weather, performance and checked the NOTAMs. Everything was looking fine, however 30 minutes before my off blocks time, the ATIS began reporting towering cumulus forming in the vicinity of the airfield. I quickly checked the rainfall radar en-route along with simply looking out onto the airfield to see if we would be affected, and decided that it was safe to go. Winds, visibility and cloud bases were also all within limits at both departure and destination airfields.

Everything went as smooth as it possibly could have gone, my examiner Kevin Scrase who was pleasantly mannered all the way through, told me that I had passed just after I shut down the engines, which of course I was extremely happy about! In the debrief he had very little to say, and mentioned how he only wrote down a couple of lines which was about asking for the ATIS a little early at Bournemouth, and also for my slightly long winded initial call to Oxford Approach on the diversion. Overall I was more than pleased, the ILS and NDB approaches actually turned out to be my two strongest areas, which were actually the areas I was most worried about before the test!

So now I was left with an hour to fill before taking my IRT, unfortunately my instructor was on holiday so I had another character named Pete Waters who did my final lesson in the Seneca, very entertaining and amusing character who mildly resembles Yogi bear.

Posing for my last IR flight with an instructor

So then of course came the big day; 4th June 2014 and once again I was off to Bournemouth.

My preparation started with my usual routine I had for the day before a flight:

• Mass and Balance
• Check Aircraft Documents
• Plot route on VFR Chart
• Print out AIPs and Approach Plates
• Check weather forecast and NOTAMs

With all of this done, I was off home for a relaxing evening. I opted to just relax since I'd already done revision leading up to that day, and to be honest, if there are things that you don't know by that point then there really is no point in attempting to add stress by cramming it in. The weather was forecasting a lot of rain showers between Oxford and Bournemouth so it was looking rather touch and go as to whether or not I'd actually go up, but nevertheless I kept a go-minded attitude which was something my instructor always stressed to me and my flying buddies.

The next day came, and to my surprise I slept incredibly well. With that incredible start to the day, I went and drew my blinds to see what the weather had in store. Surprisingly it was calm, merely a slight drizzle with overcast, things were looking good. When I arrived in school, I was greeted with all of my flying buddies. I assigned two of them to help me with pre-flighting the aircraft and the other to help with any paper work I needed such as getting NOTAMs and checking helping me to print out different parts of the weather. The TAFs indicated that the conditions were due to get worse at 11:00UTC. However all of the conditions were within minima, rainfall radar showed little precipitation with a steady trend, and since my off-blocks time was at 08:00UTC, I decided that it was good to go.

After a quick walk around and a double check of the aircraft exterior and interior, I was back inside to meet my examiner for the day who was Steve Oddy, apparently a long serving CAA examiner at OAA. After an initial greet, I went to gather my IR folder and there began the brief. He laid out very clearly what would happen during the flight and then asked me to brief him on the weather, NOTAMs and asked me a few questions about the aircraft. Overall it was nothing out of the ordinary, in fact my 170A brief was a little more probing.

The brief finished at about 07:15UTC so I had a bit of time to relax and take that all important cautionary toilet visit before the flight. My flying buddies escorted me out to the aircraft like I was some sort of celebrity. I was the last person in our group of four to take the IRT, with the others all passing first time so in a sense, it felt like a bit more pressure to do the same! It was nice to have them around to calm the atmosphere, however as I saw the examiner emerge from the double doors and open the gate to walk onto the airfield, my heart rate increased quite a lot and that is what I remember to be the scariest part of the whole thing. 

Once he was in, that was it, show time. As soon as the left engine was fired up and running, all the nerves disappeared and it was time to get on with it. The flight went pretty well, we ended up with icing as forecast on the airway so I ran the appropriate icing drills to deal with it. ILS was at runway 26 at Bournemouth, wind was 280/11kts, overcast conditions with some rain, and it was a smoothly flown approach, probably one of the best I'd ever done. EFATO went well, and then it was straight into the general handling. He asked me to demonstrate another Vne dive, but was happy on my second attempt so we swiftly continued back to Oxford. After the diversion, I tracked towards the Oxford NDB, did one hold, then an asymmetric approach, followed by an asymmetric go-around into a circuit which all went well. I had to be careful though since the cloud base was at 700ft so it was an unusually low circuit. Nevertheless, I dealt with it and made a nice positive landing onto a wet runway 19 at Oxford, after all three wheels touched down, Steve took the controls (not because of the positive landing).

As he taxied off the runway he said "so...", at which point I glanced over like a dog with its face on the floor looking up at its owner. Then after a pause, the words "You've passed" came out of his mouth, at which point I said "I would kiss you if you were a woman". Probably not the response he expected from me, but the test was officially over and it was rather difficult to contain how happy I was.

Once parked and with the engines shut down, I went to gather all of my belongings before meeting Steve back inside for my debrief. A few friends came out to congratulate me, also helping me to take that marvelous photo below.

IRT first time pass feeling

The debrief was good with just a couple of points about the general handling and about being careful when doing a visual go around when the cloud base is low. When I walked out of the debrief with the signed IRT pass certificate, I remember very clearly the overwhelming feeling of relief, and this great feeling with all of my fellow AP344 classmates congratulating me on what I had just achieved. We all do it, but I think it's really important to remind myself at this point of how much hard work went into that two hour flight. Any aspiring pilot out there who reads this can do the same if they have the passion, dedication and discipline. 

An important thing to know too, is that no matter how seemingly lenient the examiner is, if you are out of limits then you are out of limits, and that would automatically tick the box for a partial. However, a perfect flight is not expected. So long as you demonstrate that you are safe, and can deal with the challenges appropriately without cracking under pressure, then it will go relatively well. Even if something doesn't go according to plan, or even if you know that you've made a mistake, the most important thing is to show resilience and concentrate on the remainder of the flight.

Looking back on it now, I absolutely loved the IR stage. That was when I felt like a real pilot, especially when sharing the London Control frequency with the big airliners. My advice to anyone out their on doing their IR at this point in time is to simply live it and enjoy it. It's both difficult but extremely rewarding at the same time, and when you get that pass certificate in your hands, it will be one of the best feelings you ever have.

The Start of Instrument Rating

And just like that, after seven long months out in sunny Phoenix, here I am back in the UK. I feared that I would have been suffering with severe withdrawal symptoms, especially with both the temperature and precipitation levels being on the complete other end of the spectrum, however it wasn't so bad. I got particularly lucky since I arrived just after what was reported as the worst band of weather Britain had experienced in 100 years (or something like that in the headlines).

With only five days at home with the family, I headed back up to Kidlington to begin what most people describe as the most difficult stage of the APP First Officer course. The first two days were a welcome back with a brief of what was to come during the IR stage. Most of it was to be expected with a lot of new things to get used to. For instance: almost constant icing conditions, IFR routes and stricter RT. Of course there was the all important Wings Graduation Ceremony, where we were presented with our wonderful golden wings and two gold bars, giving others the illusion of appearing much more smarter and important!

It’s been just under two weeks since I have started and I have so far done three simulator sessions and two flights. The biggest obstacle so far being the simulators; for one they are all Beechcraft King Air simulators (with speeds adjusted for the Seneca), so the dial layout is rather different, and secondly they are a nightmare to keep in trim. On my first flight I lost count of the amount of times I climbed and descended +/-200ft! But as with anything, it just takes a bit of familiarisation. Because none of the Seneca or Warrior sims were transported from Goodyear to Mesa during the academy move, and being without any Archer TX or Seminole simulators, all of our Foundation Flight Training was done in the aircraft. There are pros and cons to both, it is great to have more time in the aircraft with the feel of the environment, particularly when it came to doing asymmetric circuits. At the same time, simulators can be paused with weak points spotted and fixed immediately, which has definitely been helpful so far during this IR stage.

What strikes me so far is the amount that has to be done during a flight. Staying on top of the plane is vital when you are speaking to different people, making sure that you are cleared to enter airspaces, making sure you are tracking towards/away from beacons correctly, getting navaids ready for the next leg, and at the same time flying the aircraft well. Everything on its own is not difficult, however throw it into a nice cocktail and things can very quickly get overwhelming if the PIC well, doesn't act like a PIC.

Practice exercise in the sim

As I have mentioned, I had my third simulator which is the best session I've had to date. It was by no means perfect, but it is giving me confidence at this stage. The best way I can describe the IR stage so far, is that it is like practicing for Progress Test 4, only harder. In the USA, we all did approaches to airfields that have VOR/DMEs, which are all nice and accurate since the receiving antennas aren't affected by aircraft movements and positions. However back here in the UK, we'll be primarily using NDBs for the approaches into airfields, which aren't as accurate as VORs and the errors have to be accounted for. The main error is the ADF dip, which is when the ADF needle gives an erroneous reading (usually up to 10˚ in the direction of the bank). This is due to the receiving antenna being at a banked angle to the beacon. Therefore care needs to be taken when assessing and making corrections when tracking along a desired radial to or from a beacon.

NDB DME into Runway 19 at Oxford

Screenshot of my last attempt at the NDB DME approach into Runway 19, during the final approach. Top illustrates my NDB tracking, centre is the glide path, and the bottom shows speed deviation. Getting there on the glidepath and speed, but as you can see my NDB tracking needs a bit of practice (although my instructor thinks that the top reading is exaggerated as the diagram is more meant for ILS approaches, so that cheers me up a bit).

The IR stage consists of 30 hours of simulator time, and 20 hours of flight time in the Seneca II. Tests come in the form of an RT test, and two checkrides: The internal ‘170A’, followed by the Instrument Rating Skills Test. I’m not entirely sure why they call it the 170A, but I’ll be sure to put it into a future post once I do.

I am really enjoying it back here in Kidlington, everything feels very professional, and with the IFR style planning and routes, it feels much more like being an airline pilot. I am also very fortunate to have my instructor Richard Gwinn, who is an ex-British Airways and Easyjet captain so he really does know his stuff, and an amazing sense of humour too, whilst at the same time being able to enforce discipline when me or my flight buddies do anything wrong. Our instructor expects my group to be at school and available 7 days a week, which I don’t mind at the slightest. There is a lot of ground to cover at this stage so it is important to stay in the flow of things, and with the weather being so unpredictable, it is always advisable to stick around in the event a slot becomes available, which is exactly how I have been able to fly twice so far. 

The first flight was really a VFR familiarisation flight to get us used to the operations in Oxford, along with some general handling. The second flight threw us a lot more in the deep end, which was a practice IFR round trip. This flight gave a much better insight into IFR flying conditions, particularly emphasizing the need to have the navaids set before each turning point, which are essentially the en-route beacons or GPS waypoints. And also getting to fly the real aircraft, whilst putting in the simulator knowledge to the test. 

What is quite spectacular is flying through clouds for the first time, it is just a magnificent sight to be that close, and even more amazing when you fly through and come bursting out the other side. It was also pretty cool to see Blenheim Palace and Silverstone Race Track along the route when I was backseating someone else's flight! 

Much more to come during this stage of the training. Whenever I have down time I keep myself busy by reading and practicing on the Elite procedural simulators in the academy, which all students can always access for free. Whenever I do get the time though, I will update where I can on this exciting and crucial stage of my training.

Cool clouds

APS Upset Recovery Training Video

It's a couple of months late, but I finally got the time to edit the GoPro footage from my Upset Recovery Training. So here it is, the worldwide premiere! I opted to simply edit it as a fun music video that everyone can watch, rather than an educational one with descriptions of all the manoeuvres etc. I used Adobe Premiere to do all of the editing, which took me around six hours. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to see if I still had some of my video editing skill that I acquired from University, so hopefully you all like it.

I can assure you that although the video looks like an airshow experience, there is a lot of educational value when you actualy do it (have a look at my post about APS Upset Recovery Training).

Enjoy!

Now a Commercial Pilot!

17th February 2014, alarm goes off at 05:00. This is one of the few days where my eyes opened as if I'd only closed them a few seconds beforehand. My mind is already pretty much switched on, it's like I'm on autopilot mode. Today was the big day, everything that I had done in Arizona will lead to what would happen in a couple of hours. I knew it was important, but at that moment, I was as calm as I would have been for a normal flight. Thankfully, I managed to get a solid 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep in before my sleep cycle alarm gracefully awoke me from my slumber.

I drove in with a classmate who had his CPL after me with the same examiner. The weather, unsurprisingly was clear as it could be in Phoenix, the air crisp like it usually is at that time in the morning, however it was forecast to rise from 9 degrees to 27 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, therefore I opted not to wear a jacket (not that I had my warm Oxford jacket in Arizona anyway). After receiving my aircraft assignment from dispatch, Seneca N91KT is what would potentially be the last aircraft I would step foot in at Falcon Field. My briefing was at 08:00, however I was yet to receive my navigation route. I saw my examiner at the stroke of the hour. After he examined my sectional chart for a good 30 seconds, he said firmly that I was to plan a direct leg from Chandler Airport to Gila Bend Airport. From that moment, I had 45 minutes to plan everything; charts, navlog and flight plan. I had already done the weather, and since it was only one leg, there wasn't too much to do.

Once ready, I was back into the office with the examiner to begin my ground brief. First was an inspection of my chart, which he accepted. He then asked me what documents are needed on-board the aircraft for it to be airworthy. Then came the time for me to give my weather brief, which is never usually an issue in Phoenix since it is SKC VFR 99% of the time. However I always call up the briefer before a progress test, this was no different. I made sure that no AIRMETS, TFRs or any adverse conditions that I may have missed when I initially got my brief. After was the Weight and Balance where he quizzed me on various things like the maximum weights, how CG affects stability and what the multiplying factors for the TODR and LDR meant. I was also asked to name pretty much all of the V speeds for the Seneca, which wasn't at all a problem seeing as they should probably be the first thing to be memorised, even before your first flight. 

So after breaking a few drops of sweat, I went out to pre-flight the aircraft. I'd flown this particular aircraft a few times before, so I was rather familiar with it. One of the biggest problems with flying the Senecas here at OAA, is that the instrument layout varies from aircraft to aircraft. It's not a catastrophic problem, but can be frustrating at times since you have to slightly alter your scan. This particular aircraft was not equipped with an ADF or DME. The aircraft was also fitted with a DGI instead of a HSI. This makes life slightly more challenging, particularly for my navigation and diversion. The HSI has the luxury of being slaved to this electrically enhanced compass which is situated away from all the ferrous materials, whereas the DGI is not. This means that every 15 minutes, the DGI has to be manually aligned to the standby compass in order to correct for earth rate and transport wonder (all of which is explain in great detail during the instruments lessons in ground school). 

Seneca II Radio/Nav equipment. Not all the same.

The flight began rather smoothly; the start, run-up, taxi, take off and departure were all pretty faultless. The navigation went rather smoothly, I was on top of my gross error checks, cruise checks and gave regular position reports. When I got to my halfway point, it was clear that I had drifted slightly left of track, and I referenced an airfield and an interstate to prove it. I then used the driftlines to work out that I was approximately 8 degrees off, so I corrected 16 degrees back to the right to get me directly to my destination at my planned ETA. As soon as I had my destination in sight, I was diverted to a private airfield called Mauldin, which was North West of my turning point. Again, the diversion went rather smoothly, slightly off again on my halfway point, so I used a small 2 degree correction to get back on track. 

After the navigation, my examiner vectored me southbound where he gave me an engine fire (not literally), so I followed through with the drill, and as briefed, I fully shut the engine down, in this case the left engine. After fully shutting down and securing the engine, the examiner said that the engine was no longer on fire, however did ask me what I would do right now if this were to actually happen. I said that since the aircraft was stable and no longer on fire, I would take the aircraft to Goodyear since there are facilities to get the engine repaired, to which he nodded, and I assumed that he was happy with the answer. 

The next significant part of the test came the circuits, which were done at Buckeye Municipal Airport. The first landing was a flapless, followed by an engine failure after take off, which subsequently led to an asymmetric go-around, asymmetric landing, and then a departure back south. I felt the circuits went okay; the winds were rather strong, particularly during downwind where I had to use a rather large drift angle to keep it straight, and so my approaches landings weren't as good as they had been previously. 

Nevertheless, very soon after departing it was time to put on the hood for some instrument time. What this part involved was the standard SPIRIT checks, followed by VOR identifying and tracking, position fixing off 2 VORS, timed turns and unusual attitude. All of which, I felt at the time went rather well, however I would say that even at this stage, I am not fully confident on the steam dials, especially after building a rather unhealthy dependency on the G1000 during the instrument phase of my single engine time. 

After all the instrument stuff, it was onto the last part of the test, which was general handling. We covered all the stalls, steep turns and a Vne dive. All of which are okay at this stage of training since these manoeuvres are all drilled in early on and throughout the training. Steep turns are rather different at first in the Seneca since the visual references are completely different. I found the best way which was shown to me by an instructor was to line the top or bottom of the center windshield bar and the bottom or top corner of the windshield with the horizon. That usually gave a perfect 45 degree turn with little or no altitude loss. I am aware, reading that sentence back that the technique is quite hard to imagine, I do assure you that it does work! Anyway, the Vne dive, isn't strictly a dive at Vne. The controls are handed back to the student once the examiner has got the plane established in a dive at or near Vno, and the idea is to safely recover the aircraft and get it established into a Vx climb before it hits Vne. 

After that, was the arrival back in to Falcon Field. That was it, or was it? We arrived from the South West, pretty much on a straight in for runway 4R. It was immediately clear that the traffic pattern was hectic. When I got my initial call in, the tower immediately responded with "Seneca 91KT, do not enter Falcon Class D", at which point we had to hold in a rather awkward area between two Class D airspaces, with Phoenix Skyharbor's Class B also lingering near us. Thankfully at this point, I was allowed to use the GPS which had the airspaces mapped out on the screen. After about five minutes, tower got back to me and I was cleared for a straight in on runway 4R. 

The landing, after-landing and shutdown went without a hitch. After assisting me in pushing the aircraft back, the examiner gathered all of his belongings and told me to meet him back inside the building. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the point where my heart rate started to increase by several BPM, I could feel my capillaries swell up and my nerves somewhat more sensitive. I even found it trivially difficult to tie the aircraft down. Once I'd eventually gathered all of my stuff, I made a long walk back to the academy building where the big bad examiner was waiting. 

Once I was inside the academy, the debrief began. My examiner did mention that I got one of the ground questions wrong, which was where the radio-telephony license is located. My reply was that I didn't know, however he informed me that there is no certificate, and that it would only be there on international flights. I was caught out on that question. Other than that, he mentioned that I should have familiarised a bit more with the DGI since I had a habit of checking and moving it too often, and that in the future if I am not familiar with the aircraft, then I should really ask for another. He also made comments on the approaches; admittedly they weren't amazing so he did just say to use less abrupt control inputs when on final. Other than that, he said that he was happy with everything else, there was not one point where I busted any of the altitude or speed limits, and so he ended with the words "I don't want to fly with you again, so It's a pass". At that point in time, it felt like 1000 tons had suddenly lifted off my shoulder. All of the work I put in over the last seven months, and especially since starting the multi-engine phase had all paid off! 

My winning CPL route

After getting my logbook stamped, I pretty much had to do a lap of the building to get this CAE form signed my different people from different departments, for example: Finance and Accommodation. Not that I minded really since I felt so over the moon at what I had just achieved. Along the way, I took the opportunity one last time, to speak to a few instructors and staff from HR who I had kept in touch with throughout my training here. It was a rather surreal feeling because I was in a routine, this is the building that's provided me with the wealth of knowledge that I possess today, this is where I became a pilot. And this place has helped me to become the proud holder of a Commercial Pilot License. 

My advice for the CPL Skills Test is to put the work in early. As soon as I got the study materials for the Seneca II, I read over and over again. Whenever I had a day off, I'd go to the academy especially to sit in an unused Seneca out on the ramp to chair fly and learn procedures. I even practiced diverting myself, just so I could get used to doing it in-flight. Some of these things certainly seem ridiculous, but hey I passed! I have no regrets of the amount of time I spent studying for this. Everyone on this course has paid a serious amount of money to do this, so it's in everyone's interest to get the most out of it. This is what I've always wanted to do, and now I'm doing it. The road was rocky, and everyone had their own challenges. Ultimately you have to put the work in yourself. There is plenty of time for fun, but the time is to be used wisely. Our class were hit with delays quite badly, which explains why me and a few other comrades ended up finishing after seven months instead of the usual five. Apart from that though, there really isn't much for me to complain about. My time in Arizona has been simply incredible, the people, the places to see, and the flying, I feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity, and hand on heart, if someone gave me the choice then I would go through ground school again to relive this experience. 

It is the end of one journey, and the beginning of a new one. That evening I boarded BA288 back to London Heathrow on standby. The next chapter of my story is the Instrument Rating. Stay tuned.

Now a Commercial Pilot!