A Day In the Life Of...

Alarm blasts off at 04:00Z, on goes the uniform (usually after a 5 minute snooze) I escape downstairs to the bathroom, brush my teeth, splash my face, gel my hair and apply some moisturiser (very important before spending the day in a 0% humidity pressurised tube). I then pour myself a glutinous portion of Nature Valley Cereal, accompanied by a strong coffee, and then sit myself down to eat in front of BBC news 24, or sometimes Sky News to mix things up. I check the weather at Stansted and my destination(s) and alternates for the day, this makes my day a lot less stressful. Once I'm done with my morning routine, I check, double, triple, and quadruple check that I have all that I need, being the work iPad, ID, licence, passport and food that I have prepared the night before, and it's out the door and into my car for the 10 minute drive to the Airport.

After a violent battle to find a parking space, followed by a groping at security, I finally make it to the crew room. I search on a computer to find out where my aircraft is, then sign a register where I also find out my workstation. It is then an Assassin's Creed style walk through the room to find my assigned work station, where I meet the Captain and Cabin Crew. First Officers usually get there first to do all of the paperwork. Personally, I like to leave at least an hour a half just so that I can look through everything and relax before the Captain arrives. The ultimate goal after checking the flight plan, weather and NOTAMs is to decide on the amount of fuel to take. Potential go-arounds and extra holding fuel need to be considered and discussed with the Captain when he/she arrives.

The calm before the storm

We then introduce ourselves to the cabin crew and brief them about the day ahead. After a concise discussion and sometimes a few jokes, it's a brisk walk to the aircraft, which can be conveniently parked outside the crew room, or if you are really lucky, a cross-continental hike to the other side of the airport through wind, rain, sleet, snow.

From the moment we jump on board, it is all go go go. I usually start the day as Pilot Flying, which means that I will do the preflight checks in the flight deck for the first sector. The Captain (Pilot Monitoring) will perform the exterior inspection. Once he's satisfied that the aircraft is airworthy, he makes his way back to the flight deck for me to brief him on the departure and we complete the Before Start Checklist together.

Once all the checks have been completed, and the doors are closed, I grab push and start clearance. Upon our clearance for push and start, the Captain will then liaise with the ground crew to ensure the tug is connected and the pushback can commence.

As the aircraft is pushing back, we begin the elegant process of waking up engine no.2 then no.1 in sequence. There's always a sense of empowerment in being able to start a couple of 26,000lb powered pieces of incredible engineering. 
Once push back is complete, the captain sets the parking brake and clears the ground crew to disconnect the tug, and once clear we begin the Before Taxi Procedure and Checklist. I then call for taxi clearance and we're rolling away.

Eventually we get to the holding point of our departure runway. At some point after a short wait behind departing and/or arriving traffic, we are cleared by tower to line up and wait or take off, We simultaneously line up onto the departure runway and complete our Before Takeoff checks. When we are cleared for take off, the Captain hands over control of the thrust levers, and I advance them to an N1 setting that is just above 40%. When both engines have stabilised at the same N1 setting, the Captain calls "stabilised", I then push the TOGA switches and just follow the thrust levers as they advance to the preset take off thrust, feeling the bottom of my seat pushing onto my buttocks. Once take off thrust is set, the Captain calls "Take off thrust set, indications normal" and takes control of the thrust levers while I place both hands on the control column, and feet on the rudders to keep the aircraft on the centreline as it rockets down the runway. Passing 80Kts, the Captain calls "80kts", I respond with "Check", to let him know that our instruments are reading correctly, and that I am still breathing. Once the aircraft reaches V1, the decision speed, the Captain will call "V1", and at Vr, he calls "Rotate", at which point I pull back on the control column, aiming to lift the nose up at a rate of about 2 degrees/second, until the main gear lifts off and we climb away from the earth. From here, it is a busy period of configuring the aircraft, after take-off checks, and a lot of frequency changes and clearances until we are clear of the London TMA. 

The best departures are southbound on a clear winter morning, when the lights of London are clearly visible. Then the climb and crossing over the English Channel, watching the sky turn from red to orange as the sun emerges on the horizon.

During cruise, the Pilot Monitoring will do paperwork on the flight plan, and the Pilot Flying will monitor the aircraft. This is a good time to have some food and drink. It is also a great opportunity to simply admire the glorious views; from clear sunsets and sunrises, to cruising over the snow covered mountain tops of The Alps. This relaxing period of course varies in length. If it is a Stansted to Dublin and back, then there is just about enough time for a sandwich since the cruise period is so short, and even the paperwork needs to be completed in the climb.

Usually at about 100 nautical miles from the Top of Descent, we begin to prepare and brief for our approach to our destination airfield, and of course a nice PA to our passengers. Every airport has its own challenges, some can be straight forward, where you have really helpful ATC, a straight forward arrival with no surprises, and a long runway for that greasy landing. Other times, you could be flying in an area with awful ATC, threats of terrain and obstacles, monsoon-like weather conditions, Non-Precision Approaches, and a runway length which is just within the braking distance required for the aircraft. It is always important to brief the approach, right the way down to the taxi, sometimes even allowing more time to brief if there are a lot of potential threats at the destination.

Approach plate on our electronic flight bag

After a baby smooth landing, its either a short or very long taxi to the stand. Some small airfields, such as Kerry, are a simple 180 degree turn on the runway, then a 10 second taxi to the stand. Some larger airfields like Madrid have a huge taxi route, with multiple frequency changes on the ground. After the engines are shut down on stand, the entire crew is ready to go go go again. Flight deck crews will swap roles between PF and PM to set up the aircraft, and the cabin crew do their magic to disembark, clean, then board the new passengers again.

Everyday is a new experience, and a new challenge. Stansted is the largest base, serving over 180 destinations, so this means that I rarely fly to the same airport more than once in the same month. I still find myself seeing completely new destinations every week, which really does keep my on my toes. For me, I feel truly lucky to have this kind of exposure. The journey continues...

Line Training

After Base Training it was onto the next stage; Line Training. This is where everything begins, where all of our hard work to date is now further expanded on, and where we really become line pilots.

Everyone is given a choice of base for line training. I was fortunate enough to be granted Stansted as my base initially. Not only was this convenient for me (since you have to cover your own living expenses) but it also has the most amount of destination, so the exposure is invaluable.

The training is very well structured. Every cadet is provided with a training file which has a variety of sections that need to be signed off before your line check. Initially, everyone flies with a safety pilot, which is a more experienced First Officer sat in the jump seat to just be there in case you make a mess of things. The minimum required for safety pilot release is 12 sectors, along with certain items to be signed off from the training file. 

There are a broad range of sign off items, such as Altimeter Setting, Approach Speed, Landing and Rollout, and also several important discussion items such as CFIT Awareness and Winter Operations. There is a long and exhaustive list, but it is quite surprising how much can get done in one day of flying. And fortunately I was able to be recommended for my line check at 70 sectors, which took me around a month and a half.

Credit: Artur Bado

The crew room at Stansted can be quite frantic. The 'first wave' as they call it, is what they call the first set of departures which all leave at the same time. So as you can imagine, it's like opening a can of syrup next to an ant's nest. It's all very good learning though, and eventually it's something that everyone adjusts to.

The standard of training at Stansted is remarkable. Although it is just the beginning, I would learn so much yet notice improvements everyday. I really got a full appreciation of how important and effective the SOPs are, and the exposure to the network allowed me to gain experience very quickly. I am very excited about the opportunities and experiences to come.

Base Training

After three glorious weeks of waiting due to a delay in issuing my airside ID, I was finally rostered to do base training back at East Midlands. If you are unfamiliar, base training is essentially where the newbie demonstrates to the man in the left hand seat that they can perform at least six take offs and landings without killing anyone.

Before the big day, every cadet has to do what's called Preliminary Simulator Circuit Training (PSCT), which is an hour in the sim to practice how to fly the B737 in the circuit, pretty straight forward, but at the same time important to get right so that you get the most out of base training. There is a requirement to do base training within 21 days of the PSCT, which is exactly what I had to do. It was fine by me really, since even my incredible flying abilities do deteriorate after a few weeks without flying.

The day I almost flew

The base training is usually done in groups of five cadets. On the left hand seat is the Base Training Captain, who guides you and makes sure that nobody dies, and a First Officer who acts as a safety pilot in the jump seat, and is also there to ensure that nobody dies. The first day was unsuccessful, owing to some rather miserable conditions. The second day, we reported back to the training centre for our second attempt, with even worse weather conditions. However, Il Capitano decided to take us up to Prestwick where the weather was surprisingly better.

Base training was the single greatest hour of my life. Even as I write this, I can clearly remember l how amazing every aspect of the flight was, from advancing the thrust levers for take off, to manually flying the thing down the glide path and touching down. This is also the first day where everyone gets to put on their shiny new uniform, which made me feel a lot more professional.

It was remarkable how much easier the aircraft was to fly in comparison to the simulator. In the sim, you only really need to breathe on the controls when making the corrections to remain stable during an approach, but in the aircraft, you really get to man handle it to get it to do what you need, and this makes it more forgiving. The simulators are generally designed to be more sensitive, so the transition is much easier.

The next stage for me and my fellow comrades was a visit to Airline's newly built head offices in Dublin for a wings ceremony. Apparently this is quite a new thing for pilots who have just completed their type rating or operator conversion course. It is pretty cool getting to see it, and it does make you feel a sense of achievement, as well as being part of a humongous company.

After the HQ visit, it was onto the supernumerary (SNY) flights. Before being rostered for line training, every Low Hour First Officer has to complete at least 12 sectors of these SNYs, which is simply sitting in the jumpseat as an observer in order to familarise with the operations of line flying. These are very useful as it is the chance to practice radio calls, do the paperwork, and even getting to do the preflight setup and shut down in the flight deck. I see it as a way to ease everyone into the line training, without directly throwing people in at the deep end, so it is in everyone's interest to get as much out of these flights as possible.


I'll be posting my next update as soon as I can, in the meantime good luck with whatever you are doing, and happy flying!

Type Rating

I know it must have been tough to wait such a long time for another post from me. Well the good news is that I am back! And now I am fortunate enough to have a little time off in order to update you all on my latest endeavours. 

As you may or may not know, I was fortunate enough to be accepted onto Ryanair's Type Rating Programme, and started on the 26th January 2015.

The first introductory week takes place in sunny East Midlands Training Centre, and covers admin and paperwork, plus SEP (Safety and Emergency Procedures) in the classroom, which includes dangerous goods, smoke and fire equipment. We were also the first Type Rating class to be provided with iPads as an EFB (Electronic Flight bag), which has something to do with saving loads of paper and trees, and also made me feel rather cool and down with the kids. There are also three tests that take place, but all are relatively straight forward as long as you pay attention. The last day of this week was actually held at Stansted, this was where we did the final two tests and learned how to operate the doors and slides, and yes we could have a go on the slide! Shame we don't get to exit like that more often. Overall the SEP week is pretty relaxed and interesting, with a lot of important lessons to be learned. 

Like being a kid again Like being a kid again

After the intro it was over to CAE Amsterdam (which is actually in a town called Hoofddorp) for the ground school and simulator sessions. Before the start of ground school, everyone in the type rating class is assigned a simulator partner to form a crew. The simulator partners or crews would then have to work with each other during the simulator sessions right up to and including the LST (License Skill Test).

The technical ground school lasted around two and half weeks, covering the B737NG systems, performance and Ryanair's SOPs, which are taught both on CBTs (Computer Based Training) and in the classroom. There is an incredible amount of material to get through, and the learning curve is pretty much like a learning vertical wall that starts curving backwards. The way that I structured the learning during this stage, was to spend up until around 17:00 during the weekdays completing the CBTs and necessary reading, and then staying behind with my flying partner for an extra couple of hours to learn the memory flows in the B737 mock-ups. 

After two and a half weeks of intense studying, revision and various tests, it was the end of technical ground school, and of course a couple of days to relax and do some sightseeing around Amsterdam, of which there are many interesting sights. Of course, as is the case in any kind of flight training, time off is very short lived and it is back to more studying and preparation.

Amsterdam by day and night

The training centre at CAE Amsterdam is open 24 hours a day, and provides students with bookable mock-ups, an FMC trainer room, and most importantly a machine that provides free coffee and hot chocolate. I was fortunate enough to be with a flying partner who was also willing to do a lot of preparation for the simulator sessions to come.

B737 mock up, you'll be practically living here

The simulator sessions are split into fixed base and full flight sessions. The fixed base sessions are pretty self-explanatory; you are in the simulator that doesn't move, and the main focus here is to learn all of the profiles and procedures according to Ryanair's SOPs, and how to deal with non-normals and emergencies, so there really isn't much hand flying apart from the take offs and occasional landing. After ten fixed base sessions, it is then onto the full flight sessions. This is where the motion is switched on and of course where it starts to become really awesome. 

The simulators at CAE are CAT D, which means it has six axis or something like that. They are simply amazing; you can even feel the runway centreline lights! The full flight sessions focus more on the handling of the aircraft, with a lot of single engine work, along with continued practice with emergencies and non-normals. As fun as these sessions are, they can get mentally exhausting at times, especially when it came to the single engine work. These sessions last four hours split between PF and PM time, with the starting PF usually getting more flying time.

Simulators at CAE

All of these sessions lead to something, and that something is the extremely long and stressful LST! I'm joking; it's not really that bad. The course prepares the students very well, and the teaching quality is phenomenal so the cadets usually make it without any problems. There are also several progress tests along the way to ensure that everyone is performing at the required standard. You will be extremely happy to know that we successfully passed our LST!

If I were to gauge the difficulty level of the Type Rating, I would say that it was intense, but very doable if you put the time in and plan your studies and preparation efficiently. For me the first week was particularly difficult because of the sheer volume of work, however soon after I found my stride. The next spike in difficulty was the preparation for the first fixed base sessions, but here it was just a case of going over procedures and profiles in the mock-up a million times. After learning the flows and profiles, it was just a case of learning how to deal with emergencies and correct QRH reading. As time went on, I felt more comfortable with the procedures, which helped me relax as I progressed through the course. 

B737NG Flight Deck

I want to stress the importance of sitting in the mock ups and going through the profiles and procedures with your simulator partner, both of you have the job so you may as well help each other get through. All of the early preparation on the Type Rating is only going to make life easier towards the end and even during Line Training. If you are fortunate enough to have all of your Type Rating in Amsterdam, then do make use of the FMC trainer to familiarise with the setups and briefings. Another word of advice for the Type Rating is to sleep, loads and loads of sleep! Forget the cramming you did up until 01:00 during ATPL ground school, it is much more important to relax during the evenings (or mornings if you have a late sim) than to continually hammer at it when you are exhausted. This is particularly the case for the full flight sessions; you really want to be fully charged if you are going to sit in that rocking white box for four hours at a time. 

My time during the Type Rating was challenging, but also very rewarding and enjoyable. I mean, I've learned how to fly a Boeing 737! The next stage is for me is Base Training, so stay tuned for my next instalment in this incredibly epic blog.

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!