The JOC (Jet Orientation Course)

It's been a couple of weeks since I finished JOC (Jet Orientation Course), which was a month long course based back in Southampton.  The purpose of the course is to be a transition between the light twin-engine single-pilot operations to flying a passenger jet in a multi-crew environment.  Basically, it means that we move more into the commercial airline environment, working together as a captain and co-pilot to ensure a safe operation.  As we aren't yet captains(!), one of us plays the role of captain and sits in the left hand seat which the other is the first officer in the right hand seat. 

The view from the right hand seat, on the ground at Heathrow

The course is run by BA, so we start to incorporate the BA procedures and are hereon in being moulded the BA way!  The simulator we use is the Boeing 737-700, which is not the aircraft we are ultimately going to fly for BA (we'll be on the Airbus A320).  This means that any aircraft specific procedures that we have learnt for this course must swiftly be forgotten, but as I mentioned one of the main aims of the course is to start working in the airline environment and lots of those skills will be transferable. 

We were assessed in this course as much for the 'non-technical' skills as we are for our flying ability, things like leadership, workload management, decision making, etc.  Hence there has been a lot of emphasis on how to effectively manage the airline operation - which involves a lot more than simply flying from A to B! 

Approaching Geneva in the B737-700 simulator

In the simulator, the instructor has to act as the various people that a pilot works with on a daily basis: dispatcher, ground crew, cabin crew, air traffic control, the company, etc.  This actually works fairly well, and they even add a bit of realism by throwing in a radio call when they can see you are busy - just to test our capacity!  In addition to all this, we have to deal with 'non-normals' - i.e. when things go wrong!  During the course of the programme we dealt with poor weather, engine failures, rejected take-offs (something very topical given the recent BA one in Las Vegas), simple hydraulic failures, medical emergencies, rapid descents and a few more I've forgotten.  That might sound quite a daunting list, but when something does go wrong, we use a framework from which to base our decisions on and action any checklists to rectify a technical problem.  In a lot of cases, if it was a simple failure the aircraft has more than enough redundancy built in to continue to our destinations, however if it was more serious (like for a medical emergency) then it would be an immediate diversion to the nearest suitable airfield.  In that instance, we also had further considerations as to how we might get the rest of the passengers to their destination, which stand might be best to taxi the aircraft to in order to reach the ambulance quickly and much more.  As you can see, any one issue can have a huge knock on effect, so we are quickly developing our thinking process to assess all the options, all while making sure the aircraft is flying safely.

Coming up next... the A320 full motion simulators

The course was actually a lot of fun.  I think moving into the jet environment has felt like a real step toward the end goal, and working in a multi-crew capacity is really effective when flying a jet and especially when dealing with any issues or when things start to get busy on the flight deck.  For now, we have a bit of a wait for our Type Rating which is the next phase of training.  Basically that's when we learn how to fly the A320 in the simulator, and it'll be another two month long course.  However, once that is over it'll be straight into BA to fly it for real…!  

That's all for now folks, I imagine I'll next be blogging in the new year, once the Type Rating starts!

Basic Training: Complete

The next time I’ll be at the controls of a real aircraft will be an empty British Airways Airbus A320.  That’s a surreal thought, and one that’s both exciting and rather daunting in equal measure.  For now, I’ve completed the basic training element with CTC and from here on in I’ll be in the simulators until I join BA and fly the A320 for real for the first time.

Another Farewell

I have now upped sticks and moved home again, another mini life that was created in Bournemouth has now finished.  Of course, the nomadic lifestyle will continue with the next phase back down in Southampton which starts in about a months’ time and will last for approximately 3 ½ weeks.  I am pleased to have finished in Bournemouth though, it was a busy few weeks and we certainly had to hit the ground running there.  I am pleased to say I passed my Instrument Rating test a couple of weeks ago now, so I have sent off my licence application and await for that little bit of paper to return to prove that the last 15 months and vast expense was worth it!  The flying through my time in Bournemouth was brilliant fun, I flew various routes to Exeter, Cardiff, Southampton (well that one wasn’t a very long flight from Bournemouth), Oxford and Alderney. 

On test day I flew down to Alderney to do an approach at the airfield down there before heading back across the channel to Bournemouth.  The test itself wasn’t too difficult as we were familiar with the format from our previous flights, and Air Traffic Control are especially helpful when you come over the radio with the “Exam” callsign – they will do their best to give you exactly what you want which takes some pressure off at least.  My approach back into Bournemouth was one of the most difficult I’ve done to date however, with a ‘windshear’ warning given to me over the radio.  This basically means the wind is likely to rapidly change in speed and direction, making the approach much more…interesting!  In any case, it was tricky and wasn’t the best flight I’ve done so I was all the more relieved to have passed.   We spoilt ourselves with a well-deserved weekend break to the Isle of Wight – it seemed only right to have another holiday while the sun is still shining.

The Isle Of Wight - backseating down to Alderney

The Isle of Wight - from the ground this time!

Upset Recovery

The final three lessons here focus on ‘upset recovery and prevention’ – essentially it is designed to allow us to experience putting the aircraft into an unusual situation which we need to recover from.  This could be a very steep angle of bank, speed rapidly increasing with the nose pointing to the ground, speed rapidly decreasing with the nose pointing high into the sky, etc. – all situations that you don’t want to be in particularly.  The general idea, however, is to not get into an ‘upset’ situation but we still need to know what to do should the situation arise.  There have been various accidents where pilots have not recovered from an upset situation which should be recoverable, so it’s a really important skill to learn at this stage and why it has been introduced so recently into our training. 

With the aircraft rapidly gaining speed and the nose pointing down towards terra firma, it’s a little disconcerting initially to say the least (don’t worry, we do this from plenty of height so no need to have visions of shearing a few sheep with the prop as we level off inches from the ground).  It’s this ‘startle factor’ which we also hope to mitigate through this training, by experiencing this situation in training it allows our brain to kick into action with the recovery rather than being startled by something unusual and losing time to react. 

The Firefly

These flights are also mostly done in the Firefly, an aerobatic aircraft meaning we can throw it around a bit and it allows the instructors to put us into some very unusual positions to recover from.  It is most definitely a mix of serious training and a lot of fun and a real highlight of my training here.  The added bonus being a couple of aerobatic manoeuvres at the end of the lesson to finish my training with CTC.  Although I now want my own Firefly… maybe in a few years.

JOC (Jet Orientation Course)

What’s next?  We move back to Southampton in a month for our Jet Orientation Course – where we begin our transition onto jet aircraft in the simulator and learn how to operate in a multi-crew environment.  I am looking forward to both aspects of this phase, having operated as a ‘single crew’ pilot for the training so far I think it’ll be both really interesting and a lot of fun to work as a team while also learning to fly a jet and all the differences that entails from the Twinstar until now.  This phase is also part of our induction into BA, as we will use the BA operating procedures while flying the sim – all bringing the end goal even closer!

Not everyday you get to see the Red Arrows taxing by

More planespotting: Typhoon in it's commemorative Battle of Britain livery

Back home and onwards to Bournemouth

Instrument training is back in full swing, and we’re now coming up to three weeks completed in Bournemouth having enjoyed only a week off post New Zealand to recover and prepare for the next stage down here.   It was straight into a packed schedule, once all the inductions were over we found ourselves in the Twinstar simulator once again (exactly the same as the ones we used in NZ) and starting our orientation into UK airspace and procedures.   We are in the sim for another week or so before we are let loose for real into the air, and although the simulators are pretty good I think we’re all looking forward to flying the real thing again.

Late evening sun on the CTC fleet
of Twinstars in Bournemouth

UK Orientation and LOFT

As mentioned, the first batch of sims were designed to get us thinking about some of the more subtle differences in UK airspace and radio transmissions from what we’d become accustomed to in the Southern Hemisphere.  It’s also an opportunity to start becoming familiar with Bournemouth airport and the local ones that we’ll be flying to and where we’ll be doing our Instrument Rating test.  The Instrument Rating qualifies us to fly in low visibility weather (cloud basically!) by following certain procedures through our instruments, and that test should happen in a month or so if all goes to plan.  Of course, this means we fly around in the sim mostly in front of a solid grey screen until we reach the runway for either take-off or landing, as if we are in cloud the whole time.

Sitting on the ground in Manchester... in
the simulator before the inevitable grey
screen after take off for next two hours
while 'in cloud'

The last few sessions have involved LOFT (Line Orientated Flying Training) flights – these aim to simulate flying an actual airline route (flying ‘the line’). For example, one of the flights is from Heathrow to Birmingham, where we are expected to deliver our passengers to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible, dealing with any potential issues en route.  This could involve having to divert due to weather, or fixing a failure with aircraft while dealing with all the usual flying, radio calls, etc. These sim sessions also encourage us to make real world decisions; choosing a best course of action given the situation (emergency, poor weather, etc) and making the most of using alternate airfields or asking Air Traffic Control for help.  It’s also my first ‘real’ take-off from Heathrow, hopefully the first of many to come when I finally qualify!

Familiarisation flight

As part of our training we get one ‘famil flight’ through BA – it’s a chance to ride in the cockpit on one of BA’s commercial flights to experience what it is actually like behind those closed flight deck doors.  It is an interesting part of choosing to be a commercial pilot – signing up to what is an expensive and time consuming course for a job that you might never have actually seen in action in the flesh (Ok, I managed a visit to the flight deck as a youngster, but it’s been many years since passengers can visit in flight and I don’t think I quite took everything in back then!).   Signing onto this programme requires a leap of faith to some degree - of course before signing on the dotted line I did my research, spoke to plenty of people within the industry and got some flying on light aircraft – but it was brilliant to see the operation in action on a typical day, and get further insight into what I can expect further down the line.  Although the actual flying wasn't that different to what I’d learnt so far (something encouraging to hear for future passengers!), it’s the commercial operation and interaction between the pilots which I found most interesting to watch.  The flight was to Zurich and back, and I barely had time to look out at the view in what was a very busy flight (bar the brief morning snack, to keep everyone going of course).  I took encouragement from the maze of buttons, acronyms, and radio chatter that are now starting to make sense – a lot of which would've passed me by a year ago. Then again, in a few months’ time I could be flying this very route – a scary/exciting mix of feelings!

Most of my training to date has been as ‘single pilot operations’, rather than the ‘multi-crew’ environment that the airlines use.  During my training flights, essentially all the decisions are down to me (as if I am flying solo) and the instructor will step in to teach or prompt me if I miss something.  In the airlines (and part of my later training) the aircraft are designed to be operated by two crew members, and each pilot will have certain jobs to perform while the other checks that nothing has been missed – a seamless team effort.  This is most clearly demonstrated on the approach, where one pilot will fly most of the approach (while the other watches) and then at a certain height they switch over for the watching pilot to now take over and land.  This might seem strange, but it is designed to have both pilots fully cooperating and fully involved in the approach all the way to the ground.  I noted how the pilots are given just enough time on the ground, not so much they had to rush, but enough that they could carefully and methodically prepare the aircraft and run through all the checks before take-off, and considering where precious minutes could be made up if needed en route.  There were regular updates to the passengers on timings, discussions with the cabin crew, co-ordination of the aircraft on the ground to make sure the turnaround happens as quickly as possible, and much more.   I came away hugely excited about the rest of my training, and ultimately looking forward to the ‘day job’ even more!

Head on with the A320 - slightly dwarfed by its much bigger brother, the A380 behind.

BA Open Day

Last weekend was the BA Engineering Open Day up at Heathrow – it was a great opportunity to explore a few of the aircraft in the BA fleet and also admire the new Airbus A350 which will be joining BA in a few years’ time.  We managed to get a tour of the new simulator hall as well – a place we will become very familiar with when we join the company for our regular checks.  It was also an opportunity to chat to pilots from various aircraft fleets and even some of the new guys fresh from their own training at CTC, who were in our shoes not long ago.  Of course, we had an explore of an A320 - one that we could very well find ourselves flying soon!

Cabin crew rest area in the 777

Concorde - still captures the attention after all these years.  I'm pretty sure everyone who looks at it wishes they still flew!

Goodbye to the Long White Cloud

After a brilliant 8 months it's now time to say goodbye to New Zealand (or 'The Land Of The Long White Cloud', as it's known)- it's been a steep learning curve but thoroughly enjoyable with some amazing views and experiences thrown in along the way.  I've just arrived back in the UK and it's great to be home and have some time to catch up with family and friends before I head down to Bournemouth. 

(Note:  All photos taken from the passengers in the back!)

Finishing IFR - for now

The IFR phase in NZ finishes off with PT2 (Progress Test 2) in order to check how well we've picked up the required techniques for IFR flying.  At this stage it is just a check, not an exam as such, for whether we are able to continue on for the IFR flying in Bournemouth where we will be formally tested at the end for our Instrument Rating (IR) qualification.  

It certainly was a long white cloud down the length of the North Island - broken only by volcanoes!

Volcanoes breakthrough the cloud.

Heading South

A real highlight towards the end of the IFR flying was a day trip we took down to the South Island. Three of us and an instructor hopped in a Twinstar for what would be an epic journey right down to Wellington and then across the Cook Strait to Kaikoura on the South Island.  We drew straws as to who would fly which leg, the first being Hamilton --> Wellington, then Wellington --> Kaikoura --> back to Wellington, and the last returning from Wellington --> Hamilton.  I drew the middle leg, meaning I was down to take off from Wellington, fly my route to Kaikoura then back via Woodbourne to land in Wellington.  This trip was eventful and busy for a number of reasons, which made it great fun but also a real challenge.  It was also surreal to think that a few months ago we'd stopped in Kaikoura for a crayfish dinner on our roadtrip - I didn't think at the time that I'd be back so soon flying overhead!

Overhead Kaikoura - good crayfish on that peninsula down there.

Firstly, taking off from Wellington was great fun, surrounded by Air New Zealand, Jetstar, and Quantas jets. I flew us down the east coast of the South Island until I reached Kaikoura.  This is one of NZ's more interesting approaches as Kaikoura sits right on the coast at the foot of a mountain range.  Because of this high terrain, we had to stay at around 10,000 feet until we were over the sea next to the airfield.  Now I had shuttle down towards sea level, losing thousands of feet in a series of laps in a racetrack pattern (essentially an elongated oval shape) for the final approach.  I then commenced the approach to 'land' where, as expected, I didn't become visual with the runway once I reached the minimum descent altitude (all simulated of course, it was a glorious day!) and had to commence the 'missed approach procedure'.  This procedure is used when you are not visual with the runway by a specific point - i.e. you have missed the opportunity for an approach so now you need to fly back to a safe altitude.

Imagine flying into an airfield like this where you know behind the runway is unforgiving mountains, and you are flying immersed inside a cloud.  The missed approach point is vital here, as if you aren't visual with the runway by this point then you want to get out of there to a safe height to give the approach another go.  At my simulated missed approach point I was now facing towering mountains so the procedure is to turn back out to sea to fly the racetrack pattern increasing height with each lap - back to safety.  We needed to get  back up to altitude to fly across the mountains over to Woodbourne.  

Windy Wellington, through the clouds

An extract form the Kaikoura approach - you can see the oval patterns out to sea for the shuttling, and the dotted line shows the missed approach procedure turning back out to sea to rejoin the oval racetrack pattern to shuttle back to altitude. (AIP NZ)

Heading back to Wellington now, we were coming back at a busy time due to lots of commercial traffic heading in. Now, because there were four of us in the aircraft we had a delicate mass and balance calculation to do to ensure we were within our limits - this meant we had a limited fuel availability for the flight. As a result each of us did a careful fuel plan for each leg, using a graph to estimate the fuel burn given the conditions we're expecting.  This also incorporates contingency and reserve fuel. During all the other IFR flying we've done the fuel calculations are made as part of the process, but because we can always go with full tanks there is always a lot of excess fuel. On this flight I didn't have this luxury - however all the calculations worked out and we filled up with our required fuel before each leg.  Back to the flight - when ATC advised I might have to hold for 30 minutes coming back into Wellington I had to do some revised fuel calculations while holding over Woodbourne.  Was this possible, would we have enough fuel? Using the actual fuel burn from the aircraft gauges I quickly went over some new figures to check whether this was going to be possible to even hold for that long (CTC also mandate we have to land with 45 minutes reserve fuel). I worked out I could land with my reserves intact with the extra holding and then an approach, it was tight, but perfectly safe. As luck would have it, ATC then squeezed us in fairly quickly, so I did the ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach into a very windy Wellington - the flight as a whole tested me across the board but was great fun and a real learning experience. 

Our combined legs - my section is the bit at the bottom, from Wellington across the Cook Strait and down the east coast of the South Island. From there it was across to Woodbourne and then back over the Strait to Wellington.

South Island - gorgeous.

CPL time (PT3)  

The final milestone in NZ is the CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) skills test, or PT3.  This is the headline item over here, basically what we work towards for the 8 months we are here. No pressure then. The CPL test is back to VFR (visual flight rules) and the preparation consists of three 'profiles' (basically a mock test) and then the real deal. At first this seems rather daunting - back to VFR after a couple of months IFR training, and only three flights to get prepared!

However, getting back in the swing of VFR navigation wasn't too bad, in fact I rather enjoyed it.  Each profile would consist of a navigation leg, once we were near the destination the instructor would then give a diversion - so it's a case of quickly planning the necessary items - what track to use, what would the heading be taking wind into account, any airspace requirements, radio frequencies, cruising altitudes, etc. It seems a lot but it's not too bad and it helps being familiar with the local area. Once we've reached the diversion point we typically practice some emergency situations, general handing of the aircraft (stalls, steep turns) and circuits at one of the local airports.

The actual test basically consists of demonstrating everything we have learnt during the VFR phase of flying - which in itself is fine in theory, the skill is bringing it all together to the required standard in the test.  Thankfully, after a weather delay (helping to increase the CPL nerves!) I managed to get my flight done and I was delighted/relieved to get the final "congratulations" at the end - it felt like quite an achievement having come to NZ with very little experience to having passed that test and given the go ahead to continue to Bournemouth!

We aren't actually issued our CPL until it is coupled with IR which is done in Bournemouth to allow us to build up the rest of the required hours - but it's these two qualifications which allow us to progress on to flying the passenger jets. Which, incidentally, is starting to feel a whole lot closer all of a sudden.

CPLs passed - final photograph for the course in Hamilton.

So it's most definitely a very fond farewell to New Zealand, I've managed to see this stunning country from both the land and the air, flying over volcanoes, by huge lakes, alongside towering mountain ranges, down the coast passed Auckland... I could go on. I'll miss it!

Firsts and Lasts

Less than two months to go and the pressure is starting to build ahead of our CPL (Commercial Pilot License) test at the end of our time here in New Zealand.  I am delighted to say I’ve now had my first flight on the Twinstar (picture below) which is a real step up from the single engine aircraft we’ve been flying up to now.  I’ve now also done my last Cessna flight and finally completed the extra night solo flight on the Katana meaning no more solo flights and the focus is now on twin engine flying.

The Cessna

Once we had finished our lessons “beacon bashing” (see previous post) over Hamilton, it was time to be let loose on the North Island!  IFR flying consists of following designated airways or routes around the sky, controlled by a radar centre based in Christchurch.  When we depart from Hamilton on the SID (Standard Instrument Departure) we are transferred to Christchurch control, who monitor us on radar and keep us separated from other traffic as we fly via the airways to other aerodromes around the country.  This flying has felt as close to ‘airline’ flying as anything we’ve done to date; flying an instrument departure into an airway and then onto an instrument approach at another aerodrome.  Typically, once we are close to the destination we’ll get clearance to do either an RNAV (that’s an approach using GPS) or a VOR (see previous post on a basic VOR approach) or a VOR DME approach (basically a VOR approach, but we are also given a distance from the beacon).  The other good thing about the final few “IFR Routes” flights on the Cessna was that we could choose where to go, and back-to-back with other guys on the course.  This basically means we can get a lot further as I might fly us in one direction for my lesson, and then we’ll have lunch and do a swap with a coursemate to take us back.  Anyway, the three ‘IFR Routes’ flights on the Cessna are now done – and it’s goodbye to the Cessna!

Last Cessna flight - flying to New Plymouth (aerodrome bottom left) with Mt. Taranaki in the distance.

Rather damp morning walk-around

The Twinstar

The DA42 Twinstar

The next step has been onto the Twinstar – a twin engine aircraft with retractable gear and generally much more sophisticated than the single engine aircraft we’ve flown to date.  The first 5 lessons are back to VFR flying (visual flight rules) meaning all the procedures and techniques learnt in the past month or so for IFR flying are put aside. 

VFR and IFR flying is fairly different, as when we are VFR we set the attitude of the aircraft using the view outside (basically where the horizon sits in our forward view, for example during a medium turn I know roughly where the 30 degree angle is without looking at the instruments, just by judging where the horizon cuts through my forward field of view).  In IFR flying, our head is mainly inside the cockpit as we are in cloud (or simulated in cloud if there isn't any!) – so the instruments provide us with the attitudes when there is no horizon.    In addition, during VFR flying we mostly fly in uncontrolled airspace so Air Traffic Control doesn’t separate us from other traffic meaning we can’t fly around with our heads buried in the cockpit using the instruments – we need to avoid traffic, weather, and terrain.  I am enjoying being back to VFR flying though, and even though I haven't done it properly since PT1 in December, it has all come back fairly quickly - proving I've learnt something at least!

The Twinstar is also a lot of fun!  It is much more powerful and flies faster than we’ve got used to so far, meaning we have to think ahead and be ready for whatever is coming up next.  The first lesson just got used to the handling, and the second one is a Circuits lesson where we get used to the slightly different circuit pattern that the Twinstar uses. 

The final three lessons (which I am yet to do) incorporate a key part of our training here – asymmetrics.  The bonus of a twin engine aircraft is (surprise…) two engines!  This means that we can still fly with one engine inoperative – however we need to learn how to safely fly on one engine, taking into account the asymmetric forces now in play given that all the thrust is coming from one side of the aircraft.   The forces can actually be quite large, and require a lot of rudder input and I’ve heard that a lesson of asymmetrics is a good alternative to leg day at the gym (not that I’ve ever had a leg day at the gym, who am I kidding).  I’ll update you on how my legs hold up.

The Katana

I also finally had my last Katana flight (and last CTC solo flight) doing my solo night circuits at the weekend.  It was really nice to be back in the Katana after a long break, it’s a great thing to fly!  The actual flight was just an hour of circuits here at Hamilton, and it was pretty cool buzzing around with the city lights in the distance.  Another milestone completed!

Last solo and flight on the Katana

The Boat

BP forecourt - our workstation

I’m pleased to say I managed to get out with the other boat investors here for my first sail on our newly acquired catamaran.  We headed down to Lake Karapiro to have a sunset sail, which mostly went to plan despite quite a light wind.  Luckily we had some spare oars on standby to assist when it really died down, and putting 5 of us on board was a bit of a squeeze but it was good fun nonetheless.   As the sun went down so did our evening go mildly downhill from there.  Having been bitten alive securing the boat back to the trailer we realised the light connection to the car had been broken, so we ditched the boat by the river and headed to find a replacement.  After some swift rewiring at a BP station 15 mins away we were back in action and returned to pick the boat up.  Our success was short lived due to a flat tire on the trailer on the way home – hopefully next time will be less eventful!

Preparing the boat for a sail at sunset on Lake Karapiro.

Tongariro

Last weekend I ticked off my top last major ‘bucket list’ item here in NZ – the Tongariro Crossing and Mt. Ngauruhoe (a.k.a Mt Doom).  I think my legs have only just recovered though, and attempting to do both Mt. Doom and the crossing was a bit ambitious.  However, it was well worth it – the views were incredible and it’s just another reason to love New Zealand!

Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) was a definite challenge!

Balloons over Waikato

And finally… this morning we awoke at sunrise to see the annual Balloons Over Waikato event, where they have around 20-30 hot air balloons launch in a ‘mass ascension’.  It was a foggy start, but an impressive sight as they started launching into the air.  Not a bad way to start the day!

A few other adventures over the past few weeks....

Blue Spring - Te Waihou Walkway.  The water was crystal clear (and very cold!)

Backseating a night flight on the Twinstar

Bubble football at Clearways (mostly rolling around)

"Beacon Bashing"

Just over a month through the IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) training I've now completed the first batch of sims and the first 5 flights in the Cessna.  All five flights were done overhead Hamilton using the VOR beacon here - hence the term "beacon bashing" as it's a little repetitive, but really useful practice at this stage.  I'll try to keep some of the jargon to a minimum from here on in, but I'll do my best to explain what it is we are doing currently!

We learn to fly IFR because that's what we'll be using daily as part of commercial flying - the whole point is to fly along published routes or procedures to keep us away from any terrain and set us up on a suitable profile for landing when visibility is poor or flying in cloud.  It is also easy to get disorientated when flying in cloud, so it's important for us to get to grips with trusting and flying off the instruments.

I Can't See!

The first experience of flying in cloud is a little surreal, and goes against what was ingrained in us during the VFR stage (staying visual!) in keeping clearance from cloud. All the training in the sim did prepare us well though, and once you get used to flying off instruments it all seems a bit more manageable.  I must admit that it was an awesome feeling to fly through and then above clouds for the first time - hopefully we'll have plenty more opportunity to do that over the next few weeks.

Watching a coursemate fly a fine holding pattern in the sim.

The Sims

The Simulators we have here are DA42s (The Twinstar) but we don't actually fly the Twinstar for the first 8 flights - instead we're in the single engine Cessna 172.  However, at the moment the focus is learning the IFR procedures and how to use the Garmin Glass Cockpit (the two large screens shown in the picture above) which the Cessna is equipped with so although it might seem strange to swap aircraft from the sim to the first batch of flights, it's not been that bad.  Plus it's been good fun flying a different aircraft!  The other bonus of the Cessna and the Twinstar is that they come with 2 extra seats in the back for passengers (but alas, no on-board service) so I've managed to backseat a few flights that my coursemates fly and vice versa - meaning plenty more pictures to follow!

Our aircraft to start IFR flying  - the mighty Cessna 172

Back in the skies

As good as the sims were, it was great to be back in the air again and it allowed us to actually fly what had been practised in the sim. These past few lessons have tended to be very busy, using either the Hamilton VOR (to put it crudely, think of it as a homing beacon which we can navigate to) or GPS coordinates.

For either of these approaches we have a specific point to a hold above before commencing the approach.  Holding is just that - waiting around flying in a racetrack shape until we are cleared to proceed further - something I imagine we'll get used to while flying commercially, so I guess it's a good thing we are getting plenty of practice now!  I've put a picture of the approach plate we use for one of the runways here, and you can see the hold is the racetrack shape above the beacon (with the 3000' in the middle).  I'll give a skeleton overview of how we would fly this approach.

A guide for flying IFR - one of the Hamilton Approach Plates

If you can imagine this is directly above the airport - so we are often circling 1000s of feet above in the hold, waiting for our clearance to descend for the approach.  Once cleared, we track 'outbound' on the approach, for our aircraft, is the line with 344^o heading up the page away from the aiport and descending as we go.  We then effectively do a "U-turn" back towards the airport on the 'inbound' on the 176^o line to the runway to land.  In this example we have a minimum decision altitude (MDA) which means if we are not visual with the runway at this point, we can't land.  As the weather has been fairly good recently, we are often simulated in cloud and it's not until we look up at 50 feet before the MDA that we are suddenly visual again and can proceed to land.

That's a VOR approach in a very basic nutshell which hopefully gives an appreciation of what goes on without all the detail involved!  Each runway here has VOR and GPS approaches, so depending on what we are doing in the flight we will use a different plate to fly the certain approach.  In addition to this we are managing radio calls, going through checklists and making sure we are flying accurately - it can be a very busy time.  I do notice my capacity to process all this information is getting better with each lesson, however it does take a lot of concentration and after each flight there are plenty of little areas to work on to improve for the next flight.

Beacon Bashing in action - two hours tracking overhead hamilton practising entries to the hold and various approaches

Flying above CTC - lots of aircraft not in the air on that day!

Watching on in the hold above Hamilton airport.  Clearways is on the far right, the runway is over to the left.  The white-ish circle in the middle of the field in the centre of the photo is the Hamilton VOR.

Next up for the flying side of things are IFR routes, where we plan to go to various aerodromes around the North Island practising flying along the set airways and doing different approaches - this should allow us to get away from the familiarity of the Hamilton procedures to try something new and consolidate what's been learnt thus far.  There are now only 3 flights left on the Cessna before I move onto the Twinstar....  I've also clocked over 100 hours flight time with CTC now - how has that come around so quickly?!

Flying through the clouds!

Flying between the clouds

Ahoy there!

As usual we've managed to keep ourselves busy inbetween flights, spending a few days in Raglan, a day at Waihi beach on the east coast, and a comedy night and the usual weekly quiz here in Hamilton.  A few of us have also invested in a small catermaran - now you may think that's a rash purchase given we've only got 2 and a bit months left, but it seemed like a good idea at the time!  We are yet to launch her on a maiden voyage having towed her back from Rotorua, fingers crossed on her seaworthiness and our sailing abilities.

Our new acquisition

Katana on approach to Hamilton, New Zealand never fails to impress!

It's also great news to hear the BA FPP is currently open for 2015 - best of luck to those applying!

Until next time...

Seeing the Sights

I write this at the tail-end of my unexpected Summer Holiday here in NZ, having had around 6 weeks off since mid-December.  A few of us managed to get through the final stages of the VFR phase in no time thanks to a spell of a good weather and lots of aircraft availability.  As our next phase, the IFR phase, has a fixed start date we had no choice but to take time off and turn our attentions to seeing more of New Zealand and preparing for the Christmas festivities. I was particularly happy as my girlfriend turned fiancée (that’s a story for another time, I’ll spare you the details on this blog…!) was coming out to visit for Christmas.

To start with the flying: I passed PT1 (Progress Test 1) back in December which is basically a CTC test to check competency in the flying and groundwork aspects of this stage in training, only once we pass this test can we move onto the IFR stage.  The prep for PT1 involved studying up on the aircraft and various NZCAA (NZ Civil Aviation Authority) documents as we often get quizzed before the flight so the instructors can assess our general knowledge.  I had my first two attempts at PT1 cancelled due to poor weather, but this didn’t stop each instructor giving me a thorough quizzing so by the time I actually got round to having a nice day I was well and truly prepared.  The flying element consists of checking everything we’ve learnt so far, making sure we maintain good lookouts, follow checklists and procedures, fly accurately etc.  The test started with a nav leg given by the instructor which I have to reach within certain tolerances and as we approached the destination I was given an airfield to divert to which I then plan and brief for while we are in the air.  I was diverted to Matamata airfield where we had an oil ‘emergency’ so I then had to talk through my actions, only to then have an engine ‘failure’ as we approached Matamata meaning I did a glide approach to land.  The last half hour of the flight is dedicated to general handling, where I have to demonstrate various turns and stalls as well as going ‘under the hood’ to fly using the instruments and surprise, surprise I had a few instrument ‘failures’ during that section as well.   It’s was all over before I knew it though, and that marked the start of the holidays for me so it was time to focus on important things like buying tinsel and making mince pies…

A rather different view - flying over Hamilton at night.

That’s pretty much it for the VFR phase now, I only have a couple of night flights left on the Katana to do but they seem to get slotted in later on.  I’ve had one so far, a few weeks ago which was an awesome experience – I can’t wait to do the other couple! The VFR phase was a great couple of months of learning and seeing such a beautiful country from the air, I will certainly miss the solo navs flying around NZ but I’m happy to progress onto the IFR flying now.  IFR (instrument flight rules) takes us another step closer to the airline world, as we move on from the mainly visual flying up to now.  We’ll be learning to use the Glass Cockpit (Wiki: Glass Cockpit) which is a digital display that we’ll use once we are flying commercially, and will be a different experience from the Katana with all its analogue instruments and gauges.  IFR starts with a bit of ground school, followed by a few simulator sessions on the DA42 (also called the Twinstar).  We then do a few flights on the Cessna (single engine aircraft again, with the glass cockpit) before finishing the IFR training on the Twinstar culminating in our CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) test sometime in May. 

Festivities

It was always going to be strange having a hot Christmas on the upside-down part of the world, but it was a cracking day and we managed to coordinate a proper Christmas Dinner for almost 30 of us starting with a surf on the beach before a meal back at Clearways.  I realised why a lot of Kiwi’s don’t cook a roast at Christmas – the kitchen became a sauna/steam room with all the activity and 6 ovens blasting away with various meats and veg roasting away.   It was a real team effort, and definitely a memorable Christmas and a great feast (of course, can’t beat mum’s Christmas dinner!).

Christmas on the beach

Christmas Dinner!

Roadtrippin’

My fiancée (!) and I took the opportunity after Christmas to head up to the Coromandel Peninsula for a week - another outstandingly-beautiful-words-don’t-do-it-justice kind of place.  We enjoyed a few nights in Coromandel Town, before heading right up to the northern tip where very quickly life feels fairly remote as you trundle along gravel roads to various idyllic sandy bays and beaches.  We got our fill of the renowned Coromandel Mussels, as well as sea kayaking around Cathedral Cove and a good hike up Castle Rock.  We managed to reconvene with a few of my course-mates for New Years, before heading back to Hamilton.

Camping in Coromandel Town

Looking out to sea from Castle Rock

I spent the next few days down at Raglan beach, trying my hand at surfing again (mixed success) and eating many a “fush n chups”.  A few of us had a weekend up in the Bay of Islands, and then a road trip around the South Island for around 10 days.  We flew down to Queenstown, spent 3 days there before picking up our 10-seater wagon and taking 3 days to get to Christchurch, taking in Franz Josef and a few beautiful stops en-route to swim in ice-cold meltwater and rivers.   For anyone who hasn’t seen New Zealand’s South Island, then it’s hard to describe just how constantly stunning it is – you should just visit!

Queenstown

The Wagon!

Couldn't miss an opportunity for some plane spotting on the drive out of Queenstown

Our stop in Christchurch was really quite humbling, with much reconstruction and damage still evident from the earthquakes – having visited before the quake it was a stark contrast and particularly sad to see the main Cathedral Square still surrounded by ruins.  Nevertheless, we managed to see some of the rejuvenated parts and there was definitely a sense of optimism and renewal around the rebuilding projects.  We were only there for a night though, and we picked up two smaller hire cars to take us back up to Hamilton over the next few days, stopping in Picton and Wellington before the final drive back to Clearways. 

That’s all for now – I’m really looking forward to getting started again, I’ll update on my progress with the simulators in due course! 

The Luge at Queenstown

Blue Pools (very cold!)

Lake Matheson

Franz Josef

Castle Hill

As we were in Marlborough country we had no choice but to tour a few vineyards...