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!

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)