Halfway through module 1

It's been over a month now since I began my pilot training and we are near the halfway point for Module 1, although it feels a lot longer given the steep learning we've all been on in this early stage!  Our first subject, Aircraft General Knowledge (AGK) was finished in seven days, followed by Principles of Flight (POF) in five, and we are currently studying Instruments (no acronym for this one, sadly) which will be six days.  There certainly isn't much time for rest, and we are all working hard to keep up with the sheer volume and pace of the course.

The first week of AGK meant a few late nights while I adjusted to the course, and I felt fairly swamped with the onslaught of information - we went straight into learning about hydraulic valves and various electronics which I hadn't had much experience of before.  Thankfully we soon started talking about jet engines and air flow and I was back in familiar territory...

Our Flight Computer - CRP-5, not quite got the hang of it yet

Pitot tube (left) measures pressure, and various other bits of plane!

Settling in!

Life has settled into somewhat of a routine now, we tend to spend around 4 days each week in class, and one day working from home on CBT days (Computer Based Training), although we occasionally go into CTC for this one anyway and work in a classroom.  The CBT is essentially an online textbook, with all the content that used to be given to cadets in the form of hefty books in a more interactive form.  We usually have five or more chapters to do on the CBT to follow up on what we did in class that day.  As you can expect, the CBT has a lot of information in, so we try and balance learning the detail with making sure we give ourselves enough time to get through all the content.  Each chapter has a quiz at the end, along with a larger 'Progress Test' at regular intervals which are monitored to ensure we are tracking well with the course in our own time.  Alongside that, there is an online question bank which have thousands of questions akin to what we can expect in the exams, so I try and complete the CBT then see how I fare on the question bank and revisit weaker areas.

Of course, there has been time to catch up with some friends, and I took a trip to Bath to see my girlfriend so I've managed to get some time away from CBT which is important to maintain sanity I feel!  It's been brilliant living with the whole of CP118 in the same block of flats - there is always someone about to talk to or bounce questions off, and it's a lot of fun!  We had a brief trip to the funfair across the road last night - had a huge result in winning a banana on 'hook the duck' and went on a few rides, although my whole body felt it was still spinning even as we got home... all good fun!

The banana.

BA Liason

Myself and the other BA FPP chaps met up with our course liason pilot last week for drinks in the city centre.  Having a liason pilot is a real benefit of the FPP, as it provides a link between us and the company, and someone who we can call upon should we need for any help or advice.  In my case, having been focused on studying since we started it also provided more excitement for the end goal!  This week we also met up with the other BA FPPers for a curry to send off CP113 who have just finished groundschool and are off to New Zealand in the next couple of weeks - I look forward to being at that stage 5 months or so down the line.

Thanks for reading - Happy Easter!

The Journey Begins

The Beginning!

Welcome to the blog, charting my journey through the British Airways Future Pilot Programme (FPP) with CTC.  I’ll update this as regularly as I can, although the next few months of ground school don’t promise too much interesting action so the exciting updates should come in 6 months when we make it over to New Zealand to commence the flying side of things. It’s already been a tough road to get to this position, and I’m delighted to finally start the training having got all the preparation and assessments out of the way! 

In Brief: The Journey so Far

I applied to the FPP back in autumn 2012, and having made it through the stages at both CTC (the school whom I’m now training with) and British Airways it was a very tense wait for the results.  Happily, (after much email refreshing) I found out I was successful – that was back in April 2013!  After a short wait I was given a start date with CTC in March 2014, which then left a very long wait to the start of my training.  Fortunately in the intervening time I managed to do some travelling and save a bit of money, all while eagerly anticipating the start date! 

BA Family Day

Last week we had our British Airways Family Day, which meant I could meet my fellow BA FPPers and course liaison pilots – it also helped in making the whole process feel like it was becoming a reality.  BA has chosen three Flight Training Organisations (FTOs) to train their FPP cadets, so we split off in groups to spend the day with our respective FTOs, in my case there were 6 of us from CTC.  The day was excellent, and gave us an opportunity to speak to current pilots / cadets / staff from CTC to find out exactly what the next 18 months and beyond were going to entail.  We started with a go on the 747 simulator, landing and taking off in Cape Town (with mixed success!), and then had a tour of the Safety Equipment and Procedures (SEP) hall where we got to ‘fly’ in the 737 while the cabin filled with smoke and have a go at operating the emergency doors.  The day was a great starting point for our training, and gave me a renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the career ahead!

Watching the 737 fill with smoke:

The epaulettes were presented to us at the Meet & Greet, while BA gave us the model at the family day - it will serve as useful motivation!

Moving to Southampton

Last Thursday I loaded the car up to head down to Southampton for our Meet & Greet day at CTC.  I arrived at Nursling with the other cadets, where we were given our keys and offloaded with a large bag of uniform and a flight case.  We headed across to our accommodation, where we are split across five flats in a large building near the centre of Southampton.  I’ve got three other guys in my flat, and once we all unloaded we headed for a quick bite before meeting up with parents back at Nursling for the CTC Meet & Greet presentation.

Friday was Airline Preparation Day 1 (APD1), to which we all arrived too early in our shiny new uniform.  I did make sure I got the ‘first day’ photo to send to mum, and the day consisted of a few introductions and general discussions around what to expect for the next few months and the lifestyle of an airline pilot.  It was a really useful day, and I look forward to more of these to come! 

One of the key messages since we’ve got here was not to fall behind during the first phase of ground school – something which has been repeated many times.  I think it’ll be hard work!  So what exactly is next? Ground school consists of two modules split into seven subjects each.  Our first subject, Aircraft General Knowledge, begins tomorrow. We will have to hit the ground running, although at this stage I’m just excited to get started after all this time!  It’s been a really fun few days – lots to take in already and I’ve enjoyed getting to know my new course mates in what could be our last stress-free weekend for a little while.

I’ll endeavour to update the blog when I can – ‘till then!