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.

Februari 04, 2016

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!

Juni 06, 2015

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.

Mei 01, 2015