Week 31: Full power, RPM stable, here we go....

Finally, after being in New Zealand for a month, this week I got my first couple of flights in the Cessna 172. The weather did it's level best to stop me flying, and on Thursday my first scheduled flight was cancelled due to a South Pacific depression basically leaving the Waikato completely saturated. This however did offer the opportunity to go through a comprehensive brief on the cadet 'to-do' list before every flying detail, and as there was no pressure to prep before a certain time we were able to go into plenty of detail. 

So what needs to be done prior to flight? The below list is really only the items carried out at the airfield and by no means exhaustive, but there is a requirement for the cadet to arrive briefed on the details of the flight so they have a fair idea what to exist. This is done by going through the training manual and reading up on the specifics of the detail, so there are no surprises during the instructor brief. On arrival at the airport:-

• Aircraft Inspection- general condition, oil level, fuel level, acceptable hours before next service
• Mass and Balance- Calculate the position of the centre of gravity for take off and landing based on crew/passenger mass, fuel on board. 
• Performance- Distances required for take off and landing based on weather conditions, surface, and aircraft weight. Is the runway long enough?!
• Meteorology- What are the weather conditions now, during the flight, and what are they expected to do. Will the flight remain legal if the worst case scenario develops? Do we need to change the plan?
• Briefing- Final opportunity to discuss with your instructor whats going to happen during the flight, what areas potentially need to be concentrated on, and what are the potential threats to be managed?

After my cancellation on Thursday I was rescheduled on Friday, and thankfully the weather broke long enough for my primary instructor Scott and I to jump in and clatter off into the big blue yonder. Regardless of my previous flying experience, my eyes were immediately opened to the CTC way of doing things, as well as the concept of multi-crew briefings. Up to now I have been able to jump in, start up, taxi out and get airborne. Now however there is a need to brief the departure (what are we doing after the wheels leave the tarmac), brief the taxi (how do we get to the end of the runway), brief the take off (points of interest like a cross wind, what to do in case of emergencies), and finally brief the arrival (how do we get ourselves into the pattern). 

I also got to fly on Saturday, and given the way my first flight had gone we were able to spend 20 minutes in the circuit, allowing me the opportunity to get to grips with the Cessna approach/landing slightly ahead of schedule. As a training base Hamilton can at times be very busy, and chatter on the radio needs to be kept as concise as possible. Thankfully spending a few years as a controller meant I was fairly confident when it came to the radio, but I can see how daunting it could be to a complete ab-initio. The only advice I can give is have a good think what you want to say before pressing the button, and if you're really nervous write down the bits you want to say so you have something to read off. Hopefully next week I get a few more flights, but i'm sure the weather's going to do its best to prevent that!

Week 30: Sims complete but Autumn has arrived!

,Unfortunately this week I didn't get near the simulator again until Thursday, but that gave me a chance to pour over the operations manual as well as read ahead on upcoming lessons. I have now completed my four flights in the simulator that form the foundaiton of the MPL course, so the next time I manipulate the controls they will be in a Cessna 172 airborne over New Zealand. I am very very excited to say the least as I haven't flown since September (just before starting ground-school), so hopefully it won't take me too long to get back to standard.

The major difference I am finding with the course to any other sort of flying training, is the greater focus on the end goal and building a foundation to achieve it. A simple example is the approach, and how the pilot flies the aircraft. Normally when flying a light aircraft pitching (moving the nose up or down in relation to the horizon) controls the aircraft speed, and power controls rate of decent (how quickly terra firma comes up to meet us). However, in a jet with huge amounts of inertia this method wouldn't work as changes/adjustments would be unacceptably slow, so instead pitch controls rate of decent (point the nose where you want to go), and power controls speed (give it the beans and you'll go faster!). To get us flying like airline pilots, it is this method employed from the outset, so I gently had to re-learn quite an important skill! Another example is treating the cockpit as a multi-crew flight deck;. this means all checks are vocalised, giving a better defence against potential threats.

With time off I also had the chance to sort my car, and as promised here is 'the beast'. Surprisingly it drives rather well (asides from a knocking sound every so often!), and appears to sip on petrol, so ill accept the fact I look like an idiot! The name......as Andy and I are both fans of Norwich's favourite DJ Alan Partridge, we decided an appropriate name would be 'Lady Partridge'; and she's a classy girl, so no abuse!

As well as that, I this week managed to pick up one of these beauties. For the observant amongst you, you'll notice it's a ticket to watch England play the All Blacks in June. I feel like Charlie with his golden ticket to the chocolate factory!

The only other thing i've been up to was a walk around lake Tarawera, which is an absolutely huge crater left following the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera. Unfortunately our plan to climb the Mount was ruined when we arrived only to learn the foot of the mount was a days hike, so instead we followed the 'Tarawera trail', taking in what can only be described as the scenery from Jurassic park! As you can see, Nikesh is demonstrating his amusement at the amount of work Andy has done, and that was us at the halfway mark!

Finally, Happy Easter for those that celebrate, and for those that don't, enjoy all the chocolate. I'm waiting on the roster to be published to find out if i'm flying tomorrow, but even if i'm in chances are the flight will be cancelled as Autumn appears to have arrived in New Zealand, with half the Pacific deciding to pour on middle earth. The images below show the cloud brewing, and about 2 minutes later the result when it couldn't hold on any longer. Not exactly conducive to flight training!

Week 29: Mass briefs, exams and flight training!

This week has been relatively busy for myself and my colleagues on EZMP03 (i'm no longer part of cp112), a week which irritatingly started with two more days in the classroom. However, the lessons were actually 'mass briefs', an important element of the course. Put simply they are whole class briefings focusing on the specifics of the upcoming flight details, so immediately are significantly more interesting than air law/differences. In these we looked at mass and balance for the aircraft, performance in the Cessna C172, went through a type rating for the C172, and finished with fundamentals of flight which we'd be working on during our simulator sessions.

And so the MPL (multi-crew pilot licence) this week came into its own, the early flight details being flown in the twinstar sim instead of the Katana, but flown using Cessna performance figures. I had my first flight on Thursday, the focus on flying the aircraft by visual means, whilst allowing the opportunity to operate the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system. It is possible to fly the aircraft incredibly accurately given the displays are digital, and my previous flying experience certainly helped me to get used to the equipment as I was able to fly with slightly less conscious effort than an 'ab initio' cadet (zero experience). My second sim session was however much more eventful as most of it was spent flying in cloud, so all outside reference was lost and the aircraft needed to be flown with sole reference to the instruments, a completely new skill for me. I'd like to think I performed to an acceptable standard, and I'm very much looking forward to my next session (which irritatingly wont be until Wednesday at the earliest!). On the left is Dom and the right Liam, both taking the sim for a spin!

On Friday I had my New Zealand Air Law exam, an exam which is taken in a shopping centre, which is surreal to say the least. I passed so am clear to train unrestricted, and that's all that needs to be said about that!

Now those of you in training will appreciate the importance of a good nights sleep for efficient performance, and those that have completed Human performance have a good understanding of having a disturbed circadian rhythm, specifically being woken in the middle of a sleep cycle. Unfortunately this week the fire alarm decided it would go off at midnight, so we found ourselves dragged from our beds waiting for New Zealands finest to make the drive from the nearest Fire station to effectively tell us it was a false alarm. Fortunately I put a top on before going out, as we were waiting about 30 minutes in the cold to get back to our beds!

In completely unrelated news I have managed to get a car for my stay here, an absolutely tragic hatchback which for those that watch 'the inbetweeners' would probably recognise as Jay's car. Our's honestly isn't much better, but as long as it gets me to the airport and the shops and keeps my head dry, i'm happy. Pictures of 'the beast' to follow....

And finally, this week I had some great news that Alice has managed to get a week off and will be coming out to visit in the first week of June! Although it'll be winter down here so probably pretty cold, it's great she can come at the halfway mark of this phase, and is something to look forward to outside of flying! To the cadets on cp113, good luck on Friday for your ATPL results and hopefully we'll see you soon enough!!

Week 28: Settling in and straight back to work

After the weekend of relaxation and a confused sleeping pattern (thanks Jet-lag), Monday morning saw us back to work with our induction at CTC's primary flight training facility, Hamilton. For starters, as would be expected from a big FTO (Flight training organisation), the facility itself is very impressive, and it's quite a sight when the apron is covered with CTC aircraft. We had a very gentle introduction to Hamilton, a tour of the facility (including the DA42 simulators which I will start in), met the head of base ops (our go-to for all things pastoral), and finished with a quick look around some of the aircraft which were not in use. After that we were lucky to get an early go, which meant we could pop down to the Waikato river for a swim in the 26 degree heat; and this is meant to be Autumn! 

There are worse views from a bedroom!

The rest of the week our group were back in ground school (apparently I didn't escape) going through the differences syllabus as well as Air law, both required before a cadet is allowed to perform solo cross country. Unfortunately, the New Zealand authorities feel there are enough differences between the syllabus in Europe and here, so we need to be examined to ensure compliance with the rules. On the plus side I got 100%, but the exams aren't over yet as we have the New Zealand Air Law exam on Friday. Just too lucky!

Given that by next weekend we will all be on roster and therefore unlikely to be off together for the rest of our stay, we decided to go to the beach at Raglan. It's one of the better surf spots over here, and even if you don't want to attempt to stand on a plank the scenery is immense and the volcanic sand feels incredible between the toes! I did have a go at surfing, but the waves were pretty small so it wasn't long before my arms were fried from all the paddling!

And finally, on the way home we went to a spot called the Bridal Veil falls. It's not an especially large river, but the falls drop 55 metres into an ancient volcanic crater, so the view is like something our of a story book! So for those of you in ground school, or those thinking of applying I can honestly say the most beautiful country in the world is waiting for you........and specifically for those in ground school just get through it, it's worth the effort!

Tomorrow I have the first of my 'mass briefs', which are whole course briefings on the upcoming flying programme. Hopefully we'll get into the simulator on either Wednesday or Thursday, and ill feel like the flight training has begun! Have a good week!