Week 57: I could be forgiven for a lack of precision...

Now that we are getting to grips with the Airbus and how it handles, this week my group (there are four groups on EZMP03, i'm in group A with Chris and Matt) looked at some of the more complex approaches, flying into Manchester, East Midlands, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds, as well as operating the Airbus into large airports at night. For the most part (at least on the easyJet network) approaches are conducted using an Instrument Landing system (ILS) where the aircraft receives signals from ground facilities giving the pilot guidance on track and elevation. The pilot should be able to fly a stable approach and make corrections as necessary to keep the aircraft on the correct profile, with even minor errors indicated instantaneously. 

A more simple approach is the non-precision approach, where a beacon on or close to the airfield will give the pilot track guidance, and as they descend down final approach the procedure will state advisory altitudes ie. at 5 miles the aircraft should be at 1500 feet, at 4 miles 1200 feet etc. It is only by comparing the altimeter with the distance to go that working out if the aircraft is high or low is possible, which in itself rapidly increases the workload and makes the pilot flying's job more difficult. For the first couple I was slightly behind the aircraft (everything's happening quicker!), so gave myself a bit of a mountain to climb towards the back end of the approach, but once I gave myself a talking to I finally was ahead of the aircraft and flying to the required standard.

Ready to run on rwy 27 at Liverpool John Lennon

Sometimes an instrument approach to the runway of choice may not be suitable due to geographical constraints (like a wapping great mountain at the end of the runway), so in this circumstance the aircraft performs an instrument approach to the unrestricted runway, in an effort to break cloud and go visual with the runway/terrain. Once the pilot has positively identified the runway, they can perform what is known as a circling manoeuvre landing on the opposite end of the runway, remaining clear of cloud and maintaining visual contact with the airfield. Differently to a normal instrument approach where the aircraft is stable at 5-6 miles, the aircraft will still be turning towards the runway at 2-3 miles so energy management is of vital importance and the onus is on the pilot to stabilise the approach as early as possible. These procedures are fairly rare (fortunately!) but do exist so we had an opportunity to practice them at a few airfields, so we don't just rely on instruments and remember there are windows for a reason!

I'm now off until Tuesday so went for a wander today at the Itchen Valley country park, which somehow ended in a certain someone (Alice!) panicking because the cows were surrounding us, our route back to the car blocked by a slow moving, grass chewing collection of Frisians. Until next week, enjoy the view of my office........from now until retirement!

Week 56: planning ahead has taken on a new meaning!

Apparently the Airbus move rather quickly, have lots of inertia, and are designed to be as slippery as a fish so they're rubbish at slowing down; welcome to operations on a short haul jet! 

As we worked through the earlier exercises, expectations were increasing, and the ability to handle the aircraft with a decent level of competence was required. As the Airbus is capable of higher level cruise, we now need to think about how this effects our operation, and how to plan accordingly to satisfy any speed or level constraints. Up to now descents have been from a few thousand feet, and if the aircraft was higher than planned shoving the nose down would more than compensate. Unfortunately doing this in a jet will cause it to accelerate, and because it is so much heavier it carries a greater inertia, inertia which means slowing down takes quite a few miles. Therefore one of aviations famous rules of thumb comes into play!

In the case of descent planning, a good start point is work out how many thousands of feet you need to lose, then multiply that number by three to get your average track miles. As an example starting from 30,000 feet and descending to the Willo hold at Gatwick (say 10,000ft), you want to start descending at a range of 60 track miles (20 x 3). In addition, the aircraft will be flying faster at a high level (~300kts/345mph), but if it arrives at the hold at the speed it will go steaming through and out the other side. With this in mind a good target speed is known as 'green dot' (~210kts) which is the lowest speed the aircraft wants to fly at without any lift devices deployed on the wing, so at some point a deceleration of 90kts needs to happen. With the slippery characteristics of a jet another rule of thumb is that the deceleration will take about 1 mile per 10kts speed reduction, so from our cruising level of 30,000ft and at a speed of 300kts, we really want to initiate the descent some 70 miles from the hold to arrive at the right level and speed. There are other factors to consider such as tailwinds, or ATC slowing the aircraft down earlier (jets are poor at going down and slowing down at the same time), but you get the general idea!

Before the descent even commences the aircraft needs to be prepped, passengers put back in their seats, and the pilots need to brief the approach, so if all this hasn't started by the 100 miles to go mark, chances are there will be a lot of catching up to do. This is a lesson we are gradually learning, and as much as the early details are fairly relaxed (relaxed compared to whats coming later), getting into good habits now will pay dividends later in the course. So for the moment I will continue taking baby steps, and as the workload ramps up hopefully my capacity does too! Sorry for the lack of pics, dashing to a sim now so will hopefully have some later.

Week 55: The toys just got a little bigger!

For all the delays, irritations and distractions throughout this course, EZMP03 have finally made it back to Nursling for the final stage of training. We had something of a baptism of fire on Monday, getting stuck in straight away to the SOP's (Standard operating procedures) employed by easyJet, which will form the backbone of our course. Initially these were a little dry with a lot of reading through the manual and discussing with our instructor, but there's no easy way to learn them so it's a necessary evil. Once enough knowledge had settled into our brains, we used the virtual flight deck that CTC use as a simple replacement for the simulator, so switches and levers look and location were easier to identify and therefore we had better context. This SOP familiarisation was three days long, but after the initial slog we were booked for our first flights on Thursday.

What I will say for the Airbus is it's a magnificent piece of kit, very clever, and simple to operate. That's not to say i'm flying it particularly well yet as 60 tons of jet respond very differently to the light aircraft i'm used to, but I feel confident that with practice I will improve and feel better able to manage a larger machine. 

To help our home learning of the procedures we've been given a poster so we can run through 'touch drills' without needing the aircraft because they're obviously tough to get anywhere near. They are slightly false as the scale is reduced and nothing can compare to doing the real thing, but Alice has been helping me with my checklists (lucky girl) so hopefully the knowledge is gently becoming more permanent. 

Also this week we've finally been given new items of uniform which match CTC's new branding. I've had my new tie a while but didn't want to wear it as i'd be mixing the two schemes, but with the arrival of my new epaulettes the next thing i'm hunting is my first stripe. This we have been told we will be presented during our visit to Luton, as it will represent the same point on the course as a wings cadet having gone through a CPL/IR. But as that seems a million miles away, for the moment I just need to keep working and negotiate the next 27 details. 

Week 54: Patience is a virtue...

After completing the core phase I found myself with a week off, and as much as time off can be a luxury, i'm desperate to get cracking with the Airbus, and like a child waiting for Christmas i'm starting to get impatient! However, joy of all joys I got to help Alice move house during the week (lucky me!), including a session of cleaning the bathroom (which admittedly I do find quite satisfying when it's shiny after!). Thankfully our new manager sent through some pre-course reading to get stick into, and as much as study can be quite boring, i'm so excited  to get going that I actually enjoyed going through it all. 

Irritatingly and in keeping with the norm, EZMP03 have experienced a disruption. The houses we are supposed to move into tonight (ie. now!) are not ready for occupants, nor will they be until Tuesday evening. Accordingly we have been sent back to our previous houses in Bournemouth, and will be commuting to Nursling in the morning. Not impressed!

As nothing else has happened to me this week, the only other relevant news is that easyJet have had quite a boost to their share price after improved forecasts for the years profits. Granted this isn't the most exciting news, but it's comforting to know that the company I will be flying for are financially healthy, especially considering competition airlines like Monarch are struggling to the extent they've reduced their workforce by 25%. Good news for the shareholders as a dividend is likely to be paid soon, just a shame i'm lacking a portfolio! 

Hopefully a lot more interesting stuff next week, and I apologise if that's 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back!