Firstly apologies for the lack of last weeks post.....I did mean to write one but got distracted (by study!) and by the time I remembered it was the middle of the week so i've just combined the two.
We were lucky to get a few days off for Christmas so I was able to go and visit lots of family and have my fill of festive spirit (and mince pies) which nicely broke up technical groundschool. Unfortunately on Boxing day I had to make my way back down to Southampton as I had lectures at 9am on the 27th, but i'm happy to have got the chance to head home, and it's really a sign of things to come when I start line flying.
New years was very similar in that we were given a few days off (probably because even our instructors didn't want to be there), but with our tech exams looming these were mostly filled with seemingly endless sessions of looking through the crew operating manual. I did however take my instructors advice and not go overboard, so I enjoyed new years eve with Alice at one of her friends and was able to relax on new years day. Hopefully you all enjoyed the holidays too, but for me I was back to CTC with a bump!
We were back in class yesterday for our last chance to pick the brains of our instructor, before part A of the A320 technical exam. We took this earlier today, and i'm happy to report that I passed so some of the knowledge must have stuck! Tomorrow we have another exam (part B) but this is an open book style one, looking at things such as performance or mass and balance, so I have another night of studying to try and firm up some of the details we went through today. In essence this exam isn't quizzing us on how the aeroplane works as part A dealt with that; instead the focus is now on how we legally operate the aircraft, from working out if the runway is long enough for our intended operation, to how we work when the fog rolls in and it looks like pea soup through the window. Would you depart with the snow like this.....?
Looking more specifically at easyJet, my collegues this week on EZMP01 have been flying their LST details. The LST is the licence skills test, and it marks the culmination of training with CTC aviation, at which point a pass secures you the legal right to call yourself A320 type rated. Why is this significant? Well EZMP03 are two calender months ahead of me in terms of their training, so it's a bit of a nudge that there really isn't that much left before I start flying the bus for real. With my being sent to the Gatwick base, my induction which will be held at Luton is on the 23rd of March, which is 11 weeks tomorrow! Between then and now I have to complete groundschool, fly 13 intermediate sims, 14 Advanced sims, 2 LST check flights, then find and move into a new home somewhere near Gatwick. I feel the next few months will redefine what I previously understood by 'busy'!
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