Week 24: ATPL examination time

Finally after months of hard work I sat my final 7 exams, and it is nothing but a relief to be finished. The seven exams were:-

1. Mass and Balance
2. Performance
3. Flight planning and monitoring
4. Operational Procedures
5. General Navigation
6. Radio Navigation
7. Human Performance and limitations

Unfortunately the first two exams were absolutely hideous and it would appear the CAA are really pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable to be tested on within the learning objectives. The performance paper for me was particularly challenging and one of the questions (which was previously successfully appealed) still has me completely dumbstruck! It seems the CAA adjusted the question after the appeal but failed to adjust the answers, and no-one arrived on the exact answer, so it was a case of "closest answer works". So now I have the torture of waiting until the 21st for my results. That said i'm sure time will fly by, as my journey to Hamilton starts two weeks on Wednesday! 

Two of my housemates and I were really fortunate to be invited in on Friday for a simulator session, and as beneficial as it would have been during ground school, it was nice to learn something in a practical environment. Above is one of the videos I took of the Boeing 737 performing a complete auto-land.

Finally on Saturday the sun made an appearance, so a friend and I went down to a spot called Hengistbury Head near Bournemouth for a wander. It was just nice to not have the irritating feeling at the back of my mind that I should be at my desk working away! Annoyingly the warm weather also brought quite a bit of haze so the views from the top of the hill weren't quite up to their normal selves, but a walk on the beach in the sunshine put me in the best possible mood! And the following day some of my course-mates took the opportunity to enjoy the England vs Wales match, which we preceded with a few ciders in the sunshine. 

Then finally (as the blog's a day late) I had Airline preparation day 2 (APD2) today where we got more into the nitty gritty of flying in New Zealand and what sort of skills we'll need to achieve success. I have a visit from the easyJet liaison pilots tomorrow, then I find myself free until the 26th when ill be jetting out of Heathrow. Rooms packed up, house is tidy, and ground school appears to be at an end! YEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!