The Story So Far..

[Simonflyer]

Hi Guys..

 

This post is really just a version of the flying/studying journey Ive had so far, and to share my experience's of different things for anyone headed down a similar path just in case it helps..

 

As of September this year Ive been flying for a year.Ive got about 80 hours in the logbook.Ive passed all my RA AUS endo's(PC,PAX,HP,HF and XC i think) GFPT( theory and prac ) PPL Theory (for the prac test i dont need any flying time, but just a bit of a refresher on big Nav's and CTA) and have commenced CPL Theory.I sit the first subject next week and then they are staggered every 2-3 weeks after that except for Performance which Im allowing as long as it takes..Id like to have all bar Performance and Law finished by Dec/Jan with the last 2 to completed in JAN/FEB.

 

On the flying side of things, I haven't been able to do much lately due to a pretty tough year financially, but its been a blessing in disguise because the only option has been to really knuckle down and get the theory done.From what Ive seen so far this does seem to be a stumbling block for many, and if I had a suggestion it would be to make theory a real focus because you dont want to get to the point where you cant sit a flying exam due to not completing theory.Its not that hard it just takes consistently hitting the books..I also did my flying in blocks.This way I wasnt going backwards with big breaks in between flying.I also did a lot of research on the schools themselves and decided on a great regional school not too far from Melbourne that covered RA and GA as this meant that going on i didn't have to go looking for another school to do my GA flying.

 

I was really fortunate to stumble upon a magazine with good tips on training for military pilots, and one thing they do is repetition of hand movements and rehearse where the hands go for different procedures.People would be convinced I was mad if they saw me do it, but I practice radio calls in the car,all the acronyms, forced landings, prec searches and just about everything else that I can on the ground and before tests I would go sit in the airplane on the ground if it was free and do it there talking myself through it all the way. Im convinced this saved me a lot of time and money in the air, but the basis of all the training is to be safe, so my hope is that should something pretty bad happen Im as prepared as I can be.

 

Ive scored a job as an instructor in a 737 flight simulator(:jump:), and working there I have had to immerse myself in a lot of instrument flying, so even though the hours arent loggable () I am still learning heaps all the time, and Im around heaps of pilots with waaaaay more experience than I so I just pick their brains constantly.A couple of weeks ago the check captain for the Qantas 737 sim came in and had a look and a fly of the sim, and it was really inspiring to watch how he went about it-the professionalism and cockpit organisation he had, and the complete accuracy and control of the plane.Also In there I am still "flying" every day, and that really has been invaluable.Lately the fun thing if we have a break between customers has been to set up ILS approaches in near zero vis at night with a 25 knot xwind!

 

So still no clear idea on where Im headed, but Id say that Il end up getting an Instructor Rating in the GA world but use it to instruct GA and RA and then down the track who knows?..

 

The thing I like about aviation is the different sorts of work available.Right now I reckon my dream job would be flying a float plane ferrying attractive scandinavian women:big_grin: around the Islands up north, but who knows by the time im qualified..

 

Theory-Bob Tait all the way and loving it..

 

Planes flown-Tecnam super echo , Piper archer , Cessna 182 , (Boeing 737-800NG Simulator)

 

Cost-Dont want to talk about it, but nowhere near as painful as if I had done GA all the way..

 

Still Loving it?- Yup!

 

Gonna stop anytime soon? - Nope..

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

I totally agree with the practicing thing...one thing I've started doing is 'flying' circuits in my backyard - just walking in circles around my lawn talking to myself about what I should be doing when and saying the appropriate radio calls at each corner etc

 

I started it last week and I had another session of circuits today and I think it really helped - I didn't have to concentrate as hard about what came next and what I should be doing, and I think that was partly due to my practice in my yard :)

 

 

[dazza 38]

Well done simon, you have acomplished a lot in 12 months. Good on YA

 

 

[Guest Gomer]

I'm with you for the visualisation stuff, although I don't take it as far as Darky. I just lie in bed and think it through.

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

I'm with you for the visualisation stuff, although I don't take it as far as Darky. I just lie in bed and think it through.

Well, I started it partly because it was a nice day out and I wanted to be out in the sun

 

In all seriousness though, I found that the physical action of actually going around corners at the right times probably helped with it...although I did find that my lawn was a bit too small when it came to trying to go through final/T&G/upwind!

 

 

[facthunter]

learning aids.

 

All that stuff helps. You build up an association/action with a situation. There is too much rote with a lot of checklists., and I hate these nemonics, especially the distorted ones where the word is altered to fit the nemonic.

 

Sometimes the person goes through the words without doing the check at all. I had a situation where a hydraulic checklist was called word perfect and there was no quantity . We actually had a total hydraulic failure ...Nev

 

 

[Simonflyer]

Yep..

 

When running your checks you have to actually make sure your doing what your saying your doing..Its should be easy to draw to mind, but not an automatic action without registering what you are actually doing..

 

Seeing one of Qantas's 737 simulator check captains in action a few weeks ago was really inspiring.They are just so professional, and even though it might seem like overkill to do that in a Tecnam, my plan is to create a really good methodical method to all of my flying(including pre-flight stuff), then hopefully that will keep reducing the chances of accidents or mishaps caused by lack of attention...

 

Perfect example..I forgot to clean the windscreen on a flight a few months ago, and it made the approach into the low sun an absolute pain..any more grit on the windscreen and it could have been a lot worse..

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

This is probably obvious, but it's also important to restart your checklist if you get distracted part-way. I got distracted yesterday by dropping my checklist (it ended up out the door and on the ground under the plane sigh) and I made sure that I restarted it from the start and re-checked everything I'd done once I'd found it.

 

I'm sure people already do this but I thought I'd just put it out there since we're on the topic :)

 

 

[dazza 38]

This is probably obvious, but it's also important to restart your checklist if you get distracted part-way. I got distracted yesterday by dropping my checklist (it ended up out the door and on the ground under the plane sigh) and I made sure that I restarted it from the start and re-checked everything I'd done once I'd found it.I'm sure people already do this but I thought I'd just put it out there since we're on the topic :)

Im hearing ya, i have been distracted whilst going through a checklist.I didnt go back to the start.So i accidently skipped one, luckily i picked it up before later.When i finish a check list i like to personly just do a quick re-read, that is where i found the omission. Cheers

[GraemeK]

In all seriousness though, I found that the physical action of actually going around corners at the right times probably helped with it...

Go on Darky - tell us, which one of The Red Sparrows is you?

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

Probably the one who jumped out with his umbrella parachute