1 down, 23 to go......

Not that I'm counting! The first week is over and I am settled into life here.  The early mornings took some getting used to, but it's been great so far. 

Last week during APD 1, a bunch of cadets that are further down the road than we are had a chat with us, and they all told us that the difficult thing about the ground school is the quantity of material not how difficult it is to learn.  Well they were certainly right. This week has been spent doing the first half of AGK (Aircraft General Knowledge) and while the subject matter is really interesting and I have enjoyed it so far, there is a lot of it and my brain is now overloaded with aircraft hydraulic systems, flight controls and de-icing systems among other things. To those with a sweet tooth like me, that's not cake icing unfortunately!

Motivation or Procrastination.....?
 

Flybe Embraer departing Southampton

Today was a scheduled "day off" for us to do some CBT, so Darryl, Josh (two of my housemates) and I went to Southampton airport to do some study while being provided with some motivation.  They didn't seem keen on providing viewing areas, so after a bit of discussion of where we could get cheap flights to and subsequently through the security barriers, we decided to go home. So in conclusion a bit of both!


Right enough of that, we're off to the pub!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Now I apologise in advance for the title of this post because I hate any mention of Christmas before at least the start of December, but today it did feel like Christmas.  We all received some rather important goody bags! I say goody bags, flight cases with some rather important items that we are going to use for our training, and later on in our careers, meaning that we all left the training centre today feeling a little more professional than we did this morning.

Flight case and it's contents

So in this case of tricks we have; a calculator, a pair of dividers (compasses), a knee board, a ruler, a logbook and a flight computer.  The flight computer is the white item on the left of the picture that is used for various maths problems that are encountered on the flight deck.  But we will get taught how to use it properly at a later date.


Right, I'm now heading back to the CBT (computer based training). There is one heck of a lot of material to cover and its only been two days! Oh well this is what I signed up for. Just keep thinking about New Zealand.  Ciao!

First Day at School

So I find myself wandering along a beach (admittedly a fairly scruffy pebble beach), watching some sailing on the south coast having moved house and all my worldly possessions for the third time in as many years.

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to train to be an easyJet Pilot down here in Southampton at CTC Wings and yesterday, with a smile the width of the Grand Canyon, saw me finally start this hugely exciting 18 month course.  Becoming an Airline Pilot has been a dream of mine, like many people, since I can remember and has been something I have tried to prepare myself for my whole life.

What I shall be flying in 18 months time, all being well.

Having spent three years at University studying Aerospace Engineering, hating it and spending most days wishing I was at 35,000ft admiring the view, watching youtube videos for motivation, it is a very welcome change for me to be here about to embark on the mammoth task of learning 14 ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot's License) ground school subjects in 5 months.  The thought of flying that jet and the trip to New Zealand in February is definitely helping to get settled down and ready to crack on with the classroom based learning.  I only hated my course, the friends I made, the people I met and the things I did made for a fantastic time in Liverpool.  The course, and social life, gave me a lot of life experience and having gone through a few Pilot Training and airline selection processes in the last couple of years, I don't think that I would have done so well without my time at University.  So I can't complain too much, and I do now have a degree, which can't be a bad thing.

Anyway, how did I get into flying?  At the age of 15, I took up gliding.  It was the easiest way for me to learn to fly, it was also relatively cheap.  I was also a member of the Air Cadets, giving free flying.  One of the best pieces of advice I can give anyone thinking about a career in Aviation as a Pilot is to join the Air Cadets.  As well as it giving you the chance to have some free flying, it starts to instil many non-technical, interpersonal skills that are vital if you are to succeed as a pilot, such as teamwork and leadership.  So I flew solo (gliding) at 16 and have continued to do as much gliding as I can.  I now, 6 years later, have just under 200 hours, a Silver badge and fly competitions when/if I can, such as the Junior National Championships.  I love the challenge of cross-country flying and competitions and I'm sure that some of this will help with my flying and training later on!

Me Finishing a task at 2012 Junior Nationals, in Discus SH3

Yesterday was the first official thing on the agenda, Airline Preparation day 1 (APD 1).  It was the first day in Uniform, which felt great, with a chance to meet all of my fellow course mates, CP111 (our course number), and start to prepare and equip ourselves at this early stage with some of the skills needed to work well as a crew.  Everyone seems really friendly and the different backgrounds we have all come from should make for an interesting discussion and some fun times ahead.  Last night we all went for a few drinks in Southampton, so now just having a lazy weekend getting ready for Monday Morning.  I will try and keep you up to date with progress and anything interesting that happens, and please feel free to ask me any questions you wish about the training, gliding, selection etc. 

So until next time, Cheerio!