HD: 737 Christmas Decoration (by Santa's Elve's)

It appears as though Santa's Elves had some free time this year.

Being supremely productive and creative they came upon a terminal full of bored passengers and there just happened to be 737 parked outside.

Here's what happened next...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Hello Everyone,

It's that time of year again for warm sentiments.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and both an enjoyable and memorable festive season.

Best Wishes,
Jim

p.s. For those of you with an interest in tracking Santa live the following is an absolute must for the Santa follower:

Norad's Live Santa Tracking Facility

Boeing 737 Type Rating Account: A Long Road From The Start

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to my good friend (no names) for agreeing to write the following interesting account regarding his experiences during his type rating training.

A Long Road From The Start

"Take off thrust set....Indications normal....80kts....V1...Rotate!"

That's a far cry from what I used to be doing in my previous job as a golf pro on tour, but now those words will get said by me at least four times a day on the flight deck.

I thought I would write a little bit about my experiences of going through a Type Rating for a major European airline.  I wont mention any names but I hope that it may be of some use to people who are considering a life in aviation or those that are waiting for that first job.

As I mentioned, this is a second choice of career for me.  I was originally a golf pro but due to injury I had to leave the sport that I had loved and travelled the world with.  It was a choice of work in a golf shop (which I have nothing against as I have some very close friends who do this, it just wasn't for me) or get my head into the books and study to do something that, as far as I was concerned, was only what other people did. 

I'm not going to go into all of the details about me going through the training and issue of CPL and IR but I want to share my thoughts and experiences of the Type Rating itself.

The hardest part through all of this was without a doubt trying to get a foot in the door for the interview itself.  With so many low hour cadets out there like my self, it's very easy for ones head to drop and start thinking about all the negatives of an industry that one hasn't even managed to get into yet.  Couple that to all the forums with people posting who have been out of jobs for so long and you could be forgiven for thinking why have I even bothered to pursue this type of career.  All I can say is keep sending off the CV's because it does happen getting interviews, it's just a matter of waiting and there is no way of knowing how long that time will be. 

My interview was a good cop bad cop routine.  One person asking the questions, the other looking bored and trying to off put you by playing with his phone and taking calls etc etc.  I would say though that the best advice I could give would be to read over some ATPL notes, read up on the airline you are having the interview with and learn items about the aircraft you would be flying.  After that it's down to you, and hopefully you'll get a little bit of luck.

I was told I had the job two weeks later, then its time for you to prepare for what you are letting yourself in for.  I cant stress enough how important it is to read the manuals early before you start any type rating for the aircraft you will be flying and if possible try and get a copy of the SOP's for that airline as this will reduce the work curve dramatically!  I had two weeks for my ground school and it was a very very intense two weeks.  Yes there is a lot of work to be done but don't be afraid to put the books down one night and have a beer to relax, it will keep you sane, I promise you!  One thing that I did find was that the instructors who were serving pilots in the company were fantastic and very approachable.  If they didn't know the answer to the question you asked then they would take as long as it was necessary to find it out for you.  All the time you are learning the systems for the 737 (oops did I say 737! Well you have a few ideas now who the company is, but telling you would spoil the fun!) you should also be learning the profiles for the aircraft i.e. VNAV PTH apps, ILS, Take off etc etc and learn the SOP's, once these have been learnt the simulator part will go more smoothly.

So the day arrives for the tech exam and if you say you won't be nervous then just wait till you get there, even the best prepared student will feel a slight twinge of anticipation as he/she reads that first question.  Generally speaking though if you put the hours in you should do well, it's not rocket science, more a test on how good you can organise your time for studying and how good your memory is!

So hopefully after the tech exam you will have a week or ten days off before the simulator sessions start.  Again a good careful mix of study and time off is whats needed!  Learn the aircraft profiles so you can say them off the top of your head, learn both sets of calls from right AND left seat as you will be flying from both seats in the sim.  Once you have had a few sessions it should start to become more natural and you will start to settle in, but don't start to relax, as soon as you have started to feel comfortable then something new will come along and knock your confidence and believe me this is totally normal.  The workload in the sim is more than that of the ground school as things happen much faster and you don't have the luxury of getting the books out and re reading what you should have learnt the night before.  Yes it becomes very tough, especially in the run up to LST (License Skills Test) but I can guarantee that the last sim session before this will be used as a confidence building step so that you are fully prepared for the big day of the test.

B737-800 NG Simulator

The LST itself has a stigma attached to it.  Yes everyone wants to pass first time but everyone also fears it to a certain degree especially as a cadet.  However everything inside this test is what you have seen and done before, the instructors would not put you forward to it without you showing that you can pass it so take that as a big confidence boost.  Generally on an LST you can expect single engine work (V1 cut, Engine out ILS etc), non normal situations (loss of hydraulic system A for example) and emergency situations (RTO).  I can promise you that the examiner is not looking for genius, brain child flying.  He/she is looking to see that you are safe, have a good understanding of the SOP's, know the aircraft systems and that you can cope in a situation and be able to communicate to the person sitting at the side of you so again don't get too nervous about the LST, its what you have been doing up to this stage but only this time it has a name attached to it.

One thing I would say is that if possible try to enjoy the type rating.  Yes its a stressful time of your life and I've only really managed to scratch the surface here, but you will meet some interesting people and remember that this is the beginning of the career you have studied hard for!  The fun starts after here when you get to fly the aircraft for the first time in base training, but that's another story altogether!

HD Ode to Joyous Flight (Sky Fighters/Les Chevaliers du Ciel)

If this was my day job I can affirm with utter clarity that FlightGripe probably wouldn't exist - because i'd be flying - always!

5 Essential Aviation Forums For Pilots, Students and Industry Professionals

I always think of forums (or certainly the ones listed in this post) as cities, in so far as they're always buzzing with so many different threads of conversation. Like all cities forums have a darkside too. I would wager that forums are most likely to contain the highest concentration of modern day neanderthals possible in any one place at any one time in any one sector. But they'll also contain a not so weak concentration of extremely smart, talented and professional people with valuable advice, insights and opinions.

Of course, I mean no insult to the genuine forum goers but as a word to the wise I would have to say: make sure to take a bucket full of salt and after a few days of sifting you'll become very adept at cutting through the fat - which is a great skill and one in which you can develop acutely by using forums.

One of the things that makes pilot forums particularly great is that behind all of those people that (a) vent their mis-givings at you, (b) pretend to be real pilots when they're not and (c) just seem to attack everyone else, are real people with real stories.

Forums are a great way of interacting and meeting new, likeminded professionals. Have a look at the infographic below (click for the very large size) for the 5 most essential forums for Pilots, Students and Industry Professionals. I've also listed the descriptive parts below the graphic, with clickable links.

Copyright FlightGripe.com 2011

Forums Listed:

PPrune.org
http://www.pprune.org
One of the most well know, and established aviation forums on the internet. PPrune boasts a large user base supported by a formidable array of topic areas. The site is well moderated, however opinions are rife but the depth of information/responses is impressive.

Airliners.Net
http://www.airliners.net
The forum arm of the hugely popular and prestigious aircraft photo database site Airliners.net. The forum offers a wide variety of discussion topics and has the 2nd largest number of users in the forum group.

FlightGlobal Airspace Forum
http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/forums/default.aspx
One of the smaller forums but the content is excellent and well toned. This forum is a little quieter with a less confrontational user base. Of course the forum is supported by the FlightGlobal brand and there are frequent appearances by editors and journalists from the flight global publication division.

Flyer Forums
http://forums.flyer.co.uk
A refreshing and excellent forum focusing mainly on the in’s and out’s of general aviation. There’s a community spirit within this forum which keeps things friendly and relevant.

OxfordAviation.net
http://ask.oxfordaviation.net/
One of the things that sets Oxford apart from many is its shear size. I thought that it deserved a space in this list because of the content of it’s forum. As a training provider that specialises in providing airline grade training solutions Oxford have developed an acute knowledge and competency of airline and industry employment methods and conditions. Anyone looking for employment or information on selection, aptitude testing, interview advice etc would be well advised to take a look.

Add your comments below.

Known Issue: (FIXED) Commenting

I'm trying to resolve the problem that is preventing comments from being added to the site. In some cases the commenting facility appears sporadically on posts and then dis-appears!

Sorry and thank you all for your patience.

It's probably Human Error!

Jim

Update: All fixed - It was human error after all! Please feel free to post your comments.

AMR / Chapter 11: Further Perspective

AMR and it's recent Chapter 11 situation is a topic which is sparking a significant amount of interest at the moment.

Robert Mark at JetWhine.com gives his views on the AMR situation in an interesting post and discussion. Really worth a read.

Link: http://www.jetwhine.com/2011/11/aa-pilots-bankruptcy-is-your-fault/