Sul – The Journey of a Professional Pilot

We had our LST today, and we both passed first time!  The LST profile was similar to what we had done for the last simulator session, except the failures were going to be random – i.e. we would not know what we’d get beforehand, and we also did some extra maneuvers such as TCAS RA.  We were both feeling (naturally) nervous before the session, but as I settled into the session, I felt a bit more relaxed.

The examiner briefed us on the profile, asked us technical questions which involved performance, limitations (aircraft & IR) and general technical knowledge about the aircraft systems including QRH and memory items for in-flight emergencies.

We got the top grade for CRM (crew resource management)!  I was really happy about this since we made an effort to improve this as much as we could.  I found that jumpseating simulator sessions really helped since it allowed me to observe and make notes on CRM, and on how other crews work.  I would really recommend jumpseating to anyone since it not only gives you a heads up on what the next session is going to be like, or a review of the session you’ve just done, but it also will give you pointers on CRM.  CRM is incredibly important in a multi-crew environment.  Good CRM can make a flight incredibly easy, and bad CRM can make a flight a disaster.  We found that polite prompts towards each other made the flow of the flight operation very smooth and promoted a positive & synergistic environment for teamwork, and strictly sticking to the SOPs helped.  Also, using, what may seem as insignificant at first, techniques such as calling out each other’s names to get attention (i.e. the cocktail party effect) to avoid the other becoming fixated on a task really helped.  We also gave each other space in the flight deck by avoiding over-prompting, and also actually watching what the pilot flying was doing, giving useful suggestions/recommendations and providing useful MCP inputs when flying manually.  This made the pilot monitoring’s role critical.

We both now intend to continue to revise the theory and SOPs and jumpseat flights to keep current.  The advice the TRE gave us was to avoid the tendency to let the dust settle on the books after the LST and instead go back into them to revise all the technical details and continue reading the SOPs & QRH to keep current.  We’ve now got just over a month till base training, so I’ll be using the time to revise and jumpseat flights!

We just had our final progress check today, and it concludes the training flights that work towards the LST (License Skills Test).  This simulator session was designed to build confidence and also as check to see how we would perform on the LST.  The profile flown is very similar to what would be expected in the LST.

We had a normal take off and then enroute we experienced a couple of failures.  The failures were a source-off light due to a generator malfunction and whilst going through the checklist for this item, we encountered an APU fire, which we had to put out with memory items.  This left us with only one AC electrical source other than the standby power.  We decided to return to Dublin, and so we formed a plan, gave the NITS briefing, and the passenger announcement.  The NITS briefing is a special and structured briefing given to the senior cabin crew member which allows them to prepare the cabin for a non-normal situation.  NITS stands for nature, intention, time and specials.  We returned to Dublin for a non-precision approach with a circle to land, which we had to go around from due to the runway being blocked, and then we returned with vectors for a raw data (i.e. without automation and any flight directors) approach, which we landed from.  We were then given another take-off from which we had an engine fire and had to return for a single engine ILS, the first one which we had to go around from due to an ATC request, and then for the next one, we landed.  The last thing we practiced was a rejected take-off, which went well.

I’m quite happy with how session 8 went, and feel much more confident for the LST.  The LST will include a profile very similar to this session with a few more maneuvers such as TCAS RAs (where we move to avoid collision with another aircraft) and the failures will be quite random, so as it could happen in real-life, we won’t know what we’ll be getting!

Yesterday, we practiced some more single engine flying including failures past V1 and were also introduced to windshear.  We were placed in situations where we encountered windshear on the runway before V1, at or just after VR, on the approach and in other phases of flight.  We found that it’s sometimes a challenge to keep the wings level and it can be quite scary when the airspeed suddenly decreases resulting in a possible altitude loss and stall!

We had some training in low visibility procedures today.  We practiced monitored approaches, including CAT II/IIIA auto-lands and go-arounds.  Various situations were simulated such as the autopilot disconnecting, the autothrottle disconnecting, flare mode (when the aircraft raises the nose slightly to land more softly) not engaging, and glideslope/localiser problems.  The most difficult problem to take care of in time was the flare mode not engaging, since it should engage at 50 feet above the runway, and so it must be detected quickly and the go around executed in a timely fashion.  We found the go arounds less relaxed in low visibility since a decision has to be made even more quickly and executed.  In addition, before now all go arounds were manual and aided by the flight director, and these were flown by the autopilot, and so we had to resist the tendency to put forces on the control column!

We completed the exercises rather quickly, so we had some time to practice other maneuvers.  We practiced more raw data ILS approaches and were then given situations of catastrophic failures to see how we would react and solve the problem.  We were given a rather nasty problem involving an engine overspeed to the limit and the thrust levers had no effect, so eventually we were forced to glide in without engines once we were at a safe altitude.

There’s one more simulator session left, in which we’ll fly a profile similar to the LST (License Skills Test), which is designed to also build our confidence.  Then the LST is on the 11th with circuit training the day after.

The last week has been quite tough, especially with 2 early sims that start with a 5.30am briefing!  I didn’t find them too tiring when we were in the fixed base, since the sessions were only 2 hours long and were mainly procedures.  The full flight sim sessions are now 4 hours long and are far more challenging.  Nonetheless, the time does go by really quickly.  We had our first progress check in the full motion flight simulator and we had a really good flight and passed it!

Reading the flight plan.

The last few simulator sessions have involved many non-normal situations such as engine failures, fires, rapid depressurisation and other system malfunctions and failures.  We’ve had plenty of practice on solving the problems using the QRH, liasing with ATC and cabin crew, informing passengers (all simulation of course!).  Other maneuvers we’ve been practicing have been single engine flying including approaches and landings on one engine.  We also practiced TCAS (when we are flying clear of other traffic) avoidance maneuvers and terrain clearance maneuvers.  We are using procedures, but the sessions have been concentrating more on manual flying and non-normal procedures and dealing with problems in the air.  We’ve also had some practice at flying raw data (manual flying without flight directors or other form of automation) ILS, which I found difficult at first due to the new scan I had to get used to.  I’ve been used to using the older type of instruments we would use on light aircraft, and the 737NG has the PFD (primary flight display) and ND (navigation display), which are more sophisticated but takes time getting used to.

I’ve also been jump-seating a few simulator sessions, which gives the advantage of getting a heads up on what we’re going to do next.  Also it’s much better to pick up information on flying techniques, CRM, problem solving, etc. when observing that will help for the sim session we’ve done.  I also jump-seated a session I had already done, which made it a nice review.  The next session is on Tuesday, which will involve training to deal with windshear encounters and more single-engine maneuvers.

We had our first full flight simulator sessions with motion on Thursday and Friday.  Both sessions involved lots of manual handling to get the feel of the aircraft.

Sat in the 737NG simulator.

In the first session, we got to do steep turns, flight director ILS, visual circuits and climbs/descents with heading changes.  We also went through exercises in stall recovery – first in the clean configuration and then in the landing configuration.  We practiced takeoffs and landings as well.  The next session, we practiced more takeoffs and landings but with the addition or raw-data ILS approaches.

Jumpseating a simulator session.

The takeoffs are not as simple as it looks on paper!  The technique we were taught was to start pulling back on the control column for rotation and once the nose wheel is in the air, relax the pressure a little to avoid rotating to quickly, and then anticipate the “dead band” at around 10 degrees, which is where we pull back more firmly to continue the rotation.  The “dead band” is where the aircraft starts coming out of ground effect, and so needs further help from the stabiliser to rotate.  We discussed the risk of tail strike at length since the 737-800 is quite prone to this, and a tail strike is possible if rotation is too fast, and it happens at 11 degrees nose up.

The controls can be quite heavy initially, but much better once trimmed.  We have to exercise patience when flying the 737 since changes we make with the power setting or control column won’t take effect immediately due to the inertia and spool up time of the engines.  I’m really enjoying the manual flying, and the 4 hour session does go by really quickly.

FBS9 was a really fun simulator session, but also quite difficult since there were a lot of emergencies including rapid depressurisation, which required quick action.  The drill went well since I practiced it over and over so that my actions were almost automatic when it came to doing it in the simulator.  The 10th and final fixed base session was a progress check, which we passed. We were required to complete the preflight setup within 35 minutes and approach briefing in 10 minutes, which put the pressure on.

Now we’re onto the full motion simulator sessions which include a lot of manual handling.  I’m looking forward to finally doing a lot of manual flying!  I’ve got the day off today, which I’m spending on reading through the flight crew training manual (FCTM) and practicing my flows / SOP calls.  The FCTM contains useful information on the manual flying and other handling techniques.

We just had our first full flight simulator session, although without motion for now!  We’ve got two more sessions without motion, and then it they will all be with full motion.  The idea is to allow us a smooth transition from the fixed based procedural trainer.  The full motion simulator is less spacious inside than the procedural trainer and more realistic to the actual aircraft.  The instrumentation is of a much higher quality and realistic.  I also noticed was the perspective of the overhead panel is different since we’re seated further forward so that we can reach the rudder pedals, and it’s quite easy to miss switches if we don’t move our heads and look properly.  Also, the aft overhead panel seems so high and far away!  We were also aware of error of reading certain instruments such as the cabin altitude indicator or the rudder trim, due to parallax.

The session involved a normal take-off and initial climb and then we were given a failure related to the instrument displays.  Once we solved that, we were given some engine related failures in the cruise – overheat, failure and fire, which we had to deal with.  Some of these had memory items which had to be done before looking at the QRH and going through the appropriate checklist.  We then continued on for a non-precision NDB approach, for which we had to go around due to a failure, deal with the failure and then land from the next approach.

I didn’t find the lack of space in comparison to the procedural trainer too disconcerting, especially since I’m not really huge, so I fitted in nicely!  I did find that I needed to fiddle with the seats a little and familiarise myself with the controls since I’ve not been in a 737 simulator before other than at my assessment.  The instructors are now bringing in a more realistic simulation of communication, including ATC, cabin crew and passengers.  This highlighted the importance of prioritising tasks – to fly the aircraft first, then navigation, and then communicate, “aviate, communicate, navigate”.  In addition, we now have visuals, and found transitioning from instruments to the view outside can be a little disorientating if it’s abrupt.  However, I was pilot monitoring in this session, so didn’t fully get to experience that, which I will in tomorrows session. The pilot flying will have split his time between instruments and the outside view and slowly increase the time he’s looking outside as he’s approaching minimums to ease this transition.

I’m pilot flying for the next session, and looking forward to finally being able to do some manual flying, albeit it’ll only be for the take-off, initial climb and go-around if we practice one.

Today was an early session, starting at 5.30am, and surprisingly, I felt quite fresh in the morning.  I think I prefer early mornings, as we finish quite early, have time for a quick nap and time to study also.  We’ve now got Friday & Saturday off, and then Sunday will be our first full flight simulator session, where we move from the fixed base trainer into a full motion simulator.

I’ve not really mentioned OAA itself, so here are a couple of photos:

Oxford Aviation Academy - where we spend many long hours!

OAA in Stockholm is a very spacious facility with lots of free tea/coffee!

OAA is about a 10 minute drive from or 15 minutes on the bus from where we are staying.  The facility is really well equipped and we all enjoy the free tea/coffee/hot chocolate from the machines that are dispersed around the building!  The building also has a free gym & sauna, which is at our disposal and I’ve also seen a tennis court.  There are classrooms, study rooms and free wi-fi internet and a canteen on the ground floor that is open at lunch time.  The airport is few minutes away by bus and free buses run every 15 minutes to the airport.  A very nice facility to train in!

The 4th session in the fixed base trainer involved a complete flight from A to B again, but introduced icing conditions and how to deal with them – which we may encounter in Winter.  Icing conditions require the use of wing & engine anti-ice and also have performance considerations, as less engine power is available if anti-icing is in use, which in turn limits the weight we can carry.  This session also included practice with go-arounds.  We’re all feeling a bit more confident now with setting up the aircraft and the normal procedures including the briefings.  The main briefings are done before pushback from the stand and another in the air just before descent, which is the approach briefing.  The briefings have a definite structure, which everyone in the airline uses – which makes it quick and easy to understand.

CS5 built on the previous session, and involved further details on using the FMC (flight management computer), which uses the automatic systems to fly the aircraft.  There was also some discussion on approach and reference speed calculations and how to correct for wind in this session.  We did an ILS approach, as we did last time.  This was also a progress check, since the next sessions would introduce non-normal procedures (such as how to deal with system failures) – so it was to ensure we were comfortable with the procedures so far before moving on.  At the end of the session, I felt quite confident and the preparation had paid off.

CS6 then introduced non-precision approaches and the QRH (quick reference handbook).  The QRH contains checklists for non-normal procedures and tells us how to deal with problems such as an engine failure in a structured, easy-to-follow and logical manner.  It also contains performance tables and normal checklists.  CS7 built on this by more practice on how to deal with failures, with an enroute diversion followed by another non-precision approach.

A lot of new material & procedures have been introduced this week, and no doubt, we will have to review it & consolidate it all and practice it before we start again on Sunday – just as I did last week.  I feel quite confident with the normal procedures now, and I will be reviewing the material learnt this week, especially since our timetable has made it so that we’ve not had much time to study in between sessions.

The last few days have been really tiring & challenging – not only due to the early starts, but also because of the amount of new procedures to learn for each simulator session.  We’ve all found that we require a nap as soon as we’ve had lunch and get back!  And then once awake again, there’s plenty of work to do and by the time we’ve managed to finish, it’s late and we’ve just about managed to get enough sleep to function the next day.  It did get easier though, as I got used to waking up early and exercising good time management.

The learning curve does seem to be steep, but we’ve been spending plenty of time in the paper tigers and working together as a crew to progress quickly.  There are quite a few memory items that we’ve had to learn – which are scan flows (memory items which we have to learn to do in a particular order), such as for before engine start, after engine start, before take off, after take off, landing, taxi, shut-down and securing the aircraft.  There will be more to learn for the non-normal procedures such as engine failures and fires.  In addition to using paper mock-ups of the flight deck and touch drills on the procedural trainer, we’ve also employed flight simulator (which my simulator partner has installed on his computer) as a training tool.  We’ve been using the PMDG 737-800 – it’s not a perfect simulation, but it is one of the better ones out there.

CS2 (the second) session involved procedures from preflight & start up to cruise, and we even had time for some descent procedures, which was in addition to the syllabus.  Things move really fast once you’re on your take-off roll, so it’s important to keep ahead of the aircraft and get all the calls in.  We operate a “sterile flight deck” from start to reaching cruise altitude, and then from start of descent to parking at the gate.  This means that only essential language required for the operation of the flight, according to the SOPs, is used. CS3 involved a complete flight to landing.  Every session is allocated 2 hours, however we’re doing more in each session as we progress, which means that we have to become faster and faster with the procedures as we progress.  The next session will involve go-around procedures as well.  This is when the aircraft is set up to climb back up to a missed approach altitude, after an unsuccessful approach, which could be, amongst many factors, due to weather, incorrect configuration or an unstabilised approach.

We had our SOP day yesterday.  It included a review of the Ryanair procedures from the various sources with a more detailed brief on the SOP manual.  It also gave us an opportunity to ask questions and clear up anything we may have misinterpreted or misunderstood.  The SOP instruction day was presented by a female Ryanair first officer that also flies on the line.  In addition to this day, we also had been studying the SOPs in our own time with contact details given to us by a Captain that had introduced himself to us earlier in the first week of training.  At the end of the day, we all took the SOP exam, which everyone passed.

We set off home as soon as we had finished, since some of us had to wake up around 4.30am to be at OAA by 5.30am for the first simulator exercise.  I spent a couple of hours preparing for the simulator session and then went to bed earlier than usual to get enough sleep in before waking up in the morning.

I was afraid of oversleeping, so set two alarms, but managed to wake up before the alarm even rang!  The briefings usually start 1.5 hours before the session, so we met in time in the briefing room.  Two crews (so in total, 4 people) are briefed together, as we also observe each other’s sessions.  The instructor introduced himself (who’s a Ryanair First Officer) and we then introduced ourselves to him, and then the briefing began.  The briefing included what we were going to do in the simulator and he asked us questions on the procedures that we were going to practice and also covered some areas of technical knowledge.  The briefing was also an opportunity for us to ask any questions.

The simulator session went quite quickly – each crew had 2 hours.  We were observing the other crew for the first two hours, and then were in the simulator for the next two hours.  Whilst I was observing, I took down notes or highlighted certain areas in the SOP manual and wrote down any questions I had, to ask at the end, to avoid interrupting the crew.  The first session involved all the procedures up to and including engine start & taxi.  As we went along, the instructor explained certain details and also asked some questions on our technical knowledge.

The debrief was quite useful, as the instructor summed up our performance in the simulator and gave us some pointers.  I also had the opportunity to ask questions which I had noted down whilst observing.  We were finished by around mid-day and ready for lunch and a short-nap before studying again for the next morning!

The structure of the simulator sessions are quite rigid – usually starting with a briefing 1.5 hours before the session, followed by the session itself.  The first crew goes in for 2 hours, whilst the other two observe, and then after a short break, the next crew goes in for 2 hours.  After another short break, we are de-briefed and then free to go!

I’ve got two more 4 am alarms – tomorrow and Friday and then we should be on ‘lates’ by next week!