We had our SOP day yesterday. Â It included a review of the Ryanair procedures from the various sources with a more detailed brief on the SOP manual. Â It also gave us an opportunity to ask questions and clear up anything we may have misinterpreted or misunderstood. Â The SOP instruction day was presented by a female Ryanair first officer that also flies on the line. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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! Â The briefings usually start 1.5 hours before the session, so we met in time in the briefing room. Â Two crews (so in total, 4 people) are briefed together, as we also observe each other’s sessions. Â The instructor introduced himself (who’s a Ryanair First Officer) and we then introduced ourselves to him, and then the briefing began. Â 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. Â The briefing was also an opportunity for us to ask any questions.
The simulator session went quite quickly – each crew had 2 hours. Â We were observing the other crew for the first two hours, and then were in the simulator for the next two hours. Â 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. Â The first session involved all the procedures up to and including engine start & taxi. Â 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. Â I also had the opportunity to ask questions which I had noted down whilst observing. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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!