Base Training!

We had a refresher session in the simulator on Sunday, and it went well, and everything came back to me very quickly, so I left the simulator feeling confident.  Everyone had kept reassuring me that the real aircraft is easier to fly than the simulator, which put me at ease further.

The day for base training was approaching fast! I drove down to Stansted airport to stay over at the Radisson hotel, next to the terminal building, the night before, and also picked up some friends on the way.  There were 4 others that were also doing base training with me.  For those of you unfamiliar with Base Training, this is when we get into a real aircraft to fly it for the first time after the simulator training and passing the skills test.  We all felt nervous and excited about the next day.  We couldn’t quite believe that we were finally getting to fly the real aircraft!  We got an early night and woke up early to meet the Captain and our safety pilot in the Stansted crew room, in the morning.

The Captain immediately put us at ease and after introducing ourselves to each other, he briefed us on how the day will progress, weather conditions and anything else we needed to know for the day.  The order in which we were going to fly was decided, and I was going to fly second, which I was happy with.  Soon we were out of the crew room and walking towards the aircraft on a clear and sunny morning, in the fresh air.

After boarding the aircraft and leaving our cases inside, we joined the Captain on the walkaround whilst the safety pilot set the aircraft up.  This was the first time some of us were doing the walk around, whilst others, had been shown how to do it during one of the jumpseating sessions we had organised ourselves.  The Captain proceeded with the walkaround at a slower pace to allow us to keep up with him whilst he explained to us what he was doing and what he was looking for on the walkaround.  The walkaround is when we literally walk around the aircraft and check various parts of it to ensure there’s no damage and everything is in good working order and safe for dispatch.  This is a bit like checking your car tyres, engine oil, etc before going on a long car journey.  We repeat this on every turnaround (so between every landing and take-off).

The day went as planned, which was to fly from Stansted airport to East Midlands Airport, where we would do the circuits, and then return to Stansted Airport.  I was second to go, so a friend of mine on the course, who was first, flew the aircraft to East Midlands Airport and completed his circuits.  I made myself comfortable in the right-hand seat, still not quite believing that I was about to fly the real aircraft, for the first time.

The experience was surreal.

The Captain lined the aircraft up and once we got clearance to take-off, I advanced the thrust levers to 40%, and once I got the “stabilised” call from the Captain, take-off power was set!

80 knots…V1….Rotate…  and so the first circuit began!  I found the aircraft smoother and more stable to fly than the simulator – albeit there wasn’t a huge difference, but enough for me to notice and appreciate.  I also found it easier to fly the real aircraft since we had visual reference points which aided in navigation, and also a full-viewing angle, which also made the landings far easier.  I found it much easier to track the centre line and judge the flare.  The circuits went really quickly and after 6 landings, I was done!

Tomorrow, we have further day of training, which will introduce us to the paperwork and how to complete it and will also be shown the crewroom and its layout.  We will also have our files processed so that we have the necessary paperwork to present to the IAA to receive our 737 300-900 rating on our license.

The next step is now to get my Irish license with the 737 rating on it, and then we’ll be rostered for jumpseats to observe the line flights before we get to do them ourselves.  We did get to express our choices for base preferences at this stage, and we will all find out soon where we’ll be based – at least for line training!