Line training so far.

I’ve been to a variety of destinations now – and even had to handle a medical emergency, which went well.  I think my favourite destination so far has been Alicante because of the amazing views on the approach of the mountains, the beach and the Mediterranean Sea.  I feel like a lot of things are coming together now and so it has increased my capacity, allowing things to go faster and smoother.

In the beginning, I found the pace of things – particular the turnarounds difficult to keep up with and the paperwork did feel a bit overwhelming.  I feel much more comfortable with it all now and feel like I’ve really picked up the pace and can get on with it without hesitation – almost becoming routine now.  Energy management on descent & approach and landings were a challenge to begin with, and now I feel like I’ve got a much better sense for the aircraft and it has become easier.  There are also a other aspects of flying that can be challenging but can be made easier with good preparation before each flight.

I usually prepare a data-card with all the useful frequencies, scheduled departure/arrival times and other notes on such as FIR boundaries and where we’ll be flying over.  I find it useful to know and research what geographical points the route will take us over, as it improves situational awareness and also gives me a snapshot of the airports near the route that can be used if a diversion is necessary.  I use the pilot’s atlas to do this, along with high-altitude and low-altitude en-route charts.  I also look over the low-altitude en-route charts for terrain and airspace information.  I find this research especially useful for routes I am not familiar with – which is most of them at the moment!  This also helped make my approach briefings go more quickly, which made the descent and approach less stressful and smoother.

I find that it’s easier to pick up radio transmissions when you know what you’re listening out for.  This especially applies to the names of unfamiliar taxiways, waypoint names (particularly VORs/NDBs).  It also takes a while to get used to accents.  To help alleviate the difficulty of picking out names of waypoints, I usually go through the flightplan, paying particular attention to knowing the VOR names.  It’s not necessary to memorise the names or the route, but looking over them helps to recognise the names when ATC routes you to them.

With all the hard work, it’s quite easy to forget that there’s also fun to be had, and views to be enjoyed!  I took a quick snap of the Alps as we were going over them – I had previously flown over them but they were covered in clouds, so was happy the clouds had parted to allow a lovely view.  The weather lately has made flying more interesting over UK & Ireland, as Winter has come in – plenty of rain, fog and wind!  Poland was quite cold, with the temperature being -1 there when we arrived, and I’m sure it’ll get colder!