"The greatest show on earth..."

A post I really wanted to get done at the weekend but I never got chance.

Last week, and indeed over the past couple of days we've been working towards finishing the material of the final five of fourteen ATPL subjects. With only eleven more classes to complete in total and considering the amount we have completed over the past five and a bit months it's that final push that I feel is going to count so much.

Since starting in August I know we have all seen, certainly not intentional, a come down from what we expected. During the first few weeks of the first of the three modules we would spend many hours every night studying the material completed that day. As we have moved on, I would say that we have all learnt how to revise the fourteen subjects much more effectively. I'm not saying we do any less revision in terms of hours - more so we know what to revise and how to answer the questions.

Having said that, the exams are now fast approaching and it's that time again where we all start to feel that little bit of pressure creeping up behind us. The brow starts to sweat and with the benefits of finishing so close it's almost impossible to stop thinking about them...

So, as I write we have another eleven classes to complete followed by five consolidation exams and then the real IAA sitting.

Last week we all received the timetable for the exams and I must say, it could have been better. We have the following:

Monday 27th February


Air Law
Meteorology

Tuesday 28th February


Human Performance and Limitations
Operational Procedures

Wednesday 29th February


Mass and Balance

The hardest day is most certainly the first which does come with the benefit of getting them out of the way early on to concentrate on what I believe to be the easier of the five on the Tuesday and Wednesday.

As I've said before; there has been a change in the way the exams are conducted this module. Instead of having the week of Consolidation followed a week to revise before the final week of exams; this time PTC have extended the ground school to six weeks removing the revision time in between the two sets of tests.

Personally I think that this is a good idea. Although it will be extremely tiring, to stay in that revision/exam mode will certainly be of help and from my own personal point, require a lot less motivation the following week to start revising all over again!

I'm sure I'll be keeping you posted over the next couple of weeks.

Other than knocking ground school hours off one by one and completing the PPL we got to again experience something that only America can do - the 'Super Bowl.'

Self-proclaimed at the 'greatest show on earth,' it certainly had something to live up to! Now those of us who made our way to Smokey Bones (a chain restaurant here in the US) for an all you could eat feast consisted of a significant number who were keen rugby and football (soccer) fans. How was this sporting event going to contend with what we have to offer in Europe?

The game began with the glits and glammer we had all expected and although it is very much a stop start game it was, surprisingly, quite entertaining (even if I didn't know what was going on!)

The game was concluded with a winning touchdown (I think I'm right in saying that?) with only minutes to go.

In conclusion, I wouldn't go as far as to say it's the 'greatest show on earth' but I guess that very much depends on what each person is interested in. I will say that I did enjoy the experience however I'll stick to the real football I think (sorry NFL fans!)

Other than that, this week there are a few highlights to point out.

Advertising in any industry nowadays has to be innovative, eye-catching and in many cases funny. It's not something I see very often in the US where they seem to be more direct with their promotions but in the UK (and now evidently elsewhere in Europe) this is the case.

Airlines are no exception to the rule and I would imagine all reading will remember BA's campaign a few months ago featuring the pilots of the company through the ages. Well, Lufthansa have recently released their latest domestic advertisement which has been going viral on the social networks.

Staying on the subject of videos, and more specifically YouTube videos (and my instructor is going to kill me for this) but recently a video of him came to light in a previous job. That is all I am going to say...

A ray of sunshine between the clouds

The weather over the past couple of days has been nothing short of terrible. Being in the Sunshine State we are susceptible to some of the world's worst thunderstorm weather throughout the summer and autumn periods.

The weather here in Florida has seemed to follow a regular pattern since our arrival. Very clear and cool (well, below 25 degrees) in the early morning and throughout the day the weather gets more unstable and naturally the air much more humid. Therefore it's quite obvious that flying in the morning is not only better but at the moment it's almost a certainty that post 3pm you'll be sat on the ground with no chance of getting into the aircraft.

A classic afternoon in summer Florida

To keep things simple there are two types of flying. Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).

VFR is what I am currently learning to fly. It is very much focusing on navigating outside of the aircraft. By that I mean focusing on reference points. Buildings, lakes, land masses etc. These can all be used to plan flights and therefore used as navigational aides. It's quite obvious that to fly a VFR flight you need to have reasonable visibility both on the ground and in the air. There are specific distances between the aircraft and relevant points that constitute whether the conditions are VFR or IFR.

Clearly not VFR conditions

IFR is what you will experience when flying commercially. Whenever you're off on holiday or a business trip on airlines such as easyJet, BA and Ryanair you're flight crew will be operating the flight under IFR conditions. Although we don't cover this subject specifically until later in the course the basic idea is that the pilots fly the aircraft based solely on the instruments within the aircraft and under air traffic control supervision. In modern jets it's almost standard for the aeroplane to be able to take off into a cloud and see nothing until touching down at the destination airport due to the advanced technology on board. Therefore a flight can operate under IFR conditions in far worse weather.

As I said, I'm currently working under VFR rules therefore I need acceptable weather to fly. The minimums for an inexperienced/student pilot would be 5 nautical miles visibility and scattered/broken cloud at 1000 feet. My instructor is very keen on early morning flying and I must say it is paying off! I've been able to get in many hours where as others have been less fortunate due to weather cancellations.

I have been able to get in enough hours to today take my first solo flight and therefore earn my first bars on my epaulettes. I am under the impression that the European (JAA) and American (FAA) first solo flights follow a similar procedure.

Firstly it involves two hours of ground school conducted by the flight instructor. This includes a twenty question multiple choice paper followed by any problems that need to be covered by the student either from the test or anything else. Following this it's time to get into the plane and get into the air. Firstly 30 minutes is spent with the instructor who will have one final look at the pattern work by the student (as discussed in the previous post). Then, if he/she is suitably happy it's time to drop him/her off at the end of the active runway and prepare for what most consider to be the most important flight in any aviators career - their first solo.

Mine today consisted of three take-offs and landings. Believe it or not I was not as nervous as I thought I would be; mainly due to the fact that I'd done it for over three hours over the previous three days and felt comfortable. Albeit it this time it would be without that safety buffer of a fully qualified and experienced flight instructor in the right seat. The biggest surprise was the performance of the aircraft due to it being lighter. The benefit of this was the increase in engine to weight performance but the drawback was that during landing the winds were more effective on the lighter aeroplane.

All three landings went very well with minor hick-ups and I can now look forward to my second solo which will hopefully be tomorrow afternoon - weather permitting!