2009 CPL Diary at EFT

[Kash360]

Before i start my diary please let me explain that i am aware that there are currently several CPL diaries on this site, but thought it would be a good idea to see how things have progessed since the last one.

I had arrived at Orlando International at 18:00 yesterday to be met on arrival by a very pleasant man who took me to my hotel in Fort Pierce where i would be staying the night while i would be re-housed the following day. It was at my request to EFT that i would like to complete my course as soon as possible as i do not have enough leave from work. As i stepped out of the car to the hotel the driver gave me two sets of books and adviced me that i should read up on these before the morning, well lets just say i never got any sleep until 01:30. the next morning i.e (today) i was picked up by the same gentleman who picked me up yesterday. I arrived at the school at 09:10 and by 09:15 i was speaking to my instructor and introduced to several other people, to be fair everyone seems quite friendly here. At 09:30 i had completed all the forms that were required which were all in a folder waiting for me to go through. My First Pre-CPL flight was scheduled in for 11:00 having completed all my paperwork, i sat down with my instructor who briefed me on what to expect throughout the course along with what was expected by the JAA. We then did a Mass and Balance sheet for the 11:00 flight.

The Pre-CPL flight included genral handling, steep turns, and stalls.

Having arrived back for a debrief i was told that there were further things i needed to brush on before i progressed on the CPL course, and in all fairness to my instructor he was correct. I have picked up some bad habbits so i do really need to shake them off.

My instructor was very kind to arrange a back seat ride with a student who was practising my weaknesses and this was at no cost, When i arrived back to EFT after the flight my instructor spoke to me about the things we will be covering tommorrow i.e ( genral handling , climbing and decending). I was then asked if i would like to sit in on a ground class which was a brilliant oppertunity to iron out any problems.

So all in all i would say and this is SO FAR that EFT seems in two words Organised and Professional, however i do have another two weeks here, I will keep you all updated with tommorrow's day. But for now I have lots of homwork to do.

[spudgunjon]

A whole further two weeks? And the guy is making you brush up on descending and climbing???

Hmm.

Don't wish to be overly pessimistic but I have a premonition you may well be changing your return flight. In all honesty if you only budgeted 2 weeks this seems somewhat ambitious. Were you given any assurances you would get your CPL done to completion by EFT prior to arrival?

Where did you do PPL and hours?

Just to confirm it is a JAA ME CPL?

Hope you get it done, and keep us posted.

[helimutt]

Not wanting to 'rain on your parade', sorry for the americanism, but I think the previous poster has a very valid point.
If you were hour building up to this point and not practising accuracy for the CPL course, then having to revisit the very basics at this point seems to me as if you may well have a bit of an uphill struggle.
Two weeks? Hmmm.

Do keep us posted as i'll be interested to see how it turns out. Remember, these schools are there to make money from students, they aren't charities, but then again, if your flying isn't up to standard before starting the CPL course, then you pretty much only have yourself to blame.

Look forward to seeing your progress reports.

[quant]

Looking forward to reading your diary m8 :p

[moona]

Good luck with the course Kash360, I enjoy reading these diarys.

[Kash360]

Thank you so much for your comments, I was given a two week guide line by EFT. I am currently doing a CPL SE.

I woke up this morning 6 am to read through my notes before arriving to the school at 7:45. Walked in straight away got my weather, mass and balance sheet and signed out my a/c. Went out to the a/c did my pre-flight check and returned back to the office for my brief. My first flight was a carry on from yesterdays pre CPL flight i had to demonstrate that i could fly looking out of the window instead of being fixated on my instruments. I must say i find it allot easier now. Having demonstrated these skills my instructor signed me off for the CPL course which would would start at 13:00 we returned back from my morning flight and was briefed on navigation and flight planning. My first lesson included climbing and desending. ( i know everyone is thinking what the hell!!! doing that at CPL level however its the first lesson of the course.

During my down time there is so much to do, practise navigation, reading procedures etc...

One thing i love about EFT is that they wont tell you the answer they want you to go and find it. Which i think is a great technique.

My instructor seems very helpful along with other staff.

At CPL level you treat your instructor as a passenger, they want you to make the final call, suppose thats what its all about..

Got to get some food and do homework so ill be back tommorrow...

[alkatifa]

Good luck mate! I will be looking to join EFT next month as I am doing all the required stuff in order to be ready on time. Really looking forward to it!

[Kash360]

Hello everyone, what can i say about today other than it's 36 degrees celcius here and im feeling it..

Well today was again another 0745 start having planned my navigation flight last night. I aarived and staright away checked the weather, did my mass and balance sheet checked out the aircraft went out to the aircraft did my preflight checks obtained ATIS and went back to the school it was now 0850 and my instructor had arrived. I shown my instructor my planning and was breifed on the flight. Went out to the a/c took of on runway 27 and fixed on my first leg. My instuctor flew the first leg, i navigated the second leg and my instructor flew the 2nd leg and on the 3rd leg i flew and navigated. Arrived at my final point 1 minute out so was happy. Onced landed and shut down had a debrief which went well.

It was now 1200 so ran out to the airport resturant to grab a bite to eat.
Quickly arrived back to do my mass and balance sheet and pre flight checks. Went back in to the school where i was briefed on my next flight which would be touch and go's. It included short field take off and landings, glide approach and landing and flapless landing. I remember doing these at ppl but had not been practised them since so today was a blast from the past. There were a few thing i needed to brush up on and was assured by my instructor that we will try different types of landings on other lessons.

I arrived backed and was briefed on the flight along with a briefing about tommorrow morning flight which is Intruments.

So far i am enjoying the whole thing allot to take in. Which i had expected but for any students out there thinking about doing there CPL please please please do not waste your hour building time like i did, read up on the CPL requirments and try and meet them, it will make your life so much easier.

As far as EFT is concerned everything is going well, being treated very well and like a human being instead of a number. The housing is great not a 5 star hotel but still nice. They have given me use of the car which is great.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!!

more homework to do!!!

[quant]

i'm enjoying reading your thread keep it up :)

[allanon1980]

Sounds a bit forced to me.......

[Dane-Ger]

I'm curious about the pre CPL you mention, is this part of the 25 hour course and included in the price or is it an extra?

Anyway, good luck, I recently finished my CPL, it's hard work! especially if your trying to do it in 2 weeks!

incidentally the point you make about hour building is very relevant, if you waste your time whilst hour building it will cost you so much more in the long run by making your CPL far more expensive. being up to speed with nav, MDR, holding precise headings and alts, practicing PFL's, etc will save you time and money on the CPL course.

[Obs cop]

Not one to be a little bit cautious here normally but anyway,

Previous diaries on Pprune are generally very detailed on flights, the intricacies of training, students hitting brick wall and ultimately overcoming them.

This diary seems to be very light on the training and the details which most readers ultimately benefit from, but has significant amounts of back slapping and praise for EFT! Indeed all 3 posts so far have been very strong in praising them.

I completed a diary by comparison for my IMCR and didn't mention my training establishment by name, because to do otherwise IMHO is both unecessary to most readers and if not done correctly amounts to advertising.

I hope I'm wrong, but my cautious side is very active at the moment.

Obs

[Farrell]

Hmmmm.... Kash 360:

"well lets just say i never got any sleep until 01:30. the next morning"

"I arrived at the school at 09:10 and by 09:15 i was speaking to my instructor and introduced to several other people, to be fair everyone seems quite friendly here. At 09:30 i had completed all the forms that were required...."

"I woke up this morning 6 am to read through my notes before arriving to the school at 7:45."

"During my down time there is so much to do, practise navigation, reading procedures etc..."

Rush, rush, rush......pressure building all the way through, you have about ten days left now, and you may fail the first checkride, who knows, deadlines for work and if you do get there, you'll probably remember shag all about it in less than three months.

Not the way to do it.

[Kash360]

Sorry about not posting my report yesterday, was really busy trying to over come my demonds. Sorry a few off you think that this is a ploy to make EFT look good, im only giving my version off how im finding the school. When i started this journey i was looking at peoples reports and seeing how they were treated and how they got on.

But if you want something bad to write, then well yeh EFT does not have 5* housing, they dont spoon feed you information and they dont wipe your ass for you. Sorry that was a bit harsh but the moaners will just moan no matter what.

Yesterday i flew twice again once in the morning and once in the afternoon. My first flight was learning the basic of instrument flying under the hood, to be honest i felt as i was the same as ppl but i did my ppl 9 years ago. So it was a blast from the past. I was ok with the instrument flying just need to make sure i keep scanning and not fixating on a single intrument. The lesson included rate 1 turns and climb and decents under the hood. We returned back to Fort Pierce doing a flapless landing.

My second flight of the day was doing more of the same as the first flight however this included unusual attitiudes. My insturctor would put the aircraft in a steep desent or climb during a turn and ask me to recover.

I think im pretty ok with instrument flying as there is 10 hours of it in the course, however i some times leave a few checks i.e before climb and before desent checks but i kept going over them last night and i made sure i did them all todayy.

[Kash360]

Again a very hot day!!

Im sorry my reports are not detailed as my flight level, angle of turn, fuel burn!! just trying to be helpful to people looking at doing the CPL. If you have specific questions then please put them across to me ill try to answer them.

Again usual two flights of the day.

First was a navigation excercise which included a diversion which i was dreading however it turned out to be pretty simple. But dont be fooled i took off and was consentrating so much on fliying the a/c and doing the checks that i nearlly missed my starting point of my navigation leg. It wasnt till my instructor pointed this out to me. I made three reporting point and when you reach each point, you must do a few checks such as what time did you arrive at the point, Gross checks i.e where am i in relationship to the ground am i going in the correct direction and heading followed by FREDA checks which are aircraft checks then do all your paper work. Do not get fixated on doing a whole task without flying the plane. You will loose attitude and heading very easily done.

Once arrived overhead destination my instructor had diverted the a/c and shown me how to divert which included drawing a line on a map cross referncing with the the compass rose on the map for a heading. Then working out a dist and time. He then let me do a divert to a designated point which i followed the steps as my instructor. We landed back doing a short field landing.

My second flight was all about engine fire and engine failure. Was not bad at all. Justa few drills as fuel selector off, mixture cut off, thottle idel, cabin hearter off, cabin air closed. this was for engine fire. You have to keep asking is the fire out and if it is then do a forced landing and if the fire is not do 45 degrees turns at 85kts turns to the left keep asking the same question. Is the fire out?

Engine failure, includes doing a few drill and keeping the airfield or landing spot in sight at all times. use best glide.


Anyway guys much to do. Allot off work involved. Hope this is enough information for now. If not please ask!!

[Matthew Adams]

No mention of our extra passenger leaping out of the air vent?

I'm not convinced you have to strap a frog in though...

[alkatifa]

Good stuff Kash! Nice work. Getting anxious to fly to ft. pierce now.

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

All that Florida flying, making me jealous :).

[Kash360]

Hey, so sorry not been updating yourselves with my reports. Internet problems. I promise i will update my reports and experience and problems tommorrow. I have my 170A tommorrow. Wish me good luck.

[Keygrip]

No. I won't.

[Kash360]

Thankyou Keygrip!! it was not a matter off luck it was a matter of you know how to fly commercially or you dont. As you know today i had my 170A cpl mock exam. I will tell you all about it when i finish writting the past God knows how many days report.

OK lets get on with it. last Wednesday was very terrifying, as i had my C-172 internal skills test before i could move on to the arrow. This flight included using all the skills i had learnt over the past 4-5 days, and seeing if i could execute them in a proffesional manner showing competency and airmanship. The flight was conducted by the CFI. So already on my best behaviour. You are given a route to plan using navigation procedures. Making sure i had checked the weather and Notams, planned my flight did my pre-flight check. I went back inside the school sat with the CFI who briefed me on all the things to expect on the flight. Remember you treat the CFI just like a passenger, so we went out to the a/c advising the CFI that we were about to enter a restricted area and that he had to stay close to me at all times. Once in the aircraft brief the passenger just as you would do in an airline. Taxi to the runway do all the checks according to the check list. ( Guys just a bit of advice make sure you do everything in a checklist dont skip parts of it because you think you know it. You must also do it in order. It's a big NO NO if you dont at CPL level)

You are marked on your performance and attitude from inside to going back inside to the school. So we took off and did all the clearing 1000ft checks while flying to the first reporting point for our navigation leg. But in my case i took off from runway 32 and straight away took my heading, this lead me into entering vero beach airspace a big NO NO being promted by my " passenger" i got out of the controlled area and correctly joined my repoting point. My navigation leg really well apart from the deptature. My passenger then gave me a diversion route while going to our destination i planned for this while flying. Once we arrived at the destination we took a heading for our diversion. I arrived on time for my navigation leg. My diversion planning was great except for ending up at the wrong diversion point. Did a simulated engine failure followed by a engine failure after take off.

After this we headed back to Fort pierce on route had to do a postion fix, no problem there and did some intrument work evolving unusal attitudes and turns. We arrived back to the school and went in for a debrief. Got a slap on the wrist for my mistake at deptature and for the incorrect diversion airfield. But my CFI thought even though there was mistakes made. It was nothing that should stop me going on to the arrow.

The afternoon flight was in the arrow just a fam flight, getting to know the aircraft. I still remember that when i got on the runway to take off i thought it would react in the same manner as the C-172. How wrong was i, very heavy and slugish to fly. Well this was my first thoughts on it. Did some turns, landings, and some instument work on this flight. The aircraft has a varrible pitch propeller and a retarctable landing gear. More work load!!

[Kash360]

Well what can I say, just another day in this boiling heat. I know what your thinking why the hell is this guy moaning, well it’s on average 32 degree Celsius here and when you’re a/c does not have aircon you will feel it.

Well anyway again 2 flight today the usual setup but today is a matter of stepping up to the mark and making every minute count.
The first flight was briefed by my instructor as usual on the things that would be covered in the flight, the first flight involved doing instrument work, I.e. getting used to VOR,ILS,DME,ADF. For some reason I and I don’t know why I kept hitting and missing on getting position fixes, we went back to Fort Pierce and tried to get my instructor to go through it all again including QDM, and QDR’s. I don’t think my instructor was too happy on Thursday, he tried every possible way to make me understand. But I think he was right I was over complicating things. In all honesty im still a bit hazy with it.

If anyone else has the same problem there are a few software programs you can use to help you. One is called RANT and the other is on the Bristol.gs CD.

My second flight of the day was ok it included stalls and spiral turns. Both fairly ok to do. There are three types of stalls you need to perform. The first is the clean configuration stall, it is where you actually take the aircraft into a stall and recover it. The second is a replicating the base to final turn called the approach stall, you need to put the landing gear down and 25 deg of flaps and do a 20 deg turn. And finally the third stalled is called the final stall, used to replicate your final approach. The approach and final stall are only taken to the incipient stall stage.

Spiral turns again ok 45 degree bank must add about 200 rpm to make sure that the nose does not drop.

Don’t think for a second that after your last flight off the day you can go home and relax, there is plenty and I mean plenty of homework to do. Memorizing checklists, going over manoeuvres in your head and reading the pilot operating hand book. KNOW YOUR AIRCARFT!!!

Regarding EFT things are going well, my instructor is great he wont let you get away with anything which is great.

[Kash360]

What a horrible day for me, seemed like everything I touched jjust either broke on me or I had left my brain at home. I personally think it was the latter.Friday had to be the worst day of all while I have been here. Had two lessons on which I underperformed and on top of that I was nervous about my RT licence exam in the afternoon.

Well woke up as normal, had a late night revising. Got to school prepared the a/c for a 0800 deptature, the first of the two lessons included touch and go’s and stalls. The stalls were not a problem just needed to make sure I didn’t get the approach and the final stall configerations mixed up. Which I did. I know im a dumb ass. Lol

However for some reason or the other I just could not for the life off me get the correct approach for landing, I was always either too high or too low, off the centre line or just going around.

I could see my instructor was getting frustrated at me and I don’t blame him he has put so much time and effort into me. I was furious more than anything at myself, I know I don’t have the best landings in the world but these were really bad. Well we got back into the school and debriefed I had to repeat some of the lesson again as part of my afternoon lesson.

My second flight was again just another Navigation and diversion excersice, again same problems as I had the other day a poor deptature, good Navigation and got the wrong airfield again for my diversion. Today just was not my brightest moment. Anyway got back to the school, debriefed with the CFI present as this lesson had to be repeated but thankfully they let me incorporate it in my next lesson.

After that I read my CAP 413 for the third time before going to meet the examiner for my RT. I was exhausted and terrified at this point. Got to the examiners house 10 minutes late, not setting a good example already, however my examiner was absolutely brilliant. No not because he passed me but because, he made me feel at ease and went over things with me clearly, I thought I was taking up all of his time but he really didn’t mind.

[Kash360]

Today was a much better day, I got a kick up my ass yesterday by my instructor, which made me come home last night and studied all night. And so today I got back on the horse and was out to prove a point to myself.
Again two lessons for the day, both pretty much identical based on navigation.

The first lesson included a expeditious departure, navigating to the correct destination and diverting to the correct designated airfield. Well let’s just say I had a good departure and a good navigation other than I had to make a fairly large correction on my track. But I advised my instructor ahead of time so it would be a valid and calculated change. Arrived at my destination just on time. I then started my diversion leg to an appointed airfield by my instructor. Again I got to my diversion point on time.

On the way back we did some instrument work which just included a climb and turns.

All in all a good flight.

I think at this point I was all excited and was ready for my next flight, my instructor even said that I should calm down but after a day like yesterday. I had something to be excited about.

My second flight of the day was pretty much the same as the morning flight however did not include a diversion. Instead it included engine failures in flight and after take off , slow flight and steep turns. Returned back to do a short field landing,

Really looking to my first day off tomorrow. Cannot wait.

[Kash360]

Well yesterday was the best day ever, lay in bed until 2pm. Much needed sleep. However my day off was short lived as in the afternoon came more studying.

Today was the BIG day no not my check ride but my 170A. For the people who don’t know what a 170A is, it’s a mock check ride. I arrived early morning did my pre-flight checks. Can you believe it, the last 10 days not a single knot of wind and today gusting 16kts. Main runway 9-27 closed so used 14-32. Heading indicator sticking in slaved mode. You get the picture, everything going against me. But I thought ill tackle it head on. Met with the CFI and was briefed on what to expect, already for a 1130 departure.

Got into the aircraft with the CFI, was advised my ATC to take a right turn on take off when I required a left turn. I thought I would take a right turn, but after take off I started a right turn thinking what I should do. But then ATC for a left turn to take me on my 1st reporting point, which they allowed. I started my nav leg and got confused with a road which I thought was my 1st reporting point but quickly rectified this mistake, and advised my CFI of the new ETA. Got to my destination point on time, was given a diversion point also arrived on time.

Then did a simulated fire engine which went wrong, I got the procedure wrong. I thought I was doing steep turns but I should have had the gear down and flaps down. And aimed for a 105kts speed at 45 degrees turn.

So that was not good, I then had to do a engine failure and engine failure after take off both of them went well.

After that I was told to put on the hood and given unusual attitudes to correct, both went well.

I was then told to do some compass rose turns which I thought were ok but my CFI obviously thought otherwise. But he was correct when we spoke about it in the debrief. I have no excuse even though I tried saying the Heading indicator was stuck. But it’s a visual manoeuvre so….

I was then told to do a position fix for some reason went pear shaped and got a wrong position fix. My CFI was very helpful to show me how to use the instruments correctly after the debrief.

We then did some stalls which were fine no problem there.

We then went back to do some touch and go’s a normal approach and a flapless landing both great approaches and landed on the centre line very briefly before I went off the centre line.

My entry back into the circuit was poor I mixed up the runways aiming for a downwind for runway 32 which infact I was setting up for a downwind on runway 14.

I had my debrief with the CFI, who went through the flight point by point,

I still have some work to do so going flying tomorrow morning.

My stay at EFT has been great im not promoting it just giving my version on how I have been treated. Don’t get me wrong there have been up’s and down’s but a journey wouldn’t be a journey without them.

I find that EFT is a great school and treats people like people and not numbers. There has been an incident where I didn’t agree with my instructors debrief. However this was quickly resolved by the CFI. I have to calculate how much I was originally quoted and how much I was charged, I wont be giving a figure, I think that would be wrong just allot more or just right or less would be a good indication

To everyone who has sent me private messages about EFT, thank you. I will get back to everyone tomorrow or Wednesday.

I may have my check ride tomorrow so I will update you all when I get home.

[Frank Furillo]

Kash360, enjoying reading your postings, just to let you know, I was once in your position. I enjoyed my time at EFT.

Just to give you some encouragement,I am sitting in my hotel room in Agadir, Morocco having brought a Boeing 737-800 down this morning. Taking it back tonight.
Good luck with your test.

32 degrees, thats cold mate come to Morocco, its hotter here!!!!

[Kash360]

Thanks Frank, at the moment i need all the encourgment i can get. Just turned up to the school now a 0715. What ever happened to sleeping in till late!! oh well.

[Kash360]

Hello everyone, you must all be getting sick of reading my reports. Im sorry they have nearly finished.

Arrived at the school this morning, to do a clean up flight, which involved a deptarture, compass turns, engine fire, position fix and then returning to do some touch and go's. In all fairness i thought it was a nice flight. I these were the items i didnt perform too well on my 170A yesterday.

I arrived back at the school and was told to wait until i was called by my instructor. This started me to worry, eventually i was called in and told that my 170A was signed off and that my check ride would be at 12:00. So i had 2 hours to run around and get things organised. Got myself a bite to eat before the exam, also wanted to make sure that my examiner had access to some refreshments in flight because it's so hot in the arrow.

Got back to the school and was told to call my examiner, it was the same examiner as on my RT exam. Which put me at some ease. Spoke to the examiner who asked if the forecast weather was ok for us to fly. I checked the weather for 3 airports which seemed all go. So told my examiner that it was ok to fly.

My examiner arrived to the school, a really nice guy and we sat down to do some paper work making sure i had met all the requirments to take the exam. Once we had done this he had briefed me on what i was to expect. Everything thing that we had worked towards was included. The examiner was very kind and made me feel at ease. REMEMBER he is to be treated like a passenger. We spoke for a little while about what was expected and was then left alone to complete my flight planning and mass and balance.

I then went to do my preflight checks, topped up the oil got the ATIS and walked back in. My examiner told me to check the weather again and advice him if it was a go or no go. Unfortunatley the weather was poor and there was thunderstorms heading our way. I felt like an idiot that i would have to tell my examiner that it was no go. Even though i had adviced him on the phone that it was ok. it's not the best idea to pi** your examiner off on the day off your exam im sure he has better things to do.

So i went to my examiner to tell him the bad news, instead of what i was expecting of getting a bollocking he was very understandable and said it was a good call. He was very kind to advise me of how weather should be taken from several airfield instead of just the 3 airfields i used. He gave some great examples of the reason why too. So guys make sure you check the weather all around not just on route. It turned out that ten minutes later it started to train followed by a thunderstorm.

He was very kind to rearrange for tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed guys things will go well for me and by tomorrow afternoon i will be a CPL holder. Its all in my hands i suppose, like my examiner said you walk in that a/c with a pass, now its up to you if you want to keep it.

I will advice you all tomorrow, any adivce or tips would be much appreciated!!

[Kash360]

Morning/Afternoon depending on where you are.

Arrived early this morning to the school checked the weather and we are fogged in at Fort Pierce. It should clear up soon hopefully. will advise you all when i have had the check ride...

[moona]

Good Luck, hope it works out :ok:

[quant]

keep it up Kash! :ok:

[mech500]

Thank you for the post, it's been good reading. Good luck

[Kash360]

This is the second time im writting this, so please bare with me,

As most of you know that yesterday was my CPL checkride, and thankfully i passed.

So here we go, on Tuesday after we cancelled the flight due to bad weather. The examiner was kind enough to allow me to do the check ride the next day. He advised me that i should wake up early and if the weather was good i should call him. So thats exactly what i did. I woke up at 0400 and sat watching the weather, i decided to come into the school at 0700 and call my examiner just to keep him in the loop. I advised him that the weather was great excpet for Fort Pierce where there was fog. He told me to call him when the weather was good enough to fly. In the mean time i did my mass and balance sheet, did my walk around and did my pre flight check. I then called the examiner at 1030 when the weather had picked up and kindly enough the examiner arrived at about midday.

The examiner arrived and said that he just wanted straight into flying as we had done the oral and brief the day before. So i wlaked out to the aircraft with my " passenger" and briefed him that we were entering a restricted area and that he should stay close to me at all times. We then got in to the aircraft and gave a passenger brief and advised him that we would be taking off in about 10 minutes.

So we took around 1300 and once over my starting point for my navigation leg i noted the time, did my checks and called for flight following. I then advised my passenger the ETA,heading and altitude. Remember you are allow to change your heading,altitude and ETA aslong as you tell the passenger in advance. Beleive it or not im normally very good at navigation. But on this occasion i arrived at the wrong destination as so i knew that i had now gone from a pass to a partial. I now needed to make sure that i didnt fail the whole thing.

So we quickly moved on to the instrument section, put my hood on and took control again. started of with a staright and level flight, climbing turns and then unusal attitude recovery. All fairly ok but make sure rate 1 turns when under the hood.

We then moved onto the general handling which included, steep turns, glide turns, compass turns, clean stall, approach stall and final stall. all ok went well thankfully. However PLEASE remember to do your checks before any manouver, i was very close to forgetting to do them before the stalls. Very easy to forget.

Quickly moved on to emergencies, which included engine fire, engine failiure after take off and engine failiure at altitude. The biggest thing here is fly the aircraft dont get your head stuck in the cockpit doing checks. It could be too late then. And remember always be ready for them in the exam and in real life. You never know when your going to get one, so dont expect your examiner to tell you in advance.

We then headed toward Vero Beach to do some touch and go's but on the way there was required to get a position fix. Normally i fgind this a hard task but yesterday i got it straight away. Joined the circuit for Vero and was told to start with a normal followed by a flapless, glide and a short field landing. On the first approach i had to go around as i was not stable at 300ft there was no doubt in my mind that i would make it but in comercial at 300ft if your not on the glide slope and stable GO AROUND. the other landings went well.

Arrived back in Fort Pierce and shut down the a/c. And had a debrief, the passenger now had turned into the examiner and he was very kind and gave great examples of how i could do better. But the truth is it was still a partial pass. My examiner was kind enough to offer that we do the navigation again straight away. So thats exactly what we did, he gave me a new route and i planned it did my pre flight check and found a spot between the weather to redo the navigation section.

So took off runway 32 just as before got to my first reporting point, gave my passenger a ETA,heading and a altitude. There was no way in hell that i was going to mess this up again. So finally i positively identified the airfield and was then told to go to my diversion point. You dont know the diversion point until your about 5-10 to your destination. So flew to my diversion and again identifed it. On the way back we did a intercepted and tracked a QDM and arrived back at Fort Pierce.

WHen we got back into the school my examiner put me out of my misery and told me that i had passed. Beleive me what a feeling.

I would like to firstly thank my examiner for all the help and advise that he has given me. I have to say he was very proffesional but at the same time made you feel at ease and comftable. I have been with some examiners in the past and they think they are above you. ( which they are in reality) but my examiner treated me like a human being. He gave me some great advice, i.e if you have a problem in flight pass you should pass that problem onto someone else. i.e ATC. Let them take your problem off you. Also that is every student did time buildng spent 5-10 hours with an instructor going over the requirments listed in standards document 3 they would have it allot easier when they got to the course. I have kindly asked the examiner to come on this site and give us all some words of wisdom as we still all have allot to learn.

I would also like to thank EFT for all there support and hospitality. Especailly the CFI who was very kind and understanding, If you had a problem i would be sure that he would make it his problem and slove it so thankyou CFI. My experience has been great here dont get me wrong it has its up and downs to do a CPL in 12 days in something. And to pass it is increadible.

Finally i would like to thank my instructor for all his support, he has a great gift of getting the best out of his students. I think that he is a great asset to EFT and i personally belive that the balance at EFT would change if he were ever leave. But most importantly he has been a great asset to me. I would like invite my instructor on here and ask him to give us some words of wisdom. So that way we can have a view of everyone involved. The examiner,Instructor and the student

And a BIG BIG thank you to Roy and Jhon, my house mates who have stayed up with me till the early hours in the morning studying. Keep your girlfriends and wifes away from Roy. Dont say i didnt warn you...only joking. Thanks for everything Roy

Again thanyou examiner, instructor,CFI and EFT and for all of you reading this diary. I hope it will help you in the future. If anyone has any questions please feel free tto ask.

Final words, dont waste your hour building and read standards document 3.

[TheBeak]

Well done mate.

[quant]

well done kash360

[redout]

Kudos.

Quite surprised the examiner let you go again straight away. I usually thought when one got a partial they had to do X amount of hours recommended by the Examiner. Anyone verify this ?

[Kash360]

Redout,

I maybe wrong but i think the examiner speaks to the CFI as the examiner did yesterday to say that i had failed the Navigation section, and it is upto the CFI if you need further training. i.e if i failed an instruments section then i would need further training but because im normally good at navigation the CFI decided that it was a one off and no further training was required. But like i said i maybe wrong.

[roysty77]

well done Kash it was well worth the long hours and no sleep for us both doing your revision!!!! just remember mate ill be there soon!!! lol oh and thanks for the comment..............MATE! hhahahahaha :)

[Kash360]

Redout and anyone else interested,

I stand corrected and would like to say that it is true that you are required to do x amount of hours before your next check ride. However this is the decision of the person taking the exam. i.e me!! and i decided to fly again immediately. This is shown on the form provided by the examiner.

Thankyou to my source of information.

[Matthew Adams]

Congratulations Kash. I know you must be exhausted, I am!

To clear up on the re-training issue. It is at examiners discretion. They can mandate training, recommend training or neither. Check the bottom of your skills test report form.
The CFI at any school can also add to this of course at their discretion.
It really depends on the individual circumstances.

In yor case Nav wasn't too much of a problem during your training, and extra training wasn't really necessary.

Well done, now get back to drilling that oil to fuel our aircraft!

Pointers wise; don't waste your hour building by choosing the cheapest option where your not getting any pointers or structure. Saving $10 an hour is offset straight away when you end up repeating mutiple lessons at CPL lev which is expensive, because you only flew long navs city to city just racking up the hours! Doing the hour building where you intend to train also helps. If your hour building is done properly the CPL should be a breeze. In reality he majority of students complete "time wasting" and then suffer later during CPL and IR training.

[Frank Furillo]

Well done Kash, look forward to hearing you in the sky:ok:

[laakdown]

well done kash, would really appreciate it if you could keep a diary like this going for the foreseeable future. dont need daily updates or anything but would love to hear how the rest of your pilot career progresses after getting CPL

[Ronand]

Hey did u have to pay the 500 quid extra for the partial?

[mech500]

Well done mate. I have a quick question, what do you mean by "I arrived at the wrong destination". Sorry, if it's obvious to everyone else but does this mean that you basically told your examiner that 'we are now overhead X' but in reality you were overhead Y. Or does it mean your ETA was out. Perhaps you misheard the correct destination and took the examiner to the 'wrong' destination. The only reason I ask this is because you've mentioned making this mistake at least once before. I'm also looking to do my CPL at EPT later this year so I'm looking to do as much prep as possible. Thanks.

[redout]

Put simply he means he arrived over the wrong point. For example just say he was required to arrive over Oxford but instead arrived over Kidlington. How far he was away from the correct point only himself and the examiner will know that. If he recognised the mistake himself rather than the examiner having to point it out and then rectified it then that would obviously not hve beeen as bad as believing X to be Y as you said. Flying VFR navigation requires one to constantly be checking visual references outside - stopwatch/Chart and instruments. At least thats how I use to do it anyway.

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Well done mate. Blue one in the bag, green one next :ok:

[trigger0071]

Hi Kash, i'm thinking of doing my CPL at EFT begining of next year. Have you any advice regarding SE or Multi CPL. It seems more cost effective to go the Multi route, but I want to make sure I don't get into training overload!! I have yet to do any multi training. Great thread by the way, thanks.

[Kash360]

Thank you for all your kind words, sorry I have not been able to reply to your questions soon enough. I am now back home and been suffering from jet lag or just being really lazy.

I did have to pay 400 and odd pounds for my partial. And you are correct that if I noticed my mistake on the navigation sector in time and rectified it, I may have passed first time.

Like I did my cpl in 12 days I would not recommend doing it in such a short period of time. Don't get me wrong I loved every minute of it thanks to matt and eft. It's just I didn't get a seconds break from it. But I wanted to get it done asap.

I am now at a cross road and hoping you guys will be able to help. I have yet to do my IR. But I spoke to the owner at eft who was very kind to say that if I did my instructors rating I may get a job with them. So the question is IR or instructors rating?

I have been given the go ahead to write an article based on my cpl for a flying magazine. So am looking forward to doing that.

[Kash360]

Tiger 007, thank you for your post. I would do a multi engine rather than doing a single engine on your cpl. I think it would be like you said more cost efective. I did my multi when I did my ppl. Hope that helps.

[roysty77]

lazy sounds right!!!!! only kiddin m8 u did well and u deserve the break!:ok:

[scott5988]

Hi Kash360,

How are things looking out there at the moment as i hear the CFI at OFT has just been made redundent. Things still looking strong art EFT?

good luck!

Scott :ok:

[Farrell]

Kash

Well done on obtaining your CPL.
It has been very entertaining to read your posts and also to know that you have experienced, first hand, the instructional prowess of Matty Adams.

In this day and age, I would be surprised if you did not bring a camera with you to record your CPL journey. I know that Matty loves taking photos of his students so he may even have done some of you.

Can you please post a few photos of your time at EFT in order to "put a name to a face" so to speak.

I am sure, as Matt has already commented on, it was an exhausting time for you both - but I'm positive that there simply must have been photos taken.

Please share them with us.

Farrell

[Mordacai]

Kash,

Good job and congratulations - those long, hard, sweaty days in the cockpit certainly paid off in the end! I sometimes wondered what you and Matthew were actually doing up there.!

Mr Farrell,

I did see the camera come out a few times, but wasn't it TJ that was the real camera crazy instructor? I hope Kash gets around to putting his pics up though for all to see. I even think we have a picture of Kash performing the dreaded right hand circuit on the now defunct runway 27.

scott5988,

I am involved with EFT, but have no idea with whats just happened at OFT, I don't even know if they intend to continue with JAA training.

After a lot of hard work, things are really looking up for us, and we're going to have a VERY busy summer and autumn.

[Kash360]

Farrell and Mordaci

Thank you all for your kind words, yes it was certainly very hot long days. And Matt is the best instructor i have ever come across. I went to EFT as an average/poor pilot and think i have left EFT thinking that i am now a much better pilot because of the airmanship and skills Matt had taught me.

I really dont know anything about OFT, i have never considered them so i dont know what happend with there CFI. But EFT is defo growing it is or already has moved to its new place which is amazing. Four sims, new classrooms with interactive whiteboards and of course Mathew.

Below are a few photo's.

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs096.snc1/5161_93984497868_514462868_2058093_4231663_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?op=1&view=global&subj=514462868&pid=2065342&id=514462868)
Me and the Chariot



http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs096.snc1/5161_93984492868_514462868_2058092_606122_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?op=1&view=global&subj=514462868&pid=2065342&id=514462868)



Now that i have passed my CPL, im at cross roads now any advice in my journey. Instructor or IR???? Please help!!

[Farrell]

Mordacai:

"Kash performing the dreaded right hand circuit on the now defunct runway 27"

I am now truly humbled.

Kash:

"...i am now a much better pilot because of the airmanship and skills Matt had taught me."

If memory serves me correctly, and Mordacai can confirm this, Matthew used to Sir Elton John's personal pilot.


".... and of course Mathew."

This is now bordering on the "scary".

[Kash360]

Hello again everyone,

As you may know already i have recently completed my CPL and have returned back to the UK. I was in two minds about doing my IR or my instructors rating. After a long and hard think along with taking unbiased advice i have decided to now do my IR. And then if there is still no sign of employment will do my instructors rating. I have yet not decided on the route i will be taking to do my IR.

However i will ensure you that i will again doing a diary similar to this one!! I am currently thinking about doing my IR at Aerodynamics or returnig back to EFT to do it there. The scheme at EFT is part US and part UK, this will allow me more time on an aircraft instead of a simulator. I have not ruled anything out as yet. I may even decide to do an FAA IR and return to convert.

I have £10000 to spend!!

I am hoping for a someone to accept my offer!! if that is the case i will be straight out there..

Any thoughts??

[maximus610]

Kash,
good job done for CPL!
For IR I'd suggest you to do the FAA route.Then convert it in Spain(cos of the WX) with UK authority.Don't know if it's much cheaper, but sure it will be more efficient for your IR.

Good Luck!:ok:

mxms

[BigGrecian]

it will be more efficient for your IR.

It will also be of a considerably lower standard.

[MAXTHRUSTV1]

I love it when people start talking about a lower standard when thay have no idea and start to stereotype every school outside the UK.

Kash i would advise the FAA route or the route directly in europe this way you will get more time flying the aeroplane in real life IFR instead of doing 40hrs sim like most places in the UK for a lot more money!

[Kash360]

Thank you guys for all the advice, much appreciated!! Still getting my head around a few things i.e what and where works out cheaper and still get a good level of training.

[Kash360]

Hi everyone, i thought i would keep you all updated on my current training. I will be leaving for Spain tomorrow for my ME/IR course. I will be keeping a diary similar to this one. Please let me know what other information you would wish me to include.

[Kash360]

Hello, sorry about not doing my IR diary as i promised i would. I felt the school i was at to do my ME IR would have made my life hell if i had been truthful and done a diary while i was there. But however i have completed my ME IR with a first time pass.So very happy, also i have had my blue book posted to me and am now in possesion of it. It lives in my draw with all the other junk. So i have now done my CPL/ME IR. And am joining a very very long que for work!!

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

But however i have completed my ME IR with a first time pass.So very happy, also i have had my blue book posted to me and am now in possesion of it. It lives in my draw with all the other junk. So i have now done my CPL/ME IR.

I would frame the bloody thing and pop it up on the dining room wall! :ok: