IRT fail

[MJR]

Hi Dooders,

I have just completely failed my IRT, what an arse. Would anyone like to suggest the pro's and con's of binning serial one and moving on to serial two apart from the obvious advantage of being able to wing a partial pass. Or should I forget it all together and become a train driver.

cheers

MJR

[Flysundone]

MJR,

Glad I'm not the only "arse".

I would suggest you dispense with Series One unless you are confident of a full pass at attempt two.

After I failed I was advised to start a new series which I did. However, the CAA insisted on my doing an additional five hours of training. On my next test I got a partial and a full pass a couple of days later.

My problem was doing my IR training on a part-time basis which didn't help.

Best of luck.

[wallup]

You're not the only arse.

I knackered the first go too, however, it depends on your state of mind, I knew that my failure was a bad day at the office and that I was capable of passing, so i took first series, second attempt and got it.

A friend of mine did that a week before as well.

It' up to you, going to the second series gives you a buffer, trying attempt two is a bit of a drink in the last chance saloon - it all depends how you feel about your flying.

All the best Mark.

[MJR]

Well thanks for that chums, I think another 3 hours of training will put the needle within 1/2 scale deflection so I am tempted to do test 2. My 170a was pretty good and in fairly inclement weather conditions too(40kts across the hold axis). However I had a week without flying before my test making me feel a bit rusty. I was wondering if I went for series 2 how long it takes to get a response from the CAA CFE and what is the minimum amount of mandatory training likely to be?

cheers

MJR

[INLAK]

I wouldn`t worry about failing the first time. I did exactly that, but managed to get it on the second attempt. I was one of those fortunate people to be a cadet with an airline, and 13 out of the 15 in my class failed or partialed the IRT first time.
Put it down to bad luck, and make it a god learning experience. It`ll put you in a better standing for the successful retake!!
Good luck!!

[expedite_climb]

If you got straight to series 2, you will have to do a MINIMUM of 5 hrs training.

[wallup]

I think that to go into series two you will need to do a mandatory 5 hours training.

Did the examiner make a recommendation regarding minimum training requirement on the report?

[bruce.benson]

To chip in with my hard luck story:

Failed 1:1 decided that I couldn't be that bad a pilot and also couldn't face the mandatory 5hrs training so went for 1:2

No safety net with 1:2 so I made my mistake and missed that too. However I was only required to do 1 flight ( 1:30) and another 170a before series 2

No worries with series 2 - got it in one.

That's not the law ( 5hrs is mandatory ) but just to let you know that they don't ALWAYS apply it if your flying is actually up to standard.

It's a tough call and as the others have said it's up to you and what you think of your performance. Is your flying up to standard but you just overlooked something or do you think you could use the practice?

Final comment - if you thought you were under pressure for 1:1 just wait for 1:2! :eek: no partial really makes you sweat.

Nice to know that 13/15 sponsored students didn't get it first time. I know I felt really down after not passing - half the battle was just to keep my faith in myself.

Good luck,

N.

Good luck.

[Luke SkyToddler]

Don't worry too much about it mate ... the harshness of the IRT test is a joke, when 13 out of 15 airline cadets can botch it (bearing in mind they have theoretically all been hand picked as being of above average ability and low training risks) then something really needs to be done about it.

I was fortunate enough to get it first time but on reflection I was amazed, there's no doubt the examiner 'could' have failed me on at least two sections if he had been really in an arsey mood. The standards they set in the manual are simply not possible for normal mortals, it's rigged so they can always get you for something if they want to.

I'd go for the series 1 - attempt 2 option myself, you've not really got anything to lose by trying it and possibly a lot to gain in terms of compulsory dual hours. If you were only a narrow fail the first time and you get the same examiner, they'll quite often take a bit of pity on you in my experience.

[MJR]

Thanks for the words of encouragement its amazing how you can feel so isolated in the moments of dispair. Its no so much the money or the time or even the stigma of failure, its the lack of self belief which is the real bummer.

Test 2 coming up.

cheers

MJR

[Polar_stereographic]

MJR,

Re:

its the lack of self belief which is the real bummer

Well, it's probably a bit late now, but I trust that the school you are with will restore this, if not, find another sharpish. I'll recomend one if need be.

PS

[Ennie]

Go on to series two...are you mad!!!. I failed my first IR and had a point to prove on the second go, yeah I could have got a full fail, but I didn't I was determined and I did it, don't be so negative and go for it! :mad:

[KYGMSY]

Forgive my ignorance, I'm hopefully going to do my IR in the next couple of months. Can you please tell me what is meant by first series and second series etc.

Much appreicated.

[Stan Evil]

Rather than explain series and attempts (I'm too lazy) - go to this site and look at the IR notes for guidance - it's all in there.

FCL Standards Docs (http://www.srg.caa.co.uk/pld/fcl/fcl_information.asp?category=12)

[ 14 November 2001: Message edited by: Stan Evil ]

[QNH 1013]

I agree with Luke Skytod, the written standard is amazing, particularly when you think of the stress you're under during the test, particularly the financial stress, and when you have a sluggish adf which suddenly jumps 5 degrees....
MJR, the tips I picked up for the IR follow. I hope they are of some help / comfort to you:
Don't ever give up no matter what mistakes you think you have made. - All the other students I spoke to had made mistakes on the test and all said "he/she could have failed me if they had wanted to". Certainly, I thought I had "blown it" quite early on in the test but I gave it everything I could
for the rest of the flight and got a pass. If you make a mistake point out to the examiner what you have done wrong and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. (I'm not talking about going just outside the published limits, I'm talking about missing something like icing checks in the climb).
Remember, all humans make mistakes. What sorts out the professionals from the also-rans is how they realise they have made an error and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Always follow the least risk stategy; you won't fail if you ask for a clearance, heading or level to be repeated or reconfirmed, but you will fail if you bust an altitude because you didn't check.
I found it helped me to work out what the real "instant fails" in the test would be. That way, I seemed to have less chance of getting it wrong in the test when I had no spare brain capacity left. The sort of things I came up with were failing to set and cross-check altimeters before descent and at FAF, and turning the wrong way during the hold entry (did this twice during training!). You can make your own list. I daren't tell you how long my list was.
Finally, good luck ! Everyone is wishing you success.