Part one- Introduction and my reasons why
Sitting at home having sent out my C.V and realising the airlines were not going to be beating down my door I had in the back of my mind plan B.
A little background - I am 36 years old, I got my PPL in the UK with the intention of doing nothing more than pottering around the English countryside on my days off, with perhaps the odd adventure to France.
Having completed the ppl, I realised that the option was there for the likes of me to ‘go all the way’ to achieve the dream. My father had been in the airline business so as a child I found myself sitting in the flight deck of Bcal DC10s wondering in marvel at this fabulous office while my father flicked the light test and GPWS warnings . WOW I was hooked; I was gonna be an airline pilot when I grew up!
Well school seemed to pass me by, and before I knew it I was 17 years old, 5 olevels a job in a warehouse and the dream of flying seemed to sit in the back of my mind as something other ‘gifted’ people do
I don’t know,it just seemed to happen, but I ended up at a police training college and graduated 14 weeks later as a police constable.
Life went on and before I knew it I woke up one morning and found myself with a mortgage, wife and 3 children! That was me for the next 10 or so years quite happy with my lot. I still wanted to get my pilots licence so on a sort of whim really I popped into the local flying club. A trial flight later and I was signed up for the whole course.
PPL completed over about a year, yes a year, 3 kids a mortgage, a full time job and the great British weather all extended the time it took me to join the world of aviation.
While training as I am sure most people reading this will know, I began overhearing conversations from Flight instructors. The routes they took to get where they had, the job market, the costs etc . But the biggest revelation was the fact I could try this game for myself.
Well the long and short was that having spoken to the family I would give it a go. No A levels, no degree, but it didn’t seem to matter.
The only gamble really was the two grand or so it would cost for the 14 ATPL exams. If I wasn’t up to it, well at least I gave it a go and the wife probably wouldn’t divorce me for that amount of money!
I did find the exams heavy going, but doing them modular with a great school got me through in the end. I did realise however that I had paid no attention in school and had to learn some of the basics from scratch. SohCahToa! I didn’t have a clue.
Having got the exams out of the way I was desperate to start the flying, just one small hurdle, money!
I really hadn’t thought passed the exams, perhaps in part to my lack of confidence, I guess looking back now that I really never thought that I would succeed, and it was more of a personal challenge than anything else.
I started hours building, well, hours in the book to keep current and do those things I originally set out to do with my PPL.
I had discovered PPRUNE by then and having used the search engine time and time again, (SCROGGS you would be proud) I found all the info I needed, even down to the most sympathetic bank.
HSBC – a couple of visits a business plan that took weeks to compile, a promise to stay employed throughout my training, security against my house and it was done. All the money I ever needed to get a FATPL.
Now I could hit the hours building hard, every spare moment I got I was on a trip somewhere. Something I did learn was that unbelievably it’s really difficult to find people to tag along. Once you have shown ALL your friends their houses the offers of FREE left hand seats seem to dry up. Perhaps I should be concerned!!
Finished the hours building and went straight into the CPL. I completed this at Stapleford in the south east of the UK. My instructor, fantastic. She in fact became more like a friend in the few weeks we spent sitting together making the whole process great fun. Well I passed on Christmas Eve, which was rather a nice pressey.
The New Year saw me complete the multi rating and then into the Instrument Rating.
When I think back to the IR I think of it as just another part of my training, a hurdle to get over, it really now doesn’t seem that bad.
However at the time, it was the most stressed I have ever ever been about anything in my life.
I remember sitting on the runway at Cranfield at the start of my test thinking 2 thoughts.
1) Oh god, I have forgotten to set the transponder code, what was it?
2) How the hell am I going to keep this straight on the runway, my legs are shaking sooo much.
As this isn’t a diary about the IR (or any other facet of my training, wow I have waffled), so I will spare you the details other than to say I passed 2nd attempt series 1.
MCC was completed at Oxford, which great fun, much needed after the stress of the IR.
So here I am where you began reading, me thinking about plan B.
Perhaps if I tell you my thought processes you may, even if you do not agree with, understand why I opted to go the type rating route.
I bashed out the CVs and filled in the online applications, which where either not replied to or sent back with a letter saying no thanks. I did have some luck with one application so that did mist the waters a little, but after I hadn’t heard anything for nearly 2 months I began to think that avenue was not going to open for me.
I figured that as I was now 36 years old, I really didn’t have too much time to hang about. If I went down the F.I. route, I would be perhaps nearer 40 before I had the sort of hours some people half my age had and were not getting any better replies than me.
I had to keep working remember, 3 kids mortgage etc, flying at weekends would be slow progress to a large recognizable amount of hours
If I hung on for the interview with the T.P operator I may not get through, and if I did, the way the market is going, the chances are that when I eventually wanted to move on to that dream job ( remember the jets I sat in as a kid) I may have to fund my type rating anyway.
I know that some people will despise me for doing it this way, but my interest lies in a jet job, sorry I can’t change that, that’s just me.
Another thing that helped was the housing market; I had made enough on a house sale to pay back my original loan, so I was perhaps in a better position than some to fund the rating.
Whatever you think on the dos and don’ts of self funded type ratings I hope you can see some method in my thinking.
Having completed my CPL/IR at Stapleford, I was aware of the 737 rating with 100 hours they did with Astraeus/Bond. It was also important for me to do it all in the UK, so I could get home for the family and possibly work in between.
Ok the reason for all this –
THE TYPE RATING DIARY
It was December again, doesn’t time fly. I went down to Cranebank at Heathrow to fly a British Airways simulator on a Sunday evening for a Simulator assessment.
I parked the car in the multi storey opposite, about 3 hours early and sat there briefing the pre read for the millionth time. You are given the basic profile and standard calls as well as the power settings you should use.
I had flown the 737 add ons for flight sim and practiced time and time again to myself.
We met up with the assessor and the other 4 candidates and after a coffee we had to decide the running order between ourselves. Always one for thinking lets just get on and do it, I made a lame excuse about going first and no one seemed to argue the point so that was that.
Sitting in the 737 simulator with training Capt. beside me on an assessment should have scared the pants off me. However this particular chap (a TV star but that’s another story) put me at ease from the word go. I flew as he had asked and well, just did my best. At one point the motion dropped off and the simulator and the system crashed, making the whole thing jump around, but a quick reset and away we went again.
When I later spoke to him during the course he said he was impressed the way that the system crash hadn’t fazed me, but if I am honest it gave me a few extra minutes to think about things.
Without giving to many secrets away this type of assessment is flown raw data, that is no automatics or auto throttle. Speaking to people since, the thing that gets most seems to be the pitch power couple, but I had read somewhere (probably PPRUNE), to treat the power levers as if they were attached to the electric trim. That is when ever the throttle is advanced; the trim should be as well in the same direction. So that’s what I did !
Hold entry worked out well, or at least I thought it did. I got it all worked out in my head, got the correct hold entry sorted, flew the hold and then on down for the arrival and landing.
(It wasn’t till I got my assessment report that I realised once in the hold I had turned the wrong way and it was more luck than judgement it worked out ok).
I got out 45 minutes or so later and after a goodbye and thank you I went off back round the M25 not having a clue how I had performed.
Bond/Astraeus say the assessment report will be with you within 5 working days, and true to their word, it was, oh goodness how did I do?
The grading is 1 to 5, 1 being the lowest 5 the highest.
I think that if you score 3 or less you have been assessed as requiring a Jet orientation course.
Well despite being a complete tool and turning the wrong way in the hold, I scored a
4 +
I was over the moon; a flying god had thought I wasn’t so bad after all. The big bonus being I wouldn’t need to find an extra couple of grand for the J.O.C.
Bond contacted me soon afterwards and asked if I would like to start the course the following week! Yikes!!
As it turned out I couldn’t get the time if work until a month later so I opted for the Feb 2006 course.
I spent the month in between on Microsoft flight sim, reading profiles, SOPs the 737 technical web page ( very good I must say), and watched as the days rolled ever closer to my big course............. to follow