Hello all, here comes another update:
We did our base training last Thursday at Cardiff airport. The weather was quite blustery with the occasional shower in the morning. We had a moderate crosswind that made things more interesting, especially with the bit of turbulence generated by the cliff on short final.
I have often wondered what would I feel sitting at the controls of a big jet for the first time. Now I know the answer; initially I did not have much time to reflect as I was concentrating pretty hard not to screw up, after a couple of circuits though I began to relax a bit and started to really enjoy myself. I have to agree that it was a sensation very similar to your first solo... apprehension, concentration, elation, big grin...
Mario, our training captain, offered a very effective mix of encouragement and toughness. "181kts is too fast and 179 kts is too slow" I remember him saying at one point followed by "excellent that looks good" and then "you are a bit high, sort it out".
The hardest part was judging when to roll out on finals to get lined up exactly and how much drift to apply for the xwind. The more surprising part how the aircraft just goes where you point it, almost like a dart. The flare was quite similar to the sim and the hardest part is to resist the temptation to try to hold it off the deck, if you do you will be floating past the middle point of the runway in no time.
Well it was a superb day that made the last few years of sweat, hard work and endless offerings to the insatiable gods of Wannaland worthwhile. The best of all is that I get to do this for a living now. Brilliant!
Cal