Time for an update for those interested, hijacked 757s not withstanding...
Finished our "Authorised Weather Observers" course last week. Quite interesting. I hadn't realised how much detail went into actually recording the observations compared with the resulting, and much simpler, METAR/SPECI.
We got to see a weather ballon get set up, filled (hydrogen no less) and released, and later checked out the resulting data. I get the impression that met guys
REALLY enjoy their work. (although there were fewer beards around than we were expecting)
So, after 9 weeks Theory, 10 weeks Blippying, and the week-long Met course, we finally made it into the sims this week.
Whilst blippying you start to think 'How hard could it be?' Clear this guy to land, that guy to take-off, move some vehicles around a bit, pass some traffic information.
Now I know better, and the scary thing is that I know how little I know. (Rumsfield's known unknowns?)
The phrase "sweating bullets" comes to mind.
Time management is the be-all and end-all of the job. And you can only give yourself time to manage what's happening around you if your phraseology, and the mechanics of filling out strips and moving them around are second nature.
If you can save just 2 seconds every minute through not having to think about how you're going to phrase something, then every hour, that's an extra 2 minutes up your sleeve to process what's going on around you. Doesn't sound like much, but when you are getting hammered from all directions, it adds up to a whole lot.
So newbies coming in: PHRASEOLOGY, PHRASEOLOGY, PHRASEOLOGY
It is amazing how real everything becomes after 20 mins in the sim. It doesn't feel like a videogame any more. Your heartrate goes up and the adrenalin kicks in.
The sickening realisation that you've cleared someone to land on one runway, and cleared someone else to take-off on the crossing runway is just horrible. Don't think I'll make that mistake again.
I thought that Theory was a roller-coaster, but it's nothing on this. After a day in the sims, your legs are shaky and you are mentally exhausted. I understand now why you don't do more than two 2-hour sims per day.
It's vital that you have the tenacity to keep at it though, because the lows really suck, but when something clicks and you do something right, the highs are just incredible.
It is a real buzz, and I can't think of anything that even comes close to this whole experience.