Initial Type Rating preparation

[twinotterifr]

I will be beginning my initial type rating on the a320 very soon, one month to be precise, as i was told by my airline at the very last minute. I wish to seek advice regarding the best method to prepare for type rating.

I intend to (by order of priority) study the:

-Company's FCOM normal & abnormal procedures' section; flows, callouts, profiles, PM/PF roles.
-Read the FCTM (golden rules, protection philosophy)
-QRH memory items / emergency procedures
-Study aircraft systems from an online CBT subscription / FCOM systems section
-Memorize limitation values i.e. pitch/power values, speeds, flap/Ldg gear speeds, wind limits etc.

Please let me know your thoughts and if one month is sufficient time to prepare.

Cheers,

[VariablePitchP]

I will be beginning my initial type rating on the a320 very soon, one month to be precise, as i was told by my airline at the very last minute. I wish to seek advice regarding the best method to prepare for type rating.

I intend to (by order of priority) study the:

-Company's FCOM normal & abnormal procedures' section; flows, callouts, profiles, PM/PF roles.
-Read the FCTM (golden rules, protection philosophy)
-QRH memory items / emergency procedures
-Study aircraft systems from an online CBT subscription / FCOM systems section
-Memorize limitation values i.e. pitch/power values, speeds, flap/Ldg gear speeds, wind limits etc.

Please let me know your thoughts and if one month is sufficient time to prepare.

Cheers,

Don’t overdo it. Especially if it’s your initial type, as in never flown a large aircraft before, you won’t have the context of the operation to slot it into.

learning flows and calls can be handy but I really wouldn’t bother with too much else. Seems silly to say, but that’s the point of the type rating!

[iggy]

As an instructor I have noticed that the trainees who have never stood in a cockpit before usually have issues trying to find their place in the cockpit. It is just too much information condensed in a very small place, and at different stages you'll need to discriminate what you really need to look at, and disregard the rest.

So, I would first grab a cockpit layout chart (the bigger the better), "sit inside it", and start building muscle memory reaching the different handles, controls, and buttons.

And second, I would try to make myself familiar with the PFD and ND: what info comes out in every line and in every corner, and where to find the basic flight parameters. For this I would go to youtube and just look at different videos about the PFD and ND layouts and functions. You will not understand most of it, but when the time comes to sit in the cockpit and start doing stuff you'll brain will be already used to a certain extent to discrminate what you need to look for at that moment.

And for the rest, as they say above, you lack the frame to understand how the airplane works and how each system interacts with each other, reading the FCOM on your own may get you confused at a later stage. Just be familiar on how to search for info in the manuals (iPad indexing, normal procedures, supplementary, etc...), and let the instructor guide you.

Enjoy it, I still remember my first type rating, twenty years ago. I have never experienced the same thrill again during training.