A new FO's story- (merged)
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: South East
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A new FO's story part 1
For the guys thinking of flying, and the ones who have asked for my story. I was one of the very luck few. My father was and airline pilot and I had always wanted to be one to, but unfortunately I am short sighted. My parents gently steered me away from flying since at that time you needed near perfect eyesight.
I did my A levels in the Isle of Man, didn’t get great results but still passed them and managed to get a place at Uni to study electronics. During the summer before I was due to start a good friend of mine asked me to go along to an RAF interview with him for moral support so I did. While I was there a hairy old Sergeant talked me into doing some tests to become electronics tech since at the time as he put it experience was the main thing and the qualifications could be gained whilst in the RAF. I passed the tests with flying colours and was told I really should have been trying to be a pilot with those results. I told them I was short sighted but they said that was their call, the hook was well and truly baited again.
I went to Biggin Hill, took the tests and passed the aptitudes well but was called into the medical office with the bad news that I had failed the eyesight test, funny old thing! The only flying branch that was open to me was as an AEOp basically a flying radar operator on Nimrods, 'A good mixture of both electronics and flying' my two loves I was told. So too cut a long story short I joined the RAF and spent the next 15 years sneaking into the cockpit to watch wishing I was in the seat. I even tried to blag my way through the eyesight tests a few times but it never worked. I came into some money 5 years ago and decided that this was my chance finally to make my lifetime dream come true, or at least give it a go. I have seen so many 'Whatifs' around the bars in the RAF, 'What if I had done this....', 'What if I had done that........' I was never going to be one of those with my own bar stool reminiscing about what could have been. My wife and I had a serious chat that lasted several months based around the pros and cons of leaving what was a well-paid job for a complete uncertainty. I believed that I would pass the course and get a job, but that’s allot of belief when you have a wife and child to support. One thing that I really didn't realise at that time was the difficulty in getting a job, I had the rosy glasses that said he with the CPL gets job. I didn't even research the job market I just thought I would be able to get a job!
I put my notice in with the RAF and they insisted that I stayed on another 18 months in a crappy desk job before they would let me go, the longest 18 months of my life. I started to research the flying schools but at that stage thought that I would be going to Cabair since they seemed to have the shiny brochures. I went to Cabair and wasn't very impressed, the equipment was old, the aircraft all had non-standard fits and the simulators were a joke, one Frasca in an old portacabin. They did give me a good free lunch though!! I had an appointment at OATS that I missed completely, a mix up with the days. I went down the next day on the off chance and was shown around what looked to be a modern professional outfit. The classrooms all had computers in them and the simulators and aircraft looked fabulous. I stopped on in the coffee shop and had a chat to some of the students who seemed pleased with their choice, so OATs it was to be! Now just to get through that 18 months..... I wrote a letter to Easyjet, to Stellios himself saying that I was off to Oxford and would fly the Easy flag for him in return for a job at the end, didn’t hear anything back, and was I naive or what!! I did some flying lessons to really make sure of my career change, only about 20, I thought any more would be a waist of money since I was to do it all again. Yes I had made the right choice.
The 18 months slowly ticked by, I didn't do much work, just spent the time reading aviation books and dreaming of flying. My wife moved to Cornwall a couple of months before I left the RAF, that’s when it hit me, the reality of what I was to do. I was now living in the mess halls in a single bedroom with a tiny TV and no home comforts and my family 300 miles away! Too late now.... I left the RAF and started at Oxford less than a week later, I really didn't want to waste a second since it was all money draining from the bank account and little coming in.
Oxford was another shock to the system, suddenly I was back at school head in the books, something I hadn't done for 15 year now. The volume was something I was completely unprepared for, I had a pile of manuals that stood as high as me, I know I checked! Still 50k in the red and I was determined it was going to be no more so I stuck at it. Off to the States for six weeks C152 flying what a buzz! It was at the time when the air show program was on the TV with all the BA students being followed through the course and I couldn’t believe that I was going to be doing it for real. We did about 40 hours in a C152 basically to PPL standard, plus the CPL qualifying cross-country. My first skills test was so basic looking back, a few stalls steep turns and circuits, but at the time I was bricking it! My examiner was sat there, four gold stripes on this shoulder, and I was sat there sweating like a pig shaking like a leaf. I passed, just, he must have taken pity, I vowed I wasn't going to be so stupid again, and after that flight test all the others were fine, I knew what I was in for.
Back to England and the vagaries of the English weather and charts that looked like people had thrown up all over them. Flying in the UK was so much harder, you had to talk to 50 different people, juggle your plog, dodge the clouds (since there be devils there!) and weave through the virtual minefields of airspace. God it was impossible, but slowly it came together and my next flight test comprised a cross country and diversion and engine failures. Wasn't nearly as nervous this time and passed well. Unfortunately this marked the end of flying for a while since it was now back to the books and the JAR techs. I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in my life, most nights I was up till past midnight studying so that I could have the weekend off to go home to my long suffering family. I was missing seeing my little girl grow up and that was a sad thing but I now had to ensure her future. By the exams came I was studying 12-14 hours a day but still didn't feel well prepared since we were some of the first to take the new JAR exams and had little feedback, except for the usual horror stories of everyone failing. Generally we didn't do too badly as a course and most passed most of the exams and some passed all, I was one of the lucky ones. Back to flying, hooray...
The CPL skills test was the next great hurdle; I wanted those little gold wings soooooo badly by now! Yet more cross country but this time with a diversion under the screens and more stalls etc but all under the screens this time. I made a stupid mistake on the first navigation leg and identified the wrong village! The thing that really annoyed me was that the nav side had generally been my strong point. I had to continue with the rest of the test knowing that all I could manage at best was a partial. I waited another two weeks for decent weather so I could do one navigation leg. I managed to pass it this time and the examiner then asked me if I wanted to fly back, I declined politely since I didn’t' want to cock something up on the way. I now had those coveted wings, I had looked at people when I first started with their wings and though 'God they are real pilots', I now realised how little I really new, it was quite scary really. Now back to ground school and onto the JAR nav phase.
I did my A levels in the Isle of Man, didn’t get great results but still passed them and managed to get a place at Uni to study electronics. During the summer before I was due to start a good friend of mine asked me to go along to an RAF interview with him for moral support so I did. While I was there a hairy old Sergeant talked me into doing some tests to become electronics tech since at the time as he put it experience was the main thing and the qualifications could be gained whilst in the RAF. I passed the tests with flying colours and was told I really should have been trying to be a pilot with those results. I told them I was short sighted but they said that was their call, the hook was well and truly baited again.
I went to Biggin Hill, took the tests and passed the aptitudes well but was called into the medical office with the bad news that I had failed the eyesight test, funny old thing! The only flying branch that was open to me was as an AEOp basically a flying radar operator on Nimrods, 'A good mixture of both electronics and flying' my two loves I was told. So too cut a long story short I joined the RAF and spent the next 15 years sneaking into the cockpit to watch wishing I was in the seat. I even tried to blag my way through the eyesight tests a few times but it never worked. I came into some money 5 years ago and decided that this was my chance finally to make my lifetime dream come true, or at least give it a go. I have seen so many 'Whatifs' around the bars in the RAF, 'What if I had done this....', 'What if I had done that........' I was never going to be one of those with my own bar stool reminiscing about what could have been. My wife and I had a serious chat that lasted several months based around the pros and cons of leaving what was a well-paid job for a complete uncertainty. I believed that I would pass the course and get a job, but that’s allot of belief when you have a wife and child to support. One thing that I really didn't realise at that time was the difficulty in getting a job, I had the rosy glasses that said he with the CPL gets job. I didn't even research the job market I just thought I would be able to get a job!
I put my notice in with the RAF and they insisted that I stayed on another 18 months in a crappy desk job before they would let me go, the longest 18 months of my life. I started to research the flying schools but at that stage thought that I would be going to Cabair since they seemed to have the shiny brochures. I went to Cabair and wasn't very impressed, the equipment was old, the aircraft all had non-standard fits and the simulators were a joke, one Frasca in an old portacabin. They did give me a good free lunch though!! I had an appointment at OATS that I missed completely, a mix up with the days. I went down the next day on the off chance and was shown around what looked to be a modern professional outfit. The classrooms all had computers in them and the simulators and aircraft looked fabulous. I stopped on in the coffee shop and had a chat to some of the students who seemed pleased with their choice, so OATs it was to be! Now just to get through that 18 months..... I wrote a letter to Easyjet, to Stellios himself saying that I was off to Oxford and would fly the Easy flag for him in return for a job at the end, didn’t hear anything back, and was I naive or what!! I did some flying lessons to really make sure of my career change, only about 20, I thought any more would be a waist of money since I was to do it all again. Yes I had made the right choice.
The 18 months slowly ticked by, I didn't do much work, just spent the time reading aviation books and dreaming of flying. My wife moved to Cornwall a couple of months before I left the RAF, that’s when it hit me, the reality of what I was to do. I was now living in the mess halls in a single bedroom with a tiny TV and no home comforts and my family 300 miles away! Too late now.... I left the RAF and started at Oxford less than a week later, I really didn't want to waste a second since it was all money draining from the bank account and little coming in.
Oxford was another shock to the system, suddenly I was back at school head in the books, something I hadn't done for 15 year now. The volume was something I was completely unprepared for, I had a pile of manuals that stood as high as me, I know I checked! Still 50k in the red and I was determined it was going to be no more so I stuck at it. Off to the States for six weeks C152 flying what a buzz! It was at the time when the air show program was on the TV with all the BA students being followed through the course and I couldn’t believe that I was going to be doing it for real. We did about 40 hours in a C152 basically to PPL standard, plus the CPL qualifying cross-country. My first skills test was so basic looking back, a few stalls steep turns and circuits, but at the time I was bricking it! My examiner was sat there, four gold stripes on this shoulder, and I was sat there sweating like a pig shaking like a leaf. I passed, just, he must have taken pity, I vowed I wasn't going to be so stupid again, and after that flight test all the others were fine, I knew what I was in for.
Back to England and the vagaries of the English weather and charts that looked like people had thrown up all over them. Flying in the UK was so much harder, you had to talk to 50 different people, juggle your plog, dodge the clouds (since there be devils there!) and weave through the virtual minefields of airspace. God it was impossible, but slowly it came together and my next flight test comprised a cross country and diversion and engine failures. Wasn't nearly as nervous this time and passed well. Unfortunately this marked the end of flying for a while since it was now back to the books and the JAR techs. I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in my life, most nights I was up till past midnight studying so that I could have the weekend off to go home to my long suffering family. I was missing seeing my little girl grow up and that was a sad thing but I now had to ensure her future. By the exams came I was studying 12-14 hours a day but still didn't feel well prepared since we were some of the first to take the new JAR exams and had little feedback, except for the usual horror stories of everyone failing. Generally we didn't do too badly as a course and most passed most of the exams and some passed all, I was one of the lucky ones. Back to flying, hooray...
The CPL skills test was the next great hurdle; I wanted those little gold wings soooooo badly by now! Yet more cross country but this time with a diversion under the screens and more stalls etc but all under the screens this time. I made a stupid mistake on the first navigation leg and identified the wrong village! The thing that really annoyed me was that the nav side had generally been my strong point. I had to continue with the rest of the test knowing that all I could manage at best was a partial. I waited another two weeks for decent weather so I could do one navigation leg. I managed to pass it this time and the examiner then asked me if I wanted to fly back, I declined politely since I didn’t' want to cock something up on the way. I now had those coveted wings, I had looked at people when I first started with their wings and though 'God they are real pilots', I now realised how little I really new, it was quite scary really. Now back to ground school and onto the JAR nav phase.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: South East
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A new FO's story part 2
I found the nav's harder than the techs since by this stage I had been at it for nearly a year and the strain was showing! I kept myself going promising myself that once these last 7 exams were over that would be it, 'Please God don’t let me fail now!'. The strange thing going through the course was that everyone had a weakness and struggled at some stage of the course, every day I was just waiting for mine to show. It did, Flight planning; I hated it! I have always been one for accuracy rather than speed, I still think the volume of questions was ridiculous for the length of exam, after all in the real world you can always come in earlier if you need more time to plan. I think I got in the region of 50% in the mock exam and decided that there was just not enough time to revise and pass that exam without jeopardising the rest of the nav’s, so I did no more study telling myself it was only one exam to re-sit. I came out of the nav’s pretty despondent thinking I had dropped at least 2 maybe more. The next two weeks waiting for the results was torture, and when the results came in I can still remember slowly uncovering each of them one by one until I had reached the last. I went mad I had passed them all, even flight planning. I still think someone must have swapped the numbers around! It was the greatest relief of my life, like a ten-ton weight had been lifted. I could now relax and just get on with the flying, only an IR how hard could that be?
After some 40 hours of flying an airways equipped PA28 and getting through the first of the instrument tests we were let lose on the Seneca, a real aircraft as we were told. I must admit it was fabulous, the power and climb in comparison to the singles was amazing. Looking out of the windows to see an engine on either side was a real buzz, and when you opened the throttles the aircraft actually accelerated. I was now flying at flight levels! FL90 with all the big boys on the same frequency, this was the stuff of dreams. Just the nightmare of the IR to come in a few short hours. Night flying in the twin up to Liverpool, then down to Southend was an amazing experience. I remember as a child seeing all the lights over London from down the back of a B747 thinking it looked like Christmas, that was what made me want to be a pilot in the beginning, and here I was at last. My twin flying dragged out over the Christmas break and I eventually took the IR early January 2001. I managed a partial again by skipping an item in the engine failure drill, God I could have cursed but still it wasn’t a fail. Fortunately I completed the test the next day and at last at the age of 35, with 15 months at Oxford I had my CPL/IR Frozen ATPL. It would be easy to get a job right? After all I had graduated from Oxford and held a Frozen ATPL with 201 hours to my name, the airlines were going to come clambering at my door….
I was determined to not let myself get behind the drag curve and immediately set about making a list of all the potential employers in the country (the list is in the archive on Prune if you want it). I sent CV after CV to them all, all beautifully presented in cardboard envelopes with stamped envelopes enclosed. I was sure to get a job from one of them! About thirty replies came back, very few in the envelopes I had enclosed, saying come back with 1000+ hours or even just don’t bother we are not recruiting. I considered doing an FI rating and started pricing it up, another £5K after the fifty I had spent already… That’s where the Gods stepped in, one Airline was looking for six new pilots and wanted names from Oxford; I was one of the six.
The type rating and first year is another story since I have bored you enough already. All I can say is that now from the right hand seat of a B737 the world looks rosy. I truly am a lucky b*stard and I wish you all some of that luck too. Believe me it is a long route to that right hand seat but it is worth it.
After some 40 hours of flying an airways equipped PA28 and getting through the first of the instrument tests we were let lose on the Seneca, a real aircraft as we were told. I must admit it was fabulous, the power and climb in comparison to the singles was amazing. Looking out of the windows to see an engine on either side was a real buzz, and when you opened the throttles the aircraft actually accelerated. I was now flying at flight levels! FL90 with all the big boys on the same frequency, this was the stuff of dreams. Just the nightmare of the IR to come in a few short hours. Night flying in the twin up to Liverpool, then down to Southend was an amazing experience. I remember as a child seeing all the lights over London from down the back of a B747 thinking it looked like Christmas, that was what made me want to be a pilot in the beginning, and here I was at last. My twin flying dragged out over the Christmas break and I eventually took the IR early January 2001. I managed a partial again by skipping an item in the engine failure drill, God I could have cursed but still it wasn’t a fail. Fortunately I completed the test the next day and at last at the age of 35, with 15 months at Oxford I had my CPL/IR Frozen ATPL. It would be easy to get a job right? After all I had graduated from Oxford and held a Frozen ATPL with 201 hours to my name, the airlines were going to come clambering at my door….
I was determined to not let myself get behind the drag curve and immediately set about making a list of all the potential employers in the country (the list is in the archive on Prune if you want it). I sent CV after CV to them all, all beautifully presented in cardboard envelopes with stamped envelopes enclosed. I was sure to get a job from one of them! About thirty replies came back, very few in the envelopes I had enclosed, saying come back with 1000+ hours or even just don’t bother we are not recruiting. I considered doing an FI rating and started pricing it up, another £5K after the fifty I had spent already… That’s where the Gods stepped in, one Airline was looking for six new pilots and wanted names from Oxford; I was one of the six.
The type rating and first year is another story since I have bored you enough already. All I can say is that now from the right hand seat of a B737 the world looks rosy. I truly am a lucky b*stard and I wish you all some of that luck too. Believe me it is a long route to that right hand seat but it is worth it.
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: varies, depending on the night before!
Age: 53
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The force is strong in you, little one.
Still got the Z3? Or have you returned to the real fun on two wheels yet?
From the friendly biker next door at Heyford.
Good to see your story, cheered me up when I'm sat behind a desk. (not that I needed much cheering up this afternoon, go-on the ENGLAND!!)
All the best.
Still got the Z3? Or have you returned to the real fun on two wheels yet?
From the friendly biker next door at Heyford.
Good to see your story, cheered me up when I'm sat behind a desk. (not that I needed much cheering up this afternoon, go-on the ENGLAND!!)
All the best.
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: A Gaelic Country
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
...and then I will tell you all about his RAF career - won't I matey?
Still can't believe we attempted fighter evasion against a "small wingless acft in our 6 o'clock" in the days of the Gulf War!!!!!!
All the best.
"COVEC". Please use it.......
Still can't believe we attempted fighter evasion against a "small wingless acft in our 6 o'clock" in the days of the Gulf War!!!!!!
All the best.
"COVEC". Please use it.......
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Sydney
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good read, and well done & congrats, but, regarding some of the raving comments above, sorry people, where's the inspiring part? Bloke is able to pay for his training, and then finds himself in the right place, right time to get a job. Plenty people have a similiar story up until the point where "the Gods stepped in". As someone not enamored to gambling, I have to say I find such stories more depressing than inspiring...
Guest
Posts: n/a
Thanks for the story batty. Seems you have been a lucky one and have worked for it. Lets hope it works out for others out there and me, my biggest worry being eyesight!
Thanks and don't stop there, more to come I presume? Maybe you should take up long haul and write a biography :-)
Chris
Thanks and don't stop there, more to come I presume? Maybe you should take up long haul and write a biography :-)
Chris
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: UK
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Excellent read batty! Brought back lots of OATS memories. My story is exactly the same as yours, but The Gods stepped on my head to get to you....ouch!...it still hurts!
Please do a part three about the post Oxford training and a part four on living the dream. It would make good reading.
All the best and congrats.
Please do a part three about the post Oxford training and a part four on living the dream. It would make good reading.
All the best and congrats.
