BA DEP Sim
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
BA DEP Sim
Hi,
I've got a sim assessment coming up with BA.
Can anyone give me any hints/ tips as what to expect? I'm a current 320 pilot, with experience on turboprops prior to this, feeling a little nervous about the basicness of the BAC1-11!!!
I understand the sim is a 4 hour session and in that time you fly a route from A to B and divert to C. Do you take the full 4 hours?
Thanks for your help and advise.
Busflyer
I've got a sim assessment coming up with BA.
Can anyone give me any hints/ tips as what to expect? I'm a current 320 pilot, with experience on turboprops prior to this, feeling a little nervous about the basicness of the BAC1-11!!!
I understand the sim is a 4 hour session and in that time you fly a route from A to B and divert to C. Do you take the full 4 hours?
Thanks for your help and advise.
Busflyer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: London
Posts: 137
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You are paired with another candidate so two hours each. Try hiring an old sim, I recommend the 727 at Bournmouth, European Flight Training I think it was. Good luck, use lots of CRM and the plates are Aerad booklets.
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: outer space
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In my experience the check consists of 2 intertwining parts. One part flying skills related, showing the ability to fly a reasonable departure,cruize and ILS approach. Two, more CRM related, being able to adapt to a strange environment while working as a professional team.
For the first part: If you fly manually on a reasonably regular interval (even on an airbus) you should be more than OK. If you flew a turboprop you should have ample handling skills to pass the ride.
I recommend just installing a flight simulator on your computer and getting hold of a joystick and watching the needles spin around in a holding pattern or SID. Couple that with some raw data ILS approaches on line in a 'real environment' and you will be more than adequately prepared. Don't feel the need to splash out money for an expensive sim, you can do it for real on line anyway. In my experience there is really little difference, flying an airbus raw data is challenging enough. Moreover, the sim is not hard to fly, it is actually incredibly stable, especially on an ILS.
For the second part : The environment is such that everything is strange to you. I think this has a purpose,seeing how well you adapt to for instance : an old BAC-111 sim, Aerad approach charts (BA uses these), unfamiliar checklists, a separate minima sheet, no real SOP's, raw data flying. All these things are non-events, but combined, these factors won't make you feel the "at ease" pilot that you are on a daily basis. It's a matter of taking time and care when working in this new environment relying on your professional background to guide you through.
In general, the sim can be summed up as follows :
SID
Cruize (some aviation related math questions)
Preparation for non precision (but wx degradation/operational/technical issue causes diversion)
Vectors or procedural ILS to land.
Good luck
For the first part: If you fly manually on a reasonably regular interval (even on an airbus) you should be more than OK. If you flew a turboprop you should have ample handling skills to pass the ride.
I recommend just installing a flight simulator on your computer and getting hold of a joystick and watching the needles spin around in a holding pattern or SID. Couple that with some raw data ILS approaches on line in a 'real environment' and you will be more than adequately prepared. Don't feel the need to splash out money for an expensive sim, you can do it for real on line anyway. In my experience there is really little difference, flying an airbus raw data is challenging enough. Moreover, the sim is not hard to fly, it is actually incredibly stable, especially on an ILS.
For the second part : The environment is such that everything is strange to you. I think this has a purpose,seeing how well you adapt to for instance : an old BAC-111 sim, Aerad approach charts (BA uses these), unfamiliar checklists, a separate minima sheet, no real SOP's, raw data flying. All these things are non-events, but combined, these factors won't make you feel the "at ease" pilot that you are on a daily basis. It's a matter of taking time and care when working in this new environment relying on your professional background to guide you through.
In general, the sim can be summed up as follows :
SID
Cruize (some aviation related math questions)
Preparation for non precision (but wx degradation/operational/technical issue causes diversion)
Vectors or procedural ILS to land.
Good luck
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Ireland
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Had the sim recently and had the same profile as a few others I spoke to also.
First person:
Fly from A to B with an NDB hold and a procedural non-precision approach (mine was LOC only).
Second person:
Fly from B back to A with a diversion half way to C into an NDB hold and a procedural ILS.
So you either get a non-precision approach and no diversion or a diversion and the slightly easier ILS approach.
Best advice is: work together!! If you need power set, ask the other guy to do it. If you need confirmation of your calculations for hold entries, distance to go, etc - ask for it. If you're unsure, check. Even if you're sure it's nice to get confirmation from your sim partner that you're flying in the right direction.
Handling is second to CRM in this assessment. My level keeping was all over the place - I had a few 300ft level busts and was constantly 100ft high or low at most times. Fly the plane, achieve the objectives, and you'll be fine.
Apart from that - enjoy!! (yeah, right)
First person:
Fly from A to B with an NDB hold and a procedural non-precision approach (mine was LOC only).
Second person:
Fly from B back to A with a diversion half way to C into an NDB hold and a procedural ILS.
So you either get a non-precision approach and no diversion or a diversion and the slightly easier ILS approach.
Best advice is: work together!! If you need power set, ask the other guy to do it. If you need confirmation of your calculations for hold entries, distance to go, etc - ask for it. If you're unsure, check. Even if you're sure it's nice to get confirmation from your sim partner that you're flying in the right direction.
Handling is second to CRM in this assessment. My level keeping was all over the place - I had a few 300ft level busts and was constantly 100ft high or low at most times. Fly the plane, achieve the objectives, and you'll be fine.
Apart from that - enjoy!! (yeah, right)
