Week 81: A320 Type Rating Week 20

As of today, it is my third consecutive day of training in the simulator, and I'm set for another two consecutive days of training for the next two days after today. That makes it FIVE consecutive days of training! Already feeling a little tired today with all that travelling to&fro school plus four hours of training in the sim. Hopefully I'll be able to perform under such intense schedules, will update again on the level of fatigue on next week's update.

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Session #1

After having a taste of AP/FD with precision approaches last week, this session will teach us how to fly CANPA with FD. The biggest difference was the use of TRK/FPA instead of HDG/VS. It took some time to get used to as it looks way different on the PFD which makes it a little harder to follow.

For training, we will be flying the CANPA in a Select/Select mode, meaning to say Vertical Select and Lateral Select. On approach with either VOR or ILS without glideslope, the APPR button on the FCU will not be pushed. The ND view mode will have to be appropriately selected especially for VOR approaches. Using the TRK/FPA with FD, be fully configured for landing in an early stabilised approach. The FPA knob will be dialed to -3.0 degrees 1nm and pulled at 0.3nm before descend point respectively. This will move the Flight Path Director(FPD) into the -3.0 degrees descend flight path, and the pilot will manual fly by following it, which my instructor refer to as "fly the bird into the hole".

Check heights will be called out at respective distances and adjustments can be made to the FPD if the height is way off what it should be. Visual landing will resume upon hitting minimum and touch down will proceed as usual.

With the airline having attained approval from the authorities to fly CANPA in Managed/Managed mode, this will be much easier with the APPR button pushed.

Having a try at Managed NPA. This is how the FPD looks like.

Session #2
A very special training session with our first night flight with one engine in-operational. The difference in feel can be felt from the moment I stepped into the simulator. Just like night flights I had in Ballarat, working in dark environment is a new set of challenges.

First thing, the dome light has to be switched on for the pilots to do the paper work and other cockpit preparation efficiently. Next, the flood lights and screen panels will need to have their brightness adjusted for best night vision on the outside of the aircraft, or you might blind yourself.

Taxi speeds remain the same even in night conditions, additional light needed is the Runway Turn-Off lights. These lights shine the side of the taxiway at an angle to assist you in turning into a different taxiway. These sort of things can't be experienced during daylight. Everything is almost pitch dark once the aircraft leaves the gate with only the blue taxiway lights and runway lights visible.

Taking off, an engine failure was given by the instructor, with the usual things to do before heading back for landing. FD is being used and it was a single engine ILS approach. I was worried about landing at night as I have experienced in Ballarat, but my worries were not a concern when I saw how different it is landing in an international airport with the lights and Radio Altimeter assisting me with the flaring.

Night flight and this is how it looks

Simulated sunrise after a night flight. Well I guess this is the best feeling a pilot can get after a long night of work.

Session #3
To simulate a more realistic emergency situation, this lesson incorporated decision making procedures used by the airline. For this case, it is an engine failure after take-off. TOGA thrust is applied upon a failure is detected and reflected on the ECAM, to climb to the Minimum Safe Altitude of the aerodrome.

Radio call will be made to ATC for radar vectors to hold for us to sort out our issue. Once engine is secured via ECAM actions and QRH procedures, we will adopt the "DODAR" and "TESTS" decision making models.

D - Diagnose the situation and state of emergency
O - Options we have, to carry on or divert.
D - Decision after considering our options with the emergency factored in
A - Assign tasks to PM, flight attendant on what to do. To include TESTS
R - Review on actions and see if anything extra needs to be done

T - Truth of situation the aircraft is facing
E - Evacuation needed?
S - Signals to the cabin crew, stop cart services
T - Time given for cabin crew to prepare for landing
S - Special instructions

Once the above is done, company ops can be called to prepare for our unexpected arrival. This can be crucial as no gate with aerobridge might be available and maintenance services can be prepared on ground. Finally, a passenger announcement have to be made for inform them on our intention.

This is not an easy model to follow initially, as we all fumbled and had to follow this list on a written paper. Lots of things to consider and not to be missed. The flight ended with an ILS approach with FD, which is probably the easiest part of the session? Haha.

Shut down engne 2? (Yes, both are shut down)

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Christmas is over and 2015 will arrive in a few days' time. 2014 has been very eventful, full of ups and downs, happiness and frustrations, in terms of training. I shall write more to summarize 2014 on my next post in the new year.