The very first time I was scheduled to train at the last time slot of the day, with an ending time of 12 midnight. It feels a little bit more tiring and my brain don't seem to be as active as day time. I guess I'll have to deal with this in real line flying.
This session consist of two new objectives, mainly Managed/Managed NPA and Windshear recovery. Previously we've only tried flying CANPA manually as well as in Select/Select Mode with AP via LOC button and FPA. Managed NPA is a way to reduce he workload of the PF so that he can better focus on a wider angle of view.
However, the amount of preparation and criteria that is required before we push that APPR button is not the least bit lesser. First and foremost, the GPS Accuracy will have to be HIGH. Believe it or not, even if both the VORs on the aircraft are down, it is still able to fly a Managed VOR approach, thanks to the coordinates of the station being programmed into the FMGC database.
Next, sequence the flight plan and check that all heights and speeds coincide with the approach chart. There will be a green little solid dot beside the altitude indicator to show whether the aircraft is high or low on approach. Height checks will have to be called out too just like before. The biggest problem comes with where the VOR station is located with respect to the runway. Tracking into the VOR doesn't necessarily mean it will be the same track of the runway. As a result, last minute track changes will need to be executed and this is not necessarily an easy move, especially when we were given 15kts crosswind. It would not have been a problem if the weather is good enough to attain visual of runway from pretty far away. However, the same can't be said if conditions are near minimums.
Lastly, windshear recovery on take-off climb and approach. I was quite stunned by the amount of motion involved in windshear, so much so that after numerous hits with windshear, I got kind of motion sick. It is really a scary experience when flying into one, especially on approach. I had to execute TOGA thrust and announce WINDSHEAR TOGA if it was during take-off climb. The PM have to call out the RA and V/S (eg. RA 400, V/S 2500 positive) constantly to make sure the aircraft is climbing and not being dragged onto the ground.
As for approach, the drag towards the ground when flown into windshear makes my balls shrink. It's no laughing matter as the motion from the sim will not be a gentle one if you crash the plane. If the landing is not going to be safe, WINDSHEAR GO-AROUND will be called, TOGA thrust set and the PM will call out the RA and V/S. During the period when the aircraft is within the windshear, it has to remain in its original config. Flaps/Slats and gear will be left untouched.
My sim partner and I were exhausted and hungry after the midnight end time, plus the motion sickness, it wasn't a good feeling at all. Went for a really late supper at 1am to end of the day. Haha, more of such scheduling and we will both be fat very soon.
Session #2
A big session considering the amount of new things included for the whole four hours. TCAS, EGPWS, Low Speed Protection and further practise on turbulent plus strong crosswind landing.
First up, introduction to TCAS. TCAS stands for Traffic Collision Avoidance System. This is the only device in the aircraft that allows the pilot to disobey ATC instructions. I will share a video below on why is this so. TCAS provides Traffic Advisory(TA) and Resolution Advisory(RA). For RA to work, the aircraft must have a transponder. TA will only alert the pilot on surrounding traffic whereas RA will call out instructions for the pilot to Climb/Descend. When that happens, the PF will announce "TCAS, I Have Control" and place his hands on the thrust levers and side stick, ready to disengage the AP and climb/descend to the green region of the VSI. At the same time, PM will notify ATC "TCAS RA", and then "Clear of Conflict" when there is no more danger, if a RA was called out by the TCAS. PF will resume original altitude and navigation after the TCAS warning.
Next was EGPWS warning. It stands of Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System. When flying in IMC, this will be the instrument that will save your life, along with the Radio Altimeter. The most crucial warning is "Terrain, Terrain, Pull Up, Pull Up". Upon hearing this, PF will disconnect AP, TOGA thrust and climb immediately. Any further delay and you'll end up in headline news the next day. While climbing out of terrain, PM will call out RA heights for PF's situation awareness.
Finally to Low Speed Protection of the A320. We tested this by selecting the climb speed to 6000fpm! With the Autothrust on and in Speed mode, the aircraft will try to achieve the selected climb rate, until the speed gets too low and the system will stop it at VLS then adjust the climb rate so that the aircraft doesn't go into stall. The same happens when the descend rate is selected at -6000fpm and the speed increased to close to VMO before it stops there and adjust the descend rate.
Rounding up the session was landing in turbulent conditions with 20kts crosswind component. Even though green First Officers in the company will not be flying anything more than 10kts, this is good practice and a confidence builder. Windshear is also added into the situation to spice things up. Interestingly, I managed to land with windshear on approach using manual thrust without the windshear warning coming on. My problem with crosswind landing is inconsistency as I tend to flare too much and/or bank into wind too much.
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| Crosswind approach |
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