British Airways Direct Entry Pilot - A320

Job DescriptionClosing Date: 21 February 2016
The Direct Entry Pilot Scheme is for experienced high calibre pilots who want to develop their careers with one of the most progressive international airlines in the business.

The Individual

Requirements for all pilots:

• A current JAR-FCL or EASA Flight Crew Licence with Class 1 medical to apply (when you join British Airways you must hold a UK issued EASA Flight Crew Licence)
• ICAO Level 6 proficiency in English language
• A valid passport (with minimum of 12 months before expiry date) allowing unrestricted worldwide travel
• The unrestricted right to live and work in the UK
• To be considered for our current vacancies you will need:
• To hold a current A320 type rating with 500 hours on type
• Successful candidates will be entered into our hold pool, from which an offer onto either the Gatwick or Heathrow based A320 series fleets may be made

As a Person, you will

• You will need a first class flying record and a good level of physical fitness, and will be able to satisfy British Airways' medical requirements
• Your height will be between1.57m (5'2") and 1.91m (6'3") with weight in proportion to height (height is accurately determined during the assessment process). Qualified pilots who are taller than 1.91m may submit an application but will be required to undergo a functionality check to confirm their ability to meet the requirements of the seating positions in the British Airways fleet of aircraft
• You will be passionate about a career as a pilot with British Airways. While there are opportunities to move fleets with British Airways, initial fleet postings normally last a minimum of five years
• You will already be comfortable with taking control of your own learning and professional development, and both willing and able to self-study, read widely, and continue to develop as a safety conscious professional pilot for the duration of your flying career
• You will be comfortable flying a busy schedule, with BA flights operating 365 days a year You will be comfortable working with colleagues and customers from all cultures and nationalities, and able to identify, and work, with cultural differences
• Finally, you will have a genuine enthusiasm for our customers, and finding ways to exceed their expectations when they fly with us. You will be able to put our customers' needs at the heart of your decision making, and will be comfortable dealing with our customers face to face both when things are going to plan, but also when they're not

Application ProcessAll applicants are required to submit their CV and answer the following question. Please prepare your answer in advance: 

1. In 600 words or less, please answer the following:

• Describe your reasons behind applying to become a pilot with British Airways?
• What can you bring to our organisation and customers to assist British Airways in meeting the operational and business challenges of the commercial aviation market?

2. What do you believe constitutes effective leadership on the flight deck? In the past, how have you demonstrated these skills and qualities? (Max 300 Words)

3. Describe a situation in which you exceeded your customers' expectations. (Max 300 Words)

Please note the following information if you have made a previous application to us. We cannot accept a new application within:

6 Months if you were unsuccessful at initial application screening
12 months if you were unsuccessful at any stage of testing/interview/simulator assessment. You are welcome to reapply 12 months from the date you attended initial aptitude testing

SOURCE

Asiana Airways plane hits antenna as it lands at Japan airport

An Asiana Airways plane smashed into a communications antenna as it came in to land at a Japanese airport, footage showed Wednesday, injuring 27 people in an accident redolent of the airline's fatal 2013 crash in San Francisco.

Aerial footage from Hiroshima airport in western Japan showed the localiser - a large gate-like structure, six metres (18 feet) high that sits some distance from the start of the runway - splintered, with debris spread towards the landing strip.

Sets of wheelmarks were visible on the grass area in front of the runway, while at least one large fragment of the localiser - which aircraft use to find the landing strip - was on the tarmac.

Several hundred metres away, skid marks showed the Airbus A320 had careered off the runway and rotated more than 90 degrees. What appeared to be a chunk of the localiser was seen dangling from one wing and emergency escape chutes were deployed.

Those on board flight OZ162 from Incheon, near Seoul, to Hiroshima, spoke of terror and confusion.

"There was smoke coming out and some of the oxygen masks fell down. Cabin attendants were in such a panic and I thought 'we are going to die'," a woman told Japanese networks late Tuesday.

All 73 passengers and eight crew members had evacuated, and no one was killed, but 25 passengers and two crew members had been injured, Japanese officials said.

An aviation safety official at the transport ministry in Tokyo told AFP that teams of investigators were on their way.

"The left side of the aircraft's horizontal tail was damaged... but how the accident occurred should be determined as the transport safety board carry out their investigation," he said.

The South Korean carrier said 18 passengers - 14 Japanese, two Koreans and two Chinese - had been hurt. Only one of them had to stay overnight in hospital. There was no explanation for the discrepancy between Asiana and the Japanese authorities.

"Asiana Airlines apologises for causing concern to the passengers and the people over the accident," it said in a press statement.

"Asiana Airlines has immediately set up a response team to cope with the aftermath.

"As to the determination of the cause of the accident, we will co-operate as closely as possible with the relevant authorities." An Asiana spokeswoman told AFP in Seoul it was checking Japanese news reports that the flight was approaching the runway at a lower altitude than normal before it grazed the communications tower near the runway.

Tuesday's accident carries echoes of an Asiana flight that crashed in San Francisco in July, 2013, killing three people and leaving 182 injured.

US investigators concluded that a mismanaged approach for landing in a highly automated cockpit was the probable cause of the accident, in which a Boeing 777 clipped a sea wall with its landing gear, then crashed and burst into flames.

The South Korean Transport ministry ordered a 45-day suspension of Asiana Airlines' service to San Francisco as a penalty.

SOURCE

British Airways First Officer

Job Description
Closing Date: 10 May 2015

The Direct Entry Pilot Scheme is for experienced high calibre pilots who want to develop their careers with one of the most progressive international airlines in the business.

The Individual
Requirements for all pilots:

A current JAR-FCL or EASA Flight Crew Licence with Class 1 medical (please note: due to CAA rules you will need a UK issued EASA licence when you join British Airways)

ICAO Level 6 proficiency in English language

A valid passport (with minimum of 12 months before expiry date) allowing unrestricted worldwide travel

The unrestricted right to live and work in the UK

To be considered for our current vacancies you will need:

To hold a current type rating and a minimum of 500 hours, or the required sectors, on an aircraft that satisfies CAP 804 FCL.730.A - Zero Flight Time Training course requirement. We would be particularly interested in hearing from candidates operating the A320/A350/747/757/767/777/787

Candidates applying from BA CityFlyer should apply through the internal eJobscan system (Please note: If you are currently a British Airways CityFlyer employee, please advise your line manager of your application, to ensure eligibility for this role)

You will be passionate about a career as a pilot with British Airways. The majority of postings will be as an A320 First Officer based at London Heathrow. While there are opportunities to move fleets with British Airways, initial fleet postings normally last a minimum of five years

As a Person, you will
Have a first class flying record and a good level of physical fitness, and will be able to satisfy British Airways' medical requirements

Be between1.57m (5'2") and 1.91m (6'3") in height with weight in proportion to height (height is accurately determined during the assessment process). Qualified pilots who are taller than 1.91m may submit an application but will be required to undergo a functionality check to confirm their ability to meet the requirements of the seating positions in the British Airways fleet of aircraft

Be passionate about a career as a pilot with British Airways, and interested in accepting a first posting as an A320 First Officer at either London Heathrow or London Gatwick. While there are opportunities to move fleets with British Airways, initial fleet postings normally last a minimum of five years

Already be comfortable with taking control of your own learning and professional development, and both willing and able to self-study, read widely, and continue to develop as a safety conscious professional pilot for the duration of your flying career You will be comfortable flying a busy schedule, with BA flights operating 365 days a year

Be comfortable working with colleagues and customers from all cultures and nationalities, and able to identify, and work, with cultural differences

A genuine enthusiasm for our customers, and finding ways to exceed their expectations when they fly with us

Be able to put our customers' needs at the heart of your decision making, and will be comfortable dealing with our customers face to face both when things are going to plan, but also when they're not



Application ProcessAll applicants are required to submit their CV and answer the following question. Please prepare your answer in advance:

In 600 words or less, please answer the following:

Describe your reasons behind applying to become a pilot with British Airways?

What can you bring to our organisation and customers to assist British Airways in meeting the operational and business challenges of the commercial aviation market?

What do you believe constitutes effective leadership on the flight deck? In the past, how have you demonstrated these skills and qualities? (Max 300 Words)

Describe a situation in which you exceeded your customers' expectations. (Max 300 Words)



Additional Website TextIf you are using a Mac computer, Google chrome or have firefox you will experience problems selecting the drop down options and be unable to submit your application. We recommend you use a windows computer or ipad to complete your application.


We suggest that you do not leave submission of your application until the last minute. In previous schemes we are aware that a significant number of applications are received just before the closure of the application window, which can cause problems.

SOURCE

Week 93: A320 Type Rating Week 32

Session #1
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.

Crosswind approach

Week 92: A320 Type Rating Week 31

After the confidence booster session I had in the full motion sim last week, I was raring to have another go at it this week. This time it will be heck lot more challenging with poorer weather conditions.

ATIS: 15kts crosswind, night, 5000m, heavy rain, wet runway with good braking action

Just like last week, we had to do visual circuits from take-off with full stop, and a circle to land from a Non-precision approach. Visual circuits were flown at two different altitudes; twice for each level, mainly 1500ft and 1000ft AGL.

1500ft circuit was without much issue as the thrust reduction and acceleration altitudes are at 800ft and 1200ft respectively just like last week. The 1000ft circuit is a little different with both of them at 800ft AGL, so the reaction gotta be real quick to anticipate thrust and flying attitude change before hitting 1000ft AGL to fly level.

Since the weather wasn't really that great plus it was at night, I had to use a lot of my ND to maintain awareness. The base turn was the most challenging aspect as getting visual with the papi and runway lights really required a lot of visual power. Sometimes, I'm able to see it but my PM can't and vice-versa. The trouble with spotting the runway late, resulted in a pretty messy final approach, but my landings were safe and close to centreline even with that strong crosswind.

The same goes for circling to land, but this time with a localiser only approach to simulate NPA. And also going-around during downwind leg, when you really gotta be aware of where you are and where you are flying next for the missed approach procedure. It is all about situation awareness and be prepared for a go-around when unstable or lost visual. So far, so good.

==============================================

Had a meeting with the airline management this week and is glad that they're able to absorb us into the fleet but with some sacrifices on our side for a period of time. At the end of the day, I'm just relieved that I have such a caring company who think about our welfare and try their best to improve our situation, which I deeply appreciate.

When I embarked on this journey some 29 months ago, I've been yearning for the day I can truly call myself a professional aviator. The journey has thus far been long and arduous, braking and accelerating on numerous occasions. But waiting is a norm in this industry, so I can't really complain but to grind it out and make sure I train proficiently to display the level of professionalism expected of me day in day out. Expected completion is within the next three months, a final sprint before a new chapter begins.

This week also witnessed the passing of Singapore's founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He is a great loss to Singapore but his legacy will live. Singapore Airlines was set up by him and he has a vision for Changi Airport which we are witnessing today, a world class aviation hub. He can be said to be the pioneer of Singapore aviation. 

Thank you for all that you've done for us since 1955 when you stepped into parliament. Had Singapore had a different prime minister then, things would have been very different. You spirit will always live in us. May you rest in peace.

SIA pilots bidding him final farewell

Air Canada flight makes abrupt landing in Halifax

An Air Canada plane came off the runway after landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia early Sunday, the airline reported, as passengers and crew were checked for injuries.

The airline said on Twitter that flight AC624 from Toronto "exited runway upon landing at Halifax. All passengers have deplaned, going to terminal."

Air Canada did not say what caused the aircraft to leave the runway after landing, but heavy snow was forecast in the eastern Canadian city. Environment Canada issued a snowfall alert and warned of low visibility.

Halifax Airport said 23 people were taken to hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries.

There were 132 passengers and five crew aboard the flight, which departed from Toronto at 9:05 pm (0105 GMT Sunday).

Flightaware.com said the aircraft was an Airbus A320.

Several counties in the the eastern coastal province of Nova Scotia were affected by Saturday's winter weather alert.

SOURCE

Crash pilot was psychiatric patient, planned big gesture - paper

The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an airliner, killing 150 people, had told his girlfriend he was planning a spectacular gesture so "everyone will know my name", a German daily said on Saturday.

The Bild newspaper published an interview with a woman who said she had had a relationship in 2014 with Andreas Lubitz, the man French prosecutors believe locked himself alone in the cockpit of the Germanwings Airbus on Tuesday and steered it into the French Alps, killing all on board.

"When I heard about the crash, I remembered a sentence... he said: 'One day I'll do something that will change the system, and then everyone will know my name and remember it'," said the woman, a flight attendant the paper gave the pseudonym of Maria W.

"I didn't know what he meant by that at the time, but now it's obvious," she said. "He did it because he realised that, due to his health problems, his big dream of working at Lufthansa, of a having job as a pilot, and as a pilot on long-distance flights, was nearly impossible."

"He never talked much about his illness, only that he was in psychiatric treatment," she told the paper, adding they finally broke up because she was afraid of him.

"He would suddenly freak out in conversations and yell at me," she recalled. "At night he would wake up screaming 'we are crashing' because he had nightmares. He could be good at hiding what was really going on inside him."

The woman also told Bild: "We always talked a lot about work and then he became a different person. He became upset about the conditions we worked under: too little money, fear of losing the contract, too much pressure."

A Lufthansa spokesman declined to comment. The company and its low-cost subsidiary Germanwings took out full-page advertisements in major German and French newspapers on Saturday, expressing "deepest mourning".

Lufthansa and Germanwings offered condolences to the friends and families of the passengers and crew and thanked the thousands of people in France, Spain and Germany it said had helped since the crash.

German officials said there would be a ceremony on April 17 in Cologne Cathedral attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior officials from other countries including France and Spain.

Also on Saturday, relatives of the Germanwings captain whom Lubitz locked out of the cockpit before the crash visited a memorial to the victims in the French Alps, while a special mass was held at the small cathedral in nearby Digne-les-Bains.

"OVERSTRESS SYMPTOMS"
German authorities said on Friday they had found torn-up sick notes showing the co-pilot had been suffering from an illness that should have grounded him on the day of the tragedy. Germanwings, the budget airline of the flag carrier Lufthansa, has said he did not submit a sick note at the time.

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag quoted a senior investigator as saying the 27-year-old "was treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists", adding that a number of medications had been found in his Duesseldorf apartment.

Police also discovered personal notes that showed Lubitz suffered from "severe subjective overstress symptoms", he added.

The New York Times on Saturday quoted officials as saying Lubitz had also sought treatment for vision problems that may have jeopardized his ability to work as a pilot.

German state prosecutors and police spokesmen declined to comment on the media reports, adding there would be no official statements on the case before Monday.

Investigators have retrieved cockpit voice recordings from one of the plane's "black boxes", which they say show that Lubitz locked himself alone in the cockpit, as his fellow pilot desperately tried to break in, and caused the airliner to crash.

A chief French investigator said on Saturday it was too early to rule out other explanations for the crash.

"There is obviously a scenario that is well known to the media and which we are focusing on," French investigator General Jean-Pierre Michel told French media.

"But we have no right today to rule out other hypotheses, including the mechanical hypotheses, as long as we haven't proved that the plane had no (mechanical) problem," he added, pointing out that a second black box containing flight data had not been found yet.

(Additional reporting by Georg Merziger, Maria Sheahan, Tom Käckenhoff, Ingrid Melander and Reuters television; Editing by Andrew Roche and Raissa Kasolowsky)

SOURCE

150 killed in plane crash in French Alps

A plane operated by the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa crashed in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday (Mar 24), killing all 150 on board in France's worst aviation disaster in decades.

With the cause of the accident a complete mystery, authorities recovered a black box from the Airbus A320 at the crash site, where rescue efforts were being hampered by the mountainous terrain.

Local MP Christophe Castaner, who flew over the crash site, said on Twitter: "Horrendous images in this mountain scenery. Nothing is left but debris and bodies. Flying over the crash site with the interior minister - a horror - the plane is totally destroyed."

Video images from a government helicopter flying near the area showed a desolate snow-flecked moonscape, with steep ravines covered in scree.

Budget airline Germanwings said the Airbus plunged for eight minutes but French aviation officials said the plane had made no distress call before crashing near the ski resort of Barcelonnette.

"A black box was found and will be delivered to investigators," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. Weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash, with conditions "calm" at the time.

"There was no cloud at the plane's cruising altitude", winds were "light to moderate" and there was no turbulence that could have contributed to the crash, French weather officials said.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there were no survivors, adding that the authorities "can't rule out any theory" on the cause of the disaster.

The plane, carrying 144 mainly Spanish and German passengers - including two babies - and six crew, was travelling from Barcelona to the western German city of Duesseldorf when it came down.

German authorities said 16 German teenagers on a school trip were on board the doomed plane, as tearful relatives rushed to the airports in the two cities anxiously seeking information about their loved ones.

'IT IS A TRAGEDY'

It was the first fatal accident in the history of Germanwings, and the deadliest on the French mainland since 1974 when a Turkish Airlines crashed, killing 346 people.

French President Francois Hollande said he would meet his German and Spanish counterparts at the crash site on Wednesday. "It is a tragedy, a new airline tragedy. We will determine what caused the crash," Hollande said.

The dead included Germans, Spaniards and "probably" Turks, Hollande said, while Belgium said at least one of its nationals was on board.

Germanwings said 67 Germans were believed to have been on board while Spain said 45 people with Spanish sounding names were on the flight.

A crisis cell has been set up in the area between Barcelonnette and Digne-les-Bains along with an emergency flight control centre to coordinate the chopper flights to the crash site.

Authorities commandeered a large meadow with dozens of helicopters taking off to head to the crash site. Valls said one helicopter had been able to touch down at the site of the accident but locals described the difficult terrain that awaited rescue teams.

"Ground access is horrible, I know the Estrop massif, it's a very high mountainous area, very steep and it's terrible to get there except from the air during winter," local resident Francoise Pie said. A witness who was skiing near the crash site told French television he "heard an enormous noise" around the time of the disaster.

'DARK DAY'

The plane belonged to Germanwings, a low-cost affiliate of German flag carrier Lufthansa based in Cologne. "We've never had a total loss of aircraft in the company's history until now," a company spokeswoman told AFP. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr described it as a "dark day."

A spokesman for Airbus, the European aerospace giant, did not give any information about possible causes but said the company had opened a "crisis cell" and was sending experts to the scene.

French civil aviation authorities said they lost contact with the plane and declared it was in distress at 10.30am (5.30pm Singapore time). However, the aircraft's crew did not send a distress signal, civil aviation authorities told AFP.

"The crew did not send a Mayday. It was air traffic control that decided to declare the plane was in distress because there was no contact with the crew of the plane," the source said.

In 1981, a plane crashed on the French island of Corsica with 180 people on board.

In July 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after take-off from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport en route for New York, leaving 113 people, leaving mainly Germans dead and eventually leading to the supersonic airliner being taken out of service.

The world's worst air disasters remain the Mar 27, 1977, collision of two Boeing 747s on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people, and the Aug 12, 1985 crash into a mountainside of a Boeing 747 belonging to Japan Airlines, killing 520 people.

SOURCE

Week 91: A320 Type Rating Week 30

This week marks the start of Phase 3 training. From now onwards, I will only fly in the full motion simulator. I was a little worried about motion sickness the night before my training. I'm not exactly a fan of roller coaster either.

As a familiarization training, it was only a short 2-hour session with each cadet flying for one hour. Lesson objective was to fly two visual circuit pattern, two touch&go and two straight-in 6miles final approach.

It was my first try at circuit flying on the A320, and it's quite differently flown as compared to the C172 type of circuit.

Thrust reduction: 800ft 

Acceleration altitude: 1200ft 

Circuit height: 1600ft 

Heights are based on Changi Runway 02C with elevation of 22ft.

Circuit was flown fully with raw data, without FD, A/THR, AP and ILS. Everything happens very quickly in the circuit. Flex/MCT for take-off, gear up with positive climb, flying attitude at 15degrees nose up, pull back to CLIMB thrust at 800ft which is very easily attained, thus the probability of missing it is quite high. Hitting 1200ft lower nose to 10degrees for acceleration and cleaning up of flaps. Circuit speed shall be flown at Green Dot, which is roughly 200kts.

Upon leveling off at 1600ft, make a 25degrees right bank towards downwind track. Call for After Take-off/Climb Checklist once all flaps/gear/spoilers are retracted. Once done, activate APPROACH PHASE in the FMGC and call for Approach Checklist. Go-around altitude will be set on the FCU at downwind leg, along with Flaps 1 and setting S-speed.

Once abeam runway threshold, start chrono. For every 100ft AGL, the downwind leg will have to be flown for an added 3seconds after passing the abeam point, depending on wind conditions. In this case, we set it at 45seconds. At about 30seconds, Flaps 2 will be called and a 15degrees base turn towards final will be initiated at 45seconds. It will be a slight descend turn with rate at around -200fpm. In the base turn, gears will be lowered, followed by Flaps 3 and eventually Flap Full when nearing final leg. Runway track will be set and then Landing Checklist will be called once in full landing configuration.

Approach has to be stabilised by 500ft AGL, or a go-around will have to be called.

Not that easy eh? Haha.. The start was tough, but subsequent rounds of circuit flying became much better with practice. As for touch&go, the flying is the same, except that no spoilers, reverse thrust and autobrakes will be used. Upon touch down, PF will call for Flaps 2 and engage thrust lever in upright position for 2-3seconds before going TOGA with PM calling for rotate at Approach Speed since there is no Rotate Speed.

As for the feel of full motion as compared to the fixed base simulator I've been flying for the past seven months; it was an eye opener and kind of screwed up what I'm used to. The taxi feel is different as it's much more sensitive. The control stick is also less stiff and the input has no lag, making the flying somehow easier. The graphics is also more realistic, assisting in the lining up of runway centreline on approach. I had so much trouble flying visual circuit in the fixed base during circle-to-land, but this full motion totally changed my game and I'm flying way better now. It's quite a confidence booster when I'm able to land properly and be assured that all my previous landings in the fixed base were of correct technique.

Finally touching the full motion simulator and feeling like a real pilot

Week 82: A320 Type Rating Week 21

I mentioned that I will update on the fatigue level by the end of the fifth consecutive sim session this week. Well, it wasn't as bad as expected, but probably a little jaded with all that engine-out procedures to think about and the handling of the situation during systems malfunctions. The good thing though, the SOP flow is getting more fluent now that we're all very familiar on what to do after doing it for five consecutive days.

There were a total of four sessions this week with a two-day break separating two pairs of sessions.

Session #1
Like the previous session the day before, we were still handling the situation of  engine failure after take-off. One added portion was the Go-Around during landing with one engine out. The yaw is immense and the climb rate is very poor, but at least the aircraft is capable of executing such a move with only half its power left. Catching the yaw with rudder is the key, or the plane and start rolling into dangerous parts of the airport.

No Memory Items, No FSI, No OEB, My Radios, ECAM Action!

Session #2
This was a very troublesome session which tested us on how to handle slats/flaps jam during extension. The very first thing to note is not to bust the Flaps speed. Immediately after the jamming has been displayed by the ECAM, we fly a Select speed of Vfe-next minus 5kts. The speed limits of different stages of flaps are conveniently located below the FCU panel so no memory work is required there.

After ECAM actions were carried out, we had to refer to the QRH on what speeds to adhere to for different stages of flight. Next, the DODAR will be carried out with the QRH being used extensively.

We have the fuel penalty to consider with the aircraft now experiencing more drag as well as the landing speed and landing distance required, plus weather conditions factored in. Quite a bit of table reference and calculations are needed to get the speeds and distances right.

I got the worst of the three types of jams with mine being jammed at Flaps 1 configuration. My approach speed was so high I was flabbergasted!! Then came the astounding attitude of the aircraft for the approach. My nose was 8degrees up and I was totally not used to such an approach attitude even though I had the FD to guide me for the ILS approach. I was cautious on the flare, so much so that I didn't really apply any pullback on the sidestick, With the speed so high, I can feel that the landing was hard, and my instructor commented that he didn't see any flare. The approach stunned my two other sim partners as well haha.

Session #3
Another session with Slats/Flaps jam, but this time the take-off was in Config 2 rather than the usual Config 1. Needless to say, the jamming will come right after take-off during retraction, as opposed to the previous session with it coming during extension.

There wasn't much difference from the previous session and I had a very high approach attitude again. This time round, I was able to execute the flare properly with my attitude just above 10degrees and not getting a tailstrike.

After two sessions of slats/flaps jam, I can conclude that it is quite a pain to handle with lots of QRH referencing. Nevertheless, this is what we're trained for, to handle abnormal situations appropriately.

Session #4
After slats/flaps jam, the next thing to jam was the Landing Gear! Good thing was this is way easier to handle with no QRH procedure as the gear failed to retract instead of the gear failing to extend. The latter situation will be heck lot more complicated I reckon. We had the gear lights not going off after retraction and the gear lever jammed in the DOWN position. But that didn't affect much of the flying except for added fuel consumption, especially if the PF decides to carry on flying to destination airport instead of returning. We selected to fly at Green Dot Speed while sorting out our options, noting that our landing weight might be higher than the Structurally limited Max Landing Weight since we've only just taken off and full load of fuel.

To make things more interesting, we were given the VOR CANPA approach. After flying ILS with FD approaches for so many sessions, some of us forgot how to fly a Non-precision approach correctly. Thankfully I took the lessons under CANPA flying very seriously back then and managed to manual fly the approach without any trouble. My sim partners got a little caught off guard with the ND view mode not selected correctly or not configuring the aircraft for an early stabilised approach which resulted in a pretty messy descend profile.

All these little things that were taught in the earlier part of the training are easy to forget I have to say, and there are a lot to remember and keep ourselves prepared for any situation to happen. Since we had quite a lot of time left after we've completed the lesson objective, our instructor gave us some serious crosswind landing training. We were taught the crabbing technique, with the flare+bank+rudder co-ordination skill to achieve a safe landing. But of course, if the crosswind is so strong, we are actually not allowed to land due to company safety policy. It was fun and very good training I must say, and my confidence to handle 40kts crosswind has just gone up a few notches!

40kts crosswind with a 20degrees crab angle. Almost shit in my pants.

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This week marked the end of 2014 and the start of a new year. Last year this time was spent overseas in Ballarat in the midst of my flight training. It feels better to be home this year.

2014 as a whole was fairly good with so many things happening in my life. I had an exciting January clearing my first solo flight in the C172 which I burst a tyre and feared for my life. February was a month filled with numerous solo circuit flights which were frustrating. March came and went like a wind with me flying my first solo navigation flight that was heart pounding as the weather was getting crazy and I tuned to the wrong radio frequency.

April was really painful with a huge number of flight cancellations due to poor weather conditions but it was also the month which I passed my PPL test; the first in my batch. May was the craziest month I had in Ballarat with almost 24hrs of flight hours. I had a week of consecutive flights prior to my return to Singapore. I was so happy to return after seven painfully slow months in Ballarat facing a climate which I rather not make friends with. June was the month I had my fill of local food as well as meeting up with friends which I hadn't seen since my departure.

July marked the start of A320 ground school and I had trouble adjusting my body and mind back to sitting in the classroom again attending lessons for the whole day. Very soon the ground school was over and my first sim session was conducted near the end of August, which shocked me with the steep learning curve in the cockpit. September reminded me how long ago it was since my course started as I had to get my Class 1 Medical renewed before it lapsed on the 24th month. Phase 2A of training was also completed by the end of the month.

October was the month which got me purring like an excited kid with two observation flights in a real A320 aircraft. That was a true eye opener! Training Phase 2B started in mid-month. November was largely uneventful as training came to a crawl with only 5 sessions for the whole month. And finally to December, when I sat for my last ever written exam at SAA and passed it. Phase 2B training was completed and Phase 2C commenced. 

A blink of an eye, year 2014 was concluded. It has been 26 months since I've embarked on this course. It's getting longer than I would have preferred, but with the current aviation industry facing a challenging business environment, this delay is expected. At least I have a job for me at the end of training, I just have to grind out this delay and hope things turn for the better.

I don't know what 2015 will bring, but hopefully things will go smoothly and I can finally say byebye to days as a cadet and become a professional aviator in the commercial world. I dare not think too far; one step at a time is what I'm telling myself these days.

Wishing my readers a great 2015 ahead~!!

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. 

Week 80: A320 Type Rating Week 19

Session #1 & #2
After the first two sessions with experience of one engine failure, these further two sessions were more like revision to further polish our control and flying technique with less thrust power in our hands.

One added training in the lessons were Go-Around with one engine. Haha, the climb performance was so so so bad it felt like the climb rate of a C172. TOGA power was applied and the immense yaw followed, catching it with the rudder is key to getting the plane under control.

After four whole lessons of flying with one engine failure, I can say that I feel very confident in the capability of the A320. Even with half its power taken away, it is still able to achieve flight relatively well even in go-around. I am truly quite impressed with its performance!

Went into the Full Motion Sim to have a look. It feels way different with exceptional graphics

After the first two training sessions of the week, it marked the completion of Phase 2B and Phase 2C commenced on the final day of the week. The commencement of Phase 2C meant that the simulator will be in Config C, with all buttons and screens alive now. Suddenly the overhead panel looks so complexed with the various controls and buttons I haven't seen since the very first training session.

Other than the config, we will also be introduced to the Autopilot, Auto-Thrust, ECAM, FMA and full usage of the FCU. Other than engine failure, we will be further introduced to other forms of malfunction and various ways to handle Threat & Error Management (TEM). This new phase will probably test us more on plane management rather than the raw data flying and manual control of the A320 which we have been doing all along.

Studying the FMA modes

New aerodrome to fly for Phase 2C

Session #3
The first session of Phase 2C, with two other different partners again, got to get used to their style and work harmoniously. The programming of the FMGS wasn't much of a difference other than the noise abatement rule that we have to abide to in this airport. Usually the Thrust Reduction and Acceleration Altitude are both at 1100'/1100', but with the need to continue climbing till 3000ft, the difference will be Flex/MCT till 1100ft at 15 degrees pitch, then thrust pulled back to CLIMB and continue 15 degrees pitch till 3000ft then lower pitch to 10 degrees to accelerate and clean up. If 1100'/3000' is input into the FMGC correctly, the FD will be able to guide the PF or the AP to fly it correctly.

Upon leveling off to a certain flight level, we started playing with the FCU settings to let us understand the different modes displayed on the FMA in the PFD. This is done with AP on, and we monitor the AP via the FD. The flight was finished off with a decelerated ILS approach and Go-Around.

With a decelerated approach, we prepare the aircraft to be flying at green dot speed before intercepting the Localiser, the interception que is usually given by the ATC's call of "Clear for Approach Runway 25L". With clearance for approach, we will arm the APPR button on the FCU and the AP will automatically catch the ILS' localiser and glideslope. How beautiful is that! However, ATC might only give permission on interception of Localiser only, in which you only arm the LOC button on the FCU.

Flaps 1 at green dot speed is being called upon interception of the localiser, with Flaps 2 at 2000ft AGL, gear down once flaps extended, gears all green then extend Flaps 3 and 4 almost with only seconds apart depending on V-fe limits. By then, we will be close to 1500ft AGL or less, which gives us enough time for a quick Landing Checklist that takes about 15seconds to complete. Fully stabilised by 1000ft AGL is strictly required and AP will be disengaged at 500ft AGL and start flying visual after the runway minimum to land the aircraft.

With the Go-Around, it was of no difference other than that with AP, it's much easier to handle and less workload on the PF by following the missed approach procedure. The missed approach altitude will have to be set by the PM on the FCU when FMA shows G/S*. This is done to ensure that the AP flies the APPR and captures the glideslope before a new altitude is set. The Approach function will overwrite any height that has been set.

It was fun to finally have the AP help in the flying but how it works will 100% depend on how we set the FCU, therefore it is crucial that we know how the FCU works and understand everything stated on the FMA. It is more of a case of the computer flying the plane and we're controlling the computer. This extra layer gives the pax a smoother ride as humans will find it challenging to fly so accurately.

Week 79: A320 Type Rating Week 18

After a one week break from training for some studying to be done, I was back in the simulator for thrice this week, plus a two hour long written exam paper at Singapore Aviation Academy sandwiched in between. The one week was spent mainly on the A320 CBT to familiarise myself with various complex systems of the A320. A lot of numbers and design concepts that I had to understand and remember.

The A320 Type Rating Paper was on Thursday in the afternoon. It has been 1.5years since I last stepped into SAA. Fingers crossed, this will be my last written paper, well unless I have a change of fleet and need to take another aircraft's type paper. The paper itself consists of 80 questions with two hours given to complete them all. Passing mark is 75% with no negative marking, meaning to say I can have a maximum of 20 incorrect answers.

You will think it's easy, but due to me still being in the infant stage of flying the A320, lots of my knowledge will be based on what I've studied in the CBT instead of real life experience in the simulator. This made studying for the paper a tad bit harder. Life of an airline pilot sure involves plenty of reading; the FCOM and SOP combined is already thousands of pages.

Managed to complete and re-check my answers within one hour and left the examination room. Results were released in the evening via CAAS web portal, and I'm glad that I passed. No raw marks were given, it's either PASS or FAIL. Just in case you are wondering, the paper cost S$55 to retake. Another hurdle passed, and I can continue my focus on the sim training.

Back at SAA

Session #1
The final lesson on circling to approach at Bali Airport's RWY27. There wasn't much left to teach and I have to depend on myself to fly accurately and land in a stabilised manner by 500ft AGL. Disappointingly I'm still unable to fly as well as my sim partners by the end of the session, which gave me a bitter aftertaste and asking myself why am I learning not as quickly expected. Nevertheless, this won't be the last session on circling to land, and till the next one, I will hone my visual flying further to meet the required standard.

Red button on the control stick is the secret eject button haha

Session #2 & #3
I'll combined these two sessions together as they were flown on two consecutive days with the same lesson plan and the same instructor. The mother of all malfunctions was given; one engine in-operational. We were given two scenarios, engine stall and engine surge. For the first time we were exposed to ECAM. However, ECAM actions were not required in the lesson plan, so we only focused on controlling the aircraft and threat management.

First, we had engine failure after lift off  and after thrust reduction altitude. The very first thing that hit you is the yaw, along with its secondary effect which is roll. Being too used to not using the rudder on the A320 unlike the C172, I tend to correct the roll only, missing out the yaw correction via the rudder.

As a result, my catching of the corrections were not very good and not fast enough. As I was still climbing, I had to push to TOGA thrust which makes the yaw even worse, resulting in my very poor corrections of my flight control surfaces. Upon seeing my difficulty, my instructor asked me to focus on my flying, using manual rudder and get everything in control for a while first, before I put my hand on the rudder trim to sort the rudder out. It wasn't easy as with any power setting correction, the yaw moment will change, which will require new trimming again. I was flying with manual rudder for quite a while, almost cramping up my thigh haha.

After getting the aircraft under control, a MayDay call was made for radar vectors back to land. Initially, I wasn't too sure about the bank angle that is allowed during single engine operation. My instructor immediately cleared my doubt about it by telling me bank angle limitation is based on Speed rather than engine. At Flaps 1, as long as I'm above S-speed, I'll have full banking authority. Anything below it, I'll only be limited to 15 degrees of bank angle. That's a good pointer given.

Next engine failure was given exactly at V1, commonly known as "V1 cut" in the aviation world. This was even harder to control as I had to lift off and slam TOGA immediately from a preset Flex Temperature. The amount of yaw is at maximum, I know that because my rudder trim had to be set to maximum left or right. Catching the yaw via the rudder was pretty intense, with one of your foot at full rudder, got to make sure my seat was position properly before flight. The crucial part is always about catching the yaw. Not catching it will cause the roll to go haywire and that is very dangerous at low altitude seconds after lift off. Imagine rolling towards the control tower and crashing into it.

Final part on the sessions was the approach. It was an ILS approach with one-engine out. According to company procedure, it should be an early stabilised approach, meaning to get the aircraft fully configured for landing before the final descend point, with Flaps Full and Gears down. I had to plan the configuring way early and get used to the power setting requirement on approach. Minimal thrust correction is advised  as and huge fluctuations in power will cause the yaw to come in and disrupt the approach.

To avoid going below target speed, I usually maintain about 5kts above target speed. The PM can be instructed to help in resetting the rudder trim during the approach. There is no height recommendations, only to the PF's comfort level. We chose to do it at the 50ft call out. The roll out after landing will have to be careful too especially if full reversed is being used, taking into consideration the effect of yaw. Not getting ready for the yaw will cause the whole plane to steer out of the runway and end up on the grass. You don't want to see that happen, even in the simulator. To be safe, the better way is to use Medium Autobrakes and idle reverse. With a more than sufficient distanced runway, it should not be a problem at all.

A closer look at the thrust levers, the left engine is dead, and landing

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Not a bad week with three training sessions and a pass in my type rating paper. It's going to be another three training sessions in the following week and completion of Phase 2B training.

Week 78: A320 Type Rating Week 17

Fulfilling week I had as there were three sim sessions with the same lesson plan. However, the lesson plan had a change of aerodrome to Bali and Jarkata, flying a Localiser only approach with circle to land, plus Go-Around procedure. Lots of things to learn from these sessions.

#1 session
Had a long prep done the day before by reading up on the FCTM as well as company SOPs on how a circle to land is done, cross-referencing with the aerodrome chart with regards to the minimums that I had to take note.

It wasn't easy flying it for the first time, with an instructor that has been away for a while and his way of flying is different. Previous we were allowed to use the ND in ARC mode and follow the track of the SIDs. However, he insisted us on using only the VOR Rose mode on the ND to fly the SID, conforming to the radials and distances listed on the SID. That itself was quite a shock and requires a certain level of skill to fly it accurately with the winds blowing the plane off track but we're not able to see it in the VOR mode.

Unlike previous CANPA flying, this time we used a localiser only ILS approach, meaning we have to do the glideslope height calculations beforehand. Along the descend, height reminders will be read out by the PM, additionally configuring the aircraft to Flaps 3 with gears down, and upon hitting 1000ft AGL or the circle to land minimum, whichever higher, we have to level off and fly 45degrees away from the runway heading. The runway will preferably be on the PF side as circling to land is a fully visual approach. Visual with the runway is a must at all times, height and location awareness must be in top condition.

Once our track reached 45degrees away from runway track, we have to get the wings level and start the chrono to time for 30seconds, plus/minus according to wind conditions. Once this 30seconds is up, we will head back to the runway heading and fly parallel to the runway just like a downwind leg of a circuit I flew in Ballarat days in the C172.

During this downwind leg, lots of things have to be done. Radio call, activation of secondary flight plan, checking wind condition and planning the descend, as well as landing checklist. Once we're abeam the threshold, for every 100ft above ground, we will fly a 3second additional downwind duration. Since we were at 1000ft AGL, we flown 30seconds more after passing abeam the threshold. This timing is wind dependent as well.

Once 30seconds is up, we start turning base and descend at about 300ft/min, extending flaps to FULL for landing. This is where the tough part comes in. My lack of experience is making it hard for me to gauge the angle of bank so that I line-up accurately to the runway centre-line once I get wings level. Often, I under banked and was too high with 3-whites on the PAPI. With the distance to the runway threshold only about 3nm, there is very little distance and time for me to fixed my height and track. Being stable at 500ft AGL for landing is a strict requirement, but I didn't manage to get it and we often were still adjusting the heading at 300ft. Managed to land safely, but it wasn't pretty.

Circling to landing is the most challenging aspect of my A320 training so far.


#2 session
My usual instructor took me for this session and we flew with the VOR Rose mode on the ND too. This time round I'm more familiar with how it works, but I have also changed sim partners, and I have no idea how different they fly. The good thing about having SOPs is different pilots will have minimal differences, which is what makes SOP so important to an airline. You do not work with the same set of crew all the time, that's also where MCC comes in.

Good thing though, they're very good in terms of SOP as well as manual flying, which allows me to learn from them and fix my inefficiencies. My usual trouble again is at the base turn into the final approach for landing. Failure to stabilise at 500ft AGL is becoming very frustrating for me. I ended the session not feeling confident at all....

#3 session
Final session of the week on a quiet Sunday earlier today. Third time flying the same lesson but with yet another different instructor, the most experienced of them all. This time, he introduced us to use the Bird to fly FPA/TRK. And I must say it makes visual flying much more of a breeze.

Previously I was using my memory along with the V/S to determine my descend profile. Without the bird, the placement of my flying "box" wasn't consistent which caused the need for a lot of corrections here and there. It was tiring to manual fly like this.

However with the bird, I can place it directly on the -3degrees position on my PFD and fly its tail to the track I've set. It was nice. My approach on base and finals improved, and I'm glad I've found the trick to flying visual accurately.

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Two weeks later I will be sitting for the A320 type rating paper. It has been 1.5years since I last sat for a big exam paper with CAAS. Getting a little worried with the amount of material to study, made worse by the fact that I do not have much experience and exposure with the A320 systems. So for now, I will have to rely heavily on the CBT to get myself acquainted with all the systems, which at the moment is quite overwhelming to me. Wishing myself all the luck I need!

Week 77: A320 Type Rating Week 16

Slow week with just one sim session flying the same thing as per previous session. With the familiarity we have now for this SID, we were aiming for more accurate flying according to the track illustrated on the ND's Arc mode.

On the CANPA side, our instructor increased the challenge by changing the direction of the wind for a more direct crosswind to test on our handling. My lack of skill showed as I struggled to keep on centre-line for the approach. It is just so damn frustrating that I can't fly it well. The joystick don't seem to be intuitive to me at this stage of training. I'm not sure I long will I need to take to overcome this obstacle.

Week 76: A320 Type Rating Week 15

11 days of not flying has caused me and my partner to be very rusty in our SOPs and much prompting was needed from our instructor. That caused us to be very inefficient in getting the plane lifted off to proceed with the training flight.

Lesson plan was the same as the previous sim session with a NDB CANPA approach plus Go-Around procedure. One thing we learnt today was that there are two ways to key in the next waypoint we want to fly to.

#1 is through the DIR button which we key in the waypoint into the Direct To bracket
#2 is through the F-PLN button which we input the next waypoint into the middle of the whole flight plan.

Of course both ways produce different outcome in the way the FMGS interpret the info. At my current stage of training, I'm still unable to tell the exact difference.

Week 75: A320 Type Rating Week 14

After the euphoria of my fist cockpit experience last week, I was so looking forward to my second and final observation flight this week. I was scheduled for an early morning flight to Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. The FO was a senior from my same course who just graduated this April and joined the company.

With someone I am familiar with, the whole process is much more relaxing and more to chat about, helped by a very friendly and tech savvy 54year old captain from Pakistan. This flight was much shorter than the one to Chiangmai last week and the load was also lighter. Taking off took a long time as there was a queue for departure. It seems that the Singapore queuing culture in Singapore can't be avoid everywhere. This also showed me that morning flights are the peak period of the airport and I'll better do things faster to avoid being caught in the jam in future. The engine burns fuel even when on idle on the taxiway, and if i get stuck for too long, my fuel plan is gonna get screwed up.

Soon, we took off from RWY02C and headed straight towards Vietnam over the eastern seas of Malaysia's coast. The radios involved along the way were much lesser than the one to Chiangmai, thus reducing the workload of the PM. Very soon, we arrived at destination but was slightly delayed in theair due to some military exercises. Upon touch down, I finally see how does Vietnam looks like as I've never been to this country. The airport looks old, with parking bays used by the American planes during the war still standing beside the runway. The terminal is very small as compared to Changi Airport, and there was a "follow-me" car to bring us from the main taxiway to the gate. That was the first time I've seen this.

At the gate and awaiting the unloading/loading to be done, the captain gave me the chance to set up the FMGC for the return flight. I was very grateful for that and jumped onto the left-hand seat to get it all ready albeit with some data absent due to the unavailability of the load sheet. The buttons are softer and much nicer to press as compared to the one I'm used to in the sim. Other than that everything is the same.

Before I can take more looks of the airport, we were back on the runway for our home bound leg. Some less than two hours of cruising, I descended into the haze above Singapore international airport. Almost took the wrong taxiway to get to the gate with the FO and me not really paying attention to things, but luckily it was discovered before turning into the wrong route. This tells me to be always alert as everyone can make a mistake no matter how experienced he is.

Locked up the aircraft and it was time for lunch. There's no taking of work home or thinking about work when leaving work. What a perk it is unlike my days as a software consultant before I embarked on this journey. How lovely~

0550hrs, reporting for flight.. Thank god I stay in the Eastern region of Singapore

The sun rises as I did the walk-around

Nose

I was in disbelief as I spotted this floppy disk drive on the centre pedestal

Look at the queue for departure

On descend to Saigon, a bumpy one with all this cloud

Follow-me car

For a short while during cruise, I hopped on to the right-hand seat. What a great feeling it was.

Two days after the flight I was back to the sim for training. After three lessons of VOR CANPA approaches, the lesson plan changed for a NDB CANPA approach at the similar airport. NDB flying is a pain in the butt since the days in Ballarat and nobody likes it. Did my chart preparation the day before and reading up on the FCTM on how I can fly it more accurately.

Setting up the FMGC is roughly the same except for the RAD NAV page. Other than the VOR that has to be tuned, the NDB will have to be set up as well. The VOR has DME equipped which is crucial for the CANPA distance/height planning approach. Has there be no DME, we have to refer to the distance t runway threshold found on the PROG page of the MCDU. That will be damn hard to fly having to look at the PFD, ND and MCDU. Luckily my instructor allowed the DME to be serviceable haha.

The lesson was carried out mostly similar, with take-off to radar vectors to holding to approach. Well I managed to fly the NDB interception pretty ok and the approach was good. Now that I've gotten my controls sorted out, I no longer fear the approach. The biggest challenge for NDB is the clustering of the ND. VOR and NDB arrows with the stations and waypoints and runway all jumbled up on the screen. Ah well, just gotta live with it.

Happy week for me, but it's sad that my next real flight in the cockpit will be next year. Lots of patience and heck lot more of training needed.