Boeing 737-3/900 Type Rated

Perfect timing for Christmas celebrations, two months after enrolling in the B737 Type Rating course, the group of people I trained with and myself are now qualified First Officers and will start line operations within just a few weeks.

The training isn't complete yet as we still have to complete the Base Training (6 to 10 circuits flown on the actual aircraft, without passengers) and the Line Training which will last around two months.
The Line Training envolves normal operations however the first few flights are supervised by a third pilot (safety pilot) and all flights are flown with Training Captains only.
At the end will come the Line Check which we will have to re-take twice a year from then on.

The LST (Licence Skills Test) goes through the same process and has to be re-taken once every 6 months during recurrent simulator training (RST), to keep current with emergency procedures and failures management.
As pilots, we are tested all the time and in some ways the training never stops.

The Full Flight Simulator sessions included all the aspects of the fixed base training but added much more complete decision making processes and line operations.
We reviewed pretty much all the phases of flight where we could have any kind of engine issues (failure, fire, overheat, abnormal vibrations, high EGT, severe damage, etc ...) whether this is on the ground, on the apron, during take-off, just while taking-off (between V1 and VR), after take-off, in cruise, during descent, on landing, etc...
Some airports have circle to land procedures (visual maneuver) in place and we practiced them in the simulator.
We are now CAT III ILS approaches qualified.

We reviewed so many failures or critical scenarios that I stopped counting. The worst we had were probably the loss of all AC power, manual reversion (complete loss of all three hydraulic systems, which makes it almost impossible to move the flight controls and maneuver the aircraft) and double engine failure on take-off.

Next step: First flight on the real aircraft.

Airborne life continues...

 

 

B737NG Type Rating - Simulator Phase (2)

Learn it the hard way, make the mistakes!

That's what the Fixed Base part of the simulator training is all about. 

The first 5 sessions were designed to learn and practice normal SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) on A to B flights. All the rest of the training is focused on systems failures, emergencies or non-normal situations, different types of approaches and decision making, on top of the usual SOPs work. The Full Flight sessions will bring the opportunity to practice again some of the situations we've been through before, but it adds the motion, more realistic airline environment (talking to Ops for example) and our required self-performance is set much higher. Yet the fixed base part feels really tough as every session brings more new stuff. The instructors let us make the mistakes and we learn from them.
It is undoubtedly much more intense than the Instrument Rating (IR) of the initial airline pilot training (which wasn't easy either).

Some of the failures and situations covered in the last five fixed base sessions include:
- APU (Auxiliary Power Unit, used to provide power and bleed air mainly when the engines are not running) Fault, i.e. not working,
- Bleed trip off (bleed air is compressed air taken from the engine compressor stages or from the APU, and is used to provide pressurisation, air conditionning and equipement cooling),
- Soure off (when a power source is no longer supplying energy as it should),
- Aborted engine starts for all kind of reasons (wet start, hot start, hung start, ...),
- Landing gear stuck in the up or in the down position,
- Loss of System A and Loss of System B (those are 2 of the 3 hydraulic systems (the third one is the standby system), driving flight control surfaces but not only, thrust reversers, landing gear, flaps and slats, brakes, spoilers, etc...),
- EEC Alternate mode (Engine control),
- Engine failure, Engine shutdown in flight,
- Engine Overheat,
- Engine Fire,
- Engine severe damage,
- Auto Speedbrake failure,
- Double FMC failure (resuming conventional navigation, manual calculation of speed references),
- Rapid depressurisation followed by:
- Emergency descent,
- Flight deck Window overheat,
- Rejected take-off,
- Passenger evacuation,
- Display failure,
- Stabiliser out of trim,
- ... and a few more.

There is a course of action for each of them, almost all systems are redundant and none of those conditions should develop in an uncontrolled situation. That's if we apply the correct procedure, and those simulator sessions are here to train to do exactly that.
Some of those situations require memory actions (Boeing refer to these as memory items) and a lot of decisions are to be made.

During Full Flight simulator sessions, some of those failures will be practiced again and lots of new failures will be introduced. There will be occasions when several failures will happen at the same time with procedures requiring to do opposite actions, resulting in the crew having to make a (correct) decision.

But the training is not only about failures and emergencies. We have to practice all kind of approaches on each flight, as well as go-arounds, take-off and approach briefings, and all normal checklists.
Amongst approaches we've been flying so far, other than the usual ILS Cat I, we did a few non-precision approaches (NPAs) such as LOC (Localizer only) approach, VOR-DME approach, NDB-DMEs, and circle-to-land (visual circuit after breaking off from the approach on one runway, to land on the same runway in the opposite direction, probably the most interesting type of approach).
There are two ways to fly NPAs, using VNAV (the FMC creates a vertical guidance based on DME, GPS and IRS position) or VS (Vertical Speed) as we would fly an approach on a Cessna.

Airborne life continues...

B737NG Type Rating - Simulator Phase

Final straight line to the right hand seat: the simulator phase.

It starts off with the fixed base part, a dozen sessions as pilot flying and pilot monitoring, before getting onto the full flight training.
It is called "fixed base" as the motion is not used on those simulator sessions. For this reason, we don't hand fly the plane a lot.
This part is typically designed to help us get to know all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), do-lists / checklists, the flows, standard calls and the Pilot Flying / Pilot Monitoring tasks.

The first five sessions are focused on normal operations. Basically, we enter the plane configured in the nightover/secure setup. The Pilot Flying (alternatively Captain and First Officer) completes the preliminary and setup flows while the Pilot Monitoring does the walkaround (checks the aircraft externally). This includes FMC basic setup (route planning, departure and arrival, speeds and altitudes restrictions, weather (temperature, winds) in the climb, cruize and descent segments, ...). This can take up to 10 - 15 minutes and those first simulator sessions are there to practice what we've been doing in the Procedure trainer (cockpit mock-up) and FMS trainer.

When both pilots are in the flickdeck and the final loadsheet has received, we complete the final FMC setup, make the take-off performance calculations (and decide of an appropriate thrust setting, e.g. derate thrust, assumed temperature), do the checklists and get started with the briefing. This would normally take another 10 to 15 minutes.
Then comes the pushback and startup sequences, taxi-out and take-off. For each of those phases, and for each pilot, there is a number of procedures, calls (out loud) and things we have to do. This is what SOPs are all about and it does take a while to remember them all and do it quickly enough. Everything is done from memory and then only we read the checklists, as opposed to do-list only, or checklist only, in general aviation.

Fixed base session 4 was a complete flight from A to B, ILS approach at B, go-around as a result of not being visual by the decision altitude, come back for another approach and land with weather merely above minima.

The next fixed base sessions introduce all kinds of emergencies and failures, I'll come to that in the next post.


Airborne life continues...

From the jumpseat

Thrilling reward after four weeks of intense studies, I got to jumpseat a few flights, enjoy the incredible view and do some of the work (walkaround, PA - Passenger Announcements, and ATC communications).

This is not the average day at the office for a huge proportion of people on this planet.
Yet the job of an airline pilot comes with drawbacks, but some of its aspects like the view and the flying in itself are simply extraordinary.

Waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning doesn't look very attractive in the first place, now when it comes to relishing the sunrise over the Alps, this is worth living for.

Airborne life continues...

B737NG Type Rating - Part 2.2 (CBT, SOP, Perf)

After a second week of CBT (Computer Based Training) we're now done with the Technical training, assessed with a final exam.
We then had different lectures to attend on topics not covered in the CBT, more related with actual airline operations.
I'm impressed by the consistency and quality of the training provided.


We've started practicing the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in the Procedure Trainer, which in fact is a cockpit mock-up. My sim partner is a well rounded guy who worked in the Army as a pilot. Different experience means great conversations, there are so many different paths that lead to the right hand seat of an airliner that in the end, no two pilots share the same story.
Along with the proceduring training, we have had a few lectures on SOPs, and I backseated a simulator session, useful to see all this in action.
We still have to do the Performance and Mass & Balance calculations training (and the related exam).

Finally, we spent a couple of hours in the Control Tower (ATC) and the Approach room, talking with air traffic controlers about procedures we, as pilots, might not understand or find necessary in the first place but which are there for a reason. Those guys are doing an amazing job and are there to help us, it's always useful to see both sides of the headset microphone.

Airborne life continues...

 

B737NG Type Rating - Part 2.1 (CBT, FMS)

CBT or Computer Based Training is our self-paced method of learning the technical side of the Boeing 737 Type Rating.

There are a total of 50 subjects to be reviewed as part of the CBT.

They are grouped into main topics, these include:

- Air Systems (Bleed air, pressurisation, air conditioning),
- Airplane General,
- Anti-ice equipment,
- Communications,
- Electrical,
- Engines and APU,
- Fire Protection,
- Flight controls (Primary and Secondary),
- Flight Instruments and Displays (Autoflight, VNAV, LNAV, Flight Directors, Standby instruments),
- FMS (Flight Management System) and Navigation (ADIRU - Air Data Inertial Reference Unit),
- Fuel systems,
- Hydraulics,
- Landing Gear,
- Warning Systems (Warnings, EGPWS, TCAS, ...).

The CBT program is actually very well designed and allows you to manually make inputs into the different systems and see their effects.
The CBT self-learning sequence is spread over two weeks, along with classes and reviews with flight instructors. It is supplemented by the FCOM (Flight Crew Operations Manual) which we have to know thoroughly, and which is in fact much more detailed.
The CBT however is a Boeing-based program, not airline specific.

An example of how detailed it gets would be the Landing Gear warning activation:
- The horn will activated when the flaps are between 0 and 10,
- Below 200ft RA (Radar Altitude),
- With one engine failed,
- 1 thrust lever less than 20°,
- All gear not down,
OR
- With Flaps between 15 and 25,
- 1 thrust lever less than 34° with 1 engine failed,
- or 1 thrust lever less than 20° with both engines operating,
OR
- Flaps 25 or more.

For every alert or warning light, there can be many different causes and many different actions to be taken, or even combination of warnings that lead to a different condition.
Example:
If the ZONE TEMP light illuminates amber, then CONT CAB indicates a duct temperature overheat or failure of the flight deck primary and standby temperature controls.
ZONE TEMP for FWD CAB and AFT CAB (Foward and Aft Cabin) indicates a duct temperature overheat.
If ZONE TEMP illuminates during Master Caution recall, then CONT CAB indicates a failure of the flight deck primary or standby temperature control.
Either FWD CAB or AFT CAB indicates a failure of the associated zone temperature control.

It can easily get confusing with hundreds of different warning lights in different locations.

We also started learning the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in the Procedure Trainer, which I'll explain in the next post.
Finally, we spent a couple of hours in the FMC trainer to have a go and practice all the things this fantastic system has to offer.

So far, this aircraft looks absolutely fantastic!

Airborne life continues...

Boeing 737NG Type Rating - Part 1

The Type Rating started off with an introduction and welcome into the airline. There are a lot of things to take onboard, such as the rostering system (basically, your work schedual), commuting, duty hours and limits, aircraft manufacturer's amendment to existing procedures, etc...
And paperwork, again.

The next few days were focused on CRM (Crew Ressource Management), accidents studies, SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) and their use and situational awareness. The lecturer was well experienced and made it all clear and interesting. Hats off.

Then came the safety and emergency training. The theoretical part covered Cabin Crew and Pilot's security and safety drills, cabin crew's flight routine, dangerous goods and law, normal and non-normal procedures.
Finally, it was completed by the practical training:
- Ditching drill in a swimming pool,
- Doors mock-ups,
- Fire drills,
- Evacuation from the aircraft slides.

We had to sit several exams.
Quite enjoyable overall.

Airborne life continues...

(Last photo is Nice (NCE) airport as seen shortly after takeoff)

Transiton and B737 Type Rating program

Glider towing was a very good experience.
Figures-wise, this represents some 1300 tow flights, on a 6 days on / 1 day off pattern, up to 14 consecutive flying days on some occasions.
I had the chance to do tows up to FL120 (12,000ft) for the National Test Pilots School (EPNER in France, equivalent of the British Empire Test Pilots School or the USAF Test Pilot School).

Figures stay figures, however it taught me a great deal of experience. I have had one engine failure on take-off (towing a heavy loaded two-seater glider), one occasion where the glider had its spoilers/speedbrakes stuck in the out position giving us a negative rate of climb on the initial path, several cable breaks, etc...
We operated in some serious weather conditions, with winds up to 40 kts, CBs forming all around on a daily basis, ...
When the airfield was flooded after heavy rains, we were to used the paved runways only.
Landing on the South-East side of the field, the Landing Distance Available was 120m (390ft), not much for this sort of planes.
Overall, an enjoyable and very valuable experience.

As always, good things come to an end, but yet the next step is one of which I have dreamt for years. Hired by a European airline, I started the Boeing 737NG Type Rating a few weeks ago and I should be flying the real aircraft around Christmas, first flights with passengers in January.

Type Rating program:
Week 1: Introduction, which covers topics such as our company's culture, CRM (Crew Ressource Management), SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures), Safety, Emergency Procedures, Survival and ditching training, Dangerous Goods, Fire and smoke drills, Operation of doors, ...
Weeks 2 to 4: CBT - Computer Based Training (Aircraft general knowledge and systems), FMS training (FMS simulator), SOP's training (cockpit mock-ups), Performances calculation, Mass & Balance, RVSM.
Weeks 5 to 10: Simulator training (60h of fixed base and full flight (full motion) simulator, and a further 20 hours as observer) and briefings.
LST: Licence Skills Tests (1 day),
Simulator Circuit Training (1 day),
Base Training (6 to 10 circuits on the actual aircraft, flown without passengers).

Airborne life continues...