Instrument Rating, 4 weeks locked in a sim

The IR (Instrument Rating) is probably the most important course towards the airline flying. This is where we're taught all the procedures flown on instruments (and not visually unlike the CPL), flying in all kinds of awful weather.
My flightmate and I started the course the day following my CPL Skill Test. Not much of a break indeed.
We jumped straight onto the FNPT1 simulator (Procedures Trainer) for the first 10h of the course.
The course in itself is designed to teach someone who's never done any Instruments Flying before, from the very biginning. However, as part of the CPL course we did 10 hours instruments, so some of the basis was already acquired. We skipped that and started off with some general NDB/VOR tracking and procedure turns (cf flight sheet below), and the 2nd flight was about holds and ILS Approaches.
Within 10 hours, we managed to cover Bournemouth 26 and 08 hold procedures, ILS and NDB Approaches, Bristol Lulsgate, Bristol Filton, Exeter (both runways, NDB/DME, NDB timed (NDB out) and ILS procedures) and an IFR route (Bournemouth -> Alderney).
It all went really fast, and our very experienced flight instructor (ex airline pilot and crew selection examiner) knows exactly how to increase the level on each flight so that we never get any relaxing time in any part of the flight. We were soon thrown at all kinds of systems failures, emergencies, flight plan amendements, etc ...

Then came the much nicer FNPT2 simulator, still a procedure trainer but type specific this time, looking a bit more alike the Beechcraft 76 Duchess with a decent visual.
That part of the course lasts 20 hours and ends with a sim check which we'll take on monday next week. We basically simulated the flights we'll do on the real aeroplane, from start-up to finish. We mostly used it to get to understand how to fly procedures, how to use the equipement, the ATC, get in the habit of decision making, reading plates, etc ... In that regard, it is really good at teaching us procedure related stuff. But to be honest the flying in itself is not that realistic. It's not a motion sim, the flight enveloppe differs quite a bit from the real aircraft, so do attitudes and power settings, engine failures are pretty unrealistic, but the aim is simply to teach students the drills and the procedures before they move onto the plane where the workload will get much higher.
We did some more procedures, navigations, airway joins, DME arcs, etc ...
PAT (Professional Air Training) is currently the only school in the UK to teach Rnav (GNSS) approaches and we tried that at Exeter.
After 20~25 hours, there's not much more to learn from such a simulator if you're confident with what you've done so far, there's no point really in doing the same procedures all over again and learning them by heart. Most students actually struggle through this part of the IR since everything is new, but to be honest both Steve and I were well ahead of the game, we really enjoyed it and kept up with the tough level our instructor was looking for. He basically took us a step beyond that of the CAA, altitude holding went from the IR minima of +/- 100ft to his minima of +/- 20ft ... Most navaid trackings were down to the degree and decision making became soon entirely ours.

The joy that results from doing a good flight, trying to stay ahead of the plane most of the time, and breaking through clouds at minima to land in some deep fog on a runway far from home, is just incredible. Most people won't get it, but when aviation has been your thing since you were in nappies, reaching that point (quite quickly frankly) is basically achieving a dream.
Having completed the course within 25hr instead of the standard 30, we had a chance to do some LOFT (Line Oriented Flight Training), AP coupled approaches, SIDs (Standard Instrument Departure) and STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Route).

IR flights chronicles due to start next week, with hopefully some nice pictures and videos from up there.

Airbone life continues...

Some of the pictures include the visit of an ex PAT student pilot who's now flying the Citation Mustang, and a backseat on Sarah's flight to Cardiff.

The World's Most Beautiful Office

People often ask me what's so special about flying? Why would someone want to be an airline pilot?

There are so many different aspects that it is just impossible to cover them all.
Let me just try to put some words on what it feels like to break through a cloud layer when the sun is setting.

Seating on the runway and waiting for our take-off clearance, the good old Lycoming O-360 engines are rolling over at idle thrust waiting for my hand to push the two thrust levers forward.
The whole city is stuck under a dark grey menacing-looking cloud layer.
Being cleared for take-off, I bring the mighty Duchess to life, all vibrating under the combined 360 horsepower which, all of a sudden, tear the silent evening.
Moments later, I raise the nose by about 5°, announce "Positive rate of climb, Gear up" while lifting the gear lever and pitching up to our climb attitude of 8°. The ground flows under our wings. It's all dark out there, looks like it's going to rain any time soon. Our plane is set in the cruise climb, all systems are in the green, passing 1000ft I bank her gently left on a South-Easterly heading to intercept BIA's 161° bearing.
As climb continues, I loose sight of the horizon and the plane starts bouncing a bit more as we enter clouds. 161 is coming, drift applied and I'm now tracking outbound towards THRED, a waypoint off the shore.

And just before I enter the airway, we punch through the cloud layer into a scene of incredible beauty. The sun is cracking the horizon above a sea of clouds...
An intense golden light is illuminating our faces, my smile is now clearly spreading ... It is one of those moments.

Southampton's VOR 206 radial is coming up as I reach 30nm DME, and turning right I'm now flying down the airway towards ORTAC.

Cruise check done, established at Flight Level 60, I've now got 33 miles to run before reaching ORTAC to enjoy this truely magical moment. This is where our mind focuses for a few seconds on the souls below, probably enjoying some rain right now.
That leaves me speechless.

Does it get any better?
Probably not...

I left behind the VFR charts as the visual flying part is over, it's all about accurately tracking towards and from beacons now, we've got a handful lot of work to do in the simulators but the joy of learning how to actually fly an airliner is truely exciting.
In just a few hours, Steve and I have been learning a lot about NDB holds with and without wind, ILS/DME approaches, IFR navigation, etc ...
We're in the hands of the excellent Steve Y. , our flight instructor, who's constantly monitoring every little movement we make. He possesses excellent airmanship skills and really knows how to pass them onto his fellow students. I can only be greatful to be seating there today.

I remember a few years ago, classmates, flightmates, relatives and other know-it-all kind of people looking down at me and telling me very seriously "don't be ridiculous, pilots are people with incredible mathematical ability, they're the best of the best, this is just not for you".
Looking back at those memories, all I can think of now is compassion for those people, most of which are stuck in traffic jams every morning on their way to some boring work, each day looking similar. Still a long way to go on my side, but I do believe I'll eventually make it to the airline, and whatever happens in between, I won't regret a thing. I gave my life a huge turn, moved abroad, and acted to make things happen. I didn't ask anyone any help nor any money, and like many people did before me, I turned my back to those who like to spread gloom and doom, left them behind, and walked ahead to some promising future.

I'm looking forwards to more and more flights, more and more skills to take onboard, and more magic from the incredible sight above the clouds.

Airborne life continues...

Commercial Pilot

6:00am. The sky is going from a foggy orange dark to blue dark as the morning sets up, the town is slowly waking up.
Today is different from the other days, I finished my CPL training a few days ago, passed the so-called 170A exam, and it's now time to confirm that I can properly do all what I've been trained for in a professional and commercial manner, and cope with any kind of emergency.

A few hours later, after some time standing at the airport and looking at the weather forecast, I finally meet Captain Dave R. at the CAA test centre.
We both agreed we would brief and prepare the flight as we would normally do if the weather was great, and we will check it again just before going flying.
Today, our flight will take us to Colyton, a small village a dozen miles East of Exeter, in Devon.
We meet again 45 minutes later, discuss the performances calculations under today's conditions, and as we will probably land in Dunkeswell as a diversion, I also check the landing and take-off performances, as well as the mass & balance sheets. We complete the briefing with a few questions regarding Air Law and the Be76 specifications.
The forecast reveals a flyable window of around 2 hours and some decent weather to the West.
We jump in the plane, start up the engines and get the ATIS. We've got some FEW clouds at 3000ft, more than 10k visibility, which for once isn't bad at all. Taxi, line-up and take-off, and I'm soon in the cruise on my first leg towards Colyton.
Bad luck comes soon, and this is exactly what happens in real life, the cloud ceiling gets down to around 1500ft AMSL, it's overcast, there are rains showers and some nasty weather ahead. I take the decision to divert and fly on a North-Easterly heading that will get us in some much better weather. Unfortunately, the forecast are never very accurate and that's what we've got to deal with. I manage to complete all the remaining sections of the CPL Skill Test and pass them all.
Despite the navigation being cancelled, it is still a lot to do and fatigue comes to play eventually. Instrument flying, VOR and NDB tracking, partial panel, timed-turns, unusual attitudes while in IMC without the artificial horizon, stalls in approach and landing configurations, simulated cockpit fire, engine fire and actual shut-down followed by an emergency descent, all kind of circuits, engine failure after take-off, N-1 landing, aborted take-off, etc ...
I finally land the plane about half an hour before the rain arrives in Bournemouth.

Then comes the debriefing, and I'm left in some mixed feelings. That's an incomplete CPL Test but I actually passed everything we could do. A bit frustrating I must say.
The next day turns out to be absolutely awful, and I eventually cancel the test.
Finally, thursday looks slightly better. Same as two days ago, we should have a two hour window to fly VMC, and I decide to give it a go.
I've got a different examiner, a different navigation to plan of course (see below), and a cloud ceiling averaging to around 1800ft. They forecast some nasty weather coming soon so we must go before that.
We're soon flying in some smooth air at 1500ft, below the clouds on our way to Evercreech. A few miles later, the cloud ceiling is down to 1400 ft (with some high ground up to 800ft), there are rain showers on my path and it just gets really tricky. It is still flyable but it just can't get any worse. I have to avoid every localised rain shower, and maintain a 500 foot separation between me and the ground. All this while entering a Military Air Traffic Zone and trying to get back on the exact track initially planned. Evercreech is not hard to find, and I head onto my diversion the examiner just gave me. Alderhot, just North of Bournemouth airport. The weather is getting even worse unfortunately, and although the cloud base enables me to fly reasonnably high, the visibility is now down to just a few kilometers. Track correction at the half-way point as the wind seems to have increased in the meantime, and I finally end up on track and on time over Alderhot. Flight test is complete, the examiner takes control and this is it, I'm no longer a Private Pilot, I just became a Commercial Pilot (or Professional Pilot as we call it in France).

First "real" ILS on the Be76, CPL Test Profile and 737-200 sim session

We had a lot going on this last few days. That was a pretty busy week indeed, starting with two days of absolutely crap weather (windy, low clouds forming an overcast layer just above the 500 foot mark, and to make it even better, some rain showers pretty much everywhere in this part of the country).
Perfect weather to do the instrument flying bit of the CPL course. Although we were flying instruments in actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), we did use the screens as we popped out of the clouds eventually, enjoying (well, when backseating) some nice sunshine whilst people below us were enjoying some rain ...
On the way back of those two flights, we got the chance to do a Radar Vectored ILS, and break out from clouds around 700ft, with the runway magically appearing in sight right in front of us. The feeling resulting from this is really intense, it really is a huge joy after some really tough work keeping the plane on the glide path and centred on the localizer to pop out of the clouds and happen to be correctly aligned and at the correct height.

As Steve and I booked our MCC (Multi-Crew Co-Operation) course at European Skybus on the 737-200 Full Flight Simulator (full motion), we got the chance to get our hands on her for a circuit from London Stansted. We now can't wait to get started with that last part of the training (which should take place sometime between December and January).

Wednesday was the first Test Profile, a two hour flight to Blackbushe (just North of Farnborough, on the edge of London). The way out was made up from two planned legs (visual navigation) with a Matz penetration (Boscombe), joining the circuit pattern at Blackbushe, doing some flapless approach, engine failure after take-off, one engine go-around (N-1), then departing through the overhead to then fly through Farnoborough's ATZ on a diversion leg (unplanned navigation) towards the Coast, doing some radionav position fixes on the way. Then came the general handling part, where we had to show some stalls recovery, steep turns, engine fire drill and emergency descent. And finally, on the way back home, some instrument flying (with the screens), partial panel, unusual attitudes recovery, and VOR tracking (HSI/RMI). Just before joining the circuit pattern at Bournemouth, we had to deal with an engine failure (simulated) and land on one engine.

Thursday, a much more relaxing flight (in a way) practicing general handling, instrument flying and NDB tracking.
And on friday, another Test Profile, to Dunkeswell this time.
If we get along with the weather, both Steve and I should have our 170 test on monday and the CPL skill test should follow within the next few days. Fingers crossed.













































Steve flying the approach on the 73

Instrument flying, Navigation and Diversion (CPL)

The MEP being completed, we jumped straight on to the CPL course, and I must say, it all goes really fast all around.
We started with some navigations (planned legs), flying to small villages like Wedmore, Axminster, Sturminster, Kingsclere, Petersfield, etc ...
Then came the unplanned navigation, basically en-route diversion.
This is the kind of flying a PPL should be familiar with, however the way you fly it as a CPL student is all new, especially if you've been trained in a flying club.
The standard navigation technique we use is known as Dead Reckoning. We do not use radio-navigation for planned legs, and we do not randomly correct if it gets obvious we've been moved off track. Instead, we use one of three heading correction techniques, which aim at coming back exactly on track, or flying direct to the intended destination from the present off track position.

We can either double the track error (in degrees) for the same amount of time we've been flying from the previous turning point, and then continue on half that value for the remaining part of the leg.
If we opt for a quicker way to regaining track, the Standard Closing Angle works best. It is based on 60 / TAS(nm/min), about 25° at 140kt for a Be76 Duchess. For each nautical mile off track, we alter the heading in the opposite direction for 1 min (or 2 min for 2nm, 3 min for 3 nm and so on) by 25°. Then on, we turn back on the previous heading, correcting by the amount of track error (in degrees, this time).
If the mid-point has been passed, the best method becomes the Inverse Fraction. We estimate how many degrees off track we currently are, work out a fraction corresponding to our position along the leg (for example, at 15 nm for a 22 nm leg, we've been flying 2/3 of the whole leg).
The correction to be made is then 1/(2/3) x the track error (in degrees). Say it was 4°, we'd have to alter the heading by 1/(2/3) x 4 = 3/2 x 4 = 6°. That new heading bringing us directly towards the destination without having to regain the initially planned track.
As to make things easier, we draw 10° lines from the planned track on the chart, and from those lines we can get a rough idea of how many degrees we are from the intended track.

That's the navigation bit. Then comes the Matz (Military Air Traffic Zone), ATZ penetration and zone transits. Those are pretty straight forward, but as the frequencies tend to get busy at times (especially Farnborough), with very little time to change from one to another and pass on all our details (e.g. Boscombe to Farnborough, or Farnborough to Southampton), all this while trying to figure out where the destination is, the workload makes a big jump up and getting everything right isn't as straight forward as it seems in the first place.
That's when you get an engine failure (simulated), and have to rejoin a busy airfield with a lot going on. Get the radio out of the way, work out the joining procedure (deadside rejoin, base rejoin, ...), descent to circuit altitude while doing the pre-landing checks, position yourself on final, and at commital altitude (200 ft AGL), you get an asymmetric go-around ... followed by a lot of flapless and asymmetric circuits.
On the way back, you track NDB and VOR radials using your RMI and/or HSI, get a position fix (Tacan (DME) + VDF for example), and then do some instrument flying. The instructor puts on a set of screens that hide the outside view to simulate IMC (instruments conditions). But that'd be too easy, you also get your Artificial horizon hidden, and you also loose the HSI and RMI. You now have to rely on the turn coordinator to check your wings level and your altimeter to check your attitude. As for your heading, and turning through a new heading, you figure it out with the not-so good compass, and do some timed turns (turning at Rate 1 (3°/sec), turning from 010 onto 285 will be 85° left, roughly 28sec, that is if you stay right on a rate 1 turn, which isn't easy when the weather gets gusty).
Later on comes the unusual attitudes bit, where your flight instructor takes control and puts the plane on a very steep climb (or descent) while over-banking the aircraft on wide side, before handing the controls back to you. You're still flying instruments with no artificial horizon, no way to be sure of an even rough attitude, and you now have to bring back the plane to a safe a stable straight and level flight. You are to use the airspeed indicator (speed increasing -> descent attitude -> ease back on the yoke until the speed reverses, and then damp on the speed changes) and the turn coordinator (showing a turn to the left -> you roll the plane to the right until you've gone past the no-turn position by about half a deviation).

The CPL is well fun, but on a 28h course (of which 6h are MEP course), it is a lot to do.
So far, I've been flying 17h, the 5h simulator (FNPT1, cf photos) part is now completed, and the 'in-house' profile test is due for tomorrow if weather permits.

MEP (Multi-Engine Piston)

Back in Bournemouth (UK) where I'll spend the next 4 months or so, I started my MEP training on the Beechcraft Be-76 Duchess.
Although it isn't quite a big plane, it still feels like a big step forward from the light single engine planes I used to fly up to now.
First of all, with two 180hp rated engines, it is almost 4 times more powerful than the Cessna 150 I used to fly. Each engine drives a constant speed propeller via a CSU and has got a three position cowl flap. The landing gear is retractable, one of the three Be76 the school owns is fitted with an airborne weather radar, they all have autopilots, HSI coupled with the GPS for Rnav approaches, RMI, a cross-feed fuel system, two avionic buses, three trims (elevator, ailerons and rudder), and ... 6 engine levers on the main desk (throttles, full feathering props, and mixture levers).

The flying is also fairly different. As we are training to be airline pilots and doing a CPL course, we've got a whole bunch of new procedures, checklists and briefings.
We now have a "passenger briefing" along with the usual "captain briefing".
There is a total of 7 checklists prior to take-off while there used to be only 3 as a private pilot, each of those having between 15 and 20 items to be checked.
- Before Starting Engines checks,
- Starting - Normal Procedure (Right engine first, then Left engine),
- After Engines Start,
- Taxi checks,
- Power checks,
- Pre Take-off checks,
- Take-off checks.

Lined up on the runway, I set 2200 rpm, give the gauges a quick glance before releasing the brakes as I apply full throttle. The powerful acceleration that follows brings out quite an intense feeling. Speed is alive, a few seconds later we're reaching 75kt as I say "Rotation" and pull the controls to raise the nose, 85kt and not much runway left: "Positive rate of climb, Gear up", and continuing on a 100kt cruise climb. Passing 500ft, I bring back the throttles to 25" of Manifold Pressure, the props are set to a coarser 2500rpm, and I can now do my After Take-Off Checklist.

The MEP course trains us to react to any kind of emergency.
For the purpose of training, we've been simulated engine failures, and been actually switching off one engine in flight (see the video and pictures below).
Emergency fire both on the ground and in flight, emergency descent (2700rpm, throttles on idle, 140kt, gear down and turning on a steep 45° dive, the ground comes very very fast), engine failure and feathering drills, landing gear manual extension, operation on crossfeed, one-engine inoperative landing, one-engine inoperative go-around, etc ...
It would take ages to describe everything, but this is actually very interesting and can be real fun. While most procedures are simply drills (not that easy once in the air in an emergency situation), engine failures usually last until you land.

Here's how it works: you take-off for a normal circuit, and not long after the instructor shuts down one of the two engines (without you knowing which one). You then have to continue the climb to circuit altitude, and land with one engine out. There are additional checks while flying asymmetric and that doesn't help making it easy. When you loose power on one side, the plane immediately yaws onto the "dead" side, then rolls, then loose altitude. You've got to react fast, apply almost full rudder (can be quite painful to your leg), maintain a balanced and leveled attitude, then push forward all remaining 5 levers, then feather the throttle, feather the prop and feather the mixture of the "dead" engine (be sure of which one this is, because as the propeller is windmilling, there is almost no visual sign of an engine failure), you then check for an engine fire, cut off the fuel, switch off the fuel pump, magnetos and alternator, close the cowl flap on one side and open on the other, and finally trim the plane before making a "mayday" or "panpan" call.

Along with the flights comes 7 hours of ground school including asymmetric theory, constant speed propellers and an overview of the Beechcraft Duchess. We then study on our own the POH (Pilot's Operating Handbook), all the relevant figures, the in-depth theory, and take the written exam. I passed and got 92.5%. The practical test will be including in the CPL skill test and I will then be "multi-engine piston" qualified.

Jumpseat Airbus A319

Another chance to have a glimpse in the real world at what we've been learning all those days stuck in BCFT's classrooms.

In the meantime, I made my way to Bournemouth, UK and am now fully ready to start my CPL (Commercial Pilot License) on the Beechcraft Be-76 Duchess with PAT, Professional Air Training which probably is one of the best modular training provider in the UK.

I'm off to London tomorrow to renew my Class 1 medical and that should be it.