WEEK 8&9: COMMS & MOCKS #12

Airline Prep

so true!

Last week brought an end to module one with the beautiful subject that is VFR and IFR COMMS. There were just three days of teaching and more than one of those was spent finishing off instruments and going over a few areas of weakness from other topics. COMMS itself took just over a day to teach and after two nights spent doing it on question bank I felt fairly comfortable with it.

We also got a chance to go on the 737-300 simulator to physically experience some of the things we have learned in POF and INST which was great fun. Four of us spent about three hours in there going through various procedures such as being out of trim, auto-lands, programming the auto-pilot etc. It was awsome and definitely helped visualize a few things that were slightly unclear before, such as the effects of stick force stability. It made me feel like a pilot again! 

fixed base 737-300 sim

me flying the 737-300 sim

Captain DJ Patel & First Officer Harry Clark

the desk of the working man

the view from my window in the New Forrest

the house toys

the CRP-5 computer (or 'crap 5' as it's called)

So with all the lessons completed we had just four days to revise our seven subjects for the mocks. This time was spent solidly revising/question banking from 9 AM till 9 PM with the rare break to play a spot of tennis in the sunshine.

The mocks are structured like so:


Monday: MET & LAW
Tuesday: POF & INST
Wednesday: AGK, VFR COMMS, IFR COMMS

My goal was to pass five or more out of the seven so that I didn't have to retake any exams and felt like I was in a decent position. Because of the lack of time we had to revise I decided to sacrifice instruments and accept a fail in that so that I could focus on the other six subjects. I don't think I was the only one with that method as only two people passed the exam. I am glad to say though that I achieved my goal, with results of:

MET: 83%
LAW: 89%
POF: 73% (one mark short. bugger!)
INST: 65%
AGK: 84%
VFR COMMS: 96%
IFR COMMS: 92%

AVERAGE: 83%

(The pass mark is 75% for each paper)

I was very happy with these results considering the lack of time we had to revise. I was so annoyed that I failed POF because I was just ONE MARK SHORT and I made one stupid mistake where I worked the question out correctly but ticked the wrong box!! But never mind. They say that on average your marks go up by 10% for the real exams which suits me fine. The mocks are also apparently a little bit harder than the real thing because CTC write a few of the questions themselves. Generally the majority of the questions are from question bank though.

If you fail three or more mocks then you have to re-take the failed papers a few days later, which is a bit of a drag but CTC just want to make sure that you are ready to take the real exams.

I've come home for my revision period to take advantage of the cooking and get away from the horses and the cows (I'm not talking about my house mates there).

my revision time table

I'm going for a Chinese and a few beers with some friends tonight and I'm going to have a fairly relaxed day tomorrow by watching the England T20 match and revising a bit of LAW and COMMS. The hard work starts again on Friday.

Real exams start in eleven days on the 7th of April.

WEEK 7: AIR LAW #11

Airline Prep

This week was the dreaded topic of Air Law (or 'Air Bore' as I like to call it). I had heard a lot about Law
and it certainly lived up to reputation. I found it very difficult to show any interest or read into the subject in any depth. It is very much a data base topic and I have taken the advice of cadets ahead of me by simply question banking it a lot and learning the answers, with the odd exception. There are a few sub-topics which are reasonably relevant and interesting such as holding patterns and approach procedures, but why on earth we need to know how many pairs of lines are required either side of the center line according to the runway width is beyond me! Why anyone would care about that kind of stuff baffles me. But, sadly these kind of facts have to be learned to get the license and I imagine will be quickly forgotten once the exam is done.

A brief look at holding patterns (sorry about the orientation)

We didn't get a chance to go on the sims this week which was a bit disappointing but I'm not too fussed because it gave me more time to bank law and learn the answers.

My sim at home

Our instructor absolutely rattled through everything and at the end of each topic went through some past paper questions with us. We finished the whole subject before lunch on the final day so spent the afternoon doing a couple of practice exams. I did well in the first one, getting 84%, but then I got 70% in the second attempt which doesn't really make sense but everyone found the second paper harder than the first.

Rafa Patel

This weekend I traveled into London to play football for my school old boys which was great fun. We lost 3-0 but I personally had a decent game and it was great to get out in the sunshine and play some sport again. The journey however took just under 4 hours each way which made the day much longer than I anticipated but I managed to get lots of question banking done on the train and bus which was good. I completed a couple of past papers when I got home and passed them both reasonably comfortably so I feel relatively confident with Air Law now.

Our campus tennis court

Instruments is my challenge for tomorrow (Sunday), which I imagine will be a lot more stressful.

Amazing sunset over Southampton

I found I was really forcing myself to come home after football, the thought of returning to a dark room to work did not seem appealing in comparison to playing sport in the sun. The target of New Zealand is really pulling me through at the moment.

Final 3 days of teaching next week before revision starts!

WEEK 6: INSTRUMENTS #10

Airline Prep

This week we have been studying Instruments and I have to admit, it wasn't the most interesting of topics. All this stuff on magnetism, gyroscopes etc can really drain you and it is a real challenge to keep your concentration past 2:30, but you have to push on through and stay on it the whole time.

Didn't miss out on pancake day

The last day of instruments did improve slightly due to the fact we were learning about the glass cockpit, auto pilot and other various systems used on the modern jets that we are eventually going to be flying.

Most the concepts are easier to grasp than the likes of POF and MET but I'm still not confident with a few areas and it's quite difficult trying to remember the various inputs and outputs of certain systems such as the FMS and IRS. It is more of a data base subject though so hopefully if I keep chipping away at it it'll come together and I'll remember more and more each time. I think I have a sim session with our instructor coming up this week where he will demonstrate a few things so I'm sure that will help visualize and understand a few more things.

I'm still waiting for this 'big click' that everyone keeps telling me will happen!!

Mum showing me how it's done

We've had four days off this weekend which is very nice and a great opportunity to catch up and go over everything we've done so far. Time very much needed! I've also taken this opportunity to go back home to sunny Sussex to see the family and get a change of scenery. I stopped off to see two of my best mates for dinner on the way back which was really great.

Dinner with my old friends

The next day I was back on the work and I tested my memory of AGK, which I hadn't done for a while. My highly experienced, ex RAF Grandad and I went to Brooklands museum to have a look at some cut away engines, propellers, aircraft components and instruments to try and take a bit of a more practical approach. It was really nice getting outside and it did clear a few things up for me, especially engines and I feel more confident on propellers too. The afternoon and evening was spent question banking though. There's still more to be done but I'm feeling reasonably ok with AGK at the moment, so I'll keep working and improving and hopefully it'll be "alright on the night" as they say.

Grandad & I by Concorde at Brooklands

VC-10 with slats deployed and high T-tail

Gutted I missed the era of this magnificent beast

Old fashioned cockpit and instruments (definitely prefer the glass cockpit)

Great cut away engine

Wing structure (ribs, spars, stringers)

Amazing moving model of a piston cylinder

Concorde's undercarriage (oleo strut, side stay, scissor link, boggie axle)

I'm dedicating a day to each subject covered so far which is extremely helpful. Do not be fooled by the term 'day off'!

Air law to look forward to next week.