WEEK 30, 31: FLYING LESSONS & TRIPS #24

Airline Prep

I seem to have been very busy again since the last update. We have been very fortunate with the weather so far and have got lots of flying in as a result. I am up to lesson 10 now, that's one lesson away from my first solo!

Taking off Runway 25R

Flying out towards the west coast

Some of the flights I've had have been brilliant. The views have been beautiful and conditions perfect for flying, just clear, blue and still. I definitely can't see myself getting tired of this at all. After effects of controls and straight and level, I have completed lessons on climbing and descending, medium turns, stalling and circuits.

Practising medium turns over the west coast of New Zealand

My instructor keeps throwing more and more at me each lesson and it's quite a high workload if it's not totally natural. You definitely need to be prepared and thinking ahead. I'm now doing all the pre flight, almost all of the radio calls, checks, taxiing, flying and refuelling. My radio skills have definitely improved and I now feel much more comfortable communicating on the radio. The basic flying skills are becoming more natural too which free's up some capacity which is good!

Bit of orientation

Each lesson has it's own learning objective with specific techniques which have to be learned and demonstrated accurately, such as doing a medium turn at 30 degrees of bank and not losing or gaining height, using only the horizon as guidance and also whilst maintaining the ALAP scan (attitude, lookout, attitude, performance). As I said, when it's new there's a lot to think about and the capacity is quickly drained.

DJ & I - New Zealand room mates

I've recently been doing circuits at Hamilton which has been so much fun. It's very busy as a circuit only takes 6 - 8 minutes and in that time you need to complete after take off checks, make radio calls, do landing checks, set up for landing, maintain a good lookout and fly an accurate circuit pattern with the correct spacing from the airfield and other aircraft. It's a great opportunity to get a feel for the aircraft and practice your landings and take off's. I have done about 7 in each circuit lesson so far and am definitely getting more confident with landing the thing.

My last lesson was only 13 minutes sadly, managing just 1 circuit due to the strong crosswind which was also gusting. I gave it a go but it was just a bit too much for me to deal with at this stage so we decided to try again another day.

The weather is turning bad for the next few days which is annoying so I don't think I'll be flying till late next week or weekend.

When I haven't been flying I've been going into Hamilton to play mini-golf and just wonder around to get used to the area. I've signed up to the local golf course which is about 5 minutes from Clearways which is handy! A 9 month membership is just $200 and an extra $70 to hire a set of clubs for the same time. I managed to get 9 holes in yesterday which was good fun! It's a lovely course, I look forward to playing a few rounds there over the next 8 months. I've also joined the local cricket club, Melville. I had my first training session the other day and everyone was very nice and welcoming. The set up was excellent and facilities seem good so hopefully I'll get as much training and matches in as possible.

count down to the cricket world cup

Some of us went to Rotorua last week which was great fun! We went to a place called The Louge where you run down a designated track on the side of a mountain on a sledge like thing on wheels. It goes at a fair speed but is so much fun! There's also mountain biking, a zip wire and a terrifying ball which catapults you to 150kph in 2 seconds over the edge of the mountain.

Rotorua 

There are thermal pools near by too which we didn't have time to see sadly but I'm sure there will be another day.

We managed another trip out towards the coast to have a look at a few caves, a stunning waterfall and the west coast of New Zealand which was very cool.

Marokopa Falls

My favourite trip though was when we went to Aukland to see New Zealand vs Australia. That was unbelievable and I saw the Haka in real life which is such an incredible experience, especially in front of a home crowd. It was a top quality game and it was an added bonus that Australia got thrashed, always a pleasing sight.

All blacks v Australia

I'm well settled out here now and very happy doing lots of flights and experiencing as much of the country as possible along side some great people! 

WEEK 28, 29: NEW ZEALAND GROUND SCHOOL & FIRST FLIGHTS #23

Airline Prep

courtesy of whattheflight_ on instagram

 A lot has happened in the last two weeks. After we had spent the first weekend getting used to the time zone and surroundings (kind of), we had an induction day on the Monday. This was quite a long day where we were just introduced to the operating procedures of the airport, told briefly about the set up etc, given a tour so we knew where everything was and taken out onto the apron to have a look at some of the aircraft and talk about apron safety. It was good getting out and seeing some aircraft.

a view of the apron

2 twin stars doing start up checks

having a look at one of the many katana's 

Luke & DJ trying the Katana for size

Tuesday and Wednesday was spent on differences, which is something you have to do before you go flying. It's an internal CTC exam which takes a day of teaching and a morning of revision. You then sit the exam in class under exam conditions, it is marked and then the result is given back to you an hour or so later. Nothing too challenging. I couldn't actually find that many differences to be honest. The pass mark was 75% and I got 84% which is a healthy enough pass given the revision time we had.

amazing view on the apron. courtesy of whattheflight_ on instagram.

A line of Katana's sat on the ground waiting to go

Thursday and Friday was spent doing New Zealand air law (NOT LAW AGAIN!!!!!). This again is a requirement that the NZ authority and CTC need for you to be able to fly here without taking all the NZ PPL's. It goes without saying that this was very dull and I did not enjoy it very much at all, especially since I could see aircraft taking off and landing out the window through the corner of my eye. There was some information that is very relevant to us though, such as airspace restrictions and procedures for various areas, so I have taken that stuff in.

We had the weekend and Monday to revise for the exam which was difficult because there's no question bank. All we have is the notes in the induction book we were given (same applied for differences). So we all found revising for the exams a little awkward.

the induction book

a page of differences 

a page of law

Over the weekend myself, Luke, DJ and Richard (another member of the course) found our own car for just 1700 dollars. It only has three functioning doors and a floppy aerial but apart from that it's very good. I think we got our money's worth. We bought it privately from a guy who lived close by in Hamilton. We also got a chance to play for the CTC football team. I played in goal first half and spent most the time lying down watching the game and in the second half played on the wing and scored a cheeky hatrick. We ended up winning 12-1 in what was a pretty heated game.

our beautiful car

Luke & I after the match

some of us in town last weekend

I sat my exam on Tuesday morning, feeling pretty unprepared but thankfully passed with 77%. The pass mark was 70%. It was an electronic exam but the room was in a shopping mall which was rather bizarre. We got some very strange looks as we walked past the grocery section in uniform with our flight bags...

familiarising myself with the cockpit and going through pre flight checks on an afternoon off

trust me to find this

In New Zealand you have to write a 'knowledge deficiency report', which is where you are given the sections of the syllabus you got wrong in the exam and have to write a few lines about it and then get it signed off by an instructor, which is a bit of a ball ache but it's done now. Theory out the way!

celebrating the back of air law with a curry 

Wednesday was a very long day in the class room again. We had lot's of briefs to get through regarding apron safety, Hamilton operations, the Katana, mass & balance, the next couple of lessons we were going to do and a few other bits and bobs. So much information has been thrown at us in such a short period of time!

Thursday was our first flying day but it was my scheduled day off sadly. However, the weather was rubbish so nobody flew.

the twin star = beauty

But, finally on Friday the weather was clear and I was scheduled for an early morning flight. I reported to the airport at 06:30 for a 09:00 flight. It was very cold, so cold that there was ice on the wings and they had to be de-iced.

I spent the two and a half hours doing my mass & balance and performance calculations and analysing the current NOTAMS and weather. I love how professional the set up is. It really does feel like you're a proper pilot going in and printing off all the weather reports etc. It's good being able to apply some of the things learned in ground school too.

Just before going out to the aircraft I had a brief with my instructor, MJ, who I seemed to click with instantly, I think we will get on well. He just told me what to expect during the lesson and the goals we were aiming to achieve. The first flight was just effects of controls so it was pretty basic but still required a lot of concentration because the aim is to fly as accurately and smoothly as possible.

What made my first flight even more special is that it was in the CTC flagship, ZK-CTC which was really cool.

the preparation room 

the lounge at the airport

beautiful morning for my first flight. courtesy of latzopi on instragram

ice on the wing. #nippy

Although the weather was perfectly clear, it was pretty turbulent. We got chucked around a bit in some places but I still absolutely loved it! To finally be up in the air was the most amazing feeling. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I got out the aircraft.

me in control of the Katana for the first time

on finals for 18L at Hamilton

I was then debriefed on the ground and given some points to revise for the next lesson, which was the next day (Saturday).

my first logged flight. one of many to come!

Lesson two was brilliant too. It was just straight and level, practicing some of the techniques taught the day before on holding attitude and recovering from unusual attitudes, which I did well. I also got to do a few radio calls and the take off, again I think they went well. I don't feel totally comfortable with the radio yet so will be practicing lots. It was another clear day and was perfectly smooth this time, which made it very easy holding attitude and heading.

beautiful sunset at clearways

I'm not scheduled to fly tomorrow sadly, I have a brief on the next lesson or two instead. Hopefully I'll fly on Monday though before the weather gets wet again.

You only find out whether you're flying the evening before which is a bit annoying but it seems to be the only possible way for ops to manage people's progress due to how the day has gone. This is checked on the ops website at about 16:30 each day.

We have a training manual which contains theory on all the lessons throughout the course. It is worth reading through this the day/night before the next flight so that you know the key points that are going to be focused on, this means you are prepared for the lesson and therefore get the most out of it when you're in the air.

So, a very long update this time but there was much to report. Hopefully lots of flying between now and the next time!

the kitchen in action

the gym (visited once so far)

WEEK 25, 26, 27: TIME OFF & NEW ZEALAND #22

Airline Prep

So finally I have arrived in New Zealand and what a great feeling it is to be here!

After exams I had two and a half weeks completely free to enjoy myself and I can honestly say I couldn't have packed much more into my schedule, I didn't have a dull day. Thankfully the weather was excellent almost every day which made it easy to find something to do. I saw a lot of my friends and family and had some nice trips out to the beach, London, Brighton, a few rounds of golf, a couple well earned nights out and even managed to squeeze a couple of cricket matches in which felt good.

A well timed hook for 6

pottering around in the field

chilling on the beach

actually warm enough to go in the water

bit of plane spotting @ Heathrow

The time absolutely shot by and before I knew it I was packing my bags and heading off to Heathrow. I struggled to get much into my suit cases due to the strict weight restriction. We were given a maximum mass of 30 kg which is not a lot to live on for eight months, especially if that includes all your uniform, flight bag and equipment. I think after that I have a pair of jeans and tracksuits and about five shirts. My dad has kindly organised a cargo company to take the rest of my clothes and a few extra things out for a price of about £180 which should take about a week to arrive so once that comes I'll be well set up for the next few months.

our fine carriage awaiting our arrival

our flight (me a few rows back with an emergency exit seat I managed to scrounge. so much leg room!)

our flight departing Heathrow (great picture mum)

We flew with Emirates on the sublime beast that is the Airbus 380, which I have been longing to fly on for ages! Out of the seventeen of us travelling, nine were on my flight and the rest on a later one. We all met at the check in desk and eventually said goodbye to our parents and headed off on our journey.

DJ & I early into the flight

down town Dubai

me on the A380 flight deck

We had stop overs in Dubai and Sydney then landed at Aukland and met up with the rest of our group where a bus picked us up and drove us to Clearways in Hamilton. We had a seven and a bit hour wait in Dubai so we decided to go out and have a look round for a bit. It was the early hours of the morning so nothing was open but it was still good to do a bit of sight seeing.

on the stand in Dubai

tallest building in the word had to be seen

a rather famous hotel

Sydney airport 

I thought Emirates were absolutely terrific. Everything ran like clockwork, the service was excellent, it was comfortable, the in-flight entertainment was good and the food was actually very nice. Although it was long it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, I actually enjoyed it and felt sad to leave the aircraft at the end. (the lovely cabin crew may have influenced that a little bit...)

what a pleasure! can you blame me for not wanting to get off??

From door to door it took just over forty hours!! During which I slept for about three at best. The lack of sleep didn't seem to affect me until we got to New Zealand and then if I sat down I genuinely couldn't stop myself falling asleep, I've never felt so tired before!

Cracking view

Coming over the New Zealand coast

the timer

The whole group is in CTC's own accomodation, Clearways. The facility is filled with cadets and the atmosphere seems to be very good. We are not all in the same block but we are all in close proximity of one another. You get your own room which is very nice indeed, and share a mini kitchen, toilet and shower with one other person (in my case DJ which I'm very pleased about). We have been given cars for the first couple of weeks which gives us enough time to find our own which is shared between about four.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and all went out for a meal that evening, had an early night and just crashed! We had the weekend free to recover and get ourselves sorted. After a nice lie in we went into Hamilton to do some shopping and sort ourselves out. The group then had a night out in town which was very fun. Sunday is going to be spent sleeping and preparing for the next couple of weeks where we have a bit of theory to get out the way. Then we will finally be up in the air!

The weather so far is very much like England in February; cold, dark and wet. Hopefully it will pick up soon. At least I got a few weeks of lovely sunshine.

getting in the spirit with my kiwi, NZ slippers and flag

my room

the kitchen I share with DJ (shower on right, bathroom on left)

our corridor 

the blocks common room 

the blocks kitchen 

Clearways

my block

Clearways 

Clearways