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)