How it all began....

Hello Everyone and welcome to my first post.

I thought I would start this blog by summarising the process I have been through over the past couple of months in order to start training with CTC on the easyJet MPL scheme in June. But first, how did I decide that this was the career for me?

Since I was 8 I have always wanted to be a pilot and through being in the Air Cadets and having many exciting opportunities to fly I thought I would go into the military. However, a couple of years ago I decided that the military wasn't for me and started looking into becoming a commercial pilot.

Back in late 2013 I attended a CTC Aviation open day in Southampton. Here I got the chance to speak to cadets in training and gain an insight into both the process of training to become a pilot and the lifestyle of a pilot. I even got a go in an A320 simulator which was probably the highlight of the day! The day opened my eyes even more to the aviation world and the career of a pilot and confirmed for me that this was what I wanted to do.

Fast forward a year to September 2014. A year has passed since the open day and I have since completed my A-levels. I decided to go back and work at my old secondary school as a Learning Support Assistant for a gap year whilst I explored the different routes to the flight deck. In October 2014 the application window for the easyJet MPL Scheme opened but I didn't apply straight away. In fact I left it until December 2014 before I applied for a place on the scheme. Why? I wanted to make sure I was completely certain that this was what I wanted to do and after I had several discussions with both family and friends I decided to apply.

In January 2015 I was selected to go to Dibden Manor in Southampton for Aptitude tests, a maths test, group exercises and an interview. It was a long day and hard work but the next day I got a phone call to say I had passed. I was surprised that I had made it this far but what surprised me more was when easyJet phoned me to say they wanted me to go to Luton airport for the final phase of the application. Here I completed more group exercises and had another interview. The day was good fun. I got to talk to easyJet employees and gain even more of an insight into what it was like to work for easyJet. A couple of days later I was told that I had passed the final stage and was offered a place on the scheme to start on the 18th June.

                                                         

Dibden Manor 

Unfortunately, one cannot simply 'start' the course; there is a lot of admin and paperwork including the signing of contracts, returning of forms, cheques to start signing and a class 1 medical to pass.

I went to the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) at Gatwick where I undertook a medical examination. All commercial pilots are required to pass this medical in order to fly passengers around the world. I suppose you want to know as a passenger that your pilot will make it to the destination too! They check everything; blood, lungs, heart, urine, eyesight, hearing and a general check up carried out by a GP. Fortunately, 2 hours later and £400 poorer I had passed and could go away with a Class 1 medical certificate (the most expensive certificate of my life!)

All that's left to do now is organise life insurance and final bits of admin before the 18th when I have my first official day at CTC Aviation.

I will try and do a weekly update depending on how busy training gets to give you an insight into the training pilots have to undertake. In the mean time, if you have any questions then please comment or email me and I will do my best to answer them.