Week 1- Mass and Balance

Afternoon Everyone,

So this week was the first of our 24 weeks studying the groundschool syllabus. The syllabus is made up of 14 subjects split into 3 modules and we have to pass all of these before we can move on to the next phase of our training. Because I am training under the easyJet MPL scheme, along with 11 others on the course, easyJet wants us to average a pass mark of 85% during the groundschool phase rather than the standard 75% pass mark for each exam so it looks like we have our work cut out! Speaking to other trainees further into their groundschool training, this is perfectly manageable and to the best of my knowledge, the average pass mark amongst CTC cadets is 90%. The 14 subjects we have to cover are:

Module 1
Mass and Balance
Human Performance Limitations
Principles of Flight
General Navigation

Module 2
Radio Navigation
Instruments
Performance
Flight Planning

Module 3
Aircraft General Knowledge- Engines, Systems and Electrics
Operational Procedures
Meteorology
Air Law
IFR Communications
VFR Communications

However, before we even started Mass and Balance this week, we had to cover some 'basic' Maths and Physics to bring everyone up to the same standard. Whilst this may seem a bit odd, the age range of the trainees on our course is between 18-36. Some of us haven't studied in over 15 years and I was struggling with some of the physics despite only being out of education for a year!

Mass and Balance began on Wednesday. This topic is fairly Physics and Maths based and covers calculations which allow us to find out the Centre of Gravity (CofG) of an aircraft depending on how much mass it is carrying and where abouts the mass is loaded onto the aeroplane. It also covers the different masses pilots and operators have to abide by depending on the aircraft, airport and other factors. It is a fairly full on topic but one of the shortest we cover. We had finished it by early Friday afternoon!

A couple of us then went to see if there was a free simulator we could have a look around/play around in and as luck would have it there was! At CTC there are 4 full motion-simulators and 2 fixed based simulators; the difference being that the full motion ones move around on hydraulics. The simulators cost between £8-15 Million and are used to train trainee pilots and to refresh fully qualified pilots. 4 of us got to have a quick fly around in one which was a lot of fun and makes all of the groundschool training worthwhile (even if we are just 1 week in!)

A Full Motion Simulator

Me sitting in the First Officers seat

Fraser (left) and Henry (right) getting to
grips with the A320

After this, some of us attended a presentation from David Froggatt- Flight Operations Manager, Training Standards and Command Training for easyJet. He spoke to us about career progression when working for easyJet as well as the perks and potential downsides to the job. It was quite interesting to hear about the future plans for easyJet including fleet expansion plans. They have ordered another 120 aircraft with 100 options. Once delivered, this will bring their total aircraft number to over 350!

Friday evening was spent socialising as a group. This time we went to Pizza Express. I think the waitress was quite overwhelmed with a group as big as ours eating in there! Some of us stayed out later than others. This time I decided to get an early(ish) night! This weekend has been spent
consolidating what I have learnt over the past week by doing practice questions and practice tests! This evening Henry and I went round another household for a roast dinner cooked by Vicky and also watched the last top gear on their 52inch TV!

Vicky making home made yorkshire puddings;
that's dedication!

                                           

 What's good about the course is that we get CBT days or Computer Based Training Days. These are days in which we are expected to take charge of our own learning and don't necessarily have to go into 'school' and learn. Our course has the first of these on Monday to consolidate what we have learn't in Mass and Balance so hopefully I should be achieving the pass mark on practice papers by then!

Anyway, that's all for now. This week I will be learning about Human Performance Limitations so hopefully another information filled post next week!

Easing us in gently...

Hello Everyone,

So this week I have officially become a CTC Cadet pilot. On Thursday I drove down with my family for a Meet and Greet day in Southampton. It was a good day where we were able to meet the people that were going to be influential to my success here over the next 18 months. I also got to meet the rest of the course cadets and my house mates (Henry, Tom and Yvar, pictured below) who I will be living with whilst in ground school over the next 6 months.

From Left to Right: Yvar, Tom and Henry

After the meet and greet we were issued with our house keys and have been settling in over the past couple of days. The house is nice and has 5 bedrooms, a kitchen/dining area and two bathrooms. There is no TV which is probably best as I don't think I would get very good results in ground school otherwise!

My bedroom for the next 6 months

After going out for lunch with my family on Thursday, they went home leaving me 'properly' on my own. Thursday evening was a chance for all of the group to meet up. There are 22 of us on the course; 10 easyJet cadets, 6 Virgin Atlantic cadets and 7 Dutch guys from a flight school in Holland. We all seem to be gelling really quickly and there is some top banter already!

Friday was our first day in uniform (picture below). It was really exciting and a bit surreal to finally be putting the uniform on! The day at CTC, known as APD1 or Airline Preparation day was all about finding our way around CTC as well as finding out a bit more about each other and talking about our expectations for the course, both hopes and fears. It was really nice to see that the fears I had about the course, especially ground school, were the same as other people's fears. Friday evening (and Saturday morning!) was spent going out as a group again and making the most of the free time before we hit the ground running this week.

My first day in uniform!

This weekend has been spent getting bits and bobs for the house, planning the weeks meals and getting the food shopping as well as chilling out together before we find ourselves with pretty much no free time!

My next post will be talking about the first week of ground school and how it's gone. Feel free to comment and ask any questions and I'll get back to you when I can! 

T-4days!

Morning readers!

The last few weeks have been busy and difficult but with only 4 days to go until the course starts I am getting all the last bits of paperwork in place. 

Over the past few months I have had to make some payments required before you even start the course totalling £10,000. I have also had to buy an iPad in order to download the groundschool syllabus containing 14 books. From what I can tell so far they all look fairly interesting but what strikes me is the amount of content there is to cover! It's going to be a busy 6 months. 

In the last few weeks I have finished working at Glyn school as a Learning Support Assistant, left 618 Volunteer Gliding Squadron and finished my Air Cadet career after 6 years (picture below). 

323 (Epsom and Ewell) Air Cadet Squadron

It's definitely not easy leaving things behind but now it's full speed ahead before I start later this week. Over the past few weeks I have been getting the various insurance schemes in place that you need before you start the course including loss of medical, loss of training expenses and life insurance. I have never had to read so many terms and conditions in my life! But with all that in place now, I am starting to think about packing for the move down to Southampton. I have been given my accommodation details so it is all getting very real now. 

Not too many training related topics to talk about in this post I'm afraid. I hope to post again at the end of this week and talk about how the Meet and Greet day and the first Airline Preparation Day went as well as the move into my accommodation so that's all for now!