Christmas Spirit..

We were scheduled to have one more day of flight school and finish tomorrow, but due to the poor weather we were given today as our last day for the year and told to stand down from 1615hrs.

We were also planned to have a christmas drinks evening courtesy of the school to celebrate the great year that the Academy had had in 2009; but disappointingly it was cancelled. I can't believe they cancelled Christmas..! There will definitely be some outcries about it.

Nevertheless, my house are throwing our own party tonight..! A very civilised occasion with mince pies and sherry. Shirts and Ties..

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..!!

Christmas Final Approach..

I am into the final week of term before the Christmas break and I can definately not wait for the 'hols' to begin. This is a common feeling around the school and it can definately be felt by the instructors aswell. Productivity of lessons has reduced as everyone has become more and more relaxed.

Unfortunately there is plenty of work to be done over the break before the second set of tests in the new year. As well as the much needed catching up from the past few weekends' partying and fun. After residing in Oxford for a long time and resisting the urge to visit friends around the country, I decided that in the run up to Christmas, I was going to treat myself by various christmas parties, etc.

I have spent the past few weekends with the country as my playground, partying hard all over london one weekend and sailing the next..!

Two more days to go..!

The Empire Strikes Back..

Today it was announced that the strikes planned by BA Cabin Crew would not go ahead; the decision was made by a Judge in favour of the allegations posed by BA following the initial threat of strike. The fact that votes were included from staff who had already accepted voluntary redundancy.

This has spelt an end to the festive turmoil, with many Britons relieved at the decision. It will be interesting to see how other airlines such as Easyjet and Virgin Altantic will move forward in light of the decision; as many plans were made to scramble planes to quench the passenger demand from the cancelled flights.

Things are looking quite shakey for BA after this spell of press with quite a tarnishing on the company's image..!

As a cadet, BA is one of the airlines, nay, THE airline I would dream of working for. But at the moment it does seem to be many reasons to suggest I should perhaps look elsewhere..!

In today's class with The Weatherman, he spent quite some time explaining the 'Nobility' of our profession of being pilots; whilst also enduring such pains and hardships to fulfill these dreams.

The Weatherman
- "You guys are going into such a difficult industry, one which will treat you really badly for little gain. You work your balls off in here in the classrooms, doing such hard work that people don't even know about. You pay loads to do it, then at the end of it; when it comes to looking for a job, you earn less than a London Underground train driver."

A gloomy countenance swept across the faces of the class. This 'being a pilot'; it seems as though it will come at a very great cost to all of us. There are always the good days and the bad days; this was definately not one of those 'inspirational days'..!

787 First Flight..

Today the Boeing 787 Dreamliner made it's first flight ahead of being delivered to the Launch Customer ANA.

It was a major talking point around the flight school with people discussing their views on whether it would be in service on schedule of whether there would be more delays..!

Whilst the 787 has not conformed to its estimated timescale, it is still proving to be ever popular with many awaiting its arrival as a breakthrough in aviation. Many believe that it will transform aviation and the way in which it is appreciated the world over; with a completely new design philosophy which is enviro-conscious it is pleasing more and more with many future improvements still to come.

I watched the live broadcast of the take off and initial climb out from Everett, WA. After a few hours of intense testing it is set to land, shortly before 2300hrs (UTC).

787 Live Stream

Also today BA it set to take legal action in order to prevent the strike action to be taken by its Cabin Crew.

BA to take legal action

Now for some much needed rest for me..

Crew Christmas..

Today it was announced that BA cabin crew will be taking some serious strike action over the festive period..!

They are planned to go on strike from the 22nd of Dec through till the 2nd of January 2010; the 12 day strike be inevitably affect a great number of Christmas travellers ruining any plans abroad. The union concerned stated that this action was being taken regrettably due to BA's lack of co-operation to reach an agreement and it is a shame that so many will suffer..!

The voting which took place some time ago was pretty unanimous with staff voting 9:1 in favour for the strikes, with an amazing 80% turnout. There is clearly some annoyance with the contractual changes and pay cuts being carried out.

With the huge implications and the Union willing to continue negotiations it will be interesting to see where this goes over the coming weeks..

12 Things..

Whilst browsing MSN I came across and interesting count down of the twelve most annoying things people can do on planes. I think I may have been guilty of a few of these crimes, though never intentionally..!

I think removing shoes is particularly annoying; the way to combat that is to spill some water near the person with removed shoes. Their feet and/or socks will get wet which will be sure to iritate them equally and may even prompt them to reshoe..!

12 things you do to annoy other plane passengers

A common problem is reclining the seat without asking; and yes some people say that they have paid for the seat so they are entitled to recline as they please. This is just inconsiderate and frankly rude.

It does not cost anything to ask the person behind if they mind; chances are they will be equally polite and not object.

One remedy to the reclining seat in front caught my eye on a website and seems to be a very good suppressant of this problem. [See "Frequent Flier" post some way down the page..]

Frequent Flier

I should probably get back to my studying; fun fun fun..!

Excuse Me Miss..

It is very commonly found that there is a great deal of banter and horseplay between the Flight Crew and the Cabin Crew.

Today Mr Pilot told us of one trick which was very commonly played on new cabin crew members.

Mr Pilot
- "Mid-flight, the captain; this one is generally led by the captain. So, he will empty a can of vegetable soup into a sick bag. Then call in the new young lady on whom the trick is to be played.

'Excuse me Miss, can you come over to the flight deck please.'

Then just as she starts to come unto the flight deck the First Officer will begin 'Vomiting' into the bag. At which point the airhostess will look in shock as he nauseously goes to hand her the sick bag. As she extends her hand to collect it, the captain clamours

'What are you doing, I'll have that..!'

And grabs the bag and starts drinking it through a straw..!! At this point she will generally run out shrieking..!

Oh, what fun you lot will have before too long; it's all in good fun..!" Mr Pilot smiled in nostalgic content.

I can't wait..

In Flight Entertainment..

We have gotten into a habit of watching videos on YouTube prior to and in between classes (even though we are not supposed to).

Despite this, when a few of the instructors walk in mid-vid, they don't repremand us for ill-use of the academy's expensive projection equipment; they actually enjo0y watching the videos with us and occasionally show us one which has had them in stitches..!

Here are a few which we have enjoyed over the past few days..

Bankers

Dating Vidoes

Snatch Wars

Enjoy..

Hail the Pilot..

Today Mr Pilot was indulging us with some stories about his time as a mechanic for BA. He was discussing the effects of stability and how as the 'Nut holding the wheel' we should do everything we can to avoid making the passengers throw up.

Mr Pilot
- "When I was a mechanic for BA based out of LHR (London Heathrow), I was on there when there was this one QANTAS flight which was heading for Hong Kong, or something. Well, whilst flying over Bosnia he flew into some massive unexpected CBs (Cumulonimbus Clouds), which didn't show up on the radar.

[Just to let you know, these are clouds which one should do their utmost to steer very very clear of, as they are not fun for either the passengers nor the pilots]

So, anyway, he was flying through them and the plane was getting smashed to bits by giant hailstones. The plane was getting thrown around by very severe turbulence and so, with all of the damage the captain decided that rather than carrying on, he should divert back to LHR.

So, I get this call saying what has happened and head over to the plane as it taxies round to the gate at LHR. And it looked like someone had taken a hammer and smashed in every leading part of the aircraft. Giant dents this big..! [He guestured about the size of an orange].

We were watching from the ground as they opened up the passenger doors; the ground crew were reeling all over the place..!

Every single passenger on the plane had thrown up, all over the place. You lot should have seen the mess inside the cabin..! [He winced as he said this]

But remember, Men (He collectively calls us this sometimes) , you can wash off sick with water, but if you fly and break the plane, then water isn't going to do alot for you"

Well done to the Captain for not soiling the flight deck..!

Not Long Till Christmas..

We are coming close to the end of term before the christmas break. But still there is an awful lot that we have to do before then. Many of my friends are finishing for the term at university and my employed friends are getting int0 the festive swing with all sorts of christmas parties..!!

They have made efforts to inject a touch of christmas around the flight school but I can't say I feel particularly festive at the moment.

Recently a new class started aswell; and although I have only been at flight school for some seven weeks, our class is one of the middle classes at ground training. We have now been granted with a certain level of respect and standing amonst the 'freshers'..

Only two and half weeks to go..

Footprints in the Sky..

Reading Bumble's post from a while back I began to think about my Carbon Footprint as a pilot. Obviously air travel gets alot of bad press and a bad rep from a pollution perspective; as a pilot I would no doubt be a major contributant to this.

Does my travelling back and forth round the world contribute to my carbon footprint directly, or is it adopted by each of the passengers..? Leaving me guilt free as I relax in some exotic location sipping on a ice cold drink, at the expense of the airline..!

Whilst I in no way want to make light of the problems, I think it is important to know that Aviation only contributes to 2% of world carbon emissions. And also, it is very important to know that there are strict limits being imposed on airlines and airframers to ensure that the newest planes are environmentally friendly. Rolls Royce one company taking huge steps to making propulsion less of a concern.

Environmentally Friendly Engine

So I shouldn't feel that guilty, should I..?

Television Teaching..

I have just finished Week 7 as a commercial pilot cadet. My internet access has been very sporadic and so I have not been able to maintain regular posts.

Following the tests last week we have started to realise the amount of work which we 'have learnt' and what we still have to cover before the christmas break. It does seem somewhat impossible; especially as we have spend a large proportion of the weeks lessons watching television..

So far this week we have watched two entire lessons watching videos either from old 1980's documentaries or from YouTube..

As much as I like watching a good old fashioned documentary, at the price of tuition fees, I feel at times as though I could have watched it at home..!!

Ah, well; nevermind. If it is helping to make me a better pilot then I guess it is worth it..!

And who says you can't learn anything by watching tv..!