One Week to Go..

This time next week my life in ground school will finally be over..! It has been almost six months of pure unrelenting torture, but now the end is finally in sight; with only seven exams left to go. These are the second set of seven JAA Flight Crew Licensing exams and the ones that really matter.

So far this past week I have found it incredibly difficult to concentrate on studying. After having so many exams over the past few months this feels like 'Last Exam Syndrome' has well and truly set in. However, it would be a shame to let all the hard work slip through my fingers so close to the final whistle; so I have been really pushing myself to work.

Thanks to a Bank Holiday Monday our exam week is offset from the Monday to begin on the Tuesday. And with the exams so close the pressure within the house is certainly beginning to mount. The days have started early and finished late, as every available hour is being exhausted.

This is the final sprint..

Four Weeks to Go..

Today marks the day, four weeks away from the start of my basic flight training in the States. Between now and then I have to endure a week of solid revision, complete seven exams, partake in some "First Office Fundamental" training, leaving me with a nice week and a half to sort out my life and my suitcases before I leave.

This coming week is already proving to be very very monotonous; many of this phases subjects are skills based exams, rather than fact/figure learning. This means that once you have the skills, there is very little to do. I say this, not because I am being arrogant, but more that the skills aren't that complicated.

The subjects which require repetitive learning of facts/figures can be endured, as the more you practice, the more the figures will become lodged into ones head.

To put things into perspective, I have spent at least three hours today manipulating wind charts to balance drift.

I keep reminding myself of what is to come, after this small sacrifice..

Almost There..

What a tiring few days; today we finished the last of our internal examinations of groundschool. The past two days has seen the class endure seven exams.

A three hour stint saw the start of the day with two more gruelling exams follow. At the end of it all came the tortuous hour and a half wait, whilst the results were processed. We all waited eagerly in the Airport Coffee shop, some sipping on ice cold beers, some with their heads in their hands. The atmosphere was filled with tension, excitement and anxiety.

The results of the exams would determine whether we would be put forward for the external JAA exams. If not, we would have to re-sit internals which could delay the start of flight training.

Tomorrow 0840 sharp we are expected for a full debrief.

Now only seven exams stand between us and the gleaming sunshine of Arizona..

More Exams..

Tomorrow begins the first of two days of our last internal exams. Fourteen exams over the course of two days. I am so close to the end of groundschool now. It is quite tough keeping my head down with the revision at the moment. The thought of what is to come is the only thing keeping me going. The work is so boring for most of the subjects.

I have not really had much time to pay to the volcano stuff that has been happening around in Europe at the moment, which is a great shame. The one big story of the moment and I can't follow it because I am stuck revising. Despite this I have been receiving numerous texts asking about it, to be honest, my insider knowledge goes as far as Twitter and the internet.

One thing I thought was quite cool, is the Naval response that has been requested to retrieve the stranded Britons from around the world. That would be incredibly cool, being brought back home by the Royal Navy on one of their ships; most certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

A few of my friends and relatives are 'stranded' abroad; I am going to get in touch with them to see if they are being extended this opportunity..!

Right, back to revision for me..

A Career in Ashes..

There has been a huge impact with the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. Flights are still grounded and UK Airspace has pretty much come to a halt. I have been chatting to a few friends who are full of questions of why they have grounded the flights, what the effect is, when they will start flying again, etc.

One of my friends, reassuringly as ever said some really funny things today; she is currently stranded on the continent.

- "Any idea of when fights will start again? I'm thinking of how to get back home...

...They say that the effects of this volcano may last up to two years..! Does that mean that they won't need you anymore?"

Reluctantly I said

- "Erm, it is only really northern europe that is affected, I could get a job elsewhere."

- "How are you going to get there..?"

Good point..

Volcano..

Today the UK airspace has been completely closed for the first time ever due to a number of eruptions of an Icelandic Volcano.

This has left all flights grounded and many stranded at UK airports. Many airlines have not been forthcoming in rebooking flights as it is not yet known how long this will last.

As the evening has come around, many have resorted to sleeping in the airports.

We also finished ground school teaching today, now for exams..!

Class 1..

Yesterday I have the joy of having my Class 1 Medical revalidation. I probably should have been a touch more organised and planned it in advance, but as I have been busy studying lately it had completely slipped my mind. As a result I had to book at a surgery in the middle of nowhere. This meant some rather lengthy travel arrangements.

Nonetheless, I attended the Surgery earlier than planned. I was not quite sure what to expect with the medical as I had only had the initial exam prior to this. Just to put it into perspective, the Medical is a very big deal for pilots. It is a Go/No Go item, if you have the medical you are fine, if you don't then you can't be a pilot.

I remember the stress of the initial exam; it being very rigourous. With this renewal, if something was not quite right, it could spell the end for my sapling career. Having been instructed to reduce my Salt and Caffeine intake a week prior to the exam for the purposes of reducing Blood Pressure, I sought to do so. This was met with blase comments from veteran airmen, telling me not to worry about it with comments like

- "If you hear them call your name, you've passed the hearing test. If you find the right door, you've passed the sight test..!"

Regardless I was a bit nervous.

The medical included some very strange tests which I have never come across before, many of which did not feature in the initial Medical. A plethora of tests later saw the confirmation of my revalidation.

In some tests I even performed better than I did in the initial..!

Approaching the End of Ground School..

Today was the first day of the final week of ground school. We won't be treated to an entire week, we are to be given the Thursday afternoon onwards as private study.

We have our last set on internal exams at the start of next week, so this week is quite heavily revision oriented. Since finishing at lunch time today I have spent the most of the day revising in front of the online practice questions. To try and break the monotony I have tried using paper based revision papers but this has had limited effect.

Amongst the joys of revising, I have been watching "Pacific" whilst eating and I have a feeling that it may hinder my efforts to revise, given that it is quite gripping..! I would strongly recommend giving it a watch.

Whilst needing no further distractions I thought I would kill some time by writing this blog post on how boring revision; one of few things getting me through it is a comment made by a friend which has proved to be quite good at giving me a bit more oompf to keep revising.

- "Cheer up, think of the plane. The ******-******* plane that you're going to be able to fly. You're going to be every boy's hero"

I also have my medical renewal tomorrow which should be quite interesting. I have been trying to restrict my salt and caffeine intake over the past week to reduce my blood pressure, but it shouldn't be too bad; especially as it isn't an issue.

Back to some mind-numbing Air Law revision..

Pay to Pee..

Big news this week was the announcement that RyanAir are to begin charging passengers to use the lavatory facilities. The cost will be either £1 or €1; therefore it will be cheaper for the Europeans to use the facilities than the British, so save your Euros for the WC.

Ryanair charges reach new lows

There have been a number of articles and blogs out this week regarding the news and I have read a few here and there. With Ryanair's huge position in Boeing's order book, Boeing seem to be the ones unfortunately placed in being the accessory to this heinous crime against aviation. Those of you from the Stateside of the pond may not have flown with the likes of Ryanair and easyJet in europe, but I'm certain that many of you have heard the stories of zero tolerance policies on carry on baggage and check in desk closing times.

This being said, I am not ignoring what low cost carriers in the US are doing; this week Spirit announced that it will begin charging passengers to make use of overhead locker space. So now you have to pay up to $45 for the "privilege"..! This is a world first, but no doubt soon to follow will be Ryanair and other low cost carriers, as it becomes clear that there are some people who are willing to pay for it.

Spirit Airlines to charge for excess baggage

But what next..?

Low Cost Airlines

I have only flown on a low cost carrier a few times in my life, thankfully. These have been times when I have been making a cheap student getaway to see friends in other parts of the country or in Europe. So, I have made use of the trips where travelling with a legacy or scheduled carrier have otherwise been too expensive, but having made this decision, I have been subjected to the tortuous airline policies which seem as though they are written purely to frustrate the passenger. There is certainly no consideration to customer satisfaction whatsoever. I can only say that I am thankful that it has not been a start or end to a family holiday for me; although it has been for some. It is exactly the case similar to 'Meet the Parents' where frustration simply grows and grows, until someone finally snaps...

...and then they are removed from the flight further exacerbating the situation..!

Meet the Parents: Airport Scene

Ryanair, easyJet, Spirit and many other low cost airlines have been taking "innovative" steps over the past few years to cut costs and increase PAX loads for the benefit of revenue; but at what cost. This business model has slowly, but surely sapped the fun and glamour out of flying; on my recent trip to Vienna with easyJet, watching the pre-flight demonstration made me feel as though I was being forced to watch two depressed stewards learn to don life jackets. It wasn't long ago that the pre-flights were done with energy and theatrics. You could feel the dreariness and monotony with which it was done. That's not to say that it is always done like this. I hope this isn't contagious with the bigger airlines and that they continue to run a service where customer satisfaction means something.

Maybe this is just me being rather naive as a cadet and am yet to lose sight of the magic. I hope not..

The Briefing..

Today at the end of a very long day of ground school, we were briefed about the basic flight training part of the course. I am not sure how much of this I may have mentioned in the past, so here it is in a nutshell.

We join the flight school and are subjected to just over 6 months of ground school. This is the boring part which sees us studying to our wits end to pass the 14 JAA flight crew licensing exams. This is pretty much 6 months of sheer torture.

After [successfully] completing this phase we are then shipped [by air] to Arizona to commence the basic flight training. We survive in the sun for 20 weeks before coming back to the UK fully relaxed, with gleaming tans and our gold wings. Yes, on our return we are qualified CPL pilots..!

We then do some supplementary stuff to take our license up to the APTL level.

But back to the Arizona bit, we get to sit around all day by the pool, occasionally playing a spot of tennis on one of the many courts or volleyball; flying every now and then (whenever it isn't too hot) and generally having a good time.

This is where all of the hard work pays off..!!

Introducing the iFad..

As many of you will know, today saw the stateside release of the eagerly awaited Apple iPad. There has been a lot of media coverage surrounding this product already and its release brought more.

BBC - Apple iPad sells 300,000 on debut

With Apple, there are some very die hard fans and people who are very 'pro Apple'; if you fall into this category of people you may not like the rest of this post. This post is by no means an attack on Apple or the ideals it stands for. As a recent Mac convert myself, I enjoy Mac, just as much as the next guy. Following are a few thoughts and opinions which must be shared by some other people in the world.

Well, the iPad, what does it do? From where I sit, it is a larger version of the iPhone. By increasing its size it has brought a number of benefits..? Ok, so you can see your photos on a larger screen, and the apps are bigger. But in doing so, it has surely introduced a number of other problems;

If the iPad is to be taken everywhere, as a portable device for use on the go, how are you meant to carry it around, surely people are going to have to make use of carry cases similar to laptop cases. Why not just take your Macbook with you then..?

The iPad does everything the iPhone can do, but not make calls? And it can't do everything that a laptop can? Surely in attempting to find this Smart Phone - Laptop middle ground it has arrived at a state of where it doesn't quite offer anything new..?

Do people like the iPad solely because it is another Apple product..?

The Onion - Apple finally unveils iPad

I think it would be better suited to being a peripheral device for a Mac or Macbook, offering full touch screen capabilities. This would open a whole set of possibilities for Apple to explore.

Maybe Apple have done something great with the iPad; only time will tell..

Easter is here..

This past week has involved receiving my Passport back from the nice people at the US Embassy with my US Visa neatly attached inside. This has been a great load off of my mind knowing that my Visa is here and I can continue with my training without hinderance. This has not been the case for all of my colleagues with regard to the Visas; this has left them feeling rather anxious for the time being. With the lead times associated with Visa applications it could be the case where they are waiting for a number of months for approval. As we are scheduled to leave in seven weeks this would mean waiting behind till the approval arrives or rearranging the flight training to be conducted in the UK rather than the US.

Now the next step regarding the flight training is the submission of fingerprints to the TSA. A recent email from them has included a statement saying

"Fingerprints must be taken within two weeks of receiving the subsequent confirmation email; fingerprints taken prior to this or after the two week period has expired are invalid and may cause a delay in your application."

Personally, doesn't this contradict the unique benefit if taking fingerprints in the first place; anyway, I don't make the rules, I should just politely follow them.

Easter weekend has meant that we have had a long four day weekend; as far as I know, this isn't a holiday shared on both sides of the pond. In the UK it is a fairly big deal, or at least it is for the working folk. Previously I have never benefitted from this holiday as I have been a student with Easter holidays surrounding the weekend. Despite this short holiday we are still having to maintain our study as to not fall behind.

Having enjoyed the past few days with my family I have now returned to continue studying in solitude. Not the best way to spend the Easter Weekend..!