It's been awhile since I've updated. Mostly because I was afraid of overstepping my limits and stepping on people's toes. I use the blog mainly to track my progress in training and also in my career. It's just much more fun when friends and family can see what I'm up to, and much more easier for me to explain what it is that I do and have to do. I've been told that it gets a bit technical at times, and I should use layman terms more often. I'll keep that in mind.
Where am I now?
I've finished the initial part of the jet training over in Australia. Now I'm back and have just finished the 777 simulator course. In the simulator one learns how to handle the aircraft, and learns how to handle emergencies. A typical session in the simulator would be;
1. plane just about to take off and an engine fails/catches fire/drops off,
2. plane in the air and some electrical/hydraulic system fails,
3. plane in the air and catches fire in an engine/cabin/cockpit/cargo
4. plane in the air and you lose a wing
5. plane flying happily at forty thousand feet and suddenly a door explodes open
6. land with only one engine with some instrument failure with bad weather (clouds at
five hundred feet, can only see roughly a kilometer in front of you)
7. evacuate passengers on the runway
Of course, number four doesn't happen, but we do go through all that in a session, and some sessions are much worse!
We're trained to such an extent that I can confidently say, once someone checks out as a first officer, rest assured, the passengers are in safe hands. It's taken me roughly two years to get to this point. I'm now just waiting to fly the real plane. Meanwhile, I'm going through company procedures, brushing up on aviation law, and just learning about the industry in general. There's still a lot more for me to know and understand.
