I haven’t started training yet today, but over on my union’s forum, a pilot asked where 767 simulator #2 was.

The answer was something like “Whew! At least you don’t have 767 sim #1!”

Wait… I have 767 sim #1 for the next five days… Eek!

Because I’m at home for the day with my woman, woo hoo!

Tomorrow’s the first day of full flight simulator training.

Today was the “Procedures Validation” which is another phase of the AQP style of flight training. I really have no idea what it stands for and as I’m writing this onboard a flight home, I have no method of looking it up!

Google is your friend.

Today started with a electrically “cold” aircraft, so we had to do all of the normal “first flight” checks, an electrical power up and prepare the jet for a flight from Atlanta to Orlando.

Fairly standard stuff, includes some wacky ATC commands like cleared direct to the ATL 180 degree radio, 25 DME fix, hold at SINCA, route changes and speed changes, all to test skills with the FMS and the aircraft’s automation. This is good because good FMS skills are important in a highly automated aircraft and if you don’t have the basics down, you’re going to waste a lot of time (read: money) when you go to the full flight simulator.

We also had some systems failures like “pack trips”, generator problems and such which provided the evaluator with an opportunity to see that we have sufficient control of the aircraft and systems when we need to ‘divide’ the cockpit.

Naturally, you never make your destination so the scenario for the captain was that Michelle Burns, former CFO, demanded to be picked up back in Atlanta so flight control had us return to the airport, however the glideslope was out so we were to set up for a ILS LOC OUT approach.

Again, no visuals in the FTD so the approach terminated with a missed approach.

The glideslope mysteriously fixed itself and we conducted a Cat II approach and then a Cat III AUTOLAND approach.

We took a quick break and then it was my leg to fly.

More or less we followed the same profile, except we conducted a VOR approach into JAX and a Category I ILS.

Passing your procedures validation is more or less like graduating from 8th grade. The real work hasn’t begun yet, but in two days, the heat gets turned way up in the full flight simulator.

The first full flight simulator is a 767-200 simulator, which should be interesting.

So, a couple days off at home, then the real fun starts!

The training center was on fire today. Lots of new flight attendants, a new class of 25 and a lot of smiling happy faces, which is a delightful change over the attitude over the past 24 months.

One of the new hires I met was a charter pilot for Millionair out of SLC and the other was a former Continental pilot. According to their first day briefing, the 767 international category is going to open up as a new hire position because the last two bids have gone unfilled and with the international expansion, they don’t have enough warm bodies in seats so hiring is going to continue for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for reading, hopefully you’ll find it helpful. And uhh, sorry for the poor English, I’m a little beat.

Today was more or less like yesterday, except that we departed Seattle for Salt Lake City, and how shocking, we diverted to PDX for holding practice, VNAV approaches and a few ILS-GS OUT’S and a Category 2 and 1 approach.

What was interesting about today is that we had a different instructor. But the new instructor came with another instructor who was checking the other one out on the 767. So not only were we being evaluated, our instructor doing the evaluation was being evaluated by another instructor because he was new.

The FTD instructor was a Delta pilot who retired, went to work for MaxJet, discovered “Man, this uhh, kinda stinks!” and then came back to work for DGS (Delta Global Staffing?) as a 767 instructor. Previous to retirement he was a 777 captain.

I had a better feel for the aircraft today as I finally learned to relax a little and understand how simpler, but different the maneuvers are in the 757/767. It took some getting used to but sitting down with the books, listening to a little “Yo Yo Ma” in the training center brought everything together and I think I kicked some ass today.

Yesterday, I did pretty well, but I felt like I was about 5 miles behind the airplane so I didn’t really get a ‘warm fuzzy’ with my performance. But today I performed well, was able to have good situational awareness and was able to backup the captain very well during his legs flying with no cajoling from the FTD instructor.

Tomorrow is a checkride called a “Procedures Evaluation” where they evaluate just what we’ve been doing in the flight training device all week. After this “PV” (as they call it), I’ll graduate onto full flight simulator training and actually start the meat and potatoes of qualification training.

Lots more hand-flying, engine failures, distractions and yes, another evaluation.

I went out and had dinner and a beer with the captain, traded some stories, laughed about the experience we’ve had so far and are both positive we’ll do well during tomorrow’s evaluation.

The captain is a former USN S-3 “Viking” pilot. For some strange reason, most of the guys I make “fast friends” with in the airline business are usually Navy guys. Strange. Perhaps the Navy method of “The book doesn’t say you CAN’T do it” rather than other branches of the military that say “The book doesn’t say you CANT do it” is more compatible with my technique. I don’t know!

Today was another “line oriented flight training” day. Took off from Las Vegas on the COWBOY departure with a “low altitude hold down”, and then proceeded enroute towards Atlanta.

A ‘low altitude hold down’ is when instead of climbing initially to say, 10,000 feet, we’re stopping at 1500′ AGL which can be a BEAR in a light 767 because the aircraft… I mean flight training device… climbs like a homesick angel with the PW4060’s.

Naturally, during training, you always end up diverting to another airport so we practiced some FMS procedures, a hold entry and diverted into PHX. Strangely, PHX had 1/2 visibility in blowing sand and all of the glideslopes were out which meant we were going to execute the ILS 26 GS OUT approach.

Since the flight training device doesn’t have a visual, obviously at DA (Yup, VNAV approaches use a “DA” which is actually “MDA”) it was “go around power, flaps 20″ to the holding pattern.

Sometimes during training, the instructor will take a ’snapshot’ during some point on the approach in order to ‘rewind’ or ’snap back’ to that configuration, airspeed and position on the arrival. This enables him to give the captain the aircraft and have him practice the same approach.

Obviously it involved a missed approach which the captain called out “TOGA pow…”

BAM!

What the heck?

Apparently the instructor believes in a little negative reinforcement so he had slapped his hand against one of the manuals and reminded us that it’s “GO AROUND POWER” and not “TOGA” because there IS no “TOGA” button in a 757/767.

Remember? They’re THRUST LEVERS not THROTTLES even though we have AUTOTHROTTLES.

It scared the crap out of me, but I guess the trainer got his point across and John and I were able to get the missed approach accomplished without incident even though the verbiage was a little off.

We took a break, came back and shot some LOC/BC approaches into Daytona Beach and a few electrical malfunctions.

Basic after landing and shutdown flows and called it a day.

Tomorrow we have another instructor and apparently, the new instructor is being observed by another instructor for training so chances are that it could get a little interesting.

It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow because we’ve got about 7 hours of stuff in a four hour flight training device period and we have a “Procedures Validation” (checkride) in the flight training device on tuesday afternoon before we’re cleared to begin full flight simulator training.

Now if I could just get used to how the seats work, I’ll be happy…

I guess today’s shocker in the flight training device was the NDB approaches. If there’s an existing approach like an ILS that has the same approach path, I can actually plug the approach into the FMS, select LNAV so the flight director or autopilot will track the course, and even use VNAV to build my own descents depending on the approach.

You gots to be kidding!

TOO EASY. Where’s the sport in doing an NDB approach then?

Also, missed approaches in the jet are even easier.

Go Around Power.

(400′) “heading select” or “LNAV”

(1000′) “update my speed, after takeoff check”

Bigger plane, a substantial raise and I do less work, that’s amazing.

Today’s FTD was a 767 so the overhead panel was somewhat different so I had to ‘re learn’ some of my flows to match the differences in the ice protection and air conditioning portions of the overhead panel.

Interesting fact about the 767. Initially, Boeing designed the 767 without any ice protection so according to the instructor, the feds balked and wouldn’t certify the aircraft until they put an ice protection system on the plane.

But on the 767, as opposed to the 757, it’s pretty simple.

They all go to AUTO. If you’re in icing conditions in flight, you leave the wing and engine anti-ice in AUTO. If you’re in ’severe clear’, the wing and engine anti-ice remain in AUTO.

On the ground, the wing anti-ice is OFF, but the engine anti-ice remains in AUTO. If you’re in icing conditions on the ground, it gets a little testy. You put them to the ON position because the auto feature is supposedly inhibited on the ground.

Today was KMIA to KATL with a diversion to KTPA and a couple of approaches into KJAX.

Next week we’re spending about five hours a day in a device called a “flight training device”. It’s a lot more advanced than a “cockpit procedures trainer” like we’ve been spending time in after ground school, but it does not have motion.

Without motion, it legally isn’t a “flight simulator” so adjust your logbooks accordingly!

Power-up, before start flows, engine starts (and malfunctions), first flight of the day items. Takeoff, climb, enroute and arrival procedures. FMS procedures, systems malfunctions and category I, II, and III approaches are going to be practiced and in another four days, I’ll have yet another important evaluation.

Actually, looking at the syllabus, it’s:

Flight Planning
- ALTN requirements
Before Start:
- First flight of the day.
Pushback/Start
Taxi/Before Takeoff
Instrument Takeoff, Rwy 08R, KMIA
Climb/Cruise
Descent/Approach Preparation (VNAV)
NDB approach, Rwy 07, KJAX:
- Published Missed Approach
Cat II ILS, Rwy 36L, KTPA:
- Published Missed Approach
Cat III ILS, Autoland, Rwy 36L, KTPA.
Landing
Missed Approach
Post Flight

Non-normals:
- Cabin pressure/Pack/Recirculation Fan
- Aborted start (hot start)
- ADC failure
- Radio Altimeter failure

There’s a couple other items, but that’s the gist of it. That way there’s no excuses for poor performance when the clock is running.

That starts saturday so I’ll give you an update after my first day of the flight training devices.

One thing that works for me when I have to study is 3×5 index cards with all of the things I have to memorize like procedures, indications, limitations, facts ‘n figures about the aircraft.

That way, I could shuffle the deck of cards and quiz myself at random so I get used to answering questions randomly. It’s really easy to remember a hydraulics question when you’re focusing on hydraulics, but it’s a lot more difficult if you’re shifting around systems.

Before a oral evaluation, I’ll start going thru the stack of cards, putting aside the easy questions and keeping the questions that I wasn’t able to immediately answer in the stack.

Then I’ll focus on the stack of items which I couldn’t readily answer and go over them multiple times until I’m able to put those in the other stack.

I’ll keep repeating that until the stack clears.

I don’t know, it works for me, it may or may not work for you! :o)

In the airline business, whenever you go to the ’school house’ to learn a new airplane or go to annual recurrent training (same airplane), it’s a “Jeopardy Event”. If you fail part of your training, some airlines can fire you or some will retrain you, give you another chance and if you fail part again, then it can get very sticky.

An oral examination is a “jeopardy event”. Basically, you’re expected to have a reasonable working knowledge of the aircraft systems. That can be something as basic as knowing that you have three independent hydraulic systems on an aircraft to as deep as knowing how the three systems work, what’s on each individual system and be able to ask scenario based questions like “You’re over the Atlantic on a 767-300ER. Your hydraulic driven generator fails and have a complete electrical failure. Talk me through the panel and let me know all indications, limitations and anything different you’d think about during your diversion, arrival and emergency landing.”

That’s actually a fair question. Especially because there’s a big “gotcha” when it’s time to drop the gear and flaps.

So even if your instructor says, “Well, try to know A thru G”, you’d better come knowing “A thru Z” because the examiner that’s quizzing you isn’t going to accept “Uhh, I didn’t think we had to know that” as an answer.

The oral evaluation went a lot deeper than I expected and since I believe in “bringing a gun to a knife fight”, all went well perfectly.

Depend on no one giving you a break. You’re a professional pilot and expect no one to hold your hand or spoon-feed you because it’s your job to know this stuff and to be beyond proficient.

Funny thing happened, and this is going to sound like a brag, but I think it’s more of a testament to keeping a cool head.

The day before the oral, another student in my ground school was freaking out a little.

“Dude! This one guy is tough! I hope you don’t have XXXXX because he’s notorious for drilling people.”

I told him that I didn’t know who I had.

“Well, I hope you don’t have XXXXXX!”

Midway through my exam, I look down at the evaluator’s nametag and it’s that guy.

Thorough, but didn’t seem that bad!

Oral’s done! Sweet! More on this later.