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.

Just finished about another two hours of flash cards and I’m going to head back to the training center in order to start the “systems validation” aka “system oral” at 1000.

I figure if I don’t already know it, I’m not going to figure it out the last minute so I might as well have a nice breakfast, head on over and dig around my notes until the evaluation begins.

I’ll have more details later this afternoon.

Actually wasn’t so bad. I think the key is being able to sequester yourself, no television, no computer (except for budgeted amounts of time to check in on Jetcareers) and keeping a positive attitude.

The systems review went great, there’s just a couple of things that I need to crank down on and review which is normal and we might even get done early which will allow me to fly home and see Kristie for a little over a day, but we’ll have to see.

We had a total of three instructors, one in the cockpit procedures trainer, one for weight & balance and MDM (mechanical dispatch manuals) and another for the pre-oral.

I think I noticed something interesting about the social mix here around the training center.

And it’s about buttons.

Generally, if you wear anything from the company “Duck Head”, chances are you “mash” the button when you describe something.

If you have a really flat “continental” (geography, not the airline based in Houston), generally you’ll “press” a button.

But if you’re the rebellious southerner, you’ll most likely “smash” the button.

The 757/767 has a series of buttons and switches (some call them ‘wafer switches’) so I’ve heard a variety of “smash”, “press” and “mash”, it’s slightly entertaining.

All twelve of us have pretty high morale over the material, we all do our one-on-one “systems validation” (aka “oral”) tomorrow, have a day off and then start with the FTD’s, or ‘flight training devices’.

It’s not quite a simulator, but more like a “super Frasca” with all of the buttons, switches, screens, controls, except it doesn’t have motion.

Gonna go grab some food, perhaps more rambling later.

Thanks for reading.

….and I’ve already gotten an hour and half of studying done.

Perhaps a full night of sleep next month? Class starts at 0800 so it’s memory items, trying to get down verbatim ‘Entry door evacuation slide system must be engaged and girt bar verified with door sill prior to taxi, takeoff and landing whenever passengers are carried…’ Yes, sometimes you have to memorize some very silly items because the FAA insists that something be in the limitations section. And if it’s in the limitations section, you have to know it cold and be able to rattle it off verbatim by memory.

Methinks it had a lot to do with a lot of former Eastern pilots working at the Atlanta FSDO and that’s why they like busting our chops.

Man o man, another long day.

The problem with training is that you’re learning systems you’ve never used before, procedures which are foreign and you’ve got to find ways to manage your time and study effectively.

This morning, I got up at 0600, studied until about 1030, took a shower, had lunch, class from 1200 to 1630, took about a 30 minute break to grab a coffee, BACK to the training center. Then we did procedures and failures from 1700 until 2030 and even though I’m dog tired, I need to review materials for the practice oral starting at 0800.

So basically in order to get a full 7 or 8 hours of sleep, I need to pretty much hit the sack NOW. But then I’ve got a lot of systems material to try to hone my knowledge of systems and procedures so I don’t look like a dumbass in class during the final systems review and I haven’t had a chance to have a bite to eat.

Welcome to my world!

The big challenge is that the training materials say learn certain systems, but then each individual ground school instructors says, “Nah, that’s not right, learn THIS instead” but then it changes the next day yet again. So the safe method is simply trying to learn everything.

So tonight, I’ll review materials, powerpoint presentations on my laptop and attempt to get a few hours of sleep before class at 0800 tomorrow.

The systems oral is in two days so it’s pretty much down to the wire.

I’m back in Atlanta after a two day break over the weekend.

I dropped by the employee cafeteria for lunch and it was cool because I saw my friend Nancy that I knew from when I was a new hire. Nancy’s got an infectious excitement about going to the 767ER as well. “OMG! You can bring Kristie, I’ll drag out Jeff and we’ll have to do trips, the four of us!” Naturally, she was wondering when our friend Bill Smith is going to join the rest of us on the ER in NYC.

A raise, an easier commute, a nap, two meals in-flight and long layovers in Europe. Exciting days ahead.

I’ve noticed that if I try to learn something, spend some time letting it gel in my brain, in a day or so I have a pretty good grasp on what I was trying to learn. I figure I have fairly crappy short term memory and much better long term memory.

Today was another systems review with a different ground school instructor. Each day that passes, I feel I grow a better grasp of the information and feel a lot less like a dumbass so letting the information marinate in my brain is actually working quite well.

This evening was another trip to the cockpit procedures trainer and I’m starting to develop a better flow with the basic “Before Start” procedures, doing a better job understanding how the EICAS status page works and have a much better understanding of setting up the engine bleed/pneumatics panel for two-engine start, single-engine taxi and all sorts of “less than normal” situations.

The instructor also introduced various AC bus failures and suprisingly enough, I’m able to sew in systems knowledge with the AC bus failures fairly well.

We’re flying along in flight and the autopilot kicks off and the EICAS system has what seems to be a few thousand messages on it, but looking at the first message to pop on the screen, I knew that the autopilot failed because we had just lost two FCC’s (flight control comptuers) and that the autopilot needs two independent FCC’s (there’s a total of three) in order to operate the autopilot.

Holy cow, this crap is starting to come together.

My systems oral is on thursday so tonight I’m going to do another systems review here and continue honing my “immediate action items” and limitations.

You can somewhat wing it on systems and procedures, but “A Man’s Got to Know His Limitations” — cold. If you don’t know 100% of the limitations and immediate action items *verbatim* you might as well not even show up for the systems oral because you’re not going to pass.

What works best for me is writing things down. I’m a “tactile learner” so if I’m able to manipulate a switch or write down the way the system operates, magically it stores in my brain for later retrieval.