Week 2 & 3

3 weeks down and we have already completed 2 of the 4 subjects in module 1. We finished GNAV last week and we have just completed Mass and Balance which only lasted 3 teaching days.


A summary of what we covered in GNAV. To put it simply for those who do not know about GNAV, it teaches us how to plot on different types of charts (we learn 3 types) and the differences between all of the charts. Many of you probably wonder why the planned route on your planes screen is curved when you go on holiday. It is basically because of the curvature of the earth and the curved route is shorter than drawing a straight line. Takes a while to get your head around it but it makes sense eventually. We also covered how to work out distances on different scaled charts.

Mass and balance is as it suggests. We work out the moments of aircraft and work out where you can place weight in the aircraft to get the centre of gravity to a desirable location which is around the mid point of the wing cross section. If you move the CoG too far forward then the plane becomes unresponsive to control input and increases the chance of stalling. Too far back and the controls become too sensitive and also increases the chance of stalling. That is basically it for the subject, so it is a fairly easy subject to tackle.

Other than the teaching, I haven't really got up to much because I have been revising most of the time. 4 of us are still in the hotel but we are hoping to move into our accommodation soon. Also, there is a new course starting on Thursday so we will no longer be the new guys. These last 3 weeks have flown by! It is intense but as long as you keep working on it, it is manageable.

A320 Flight simulator

Sunrise on way to school

Sunset on way home




Week One

Happy New Year! My first week is over already!

Last Monday was the meet and greet day which gave my parents a chance to see the training facility in Nursling and to ask the CTC staff any questions about the course that I am doing. It was also a chance for me to meet the other cadets in CP128.

Class and families of CP128

Normally on the meet and greet days, the cadets would have their uniform fitting while the families have a tour of the flight sims. Unfortunately the uniform hadn't arrived due to the Christmas break so we had to stay in our own clothes for a few days.

After a couple of hours of presentations and chatting it was time to depart to go to our accommodation, which for 8 of us was a hotel until accommodation has been found. Before heading to our hotel, the guys on the Qatar course decided to head into town to grab a bite to eat at 7bone burger restaurant which was great. We then went to the hotel and it was time to say goodbye to my family. The hotel is great, no cooking or washing, the hotel do it all for us and with the added bonus of use of the spa and gym.

Day two consisted of APD1 (Airline preparation day) which was a day where we had to introduce each person with what skills each person has which would benefit the course. We had to work in teams of 4 to come up with ideas for the scenarios we were given e.g. what qualities do airlines look for in pilots etc.  

Day three was the official start of our modules. Our first module is GNAV (General navigation) which is basically working out changes in latitude & longitude, working out distances and the types of navigations using different charts. We also learn how to use the CRP5 (also known as the wiz wheel or crap 5) which is a flight computer. It is used to work out wind drift on one side and the other side you can use to work out many calculations like times, distances and Mach numbers to name a few.

Our uniform arrived on Thursday. We now feel like proper cadets.

That is all for now as I had better get some more work done for tomorrow. The pace is quite fast. GNAV is only due to last 2 and a half weeks before moving on to the next subject so it means a lot of night time reading and using the question bank to get a feel for how well you are coping.