Progress at last!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post but there has been very little to update you on until recently.

So what is the progress I hear you ask. Well, since my last update I have actually been operating crew for 7 flights. By operating crew, it means I have been on pilot monitoring duties which means I am in charge of making radio calls keeping a monitor on fuel and times in the cruise and also in charge of operating things like flaps and the landing gear. 

Before my operating flights I had to do 3 refresher simulator sessions to get back into the groove of flying as it had been so long since I had done any. Since the last update I had done some additional observation flights just to try and keep learning from current operating crew. I then had the 3 simulator sessions at the beginning of March which was to practice landings, some failures and also different types of approaches.

After the 3 simulator sessions I was cleared to be able to be pilot monitoring duties where they sent me to some challenging areas because of the quality of radio language which is quite poor in places like Sudan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The air traffic controllers there like to use non standard calls which paired with fast speaking and a strong arabic accent can be very challenging even for the most experienced pilots. These 7 flights are classed as stage 1 of 6 stages I have to do to qualify as a first officer. The flights were fun and my radio skills have progressed quite quickly, a lot quicker than I thought I would. During the cruise phase, we also have a lot of items to sign off on a syllabus of things like where to find information in the manuals and some memory items for if you get into an emergency situation. 

Following these 7 flights I had stage 2 which was 4 days of ground school covering how to navigate the main manuals and provided some helpful tips for using the manuals while flying. Following these days were 2 more simulator sessions called zero flight time training sims which were 2 sims designed to give you landings with different weather conditions on each take off and landing. 

That is currently where I am at and I am about to start stage 3A which is the pilot flying stage where I will be in control of the plane for the first time with passengers which is exciting. Stage 3B will be a mix of pilot flying and pilot monitoring. Next update will probably be after stage 4 which will be another milestone where I lose the safety pilot so the 3 crew becomes 2.

Some pictures from when I was observing on some flights and some activities around Doha:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I think you deserve a little update as you are probably wondering where I have gone.

Since my last post I had to re-take one of my Low Vis sim sessions because there was a mess up in the admin team meaning the online training wasn't completed when it should have been done. Frustrating but one of those things and meant more time practicing in the sim.

I then did 7 observation flights instead of the normal 5. I had requested additional flights because I was on training standby and it was helpful because some of the crews allow you to do the computer setup and to make the radio calls. The observation flights are really helpful for showing you the day to day operations and seeing how the standard procedures are used. I had flights to a variety of destinations ranging from Saudi Arabia to Eastern Europe. 

After a lot of waiting, I finally did my base training at the end of November. The weather wasn't ideal because there were storm clouds brewing. Turning up at the ops centre just felt like another observation flight. The only point that it felt real was when I was lining the aircraft up on the runway and advancing the thrust levers to takeoff power. Before I knew it, I was pulling back on the joystick and the aircraft was airborne. Ok so that was the easy bit done. We went straight into cloud when we took off and climbed to 2000ft. Luckily with the help of the Air traffic Control pointing us in the right direction around the incoming traffic we found the old airport where I would be doing my landings. The weather was clearer at that airport despite only being a couple miles away. The captain let me jump straight in the deep end and land the plane with only verbal guidance, normally the captain would demonstrate the first landing. The first landing was a little firm but it was safe and I didn't break anything. The feeling of landing it and getting it right was like nothing I've felt before, not even my first solo matched that feeling. 11 more smooth landings and a go around soon followed. The weather made the conditions trickier than it should have been for that exercise. We had a 9/10kt tailwind on landing which for the exercise should be a max of 5kts but because I was coping with the landings I was allowed to continue. 

Since that flight I have been on standby ever since because there is a shortage of training captains. This wasn't such a bad thing as I was able to spend my graduation, Christmas and New Year at home with my family and friends. Other than that I have no further update on progress as I still remain on standby.

Going back for graduation was great. I was able to see some old faces from throughout my training and also caught up with some of my coursemates who have jobs with other airlines. An interesting fact for you; there were 321 pilots who graduated with CTC in 2016 which was the highest they have had yet. 

Signup in the menu on the right and you will get a notification when I next update as I'm not sure when it will be. Hopefully won't be as long as it has taken for this post.


Photos to come soon.

Another Milestone Achieved!

We have now been in Doha 2 months already and we are another step closer to flying the real thing!

Since the last post we have finished all of the introductions, ground training and most importantly we finished and passed the simulator tests.

First thing we did was the first aid training. Although the flight crew are unlikely to need to use the first aid training in flight, it is a good skill to have as it could mean the difference between life and death if you happened to be in the right place at the right time. 

The CRM (crew resource management) was split into 2 days and for us we were joined by Cabin Crew. The pilots were split up and we were paired with the cabin crew. We had to introduce our partners which was a good way of getting to know a little bit about them. Over the 2 days we had various tasks and challenges to show us the importance of being a team and working together. 

The ditching course was in Bahrain so we got on a normal domestic flight in the morning and then went to the Gulf Air facility at the airport. For the first part of the day we were basically acting as passengers in an A320 cabin simulator and we were observing the cabin crew carrying out their procedures for identifying and extinguishing fires which were simulated by lights and a lot of smoke. After they had finished their fire training we were allowed to jump down the slides. Now I know why they say to wear jeans for this bit, my bum got rather warm from the friction. After that we got in a large raft on the floor so they could show us the equipment on board the raft like locator beacon and roof to name a couple. After that we got in a raft in the pool which we then had to jump in and then get back on the raft from in the pool. The water was rather chilly! 

A couple days later we had more classroom training but this was specific for the A320 flight crew. We had to do 2 days of performance training which was basically learning how to do take off and landing calculations both manually and using the laptops which you are given for each aircraft. Then we had a day for low visibility operations and radio navigation course which is not normally required until we have done 4 months of flying but for us they changed it so that we do it now. After the ground school we were required to complete some e-learning courses on the internet which took ages and had a test at the end.

Then came the simulator training. The first sim was with a stand-in captain because we are not qualified to do low visibility operations, so we were just there to monitor our captains and make sure they do what they are suppose to do. This was the first sim since June and so I naturally felt a little rusty. The next few sims were radio navigation and hard landings. The hard landings was quite fun, the instructor basically made the plane bounce when he landed and then he gave us control to recover by either landing or take off and go around for another approach depending on the situation. The next 2 sims were the official tests for the QCAA where we had to fly a normal flight and somewhere along the route you would have a failure of some kind to see how you deal with it. These are done with either a captain due for his yearly check or a stand-in captain. I had a stand-in captain which was really helpful when I was unsure of a few things. We worked well together and it was good to do a real flight even though we were the first test subjects for the new syllabus of cold weather operations. Every 6 months it changes so that a new area is covered to keep pilots current. After the flight, I was re-positioned to carry out some manoeuvres and some more failures/bomb threats. My final sim was the pre base training which was circuits around Doha airport and the instructor changed the weather settings for each approach. This was fun and I enjoyed it.

The next steps are for me to complete my base training in the real aircraft where I have to do 12 take offs and landings. I also have 5 observation flights coming up before I am put in the deep end on the right hand seat where I have to monitor the captain and do the radio calls for so many flights before I am let loose at landing and take off with passengers. I think the next few weeks are going to go past so fast it will be a blur. Lots of studying ahead as we are questioned on each flight to make sure we are up to speed on the procedures and aircraft knowledge.

Haven't done much exploring but have a few pictures to share. Next blog post will be in a few weeks when I get a chance after my first few pilot monitoring flights.

Funky designs in West Bay

Lagoona Mall towers

The towers at the entrance to the Pearl

Base training in the Sim

Jazz club

The tallest building in Qatar at night time.

The one ditching exercise

The Qatar subsidiary just will be going back to Qatar colours. 

Amazing Italian we found!!

West Bay from a distance

We Made It

So we made it to Qatar!

2 months sounds like a long time and I know it is a long time to wait for a blog post because I have waited for blog posts myself when following previous cadets. The 2 months went so fast! A lot happened in those 2 months, like catching up with family and friends which I haven't seen for a long time. I also did some shopping trying not to spend too much of my mum's money in the process and I went to visit a friend in Zurich for 5 days after I had worked a week at Farnborough International Airshow.

The first couple weeks seemed to go really slow, I was catching up on rest, trying to pack my stuff away from moving back home and I was also helping my dad out to do various tasks. I then worked at Farnborough Airshow to help CTC out to demonstrate an A350 flat panel training device. We were demonstrating the device to potential buyers on the trade days. A lot of important people visited on the trade days even if I didn't know who they were. On the public days I helped out on the CTC stand which was right on the flying line and had a lot of passing traffic. I had a great week and was super tired by the end of it, I hope that those that I gave advice to pursue their dreams as it really is worth the hard work and commitment!

During my time off I had all of the vaccinations associated with the locations I'll be flying to. I had a total of 8 injections and 2 blood tests which is a lot considering I don't really like needles. I also had a lot of paperwork to fill out ready for my arrival in Doha.

After leaving parties and preparations, the fly out day was upon us. The last week went so fast. It was hard to believe that I had just checked in with a one way ticket to the desert with 70kg of checked in baggage hold and 7kg hand luggage. Thankfully the send off was quick so wasn't too emotional. We started our journey by having some cultural Lebanese food in the terminal to get into the middle eastern zone and a great meal it was!

The plane was late but it didn't really matter for us as we didn't have a connection to make. This was my first time flying on Qatar Airways and first impression was how clean everything was, completely different to the easyJet flight I was on the week previous where you had to wipe your feet of food to get off the plane. The flight went seamless and after being met by the company accommodation people we were taken to collect our bags. We were then given our welcome pack and driven to our accommodation. The weather going from the terminal and car park was intense! The heat was made worse by how humid it was even though it was past midnight it was still uncomfortable. We got to our new home and we were very impressed! We were given a 3 bedroom apartment between 2 of us and it is so spacious.

After a day to settle in, we had the start of the induction process. We started off with welcomes and introductions to the other 12 candidates on our batch which would be starting on different aircraft to us. Most were there to start as first officers on the Boeing 777. 

These inductions include showing us around the various buildings that Qatar Airways are in as well as the operations centre for the global network (where all the magic happens). We also had our uniform fitting which was exciting. Finally got to wear the hat which I have been waiting to do since I was young. Other introductions included opening a bank account, safety and emergency procedures, learning how to operate a door, local air law exam, fire training and organising resident permit which will allow us to do a lot more like get mobile contracts and the all important liquor licence.

Coming up we have first aid training, crew resource management, ground school, ditching in Bahrain where we jump down slides and swim in a pool. We still have about a month and a half before we jump in a real plane and do our 12 take offs and landings. 

I'll talk more about adventures in the next post as there won't be so much to talk about from the training aspect. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy:-

Barry Island

Worms Head, Gower

Colour changing lampposts on the way from the airport Doha

Our living area for 2 of us

West Bay Sky Line

Condom shaped tower

Our Hotel Lobby

Qatar Airways Tower 3

Our Lovely pool

Training to use a door

Dive pool at the national training centre

Our smoke hood for the training.

Under seat electrical fire simulation

Gondola at the 2nd largest mall in Qatar

Torch Hotel, Aspire Zone, Qatar's tallest hotel standing at 300m

The stadium being built for 2022

The floor rotates 360degrees in 1hr 30mins

The water sports building.