Crunch Time
My Commercial Pilot’s License exam together with the Instrument Rating and Multi-Engine tests are up next week at Bangkok, so I have been actively mugging for it since months ago. Still going to continue mugging for it right now, so I will, instead of writing a lengthy post like I always do, leave you with some videos of us training with our new instructor, Capt Edward.
He’s cool, hailing from the U.S.A, real chill with 6000 hours of experience to share. Been out and about with him and from the flying done with him so far, I can tell that this is the start of a beautiful instructor-student relationship, so to say….with him.
Enjoy:
-Darryl experiencing an Engine Failure after Take off
-Cpt Ed asking me to look like a serious pilot
-Testing the limits of controllability on the plane
-Darryl doing a perfect ‘Beep’ (Stall warning horn) touchdown
Twin Times
We have started on the twin engined airplane, the DA42.
Ain’t she a beauty? Well besides having twice the amount of power 135hp x 2 = 270hp (essentially the DA42 uses two DA40 engines), it has a retractable landing gear, autopilot together with a modern Avionics system, “Glass cockpit” so to speak which consists of two large LCD Panels:
- DA42 Cockpit
This high tech gizmo cockpit is a stark contrast to the last cockpit we were managing in, the single engined DA40 analogue cockpit with it’s many gauges and needles:
- DA40 cockpit
We have graduated from the Single engined DA40 to the Twin-engined DA42
To put it simply, in order to help us not burn fuel while trying to figure out how to handle the advanced avionics of the DA42, we spent some time in the FNPT II simulator which fortunately is a direct exact mock-up of the DA42 cockpit:
- DA42 FNPT II Simulator
The good thing about simulators is the comfortable feeling rid of sweat while flying in even the most punishing temperatures, you don’t die when you crash, and while flying through a thunderstorm you don’t fear Zeus. The bad thing is sometimes you get a plane popping out flying a crash course towards you, because your friend could not keep his itchy hands to himself, fiddling with the Sim controls (Mind you my instructor was also at it at times). It’s also bad because nothing’s real (You probably figured that out). It serves it’s purpose however, and most airlines prefer simulators over real aircraft for training because they burn less fuel.
We have done about 10 hours in the simulator each together with 7 hours of flying in the twin. I can say the aircraft is much more a pleasure to fly, with a faster crusing speed 130kts (240 km/h) compared to the DA40′s 110kts (203 km/h). It climbs much better and if you have an engine failure, you still have one engine left should that happens. How nice. With all that said, I will elaborate further on our twin flying in the coming posts. We have actually had some practice in flying one of the most important, and most interesting parts of flying a twin, flying on one engine only.
My instructor Olle told us, ” The Da42 has two engines, but 89.9 hours of your 90 in total, you will be flying with just one!”. Flying on one engine is not easy, it kills your legs, especially the right. I will explain again. Right now just enjoy these pictures:
I know you have waited so long,
It’s been awhile since I have been gone,
I will be back for you,
I promise you my love,
Right after I am done above.
The Epic Journey.
‘Epic’. ‘The Grand Finale’ – That’s what some student pilots might name their last solo flight on a single engine airplane. To be honest, I was not planning anything special for my last flight in a single-engine. However, it occurred to me that due to the amount of hours I had to clear on that final day before the “dateline” (4hour 45mins in total), I was in for an epic journey – The longest one I had ever flown so far. This journey took me across the country westwards close to the middle of Thailand, to an airport which I have grown rather fond of – Petchabun. It holds a special place in my heart due to the lovely valley that it sits in, lined by the majestic mountains that run north south:
The total distance I travelled was 428 Nautical Miles (793km). The flight took 4h 45mins, which went mostly as planned thankfully, and yes I was busy taking videos on the flight. I have managed to get an Mp3 hooked up into the audio-jack and euurekah! we have a cockpit voice recorder on board. Enjoy the videos:
Double the power! Double the fun! Twin engines here I come!
What a job.
Ah the pilot job. Full of glamor, full of prestige, fly big expensive machines and travel round the world earning a fat pay. This is the perception of the general public when they look at pilots, or rather, airline pilots in particular. In Singapore, this is a lot more apparent as many people think pilots are either flying fast jets in the air force, or big jets in Singapore Airlines.
This is all true to a certain extent however, the aviation scene behind closed doors is actually not all that pretty. I have come across several pilots from different walks of life and many of them paint a fairly different picture. You see in the west, eg. U.S.A, the pilot job has degraded from what was once a glamorous, high paying job to now some would call it, a ‘glorified’ bus driver. They have it bad there, with regional airlines paying first officers as low as $1600 USD a month with lots of over-time and lousy scheduling. Pilots in U.S international airlines definitely earn a more decent pay but it’s only possible if you have attained the required experience.
One of my ex-flying instructors who is a New Yorker, was fed up with earning too low a pay doing flying jobs that he actually quit his flying instructor job here in Thailand, returned home and became a subway train driver. He said that although it’s not as glamorous, it pays probably 3 times higher.
The pilot’s job is constantly at the mercy of everything: eg. recession, widespread disease like SARS, natural disasters, oil prices, bad airline management etc. Pilots have a knack for scouring for their next job, putting it on standby, and relocating to another country on short notice.
Every time the aviation industry gets hit by a major crisis, you have Europeans, Americans (experienced pilots) travelling to the far ends of the world, knocking on doors just to find a flying job that probably pays peanuts. To saturate it all together, you have fresh 200hr student pilots from all over the world spamming their resumes to every single airplane operator they can find on the net, with some even offering employers to fly for free due to the desperation for that first job.
Flying for free we will try to refrain from doing but we will definitely will, join the many others, spamming resumes to every single air company around the world hoping that somewhere, somehow we would get an interview in the near future when we are done here.
Flying into the unknown
Although flying in the day or in the night requires the same flying skills, procedures and all, the darkness that surround when you’re up there flying under the dim moonlight tends to mislead one’s judgement of the surroundings from time to time.
When it comes to flying, the statement, “seeing is believing” is not always true, more so when flying at night. There’s many illusions that can disorientate you. In the pitch darkness of the night, pilots have come to think lights on the ground as stars, flying towards them, into the ground to their death.
During my first night flight, after take off, I was taken aback by the sheer terror of the unknown. It was as if I was flying into an abyss. There was no moonlight, it was pitch dark and it was the first time I really felt that the instruments played a huge part for my safety. I had no indication at all of where I was over the ground. All I could see were some scattered lights from nearby towns, and besides the runway lights it was pitch black all around. If I my engine did decide to quit, my instructor told me that we had a really low chance of surviving shall we hopelessly try to crash landing somewhere in the darkness.
During my first night flight, the wind did not help either giving a crosswind which constantly tried to push my plane off the runway centerline. What was worst, I had not flown for over a month before that day so I was really rusty in my flying. All in all the flight was not a walk in the park but I am thankful I managed to pull through without much problems during the grueling 2 hour first night flight which I did 16 take offs and landings with my instructor.
Later on all of us went on to complete our total single engine night flying training which spanned over a period of 3 weeks and each of us clocked a little over 10 hours, most of which were solo time. I enjoyed every bit of night flying and it was really good fun. I slowly got more confident flying under the moonlight, but I will never forget the fact that if your airplane decides to quit on you at night, it might have to be the time to say, goodnight.
I shall give a personal instance of experiencing dis-orientation at night, an effect know as the leans. When a pilot does not look at his instruments at night to determine the flight path of his airplane, it can easily slip away into a bank turning away from the desired course without him even knowing:
(Click on the image to watch)
Goodnight.
A pilot is his or her’s worst enemy
It’s inevitable that people who command a large amount of responsibility would also require to handle a great deal of stress. Pilots unfortunately are without exception. With a switch of a wrong button at the wrong time, such as deploying the flaps a tad too early before the maximum flap extension speed, or landing a little too hard, one could cost the Airline lots of money in repairs, which would probably not make your boss very happy.
A pilot’s career is all about tests, and more tests. A pilot has to go through a stringent medical once a year (twice if you’re over 40) to sniff out those burgers / beers that you have been enjoying lately – Lose your health, lose your license.
There is flying proficiency check every 6 months, which involves throwing you into a simulator and checking to make sure that in case of a real emergency, when required to fly with one engine on fire/ fly with a hole in the plane / land with no wheels while all the passengers are screaming etc… One would laugh at death in the face, hold his composure and land the plane safely.
There are also Line checks which are performed while you’re on the job flying from say Singapore to Thailand. A checker hitches a ride on your flight and while doing so, sits behind you in the cockpit and intently watches every move that you make, every word that you say, and every fart that you take. This is to make sure that you are adhering to the strict company policies.
With all that said though, we have a sneaking suspicion that our ground instructors are constantly scheming together everyday over lunch while enjoying their curries, ensuring a master-plan to impose as much stress as possible on us. Take for example, with a Monday off this week due to a national public holiday, within the next 4 days of ground school remaining, 5 tests have been scheduled throughout the coming week. Not to bitch, but holidays don’t come across like holidays whenever we are having ground school. It’s more like homework days than happy holidays.
Understanding the big picture however, our instructors are probably trying to shed some little light on the extent of maturity that we have grow up to just to get into that coveted pilot’s seat. Currently all of us, 6 in total from Batch 3 and 4 as always, are trying to keep up with the workload that our ground instructors constantly present.
Most of us have not flown for close to 3 weeks due to the preparation of the new hangar. For the Singaporean Batch 3 cadets (Me, Darryl and Ben), the next landing that we will be performing will not be during the hours of daylight. Yes, night flying phase is to commence next week and I am totally looking forward to flying under the moonlight. It’s going to be very interesting.
I shall give my camera a night run soon. But for now, let’s enjoy the shots of honor for our school’s first lady pilot, Miss Ariyachaipanich!
Chief pilot David Boles, disembarking from the airplane, signalling that she is clear to go for her solo
And she’s off!
That looks like one happy lady
The Vultures in their uniforms waiting
May receiving the honors and recognition from her flight instructor, Capt Somboon.
Capt Sayan imparting some words of widsom
We all knew she really needed a cool off after all that stress, and generous in this aspect we definitely were:
Congratulations May for your achievement! May you soar to great heights in enjoyable flights.
Check time!
Ahhhh flight checks. Probably one of the worst flights, in terms of performance every student pilot would have . My instructor actually told me that he requires me to perform a near excellent flight every time on an average training day, so as to compensate for the sheer nervousness, which results in a decreased performance during the actual flight check itself. This is to ensure that even with a decrease in performance, one would still be able to pass the check.
I ain’t sure I fly up to his standards all the time, especially when I did some kangaroo hops down the runway this morning. Not a good way to land a plane especially when you have 80 hours of flying time under your belt. The funny thing about flying is, no matter how experienced you are, whenever you are out of touch and not flying for a good while, you tend to have to “re-learn” how to handle the aircraft before getting back up to speed again. This even applies for pilots with well over a thousand hours.
Right, about the Private Pilot License (PPL) check. Well our checker from the Thai civil aviation authority by the name of Capt Roongroj arrived on the Monday earlier this week. Upon arrival at about 5pm at our hotel that day, he immediately requested to conduct the pre-briefing for our flight check, which would be commenced the next day. Unfortunately, I was out buying pancakes, Darryl was out having a massage and Ben was exploring merry land (sleeping) in his room.
Given our readiness for a formal briefing, he decided to postpone the briefing till after dinner, 8pm that evening. Although it seemed from first impression that he was a little impatient, once met, we knew this guy was real chill. During the ‘briefing’ however, we each took turns to stand at the firing line for questions to be answered. Topics such as weather, emergency drills, standard flight procedures, aircraft systems were being quizzed. Thankfully we managed to satisfy most of his queries, so the first phase was passed.
The next day, Darryl went for the flight check first. Apparently while he was doing the pre-flight checks (a walk around the plane to check for any defects), Capt Roongroj decided to go to the toilet. The exact same thing occurred for my check flight. I ain’t sure of his actions, but probably he had enough confidence in us to conduct the pre-flight check ourselves, which is most of the time well scrutinized upon to detect even a hint of complacency in students.
When Darryl was half-way through his checks, Capt Roongroj was sitting in the plane praying. To make sense of this, I think he was praying for his safety as he feared that one of us would bring him death that day.
After Darryl’s flight, it was Benjamin’s turn. Their checks ended nice with passes and the thumbs up from Capt Roongroj. I arrived at the airport shortly after as my check flight was scheduled later that afternoon. After some quick checks on my student pilot’s license, medical cert and logbook, we were ready to rock and roll. If I tell you I was not nervous I am lying. However I tried my best to keep cool and just fly as per normal.
We did stalls, slow flights, steep turns, normal landings and a practiced force landing. On the practiced force landing we are required to fly above the airport at 2500ft, cut the power to idle, and glide to land on the runway. Unfortunately due to my excitement, I was too high above the touch down point and commenced an aborted landing and made a “go-around”. I actually thought that, ” That SUCKED! This is it! I don’t think I am going to pass.”
After the test was over, we landed and I taxied the aircraft back to the parking area. With the sucky thought of having to re-take the check flight tomorrow due to my silly mistake, I switched off the plane’s engine. To my delight, Capt Roongroj extended his hand and told me, “Congratulations, you passed!”
Capt Roongroj (2nd from left) together with batch 2
Jacky’s Solo
Although Jacky has already been through the water-splashing ceremony once after he soloed back then when he was a student in Malaysia, we thought it would be a nice idea to give him another round, to honor his first solo in Thailand:
click on the picture below to watch:
Congrats on your “First” solo Jacky!
Space to New Dehli
After we arrived in Bangkok from Lion city just a quarter past noon, Darryl and I idled around the Siam shopping area to await the dreaded astronaut bus ride back to Nakhon Phanom at 2030hrs. (It’s an ‘Astronaut’ ride owing to the floaty feeling you get as if you were in space, right after getting off the 10 hour ride).
With the astronaut feeling and a bad taste in my mouth(caused by un-brushed teeth), back at NKP I was, greeted by the cold morning chill 6.45am on the 4th of Jan Monday morning, together with Darryl and May. The ride never allows anyone to sleep well, even when your seat can probably accommodate a 120kg man and recline quite close to a flat position. We dragged our bags from the bus to a TUK TUK that could barely squeeze our baggages + us, but nevertheless we managed to do so and froze our asses off on the way to our hotel even when the TUK TUK had “not enough torque”, as quoted by Darryl, so to say.
We reached our hotel a little before 7am and upon reaching my room, without unpacking my bag, I whipped my uniform out, put on the ranks, stuck my name tag above the left pocket, and after a quick bath, got it on in a hurry. I stuffed all the books I needed into my bag and rushed down for breakfast. May, Darryl and Ching came shortly after. After floating around in space for 10 hours, we were scheduled to head to New Delhi at 7.30am. Sucked in the breakfast we did, and boarded the bus which took us to New Delhi.
Upon reaching New Delhi, we were greeted by the head of state, or rather, our Chief Ground Instructor, Capt Zalpuri. We would be having classes till 5pm that day, intravenous coffee drips we would need I say! Yes, ground school has started again, and together with Batch 4 we have merged, trying to keep afloat the information that never fails to drown us.
How fun!
