Wow – what a week! I returned to Houston on Tuesday for cockpit
procedures training (CPT).
The rest of my training
including last week is all with Steve Sanders, who was my roommate for the
first three weeks of training and is now my flight simulator partner, so it was
the two of us and an instructor all week instead of the entire class.
We spent the first day in a
mockup of the cockpit, which was basically nothing more than a cardboard and
metal structure with pictures of all the controls, screens, and switches. We did this to practice our flows and
checklists as well as give us time to ask any systems-related questions. On the second day we actually went out to
the airport to sit in one of the actual airplanes that was parked overnight and
used that instead of the mockup, which was quite cool. It was the first time I stepped foot into
the EMB-145. I was impressed.
The third and fourth days
were to be spent in the flight training device (FTD), which is a fully working
replica of the aircraft – meaning all the switches and screens light up and
behave as they would in the airplane.
You can do everything from starting the “engines” to shooting approaches
to simulating a fire. However, as we
were getting ready to go to the FTD for the first time, somebody came in and
told us the flight simulator was available if we wanted it. We jumped at the chance. Normally, we wouldn’t have seen the
simulator for another 10 days or so.
The fourth day was spent back in the FTD.
The simulator is quite
awesome. It’s like the FTD, but instead
of fogged windows it has an incredible visual display which starts off showing
everything you would see if you were actually sitting at the gate, including
the hotels in the background and the freeway with cars driving by, which are
the same ones as at the actual airport.
The other difference is that it is a full-motion system set up on massive
hydraulic struts so that when you fly it, you actually feel like you are flying
in it. You feel the bumps in the
pavement as you are pushing back from the gate and it leans forward when you
stop. You can feel the G forces when
you make turns, and I understand it shakes pretty violently if you crash. Cool stuff.
And you can actually land the airplane since you can see the runway
approaching on the visual displays.
This EMB-145 is unlike
anything I have ever flown before. When
I was flying it, I was overwhelmed with how different everything was, and I
felt like I had forgotten how to fly.
Flying with the autopilot and flight director was probably the most
difficult thing for me, since I have no experience with those gadgets.
After the two days of the
FTD and simulator, Steve and I felt somewhat comfortable with the aircraft but
obviously we have a long way to go.
Comfortable probably is even too strong a word. CPT is mainly designed to give you
preparation for the simulator sessions, and little else, so you certainly don’t
have to come out of there being an ace.
The really cool thing is I
now have 3.2 hours of jet time in my logbook.
The simulator is realistic enough that you can log it just like flying
the airplane, so I was able to log Friday’s flying.
We took the oral exam on
Sunday and passed with little difficulty, and now I am home for a week-long
break.
I meant to take some
pictures of the simulator but didn’t have a chance, so I’ll snap a few when I
get back.
Monday I will return to
Houston to start the simulator training – from here on out it is all
flying. We have 8 days of 4-hour
sessions at Flight Safety International at Houston’s Hobby airport on the other
side of the city. During each session,
we take a break after 2 hours to switch seats and flying duties. Airlines break the flight duties down in two
ways. Obviously, the captain and first
officer have separate duties, but generally you alternate flying the aircraft
on each leg and being the “pilot flying” (PF) or “pilot not flying” (PNF). The PF obviously flies the plane, while the
PNF is responsible for navigation, communications, monitoring the systems, and
helping out the PF. When we take the
checkride, we’ll be acting as the first officer and PF, so our training is
geared towards that position, but the PNF is almost as busy so you really work
pretty hard for the entire 4 hour session.
We have a 2-day break in between which happens to fall on the weekend so
I plan to drive to San Antonio to visit my brother and his wife.
After the last day of sim
training, I’ll take my checkride (August 31), which is a two-hour flight
testing me on everything I learned in training. The examiner acts as captain and PNF while doing the
evaluation. That’s going to be one
nervous day. At least the oral portion
is already out of the way.
Now I have a few days off to
study, practice flows and prepare for the simulator as well as try to get some
consulting done on the side. Coming
home is not quite as relaxing as it would seem, but I’ll get my “vacation” soon
enough after the checkride (and a paycheck!)