This airplane is cool!
I have begun the hands-on
phase of flight training. I returned
from a five-day visit back home in Las Vegas for three days of cockpit
procedures training. This training is
designed to teach us the flows and checklists of the CRJ. We also had a chance to practice approach
and departure profiles in the flight training device which is basically a
non-motion flight simulator.
I already feel fairly
comfortable with the airplane and I haven’t even begun actual simulator
training yet. I had another short break
this week and have been using the time to study and observe other pilots doing
their simulator training. That has been
very helpful. I’ve always believed it’s
good to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even better to learn from the
mistakes of others! I feel very
confident going to my first simulator session in two days.
My simulator time slot is
from 2100-0300, so I have also been using this week to try to get adjusted to
that schedule so I’m not dead tired during my first few simulator sessions. It’s kind of cool staying up real late and
then sleeping until noon and not feeling like a lazy sack for doing it. “Yes I have to sleep until noon, it’s for my
job!”
My oral exam is in one week
which will cover systems and general operations subjects. I have kind of let my knowledge slide in
these areas over the past couple of weeks so I need to get on the ball and
review these items. It’s difficult
doing that at the same time as getting ready for simulator training, but nobody
said this would be easy. My head is so
full of crap I sometimes think it might explode. That’s OK, after my checkride I will finally be able to relax.
And the good news is I
haven’t even been furloughed yet! It
was such a tease last year after busting my ass going through training then
never getting to fly the actual airplane.
ACA as a company continues
to prosper, expanding and opening new markets as directed by United
Airlines. I just added several Colorado
approach charts into my Jeppesen manuals from the latest revision. We previously did not fly any further west
than Oklahoma, but tomorrow we are starting a route from Chicago to Colorado
Springs, a long flight for a regional jet.
I really hope that signals the beginning of more western expansion since
that is where my home is. My dream is
for us to open a pilot domicile in Denver sometime in the future so I will no
longer have to commute to Chicago.
Three more weeks!