The Flying Dream Achieved

Exactly 4 years since I joined the airlines, I have finally achieved what I aimed for; to work in an office with the best view in the world. It was really a long and winding road compounded with the unfortunate economic downturn. At times, it was so uncertain that I felt like being trapped in an eternal tunnel of darkness. I came back from my jet training 22 months ago right at the start of the downturn. Had to stay on the ground for a year before I finally start commercial flying as Second Officer. During that year, I had worries everyday not to be retrenched as the situation gets worse. I'm glad the company held out the storm and kept me in the job.

Learning to fly was tough, but learning to fly commercial planes with few hundreds of passengers was even tougher. My Second Officer days were by no means as easy as auto-pilot. Basically a Second Officer is a pilot flying under probation. We were scrutinized down to every last bit of details in terms of knowledge, operation skills and flying finesse. After all, flying with so many lives is a huge responsibility and safety is the top priority. Therefore, the authorities and company made sure only the competent ones are granted the license; not just any button operators. Along the way, some frown and some tried to humiliate newcomers like us. Those are really not so nice people. But I must say I also met many great people and crew members that made my stay-over so enjoyable. I really enjoy traveling to new places with great people as there is never short of joy and laughter.

All my stressful and sleepless nights are now behind me. The last peak was sure a hell of a tough climb. The highest and most treacherous in my entire life. But with a little push from the instructors, my coursemates and my loved ones, I managed to conquer it and checked out as First Officer. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all those who were behind me through the thick and thin. Happy 4th anniversary to Course 121; a bunch of nobody that went through all odds together to become somebody that everyone envies now. To all my friends, happy flying. Hope to see you someday in the air.









Related links:
Life of a Cadet Pilot, Ultimate Jet Flying
Life of a Cadet Pilot, The Jandakot Story
Life of a Cadet Pilot, Part 1

Taming 600 Wild Horses

Been quite busy with the Baron conversion flights recently after my transition from the Cessna. From riding on the puny 160 horses, now I have a whopping 600 horsepower; 300 on each engine at my disposal. Taming the beast is not an easy task, considering the big jump in power and speed adaptation. I was literally stunned by it's speed on my first flight. On the Cessna, I cruise at 120kts (222kmh) and land at 65kts (120kmh). Now on the Baron, I cruise up to 195kts (360kmh) and land at 95kts (175kmh)! My old cranky car can't even cruise past 140kmh and now I'm landing the plane at 175kmh. The engines are so powerful that it can still fly safely with the loss of one engine. But it loses 80% of the performance. Therefore, one needs to arrest and fix the problem quickly or else the plane will spin out of control. The plane is heavy and sometimes I find myself with 2 hands on the column. It's time for me to go to the gym more often to work out the muscles.

P2 check: Cleared

Exactly 3 months after my P1, I was up again for a flight check on the 9th Sep. This time, it was a check to determine my competency in visual navigation flying. I had waited 2 weeks just for this and valuable time was lost due to this no flying period. I flew with Andrew Spencer and he was such a nice instructor to fly with. Very professional and chill out guy; as he let me fly my plane with minimum distraction and interference. All decisions rested solely on me as if I'm the captain of the plane. The lucky plane this time was VH-BZX; relatively the newest and best handling plane in the flying college. Now that I have passed the check, I'm in Phase 3 now where most of the instrument flyings are done. It can be termed as IFR flight or in layman's term "blind man flying". Flights are done under the hood or in the clouds with reliance on the instruments.

VFR Navigation Flights

I have done a couple of navigation flights to the countryside around Perth. It was pure fun of flying. I could feel the freedom when flying in the limitless blue sky with fluffy white clouds floating freely in the air. On the ground, I could see the vast meadow greens stretching far beyond the horizon and onto the rising hills where clear blue water reservoirs and lakes reflecting the sky like a mirror. When near the coast, the sandy beach lines up nicely from North to South, separating the land and the blue Indian Ocean.








Few of my flights brought me to countryside aerodromes where I had to do a few touch and go landings. These aerodromes are in odd places where winds are generally strong. Some aerodromes consist only a dirt or gravel runway which pose a challenge for good landings. There was once I came in with such strong wind that my aircraft nose had to be 20 degrees off from the the runway centreline for landings. Scary!

P1 check: Cleared

10th June, 2007 was indeed another day to be remembered. I got a last minute call for flight on Sunday. Hastily, I finished up my laundry and rushed to the ops room. I took the aircraft (VH-YXV) up with instructor for my Phase 1 check. That was the test to assess my general flying abilities and procedures. After an agonizing long stretch to my Phase 1, it has finally come to an end. I am now in Phase 2 and can fly cross crounty navigation. This is real fun. I will be able to fly to the countryside and enjoy the nice sceneries.

First Area Solo

Today was my first solo flight into the training area. Flying back into the area was so much fun compared to doing circuits in the aerodrome. Everything was so relaxed. With the aircraft nicely trimmed, it can be flown by itself without any input to the controls. Traveling south, to the east are the mountains while to the west is the Indian Ocean. The view is just breathtaking with green meadows and farms stretching all the way south. While practicing the PFL and flying low, I can get to see cows, sheeps and horses. It was fun at times to chase the animals but certainly not for the ranch owners. Some might get pissed off for disturbing their herds. Sorry bout that, mate.