Also, the dress-code has been business-wear, so a change from the normal school uniform.. so we’ll all have to wait till next week before we can try our new epaulettes out!  I’m programmed in for 3 simulator sessions next week and they’re spaced out so that we have at least day in between to work on any de-brief points from the last simulator and to prepare well to get as much out of the sessions as possible.

Once the presentations were done, the head of training came in to briefly give us a heads-up on the recommendations to airlines and how things are looking at the moment, followed by a more detailed presentation by the graduate employment assisstant.

We then practiced some group exercises.  The class was split in two, whilst one was doing the group exercise the other observed and vice versa.  This was quite useful to me, as I’ve never experienced group exercises as a method of selection.  They involved problem solving and discussion on a certain scenario involving strategy.

The day was quite useful, it gave us all something to think about, a taster and further motivation to continue or start preparing for the airline interview.

The examiner had brief us to take him to Seville and divert to Jerez on a simulated passenger, instrument flight.  The most likely runway to be in use was 27 at LEZL, so I chose the Alcol 2L departure, taking us to Moron VOR, and then I would request radar vectors for an ILS approach, from which I would go around.  On going around, I would route direct to the JER NDB at Jerez and carry out an asymmetric (an engine failure simulated after the ILS approach go-around) NDB approach, followed by an asymmetric go around and visual circuit to land. I studied the CAA CAP 413 document again to ensure my radio calls would be correct on the flight and even wrote some out and practiced them to myself whilst I mentally flew the route in my head.

I nervously walked over to the examiner’s office to allow him to examine the route I prepared, the flight plan, plog and performance calculations.  After a few questions on each, I was asked to meet him at the aircraft, to take-off at the scheduled time.  The entire flight went smoothly and found myself just getting on with the flying, as most of the thinking had been done on the ground during preparation.  The conditions were not easy though - it was very hot outside and turbulent.  However, I have flown in these conditions many times, so I have grown used to it and just learnt to deal with it.  Once I had shut the engine down and completed all the checks, the examiner told me that it was a pleasant flight and congratulated me on my first time instrument rating pass!

We then went to fill out the paperwork and debrief on the flight.  I’ve got a few days free now, so I’ve booked a flight to go home for the weekend and be back in time for the MCC Course.

Views on the way:

Just before touch-down at LEGR, with the displaced threshold of runway 09 in sight:

After a quick break I set the avionics up on the ground for the flight back:

Once we were in the cruise and settled, I put the screens up to simulate IMC conditions or “entry into cloud”:

Initially we were cleared on the Martin 1V SID out of Granada however, as soon as we were on the Malaga approach frequency, we were instructed to route direct to the GM NDB and then direct to the JRZ VOR - again to possibly avoid the dense area of traffic coming into Malaga.  I was planning on practicing an ILS approach followed by an engine failure after take-off (EFATO) drill and the an asymmetric NDB approach to land, however, the controller advised us that only one approach to land was possible.  So, I opted to do the NDB approach since I’ve had plenty of practice with ILS approaches recently, and so requested to route direct to the JER NDB.  We were given permission to proceed and so completed the procedure to land.

I thought this trip was good practice for unexpected ATC routing, especially to beacons that are nowhere to be found on the relevant approach plates that I had to hand!  When requested to route direct to GM, which is a beacon on the Malaga approach plates, I promptly requested an initial vector from ATC to start heading in the correct direction.

Lined up on runway 20 at Jerez, ready for departure:

I chose the Martin Two Kilo departure, since it routed us directly to the initial approach fix for runway 13, which was most likely in use and also gave better terrain clearance compared to the departure that took us to the Malaga VOR.  We climbed enroute at the best rate of climb, which gave us the performance to satisfy the minimum gradient requirements to clear terrain.

Once out of Jerez and settled in cruise, I listened to the Malaga ATIS and noted down the details.  As expected, runway 13 was in use and the weather was well above minimum requirements, so things were looking good.  Soon we were handed off to Malaga approach, from Seville approach.  There was a lot of traffic coming in, so they asked us to maintain altitude flight level 90 (9000 feet on 1013mb altimeter setting) and then vectored us around to fit us into the stream of traffic coming into Malaga to land.  We were eventually given a final vector of heading south and were given clearance to descend and complete the ILS approach, and we were 30 miles from the runway threshold.  Since approach asked us to maintain as high speed as possible, I kept my indicated speed up at 150 knots to fit in with the other traffic - the highest speed I’ve done an ILS at, yet!  Then 5 miles from the threshold, I began slowing down, deploying the flaps under the limiting speeds and the gear, eventually I settled at 100 knots a few miles from the threshold and reached the reference threshold speed just as I crossed over and then touched down.  We exited at one of the high speed taxiways and were then asked to contact the ground frequency, who gave us clearance to taxi, to park.

We had lunch and then it was my flying partner’s turn to fly us back, and my turn to relax and observe in the back seat.  The view, as expected, was amazing:

My flying partner’s approach plates - he was following a standard instrument departure out of Malaga:

We’re all now working towards the instrument rating and the skills tests for our course will commence next week..!  The IFR flights and simulator sessions have been challenging.  There are 18 simulator sessions and 9 flights before the skills test.  I found the first two sessions a little difficult to get into since we hadn’t done any instrument flying for a while, since the CPL is all VFR apart from the instrument air-work.  So after a couple of sessions, things flowed a bit more smoothly.  I find that IFR flying is much more about getting organised and prioritising tasks to free up capacity in the air so that the high workload during approaches can be handled well.  In addition, I find that I’m having to do far more preparation than I ever had to do for any of my VFR flights!  I fly the route in my head and try to think of things ATC may throw at me and how I could handle it.  I find that this really lends me more capacity in the air, as a lot of the thinking has been done on the ground and I can set the aircraft up and its avionics effectively.  IFR is certainly a challenge, but I am really enjoying it.  The only misfortune is that I cannot enjoy the beautiful views as I would do when VFR!

I’ve been really busy since the past week… I hope all this hard work will pay off with a first time Instrument Rating pass!

Since my circuits flight, we practiced some instrument flying in the Seneca and the last flight before the test was a CPL profile, which is very similar to the skills test itself, but done with my instructor.  The purpose of that flight was to see if I was ready for the test and highlight any weaknesses so I could at least be aware of them or take some extra flights to polish off any rough areas.

I was quite nervous for the CPL skills test since it is the main license that issued - and the first one by the CAA.  Also we take the test after around 18 simulator sessions and 12 hours in the Seneca.  Most people feel that they won’t be ready in time, but things do click towards the end!  I found the profile a good confidence booster and quite useful in highlighting weak areas just before the test.  Before being put up on the board (names go on a white board in college operations, where an examiner will allocate himself to you), a multi-engine test has to be taken and a 170A form signed.  Many questions on UK airspace and other aircraft technical questions are asked before the form is signed.  Although I have flown in the UK, I still found the airspace there much more complex than Spain.  So with the help of my instructor, we took a look at a UK VFR chart and went through an imaginary route and discussed the many aspects of the airspace the route would go through.  I found it really helpful and things that I had learnt before did come flooding back to me.

I decided to do all the performance calculations the night before my test to save me time the next day.  On the day, my examiner gave me a route and after planning it, I checked the notams, weather and filed a flight plan.  It was a perfect day - no cloud and very little wind, much luckier than I had been with my previous tests with the weather!  I then met the examiner in his office for a briefing, one hour before the flight.  The examiner went through what was expected in the flight, checked my planning and gave me the opportunity to ask any questions.  The flight was originally scheduled for 09:30 UTC, however the aircraft landed late, required the engineers attention for a few minutes to replace a valve on a tyre and needed to be refueled.  This did make me a little nervous… but with my previous experience I had already prepared myself to deal with the unexpected!  I delayed the flight by 30 minutes to allow time for all of this and let the examiner know. In the end, the flight commenced on the new time of 10:00 UTC and there were no further delays, so I just got on with it and tried my best to relax.

We started off with the navigation element of the test and routed out to the east.  I checked in on the Seville ATIS to get an updated QNH setting and noted down the rest of the information so I knew early on what to expect when I got to Seville.  I was then asked to divert to a town north-west of Seville, the diversion leg being almost as long as my planned route.  This is where I had to prioritise tasks and ensure the flight was commercially expiditious.  So, as soon as the examiner told me where he wanted me to divert to, I worked out the heading and altitude and set the aircraft to head in the right direction as soon as possible.  Since the diversion headed in a north-westerly direction, I had to be on even altitudes (semi-circular VFR rule for Spain), so descended to 4500 feet.  I chose to descend since I noticed the air was not turbulent as I was climbing through it earlier and that I would be descending to a 1000 feet after my diversion when inbound to Seville anyway.  Since we were in Class D airspace, I let the controller know of my intentions before proceeding with the diversion.  Once I was established on the diversion, I worked out the time it would take me on the diversion and any check-points I could use.  On the whole, I felt the navigation went well, and soon I was tracking towards LEZL, inbound to do circuits.

At Seville, we did a normal and flapless circuit followed by an engine failure after take off, an asymmetric (i.e on one engine) circuit for a low-approach go around and an asymmetric circuit to land. We ended up holding for quite a while due to the many commercial departures and traffic inbound as well.  Once we were done with the circuits, I was asked to demonstrate use of the autopilot, so I engaged it in heading and altitude hold modes and then put the screens up to simulate IMC conditions for the next section of the test.  In that section, I was asked to fly solely with reference to instruments - flying straight and level, climbing/descending, turning, etc.  We also did some limited panel work, where failure of the attitude indicator, HSI and RMI were simulated by covering them up.  This involved compass turns, flying straight and level and climbing/descending again, but with recovery from unusual attitudes as well.  The rest of the airwork involved steep turns, stall recovery, radio-aids fixing and recovery from a spiral dive.

As the test went on I was more and more fatigued and unfortunately got a bit more nervous as well!  I was delighted to hear, from the examiner, that I had passed the skills test!  There’s plenty of work to do yet, the next test is the instrument rating..!  I’ve decided to give myself a day off and then start practicing my instrument procedures tomorrow, on RANT (a computer-aid) and flight simulator.

Leaving Tarifa:

Arriving at Tangiers:

The passport control in Morocco was a pain.. and I found that the personnel were not trained to ask the right questions!  “Where is your father from?”, to which I answered “UK” and they just sat there nodding their heads “you don’t look English”.  It would have been better to ask what my ethnicity was.  This happened to me twice - entering and leaving Morocco!

We had to get our passports stamped on the ferry and then checked again just outside the ferry before we were allowed to go any further, which is why there was crowding just off the ferry.  Once beyond the crowd and passport control, the first thing I noticed was the language - signs were in Arabic and French.  I was expecting to dig out and recall some of the French I had learnt at school, however, we came across many Spanish speaking people in Tangiers.  This made it easier.  I spent years studying GCSE French at school, so I was hoping it would come back to me quickly, however I’ve not spoken or read French in a while, so it was difficult to communicate in French.  Even though I have never studied Spanish, and I had never spoken any before coming to Spain, it came much more easily than my French, as it was current and I have been speaking some whilst I’ve been here.

As we were walking out of the port, towards the city we were greeted by many taxi drivers that even chased and followed us down a few metres, asking us if we needed a lift.  I noticed they called out “car” in a few languages in an attempt to get our attention.  We also came across many asking us if we needed a tour guide.  I politely declined and kept walking, as we had a handy guidebook and preferred exploring the city on our own anyway.  We were intending to check out the old city, which is known as the “Medina”, so we exchanged our Euros to Dirhams and then walked as directed. We came across many bazaars and saw live chicken being sold in the market!

Moroccan dress sense - Tangiers has a mixture of western and middle-eastern dress:

Flags of Morocco - going into the new part of the city, near the French embassy:

We inadvertently walked around the Medina and into the new part of the city. We went past the French embassy and explored a pet market on the way out.  Apart from the many stray cats, there were chameleons, lizards, tortoises, little coloured chicks, dogs.. a wide diversity of pets!  We came across some souvenir shops and passed some bakeries show-casing fresh biscuits, pastries and bread.  Finally we made our way back to the Medina to shop in the busy narrow streets filled with bazaars that sold rugs, perfumes, clothes, souvenirs and many other items.  Haggling was something we had to do, as prices were highly marked up for tourists.  As soon as eye contact was made, the shop-keepers would do their best to invite you in and sell you their items… and even chase you half-way down the street if they had to!

Shop with all kinds of trinkets:

Narrow streets in the Medina lined with Bazars:

After lunch, we strolled over to the beach.  It was incredibly windy with a strong sea-breeze creating streams of sand a few centimetres above the ground.

Crowded beach:

We still had a lot of the Medina to explore and wanted to also find our way to the museum, which is at the highest point of the Medina.  It’s very easy to get lost in the old city with the maze of narrow and crowded streets.  So, we made our way back and eventually located the museum and kasbah, however it was too late - they close early on the weekend!  It was a shame, but a friendly local showed us around.

An old mosque at the center of the Medina:

The day went by fast and soon it was time to board the ferry again.  Although not the cleanest city (lots of litter everywhere!) I’ve been to, I found Tangiers to be a vibrant city with lots of interesting bazaars and the Medina fun to explore.  It’s only 35 minutes away by ferry from Tarifa and it’s a world apart, which hits you immediately as you enter Morocco - the culture, dress, language, even the air smells different!  I was quite tired by the end of the day, we had done a lot of walking and exploring, so it was nice to finally get off my feet and relax on the ferry.

The first simulator session was just a familiarisation, which necessitated going through the checklist and doing the checks, from start up to landing, which incorporated one circuit.  The next two simulator sessions involved a bit more flying - steep turns, stall recovery, climbing/descending, etc.  After 3 simulator sessions, I had my first flight in the Seneca!  The first thing I noticed when sitting inside the Seneca was how much more roomy it is compared to the warrior, which means I have more space to organise and place items such as my kneeboard or map, and it’s generally more comfortable.  By now all the speeds and power settings were sinking in, so things didn’t seem as scary as when I first opened my Seneca manuals!  Unlike the Warrior, I could feel the acceleration as I was speeding down the runway for take-off, in the Seneca!

Once in the air, I could immediately see how different this aircraft felt - the controls were much heavier, things moved at a much faster pace due to the aircraft speed and the aircraft itself is much more stable than the warrior, which makes it nicer to fly.  The increased inertia of the Seneca was also demonstrated, as it took much longer to slow down and took a while longer for speeds to settle than the Warrior.   Turbulence that would throw the warrior around won’t have its way as easily with the Seneca! There are many more things going on, but since the aircraft is more stable, it gives me the capacity to handle the more complex systems.  The Seneca rotates at 79kt, and the warrior at 55kt, and the initial take-off climb is at 100kt, and we usually climb at 80kt in the warrior.  Whilst the warrior cruises at around 105kt, the Seneca cruises at 150kt, so the speed is immediately apparent and as a result everything happens at a faster pace.  However, I’ve found the Seneca much more pleasant to fly - it’s easier to trim and once trimmed it will stay.. and I love the electric trim button on the yoke, leaves one hand free for multi-tasking!

I’ve now had 4 flights in the Seneca and 5 simulator sessions.  The last two flights dealt with asymmetric flying - so engine failures, shut-downs, restarts, etc.   These were practiced in the simulator first and then in flight. One of the flights involved a full engine shut-down, which is a requirement for the multi-engine rating.  It was slightly unsettling to see one of the engines dead!  However, the Seneca was able to fly, albeit, at lower performance, on a single engine.   On a single engine, the Seneca cruises at around 120kt and can climb at around 200 - 300 feet per minute.  So having only one engine is a huge performance hit, as it can climb at over a 1000 feet per minute and cruise at 150kt with both engines.  Nonetheless, a forced landing is not required, as would be with a single engine aircraft upon complete engine failure!

My next flight is a one hour circuit session, giving me the chance to practice and perfect my landings in various configurations - normal, flapless and asymmetric.  I’m finding the Seneca much more difficult to land than the Warrior at the moment, and can see that it’s quite nose-heavy… so this lesson will be a great opportunity to polish that off!  Unfortunately I didn’t get to fly today due to ATC not allowing circuits and the temperature being too hot to fly - it was 37C!