Merry christmas and a happy 2009

AZ: Electricity bill

Why are the electricity bills during this holiday period higher than average? Find the answer in this video, made during the wonderful light and sound spectacle, every evening between 7PM and 10PM.

AZ:Happy holidays!

Hmm, the last post was about one month ago ... time flies and so do we! Although we'd like to fly a bit more ... Due to weather and unfortunatly also some adminstrative reasons, we fly less than we're supposed to. We got 2 *brand new* instructors which got all their training and checks they need to become an instructor, but since not all the paperwork is done in Belgium they are not allowed to fly. Just a couple of papers and stamps keeps them away from flying ... . Until yesterday (friday) we could fly with 2 other instructors, but one of them is now on holiday for 2 weeks and the other one flies with the students of prom 7A. We can only hope (and pray?) those new instructors will be qualified on monday!

First time I'll pass the christmas holidays somewhere else than Belgium. It feels strange: although there is some kind of x-mas hype going on, with decoration, lights, (plastic) trees, irritating music and fake santa clauses, it doesn't feel the same. We don't know yet how much we're gonna fly during the holidays (24/12, 25/12, 31/12 and 01/01 are holidays, the other ones not) so it's difficult to plan a trip. At least I hope I'll fly because I'd like to have some days off to join my parents on a trip in january.

the weather I mentioned above was really bad weather. Low cloud base, the freezing level as low as 6000 feet high, rain and sometimes gusty winds ... even snow storms in the north (Flagstaff). Quit funny to see when you're used to the always-blue-skies-and-cute-clouds.

Family and friends who read this blog: happy holidays, don't drink and drive, I als don't drink when I go flying ;-) and all the best for 2009.

Pieter

pictures for this post:

AZ - Weer, Kerstmis, ...

AZ: Diamond 40 (2)

pics!

AZ - DA40 & night flight

enjoy

AZ: Diamond 40

About a week ago, November the 19th, I had my last VFR check, mission 65. I had to plan a flight to Gilla Bend (E63), southwest of Phoenix. There were many items we discussed during the debriefing, things I should keep better in mind but also positive points, overall the flight was good (and that was the most important). A few days later there was a briefing about the Diamond 40 and now I already performed 3 flights on it. It's much different than the Archer ... more sensitive controls, a glass cockpit, a stick instead of a control wheel, ... it takes some time to get used to it but overall it's nice to fly on it.

Yesterday (wednesday) the weather wasn't that good, Rain, wind, low cloudbase ... but still good enough to fly. But as weather can change rapidly, we had to divert to Gateway airport and wait there for about half an hour before we could go back to Falcon Fields. For a few moments I had the feeling being back in Belgium :-). Afterwards I flew a mission and backseated another time ... and in the evening Pieter, Bert and I went to a concert of coldplay. back in my bed at 2AM, a day of 22 hours ... long enough to sleep a bit longer in the morning :). Today it's thanksgiving, tomorrow I'll fly again. And in the weekend I'll start probably with the night flights.

pics:

Van AZ - Belgisch weer

AZ: last flights on the Archer & Fountain Hills

Falcon tower, Archer 4149 Yankee is overhead fountain hills at 3200 feet with information Echo, inbound for a full stop landing ....

Fountain Hills is a community in the north of Mesa with lovely houses, green fields, a mild climate and ... a huge fountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_Hills,_Arizona). When departing or arriving at our homebase Falcon Fields, it's often a reporting point when we go / fly through the north east practise area. This weekend there was some kind of festival (brasserie in dutch), a good oportunity to have a look at that fountain, but this time not from a bird's eye perspective. And it's true what they say about it: it's impressive!

Almost all the VFR navigation flights are done, except for one: the last VFR progress check, which is mission 65. Tomorrow I'll have mission 64 with my instructor, I guess that will be also the last flight with him ... for the next phase (IFR) we'll start on a newer aircraft (the diamond DA-40) and also with new instructors. The check will include a bit of everything: navigation, manoeuvres, patterns, simulated failures, ... but of course, it should be good.

Time to review some manuals, hopefully the next post entry of this blog will be a good one ...

for pictures of fountain hills:

AZ - fountain hills festival

AZ: phase 3 & spotting!

Hi there

Finally everyone of prom 6B passed the pre-navigation check and so we're doing our last phase on the archer: the navigation phase. Not all the flights of this phase are navigation flights (god thanks!), but the majority are. You might wonder: what's so different then? Preparation! First finding your way through the VFR charts of Arizona, calculating distance, magnetic track, altitudes, ... and the day of the flight itself you have to calculate the magnetic headings (track corrected for the wind), true air speed & power setting (depends on temperature), ground speed, times, estimated fuel burnoff, ... and last but not least file a flight plan. Hell of a job if you have the early morning flight (take off at 6:30AM). Luckily the sun rises a bit later so the take off times are also delayed with 15 minutes :p. And of course you have to keep track of time, routing, ... during flight. But it's nice! If everything goes well (availability of archers & no cancellations due to wind / bad weather) we should finish this phase within 3 weeks. Last mission will be the navigation check and afterwards we'll start on the DA-40. But that's still future music ... .

This weekend the wind finnaly changed of direction (westerly instead of easterly) which gave us a nice opportunity to go spotting on a hill not far away from Phoenix Sky Harbour Intl.! The result? check it out:

AZ - spotting

What else can I say ... oh yes, "finally" prom 5 can go back home (the 2 last students will go back on Tuesday). Not that we wanted them away, on the contrary. But they spend more than 7 months (7,5 I believe) here in Arizona, instead of the "usual" 6-7 months. Problems with instructors and the DA-42's kept them here for 1,5 month extra. The 2 last ones will have tomorrow their CPL check. I hope they'll do fine back in Belgium!

Well, that's all folks! Cya!

AZ: some pictures

As promised, this post would be again one with some pictures. I hope I won't take the appetite away when I say it aren't some exotic pictures of "far far away". But for those that are wondering how the new appartment I live in looks like, feel free to click further to the pics:

Van AZ - new appartment

What else can I say? Not too much, except that the temperatures are falling like a bomb. This weekend the evenings became quit cold (11°C), now it's even during the day not that hot any more (26°C). Very pleasant when you have to fly, but horrible when you leave the "warm" appartment. But you don't hear me complaining at all ... .

AZ: almost cross country

Hello dear blogreaders

Finally again some time for an update (and something to talk about that's worth it). The last weeks I spend mostly flying solo/dual at falcon fields (touch & go's, full stop taxi back landings, different patterns and landing techniques) & in the neighbouring practise areas for the manoeuvres. Today I had (saturday the 4th) my 2 last solo missions before the pre-navigation check. 3 missions with navigation (complete a navigation log, calculate headings, speeds, power settings, ... and fly as precisely as possible) will follow next week, the check probably too. Lots of preparation and long flights (up till 4 hours), but I'm looking forward to it! (flying patterns and manoeuvres gets boring after a while).

Since yesterday I'm also living in another appartment! One of the students of group A of our prom wanted to change, and for me it wasn't really an issue. It was nice over there where I used to live, but here it's also ok. I'm now living with Pieter (Hutsebaut), Dan and Hannes. When they go back to Belgium, I'll move back into the appartment of Olivier, Kristof & Adrien.

What else can I say ... oh yes, the weather over here. Finally it's cooling down a bit. Today we have some clouds and lots of wind, maximum 28°C. Nice! (except for the wind if you have to fly).

The next post will be again one with some pics. And before I would forget about it: yes, I miss Belgium! (eventhough I know the weather isn't the best one for the moment).

Cheers!

AZ: Finally ... solo

Today, september the 22th, I had my first solo mission in the morning. 3 full stop landings with the instructor, taxi back to the sabena ramp (that's how we call it here), shutdown of the engine, the instructor exits the plane and wishes you good luck and then you're on your own. No one besides you to help you if you screw things up (or if the plane feels like to). Sounds awful, but it feels great. during taxi, ground check (engine check), you double check everything what's on the check lists, you taxi to the active runway (4L/4R in my case) and once you got the take off clearance from the tower you line up, and realise this baby is all yours. Just because it's a habit you say "take off, I have controls", but you know that actually the plane wouldn't take off if it wasn't you :p.

3 landings later I taxi back to the sabena ramp, shut down everything, collect my personal belongings while Pieter and Adrien are pushing the aircraft back into his stand (no push back trucks at our airport unfortunatly :p). My feet may not touch the ground before I got thrown in the swimming pool! They carry me to the car, put me in the trunk, drive me to the swimming pool, throw me in it and then I could be proud of legally and completely being a solo student pilot. And another habbit we have: cut the hair very short. and then I mean: VERY short. Maybe some more pictures about that another time :-)

It was a wonderful day, I was the last one that still had to do his solo flight, so now everyone of our group is solo. For the next missions, it will be or fully solo or split into half an hour with the instructor and one hour solo.

Tomorrow again a flight in the morning, so it's bedtime.

and of course, pictures ... enjoy them!

Van AZ - Solo!

fossil springs

Last sunday, Kristof, Bertrand and I went to Fossil Springs, some kind of national park. Upon arrival we noticed that the hike towards the falls was closed (due to works at a dam) ... that was the moment on which we felt we've been driving 2 hours for nothing and that our trip ended on that moment. Since the bush road wasn't that wide and cars here are extremely large, we drove a bit further to turn around & head back towards Mesa. A few minutes later Kristof manoeuvred the car backwards and ... *bam*, there we were stuck in a ditch. We were quit lucky some young student scientists came by, they helped us to get out of the ditch and we could join them for another hike towards a creek/river some miles further down the road. While they were doing some experiments with fish, we enjoyed the refreshing (and cold) water of the river & the beautiful nature sights while avoiding cactuses and a dangerous snake.

3 hours later we went back uphill, towards the car ... we forgot to swich off the lights, so the battery was way too low to get the car started ... a very friendly american couple was so kind to stop and reload our battery, they gave us some pepsi's (a pepsi never tasted that good in my life up till then) and a few moments later we headed back towards Mesa.

So far for the weekend. About the flying courses: I was supposed to have my pre-solo check on monday (some kind of flight with an examiner to see if you're ready to fly solo), but due to strong winds and gusts they cancelled it. Today (tuesday) I don't fly, I hope I'll have my check tomorrow so that I'll be solo by the end of this week (thursday or friday). Of our prom (6B), Kristof & Bert are already flying solo.

pictures of the trip to fossil springs can be found here:

AZ - fossil springs

AZ: friday missions, evening pics & trip to the zoo

Friday the 5th of september, I flew mission 26 & Olivier mission 25 afterwards. This sessions (and probably the next week too) we'll practise on the pattern (touch & go's), landing technique and the manoeuvres to get me ready for the solo (should be somewhere at the end of the upcomming week of the week afterwards). According to the instructor I'm on track, so that's good.

Today (saturday) some of us went to the zoo! It was -again- a hot but lovely day. I'd say, enjoy the pictures on a probably rainy sunday (though I hope the weather stays dry over there in Belgium)!

Pieter

AZ - Mission 26

AZ - Mission 25 (Olivier)

AZ - evening at SATC

AZ - Trip to the zoo

AZ: Why it's nice to have the early morning flights ...

After a long weekend (monday was labour day), we continued with the "normal way of living": eat, fly, swim, cook, sleep, study, ...
Tuesday I had a mission in the afternoon, there were some delays (but we're already used to that :-)) and so it was again bumpy flying. Wednesday again an early morning flight and to be honest, those are the ones I really like. Not that I'm that person that really wants to get up at 3:30 o'clock, but the weather then is so nice and flying is enjoyable. We went to the practise area in the north east to practise some unusual attitudes, very funny ... "close your eyes for a few seconds, the instructor flies the aircraft in some kind of position which is not one of everyday flights (at least I hope so) and you have to recover asap". But don't you worry, all these things are practised above 5000 feet :-). Afterwards we went back to falcon fields for some touch & go's.

Today (thursday) I didn't fly, but I was backseating during Olivier's flight. Normal procedures, taxi to the active (22L), take off ... and sudenly the alternator failed during the climb out. In human words: the alternator supplies current for electric devices in the aircraft, such as the radios for the communications. Not such a good idea to keep on flying with a dead alternator, so we contacted falcon tower to report the failure and requested a full stop landing (there is also a battery that we can use if the alternator fails, but not for hours of course). After arrival we had to fill out the squawk book (a book where you write down technical failures) and bring it to maintenance. Our instructor (mr. Andrews) explained us some interesting stuff about the maintenance, the checks and FAA programs, ... interesting!

Tomorrow I have again a flight in the afternoon I guess it will be the last one for this week. If we're lucky, we'll be solo at the end of next week.

And, last but not least: we have some pets! 3 fishes (First they were with 4, but the bigest and most expensive one already died. He had a nice funeral in the toilet though ...).

Almost midnight, I'd better go to bed ...

AZ: "bumpy" flying...

Thursday (august the 28th) I was scheduled on a flight around noon on the N4177L (the one I flew with the day before). Unfortunatly there was something wrong with one of the main gear struts, so dispatch rescheduled me on the N4149Y in the afternoon. The second mission contained air exercises like steep turns, climbing turns, descending turns, some touch & go's at coolridge, an airport in the south-east practise area. During one of my turns I almost hit a bird ... luckily for both of us it didn't happen :-).
You really have to get used to early morning flights (wake up call at 3:30, engine startup at 5:45), but then the air is still stable. Once the sun starts to rise the air warms up, and certainly in the afternoon the thermal currents can be quit strong. If you have to practise some air exercises it really can be a pain in the ass ... but as long we stay in the air it isn't such a big deal :p.
First Dylan flew for 1.5hr, after a short break at coolidge airport it was my turn. Debriefing, a short swim in the swimming pool and then back to work since my 3th mission was planned in the early morning on friday.
With about 30 minutes delay (as usual there were some technical problems with the BlueOne, the planning program which we have to use to login, fill out our hours etc. plus the printer wasn't working, so I couldn't print my preparation. Not a big problem since the weather radar didn't detect thunderstorms or showers in the vicinity. External check in the morning twilight, cockpit preparation, engine startup and ground check, taxi to the active and there we go! Once you're airborne and doing the climbout towards the south-east up to 3700' you realize how nice it is to have an early morning flight during the lookouts :-)
After my flight I backseated with Dylan and I took some pictures.

AZ - backseat...

Probably we'll have 3 days of for now, there aren't many flights during the weekend and monday is a holiday (labour day).

cheers!

AZ: first mission (M21)

August the 26th: a quick briefing about the archer, a walkaround (external check) with one of our instructors, studying in the afternoon, short night, wake up call at 3:30 o'clock and one hour later towards the airport for our first mission. Although the weather wasn't really perfect for a first flight (thunderstorms in the vicinity), we prepared everything and we were able to take off with only half an hour delay. First Olivier (my flightmate) flew, after him it was my turn ... exiting! Of course the instructor helped me a bit, but I managed to take the N4177L safely into the air and keep it there :-). After takeoff (from RWY 04R) we made a left turn towards the practise area in the north. I did the approach, the instructor the landing. Tomorrow I'll have M22. Again some pictures to make you ppl jealous ;-):

AZ - First fl...

cheers!

AZ: chairflying

Since there aren't many instructors who want to fly on sundays, most of the aircraft stay on the ground. A perfect oportunity to do some "chairflying": practising the flows (what to do when), external check of the aircraft, see which button is where located in the cockpit, find somehow a logical way to advance the flows and checklists, ... . Today in the afternoon there will be again some archers available, so at 4PM we'll be practising again (by the way: temperatures in the cockpit with the door closed can go up as high as 45°C). Pictures (MANY):

AZ - chairflying

and another "small" news item: we bought a car! Stay tuned for more stories and pics ;-)

AZ: arrival and first days

Sunday, august the 17th. With only about half an hour delay, we take off from runway 20 at brussels airport. No strikes or other problems, what a relief once we felt the lift of and the wheels being retracted. About 8 hours later we landed at Washington Dules airport, a nice thing about United airlines is that you can hear the communications between the cockpit and the controllers. The weather was pretty good, so we were cleared for a visual approach runway 15C. Hot weather is always combined with some convection, so the approach was a bit bumpy. Disembarking was being followed by the “normal” procedure: immigration (fingerprints, smile-at-the-camera, passport & documents), get the luggage and drop it a few meters further back on the transport band, customs, security check (even for connecting flights). A few hours later (18:19 local time, 00:19h belgian time) we took of at washington, heading west again direction Phoenix. Less room for the leggs in an airbus A319 after a long flight in a 777 … but after all it was a nice flight. Arrival was on time, around 6 o’clock in the morning Belgian time … but still I felt quit awake. Bagage drop at the appartments, quick installation because the next day was already filled with administrative and practical sessions at our school.

From monday till thursday our days were filled with briefings, adminstrative stuff, enjoying the good weather, swimming pool & jacuzzi at our appartments, going to the supermarket, buying food and also some furniture, since the appartments were quit empty upon arrival. We also didn’t had internet the first week, so that was another thing we had to arrange. Although things are quit cheap here with the USD, I hope it was the most expensive week of our stay here ☺.

I’ve already made some pics, not too many but I think enough to still everyone’s hunger. This weekend (monday including) I’ll be studying a bit (flows, checklists, general stuff we need to know before flying the Archer), if we’re lucky we’ll start flying as from wednesday on. But that’s if we’re lucky.

Didn’t went to the swimming pool yet today, so that’s something for now ☺ it’s now 21:41 o’clock, it just rained a few drops … wonderful weather conditions.

I’ll be back soon with a new update with pics!

(click on the pictures below to go to the albums)

AZ - Departure

AZ - Settling...

1st message from Mesa, Arizona

briefly: we arrived safely at Phoenix, AZ. Sessions and settling down, checking for an internet connection at our appartment, buying food in huge supermarkets and eating subway ... enjoying lovely evenings at a swimming pool ... and waking up at 5AM as a result of a (small) jetlag ...

soon more news ... and pics ...

As if we aren't delayed enough yet ...

Monday morning, August the 11th, 07:00AM. My radio turns on, I wake up with today's latest news. First item: a strike of one of the bagage handling companies at Brussels airport. It doesn't sound good at all, but after a quick look on the internet, flight UA951 to Washington isn't cancelled or delayed. Not yet. My mother had to catch a flight too that day, to Bari with Myair.com. Her flight took off with "only" 1 hour of delay ... not that much after all, if you saw how the situation at the airport got worse hour by hour.

When we arrived at the airport, we could already check in our bagage, but they informed us about a delay of about 2 hours. Once we passed the security posts, the delay changed to 9 hours. Estimated time of departure would be 09:00PM. Well, that doesn't sound bad after all, we wouldn't be able to catch a connecting flight to Phoenix any more that day, but after an night stop at Washington it wouldn't be a problem to catch a flight to Phoenix the next day. We were able to go to SFA and wait there for some hours until we had to go back to check in again ... . But instead of checking in again, we went back to reclaim our bagage and to go home. They just CANCELLED our flight. The COO of our school tried to change our flights for today, august the 12th, but that wasn't possible anymore. We will leave sunday the 17th. What a shame, but nothing to do about it. Although people on a strike mostly do have a reason, imho this strike is irresponsable. But that's Belgium I guess?

COUNTDOWN!

Short message ... probably the last one before I leave to the States ...

Prom 6B - all the 7 of us- managed to pass the exams without any problems. For the moment we have a little bit of holiday, time to see people back and enjoying some good belgian beers and start packing my packs ... and of course it's the final countdown untill august the 11th, departure to the states!

It will be quit a busy time in Arizona, but I'll try to post asap some pics and stories. For those of you who like to track flights :p: it's flight UA951 (united airlines) to Washington and UA953 to Phoenix.

Happy greetings!

Pieter

PS: some pictures of the first part of PROM6 (the are there already since the 7th of july): PROM6A pictures.

FNPT II + Exams

Busy, busy and again, busy ... that's how I would describe the latest months and forthcoming ones too. Some weeks ago we continued with the FNPTII missions, which aren't easy at all. Preparation, briefings, flying, debriefings, ... it takes some time and effort, for sure!

Yesterday (monday) we received a briefing about the departure to Arizona and - for us, 6B - the final dates for the official theoretical ATPL Exams. We'll start the 7th of july, which is also the day 6A will cross the ocean towards Mesa. Date of departure for 6B will (normally) be the 11th of august.

So, exams (updated):

07/07/2008	08:45-15:10	FLIGHT PLANNING AND MONITORING, MASS & BALANCE, PERFORMANCE
10/07/2008	08:10-15:10	GENERAL NAVIGATION, RADIO NAVIGATION, PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT, HUMAN PERFORMANCE & LIMITATION
24/07/2008	08:10-14:45	AIRFRAME / SYSTEMS / POWER PLANT, INSTRUMENTS / ELECTRONICS, AIR LAW
31/07/2008	09:15-15:35	METEOROLOGY, OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES, VFR COMMUNICATIONS, IFR COMMUNICATIONS

It looks like I'll share my Belgian summertime with flying in a dark simroom (with low visibility conditions!) and studying in a hot attic room ...

observationflight #03: LEMG

Destination: LEMG, Malaga, Spain (JAF5903 & JAF5904)
Date: 02/05/2008
Type of aircraft & registration: Boeing 737-800(NG), OO-VAC
Route: Paris - Bordeaux - Madrid - Malaga
Departure: around 6AM
Back in Brussels: around 12:30PM

It's friday, around 3 o'clock in the morning; the radio wakes me up with some good music, although it's quit early. The evening before I tried to get some sleep at 10PM, but I still remember it wasn't before 11.30PM I could get some sleep. No problemo, since my last observation flight was in November, I had the pleasant thought about going again airborne since a long time. And because we finished with the theoretical courses, many things would become much more clear and meaningful during all phases of my 3th flight.

So, after getting-out-of-the-bed-stage, a shower and a fast-breakfast with 3 cups of coffee, I was ready to go towards the airport at 4AM. Empty roads, but still working traffic lights ... one may wonder why.

Once I arrived at the crew room of Jetairfly, I met the first officer of the flight, mr. Lopez, who is also an instructor on the Diamond DA42 at SFA. I checked with him the "usual paperwork" (route, weather charts, notams, ...) and later on, the captain of the flight, ms. Dillien arrived.

Once in the plane, I was allowed to program the FMS (Flight management system). The passengers, most of them tourists, went on board, the captain and F/O prepared and configured everything for departure and en-route, push-back from the gate and startup, taxi & many many flows & checklists during a short period of time. You better be awake and aware :-).

at intersection B1, awaiting clearance to line up and wait

few seconds later: ATC:"beauty 903, line up and wait runway 25R"

Lined up and waiting for our take off clearance (there was a departing aircraft in front of us)

ATC: "beauty 903, cleared for take off runway 25R, surface winds 220 at 5 knots"

Moments after take-off, making a right turn in order not to fly overhead the king's palace (SID: CIV 1C)

Descend into Malaga, with some high terrain in front of us

Making a right turn, to intercept the localizer of the ILS runway 31

On finals, runway 31. It was a bit foggy that day, hence the visibility was reduced to 5000 meters.

During the external check

The wheel well: check for oil leaks in one of the most dirty areas of a plane ... it's not that easy ;-)

a CFM56-7 engine, seen from behind. Powerful, but also one of the most expensive parts of a plane.

The first officer, giving some explanation about the vortilons on the underside of the wings.

An Airbus A319 of easyjet, on finals for runway 31, while we were awaiting our clearance for line up.

ATC: "Beauty 904, after the Easyjet Airbus A319 has landed, line up and wait, runway 31. Expect immediate take-off"

Seconds after take off, making a steep right turn of about 180° towards the see, to avoid high terrain during the climb (SID: Lojas 1B)

mountaineous area around Malaga ...

During our descend into Brussels, awaiting the last vectors from ATC for our final approach on the 25L at EBBR. The white dotted line is the extension of the runway axis on which we were cleared to land on. Those displays are really nice :-)

Turning right to intercept the localizer of runway 25L at EBBR, with some nice cumulus clouds in front of us.

On short finals, with some turbulence.

Once again, it was a very nice flight with a fantastic crew (and that's of course including the cabin crew)! During the flight I was also involved in the duties of the flight crew (following the flight plan, checking the fuel and actual times overhead the waypoints, checking the ATIS of both airports for our arrivals, ... and of course I was happy with the fact that I was allowed to take some pictures during all stages of the flight, including departure and arrival. And, last but not least: we encountered a small bird strike while landing in Brussels. Not a huge one, but you could notice some dirt and blood on the leading edge of the right wing. A pitty for the bird, for me an opportunity to follow the procedure the crew must follow safetywise.

Cheers!

Delay.light / Delay.flex

Today was the day of our last theoretical course (Airframes & systems 1), so from now one, I'll be spending time reviewing all the books again and preparing for the final exams. Somehow it's a pitty that those courses come to an and, Although it was sometimes a hard time, getting up at those early mornings, all day long courses and studying in the evening ... . But now it will be quit boring, sitting at home studying. God thanks it's only a few months ... ! But afterwards, we'll have a nice time in Arizona :-)

One may be wondering when we are then actually leaving for the states. Well, just before the courses started, we got a small but useful briefing about the delays. The main reason? A change in our program. Since we're now obliged to do 20 sim sessions before doing the theoretical exams, it'll take some more time ... . New dates for group B of our prom (might still change):

• block A1 26/06
• block A2 30/06
• block B1 22/07
• block B2 24/07
• departure to Arizona: around the 30th of july

To be continued ...

Delayed

yesterday in our mailbox ...

This mail is to inform you about the following change in the planning of your promotion program.
It contains a revision in

• BCAA ATPL exam dates
• FNPT II training in Brussels
• Departure to the USA.

Reasons for these revisions are the program requirements described in the new SFA Training manual, which has just been approved by the BCAA and will be distributed to you later this week. As no derogation from this manual is possible all of your FNPTII missions have to be completed before starting the BCAA ATPL theoretical examinations.

the exams of group A as well of group B are delayed with about 1 month ... one might think "now you have some more time to study, and be more prepared for the sim sessions". True. But on the other hand, all of us were looking forward to leave for Arizona asap. We'll see how it goes ... . The exams of group B will start in the week of the 23th of june instead of the 3th of june, and end in the week of the 12th of july. To be confirmed. I'm wondering when that will be ... .

When the wind comes from the east ...

... we normally have some nice & dry weather, landings are performed on runway 02 & take offs on runway 07R here in Brussels. A good moment to take my camera once again to school and take some pictures before start of the courses (1PM, Airframes and systems).







The one from Brussels Airlines is the newest addition to their A319 fleet!
Tomorrow my flight mate Olivier has session 4 and 5 in the simulator, I'll have session 5 (about the same as session 4: the basic flying skills, steep turns, configuration changes, and an introduction to the precision approach, thus an ILS approach, but now with the correct call-outs during the whole procedure). Those sessions are quit intensive and certainly not easy, but a good concentration during those sessions and some more "deskflying" after the sessions give me a satisfactory result.

Next week we'll have our last theoretical course, so I'm about to start studying for the final examens in june. It's a lot, and in the meantime we also have those sim sessions ... but once again, the payback afterwards is it worth!

cheers

the offical exams: the official dates.

Today, we received a mail from our beloved student administrator Klaartje with the dates of the official theoretical ATPL exams (which we have to pass before we can go to the states for the practical part, of course). Since I'm in group B, I'll do them in june (group A will do them in may). So, the dates:

• 03/06: AM: Flight planning, PM: Mass & Balance and Performance


• 09/06: AM: General navigation and radio navigation, PM: Principles of flight and Human performance & limitations


• 23/06: AM: Airframes & systems, power plant, instruments and electronics, PM: air law


• 26/06: AM: Meteorology, PM: Operational procedures and communications

Quit a lot for a short period of time, there is also a strict time limitation for every test (it's computer based) and you have to pass with 75% for every test.

Today we finished the course of Piston engines (part of power plant), in a few weeks we'll have a final progress check about that one. Now there's only principles of flight and aiframes and systems 1 left to finish. Meanwhile, I also did my 2nd and 3th mission on the FNPT II and now I have again some time to study for the last theoretical courses and to prepare everything for the 4th mission. But that won't be for soon, since group A has priority and some people of prom 3 are also having some missions.

Still some months to go before the official exams, but time goes fast ...

cheers!

FNPT II - session 1

Hi fellows

As they say that everything goes fast in aviation, we spent again some time studying and preparing our first missions on the FNPT II simulator. For those of you who don't know what the FNPT II simulator is: it's a fixed simulator of the Diamond DA-42, on which we'll fly after the VFR flights with the Archer in the States. But first of all, we are finally closing the theory chapter, there are only a few courses and some progress checks left, which will be done in april and besides that we'll have a lot of FNPT II. I'll have probably the official exams for the administration in june and departure to Arizona will be somewhere in July (around the 15th). I'm afraid to say that until then, there won't be a lot of time for other things besides SFA.

So, today my first FNPT II mission. Of course there 's some homework to do (it's not only just happy sitting and flying the way you like it, like in a try and error system, so you have to study flows, checklists, speeds that are related to a combination of engine power and body attitude, ...), so I studied the whole evening the QRM (Quick Reference Manual). The mission started at 8AM, so I had to be there at 7:15h, which is early :-). Neverthless I was quit tired this morning, it was a great experience and my first session was good!

time for a nap now ...

cheers!

A pilot's life ...

En nu terug aan het ECHTE werk ... Performance ...
en hoe het er ECHT aan toe gaat: type rating Ives Belmans, toekomstig piloot bij Ryanair.

gegroet!

visit to the control tower (EBBR)

Monday (11 february), we visited the control tower in the afternoon. Very nice ...

On finals ... or not?

Hi there

Since we've got a quit tight schedule, and some big tests are planned in the near future (General navigation, Air law (2), Flight planning), there are still courses going on, soon* we'll start on the FNPTII (Diamond DA-42; most woman would prefer other diamonds, although this "diamond" might be more expensive than the one they have in their ring, which they got from their fiancé :p) and a visit to the control tower is also planned for next week, there is not much time left to update this blog on a frequent base. *(soon): Some say we might start in a few weeks, others say we'll first finish the theory, some others say we won't sleep anymore because we'll have to do the sim during the night, after the courses during the day ... planning is a matter of days :-). The same for the official exams, departure to Arizona, ... .

Last saturday, we had our last course of Meteo in the morning. Because my train arrived about 45 minutes before the courses started and the weather was really nice, I took the oportunity to take some nice pictures at RWY 25L in the morning.

And oh yeah, I had today my FAA medical (the one from the USA), again, a healthy person with a very good hearth ;-).










Thanks to Pieter (the other Pieter of Prom 6), for this one :-)