the flying designer

A new episode ...

2011-08-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted an update. It took some time, but at least I found a job as a first officer. In June 2011 I finished my Type Qualification Course on the Boeing B737NG and since August 6 I'm here in Jakarta waiting for some more simulator sessions, briefings and finally line training at Lion Air. You can follow me at http://pieterinindonesia.tumblr.com (in Dutch).

Multi Engine and Instrument Rating renewal

2010-05-01T02:25:00.000-07:00

Almost one year after my last post on this blog, time for an update.

2009 was a year most people won't forget. Highlight of the year was the economic crisis, high numbers of unemployment everywhere, ... . Although this situation does have the tendency to improve, finding a job as a "freshly" graduated commercial pilot without any experience on a jet plane stays a challenge.

Besides refreshing my theoretical knowledge, procedures, participating at selection tests and sending out my CV worldwide, I've been working on a temporary base for quit a while as a webmaster and for the time being I'm working as a flight simulator technician at CAE Brussels.

Since the Instrument Rating and Multi Engine Piston on a Commercial Pilot License stay valid for only 1 year, it was about time to renew those by following the SFA After Care Program, which offers us (ex-students) 12 hours of FFS on the B737-800 to renew the Instrument Rating and 2 hours on the Diamond DA42 to renew the Multi Engine Piston license.
Most important this year will be to get my Single Engine Piston rating and keep my flying skills proficient.

To be continued!

Multi Engine Renewal: click for more photos!

Airline Career Preparation Program

2009-05-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 6th 2009. That was the day we started with the last - but certainly not least - "leg" of the training: the ACPP. This part is the Multi Crew Course (MCC), but instead of using a fixed base simulator, we're trained on full flight simulators. A brief introduction, 3 days of computer based training to learn a few systems of the boeing 737NG, some Flight Management Computer sessions and finally 6 "real" flights on the simulator with full motion. A great experience! May the 7th was the last mission, mission 7 (evaluation) with an examiner.

the cockpit of a Boeing 737NG (New Generation)

Boeing 737NG, Pegasus, ready for departure RWY 07R at Brussels

Unfortunatly, due to the worldwide economic crisis, finding a job as an ab-initio pilot isn't easy these days. Most companies aren't hiring for the moment, and if they do, the requirements are pretty high (1500 hours total time, willing to pay for an (expensive) type rating, etc). No one knows when this situation will improve, nor if we're at the bottom of the barrel. At least I might consider myself lucky since I can still apply for job in the IT world with my graduate and previous working experience, which I certainly will do.

AZ: Bye bye!

2009-04-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were running out of time in Arizona with the multi engine training. Things got better, but eventually decision was taken to send us back to Belgium to complete the multi engine phase in Europe. February the 23th we took the flight back to Brussels and march the 5th we went to Montpellier. One week later we flew back (with the OO-SFI, one of the 2 DA42's of SFA) to Antwerp. In Belgium I flew to Ostend, Charleroi, some "local" (Belgium is small) flights using outside references (visual navigation) and finally last friday (april the 3rd) I had the CPL/ME/IR check. normally the CPL (commercial pilot license) is done in Arizona, but since we didn't fly enough hours in Arizona they just combine the CPL with the ME (Multi Engine) & IR (Instrument Rating). It was a navigation to Ostend, with some approaches, a visual flight back to Antwerp with some manoeuvres, another approach in Antwerp en finally some touch & go's. It's important to pass this check since it gives you the opportunity to apply for job with the airlines.

Monday we will start with the final phase of the training: MCC (Multi crew course). Theoretical sessions, computer based training, FMS sessions and finally the most fun part: full flight simulator sessions in a 737NG. Somewhere beginning may I'm supposed to be graduated.

To be continued ...

pictures:

AZ - last day

LFMT - Montpellier operations

AZ: DA42 (Multi engine)

2009-02-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

Jambo!

A couple of weeks ago I did the last flight on the DA40, the final IFR check before the IR/ME check we'll have in Belgium. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end, so Mission 104 brought us up to the final phase in the training ... flying the twin engined Diamond Twinstar (DA42). 2 engines instead of 1 sounds better and safer, which is actually also true: Although the degradation in performance can be as high as 80% if there is a powerloss on one engine (and thus 50%), you're still able to fly with only one engine for a period of time. Unfortunatly those engines on the DA42 aren't the same as the ones on the DA40. Still reliable, but more sensitive to the excess of temperatures they have to withstand during summer/winter. And that's one of the reasons why only 1 or 2 of the 5 are available on a somehow regular base ... for too many students, ending up in delays. By the end of march everyone of prom 6B should be finished with the training, here and in Belgium because our MCC (training in a simulator) starts april the 6th. Hmmm ... .

Some pictures of the navigation to Tucson today can be found here:

AZ - x-country to KTUS (DA42 N4130M)

AZ: IFR cross country & more pics

2009-01-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

AZ - Long Beach IFR navigation

AZ - Naar Flagstaff

AZ - Grand Canyon

AZ - Williams, hooverdam & Las Vegas

AZ - Las Vegas by night

AZ - KLAS > KPHX

Update about the last weeks:
- One more week on the Diamond DA40, next week we'll be done (I'm currently at Mission 99, mission 104 is the final IFR check on the DA40)
- My parents are in town! I spend a couple of days with them and we went to flagstaff, the grand canyon, williams, the hoover dam and las vegas. While they are spending time in national parks in Utah, I fill my time with flying, preparations and eating chocolate.
- Today we had again a hot day. 28°C. *smile*

AZ: KFFZ & Biosphere 2: some pics

2009-01-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

AZ - SATC met Bert & Alvie

AZ - Biosphere 2

Merry christmas and a happy 2009

2008-12-24T14:27:00.001-08:00

AZ: Electricity bill

2008-12-22T13:17:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-12-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

pics!

AZ - DA40 & night flight

enjoy

AZ: Diamond 40

2008-11-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2008-09-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-08-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-25T08:32:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2008-08-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-03T02:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-22T01:50:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2008-04-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

... 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.

2008-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2008-02-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-02-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

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

On finals ... or not?

2008-02-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

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 :-)

Going down ...

2008-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

First of all: happy 2008! I wish everyone a year filled with save flights (although 2007 was a good year for safety in aviation), lots of fun, sun and from time to time a good drink with friends!

After a week of holidays (to study), we continued with the courses and progress checks. January and february will be very busy, since it are our last months of theory, in march/april we'll have the official examinations. So it will be kind of ... hmmm ... quiet around here :-). But I'll try to post from time to time something short :p.

This friday, the 11th, we have a big test of Instrumentation (going from the working of a gyroscope to the use of a FMS ...) sooooo ... time to continue on that one.

Cheers!

last post of the year 2007 ...

2007-12-27T00:25:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of time, due to a busy period (xmas, xmas ...) and a heavy study schedule ("let's talk about Instruments, Meteo, principles of flight, ..."), but at least I want to wish all the people who read this blog a happy new year !

and now back to the gyroscopes ...

it's christmas time ...

2007-12-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

"Basic flight 1312, you are cleared for take off runway 29, climb straight ahead to 4000 feet, wind is 210 15 knots" ... Those were the words with which I started my 6th and final session of the Basic Flying course at approximatly 7.45h in the morning. Intensive and a bit stressful, but I passed the test with 7,5 out of 10, which is fair enough. We'll have one more technical briefing next week and normally, we'll start on the FNPTII simulator somewhere in january (http://www.frasca.com/web_pages/brochures/diamondFTDs.htm).

After a half an hour lunchbreak, we had the test of air law. I don't have the results yet, but I have the feeling it went OK. It was a long and exhausting day ... for that, I decided today it would be a good idea to sleep and rest a bit :-). Next week flight planning test.

Only a few months left for the theoretical part!

cheers

normal job vs. future pilot

2007-12-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

One thing we heard on the first day at SFA was: "don't count on the weekends and holidays". And the were right !
Tomorrow (saturday) we'll have another BFC briefing, at 7.30AM, sunday afternoon BFC session 5. Next week "only" 2 days at SFA, but thursday BFC session 6 in the morning and a progress check of air law in the afternoon. Not easy at all ... .

Today we had a second progress check of physio, on the first one I only had 65%, but on the one of today 100%. "Great succes" would Borat say :p

anyway, some more big tests are scheduled for the next 2 weeks (air law and flight planning), before the holidayperiod (which I will use to study, of course :p)

busy ...

2007-11-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

Time is ticking away, there are only a few weeks left before the "holiday" week between christmas and new year. In a few weeks, we'll be halfway the theoretical training (3 months). This week there are 2 progress checks on the schedule: electrics (the 3th and last part: Alternating Current) and communications (the theoretical part of it).

Today, we started with a new course: performance. This is given by a pilot who used to work for Sabena, didn't fly for a while after the bankruptcy of Sabena and who's now flying again on the Airbus A320 with Thomas Cook.
It's not an easy course, but there are a lot things we saw in other courses coming back (air law, principles of flight, ...) which makes most thing clear :-).

Thursday we're gonna have a technical briefing of BFC (basic flying course), starting at 7.30AM and after that, in the afternoon, we have the progress check of communications. Looks like it's gonna be a loooong day. I'm already looking forward to the weekend :-).

Well, time to cook with current, inductance and impedance; Electrics !

cheers!

Pieter

observationflight #02: LTBA

2007-11-18T04:23:00.001-08:00

destination: LTBA, Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey
date: 17/11/2007
type of aircraft & registration: Airbus A320-200, OO-TCK

same procedure as my previous flight: arrive nicely on time (2h before schedulded departure), review the flight plan and other documents (load sheet, weather docs, ...) and of course, greet the flight attendants, captain and first officer :-).

Stefaan, the captain and Christ'l, the first officer, were both very good pilots ! They explained me a lot about the FMC, the differences between a boeing 737 and an Airbus A320, the fuel calculations, ... .

Departure was from RWY 25R, with the SOPOK SID (standard instrumental departure), ILS landing on RWY 06 at LTBA. Afterwards departure on 36R and finally a STAR (standard arrival) via FLORA on RWY25L.

and now the most interesting part: the pics :-) enjoy !

Brussels Airlines: new callsign

2007-11-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

from the NOTAM's (notice to airmen) of Belgocontrol:
A1592/2007
Valid from : 14/11/2007 00:00 Until : PERM
Text : BRUSSELS AIRLINES ACFT OPERATOR WILL USE NEW RADIO TELEPHONY DESIGNATOR ''BEE-LINE'' IN THEIR COMMUNICATION WITH ATC UNITS INFO WILL BE INCLUDED IN NEXT EDITION OF ICAO DOC 8585
That reminds me about a remark of our instructor of Flight Planning (Tim, pilot at Brussels Airlines): some people sugested "beatle" (say: bé-tail) ... what a pitty they didn't took that one !

Tomorrow I'll have my second observation flight, this time with Thomas Cook, to Istanbul (Ataturk, LTBA), their callsign ... THOMAS COOK. How original :-). But of course, I'm still looking forward to my first observation flight with them, the first one in an airbus A320!

day 37 - 07 nov 2007

2007-11-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Time ... I could use a bit more of that ! This week we started with the basic flying courses (BFC). What's this about? Well, to explain it on a simple way: take flight simulator 2004, a yoke, pedals and a throttle panel and learn to fly (using a pitch-power table). It isn't that easy as you might think: you have to do everything very precise and fast enough, and do 2 things at the same time: bank & climb/descent. So, while you use your left hand to control the yoke (turn, climb), you use you right hand to move the throttle (climb => RPM increase of the engine to maintain the same speed).
Besides that, of course, the other courses continue. At the end of the month we'll have the last progress check of Electrics (AC) ... I'll be happy when that part is over :-).

Results Progress Checks

2007-10-31T01:51:00.000-07:00

Instrumentation: 63% (73% for the Multiple choice part, 53% for the open questions), next time better !

Meteorology: 80%

Basic Navigation: 75%

SFA on Channel Z

2007-10-26T12:27:00.001-07:00

the movie from a few weeks ago, when Kanaal Z visited us @ SFA. Enjoy!

day 30 - 26 okt 2007

2007-10-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hi,

after a nice but also intensive weekend with not a lot of sleep ("kadervormingsweekend", AFS -> workshops, seeing people back, 2 parties, ...), we started this week with flight planning and air law, in the evening revision of radio navigation for the courses of tuesday morning, general navigation in the afternoon, psychology and instrumentation on wednesday, Basic Flying Course briefing thursday morning, in the afternoon time to study Meteorology for the Progress Check of today. And then there was also Physio this morning. As you can read: a well - filled week with variation !!! The basic flying courses are actually practical courses, on a "normal" pc (with flight simulator 2004) but with a yoke, pedals and a throtthle panel. Sounds easy, but I think it won't be that easy (multitasking !). The briefing on thursday morning (7h30 AM - 1h20 PM) was an long and intensive one ... .

This weekend I'll be studying basic navigation, we have our first progress check about that on monday. Next week will be filled with basic navigation and communications, instrumentation and on thursday a day off. Looking forward to the schedule of november.

exhausted (but happy) greetings

Pieter

day 23 - 17 okt 2007 (updated)

2007-10-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Since last week, we have "flight planning". This week, we started to use a VFR chart, used for visual navigation (so using landmarks, but also VOR's, NDB's, DME's, ... at low altitudes). The chart we use is the ED-6 chart, which covers the southern part of Germany and of course also a part of Switserland, Austria and France. It is a very interesting course, given by an pilot of brussels airlines who loves the avro's :-). And what makes the courses the more interesting is that I know some places on the chart ! (I have a friend who used to study/live in Friedrichshafen and I visited her in march, just before my selection tests in april). So this is a special one for Melanie and Annika :-).

observationflight #01: LELC

2007-10-12T10:28:00.001-07:00

only 1 word: GREAT ! Takeoff in Brussels on runway 02 (works in progress on 07R which is normally in use for takeoffs with easterly winds), good weather, no fog. Flight to Murcia was smooth and a nice visual landing afterwards on runway 05 in Murcia. 1hour between arrival and departure, takoff on 05 and afterwards landing on 02 again.

Conclusion: I'm quit impressed about the workload during takeoff and landing, communications etc. but it's very useful and it's realy motivating. The crew was also very friendly and kind to me, special thanks to captain B. Dierickx and first officer Roby !!!

some pics:

--

LELC Murcia information
with OO-JAT

day 19 - 11 okt 2007

2007-10-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

results Internal Progress Check basic radio: 80% :-)

day 17 - 09 okt 2007

2007-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

results of the internal progress check DC (Direct Current, electrics and electronics): 75%. So that's ok :-) We're still waiting for the results of the basic radio test (that was our first test, also electrics and electronics).
My first observation flight will be this saturday, 13 october 2007, flight 6501 from jetair (BRU-MJV and back). Nice !
but first: this thursday (11 october 2007) test of instrumentation.

07 okt 2007 - on the radio

2007-10-07T02:09:00.000-07:00

SFA students talking about their passion on radio 1

day 14 - 04 okt 2007

2007-10-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

Channel Z tonight (Kanaal Z, Canal Z):
Vanavond in het journaal o.a.:
Aantal studenten in pilotenopleiding stijgt explosief
Het aantal jongeren dat zich inschrijft om lijnpiloot te worden in ons land, is op een jaar tijd meer dan verdubbeld. De vliegscholen kunnen de aanvragen nauwelijks bijbenen. Deze zomer smeekte de Belgische luchtvaartsector nog om nieuwe piloten, en blijkbaar krijgt hun oproep ook gehoor.
http://www.kanaalz.be

Guess where they filmed? ...Good guess, @ SFA. And they did some interviews with students of our promotion. Maybe me, maybe not :p.

Update: SFA and 2 future pilots including a 25 year old one on the news ... .

day 12 - 02 okt 2007

2007-10-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

The train.
Only 3 weeks ago I started with the ATPL program, hunting my dream. And when I make a comparison between my life before the start of the training and now, it's more than a day-and-night difference.

Take for example the daily trainride between Leuven and Brussels. I remember the feeling I had every time the train passed the lightning of the short final of runway 02, with a plane making his final corrections for a touchdown on that runway. Or the noise when a plane passed just over the train ... it was always with the feeling I belong up there, above the clouds or at least in that plane instead of in the train and later on at my desk, in front of a computer. I've always been motivated to do my work as a webdesigner, but now I realize every morning that this was the right decision I made. And even with the sometimes very difficult courses, almost all evenings filled with studying, no income anymore and a less secure future, I feel myself at ease at night, just before I go to sleep.

When I was a kid, I used to spent some time at my grandparents place, playing in the garden or watching tv. They live under the final route for that runway 02, which they use when there are northern/easterly winds. And every time I heard a plane arriving, I ran outside (when I was watching tv) and looked at it as it was gliding in the air, just as long as possible. Even now, if the weather is good and I hear a noise of a plane, I tend to have a quick look or step outside to see what kind of a big bird will touch down in a few moments. Realizing that one day I'll be sitting in front of that plane, maybe even seeing my grandparents house ... priceless.

There is something like human performance and limitations, we learn about that :-), but motivation realy can move the borders of the limitations.

Time for some basic navigation exercises, about great circle traks, rumb line tracks, convergency angles and earth convergency, HOORAY :-)

day 11 - 01 okt 2007

2007-10-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Short message: after the weekend a cloudy (but not rainy) mondaymorning, basic navigation in the morning and instrumentation in the afternoon. Lots of changes in the runway-in-use configuration today: first 25L and 25R in use, then 07L and 07R in use (very rare, since planes have to land over the city of Brussels and without Instrument Landing System, only with heavy Easterly winds and/or works on the crossing runway 02-20) and in the evening (with rain and still wind comming from the east) landings again on 25L and 25R. Low clouds, we saw 3 planes making a go-around ... impressive, you hear the engines on full throttle just before they want to touch down (but are still too high or flying too fast). And landing with tailwind is actually a no-go, but since there is this stupid diversion plan to reduce noise, they HAVE to use both the 25L and 25R runways instead of the 07L and 07R runways (with landings over Brussels City).

We don't see the morning arriving heavies (the continental 777 ...) anymore, looks like their schedules have changed :(.

Day 10

2007-09-29T01:10:00.000-07:00

After a chill-out evening with Pieter (other classmate from Aalst who is living in Leuven during the theoretical training at SFA) with some good beers in "De blauwe kater" (a pub in Leuven), I got up friday morning later than usual. Not that I didn't want to go to school, but the weather was typical Belgian: rainy. On those moments the only thing you wish is getting that ATPL as soon als possible, finding a job with an airliner and spending most part of the day ABOVE those rainy clouds.

courses of the day were: Communications (Don't use always "Roger") and principles of flight (what's lift, drag, ...). In the evening we (people from prom6) also received an e-mail from jetair with the schedule of the next 15 days (01/10 - 15/10) to arrange an observation flight if we want so. Only problem: we still didn't receive our uniform which is obligatory for those flights! Can't wait to enter a jetair cockpit with my newly fresh SFA uniform for my first observation flight. By the way: one of the destinations is Cancun (in Mexico), but I think I'll skip that destination in my choice: I don't want to spend the whole weekend on OO-TUC :-).

day 09

2007-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday no news, because I had to study the whole chapter about basic radio. Today it's the 9th day we had courses and so was there also our first internal examination about a chapter we finished. Not a very huge chapter, but still fast enough. I don't know the result yet, I'm always a bit scared when making predictions, but I think I'll have the 75% a man must have to pass.

Now it's time for a relaxed evening (unfortunatly not Kili time), tomorrow again the last day of the "workweek" and then a weekend to study. Yesterday and today we had "Mass and Balance" and we have to know quit a lot by hearth (what's included in the MTOW, MLW, DOM, DEM, TL, ..., the weight you use for a male / female / infant / cabin crew / ... on different kind of flights and conversions between meters, feet, yard, NM, SM, kg, lbs, N.kg, N.lb, ...) to make a loadplan. And you can be sure you don't want to make mistakes with that ;-).

PS: today we also had fysio; that's about human limitations etc. subject one: THE HEART !! Hmmm would that be on request from the people of medex? ;-)

day 07

2007-09-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Today, we saw in the morning an A330 (big one) of Brussels Airlines, ALMOST making a go-around because a smaller plane from Air France was still on the runway. But he cleared the runway just on time so that the big birdy could make a succesful touchdown.

Later, while in the classroom (electrics ... pfff ...) we heard a noice and felt it too: an airbus A300 of DHL was doing some engine tests next to our building ... kewl :-).

And last but not least: I received my BIAC badge !!! No strugling with the fax machine any more in the morning ;-)

day 06

2007-09-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

After a nice but short weekend w/o enough hours of sleep, there was again a monday. I guess it will always be hard getting up on a monday, but it wasn't raining, we spotted again some nice (smaller) aircraft landing on RWY 25L (invasion of the germans, all lufthansa planes (CRJ, Airbus A319)), and the courses were again interesting.

This week thursday we have our first internal test (so that's not the official one from the goverment, but it's still important). It's about a chapter which is already finished (that shows that all classes are in fast forward mode ;-)): basic radio. Need sleep vs must study every evening, conclusion: the blogsite might be a bit outdated sometimes this week. But I'll update again at the end of the week or in the weekend, that's for sure!

And wish me luck for thursday, bcause I'm a bit nervous already!

day 04

2007-09-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

While going with our bikes from the railway station of Kortenberg to SFA, we cross the "on finals route" of runway 25L (Left). Sometimes it's very quit, almost no traffic, but in the morning you can be lucky to see some heavies landing (Boeing 767 or 777 of American Airlines, Contintal Airlines, Delta Airlines ... and Airbus A330 of Jet Airways). Every time you see and hear one of them landing, you know why you're doing all this effort. Maybe some day I'll take my camera with my and make a short movie of it.

In the morning, we had electrics, which wasn't very difficult (the basics I had while studying MCT). Normally we would have had instrument navigation in the afternoon, but because the teacher couldn't be there, they replaced it by 1 hour basic radio. Next week we'll have our first test of it, and as you may know, the minimum score is always ... 75%. So I'm gonna study now :-).

This weekend (including tomorrow evening) I'm on an AFS weekend, so probably no update tomorrow evening.

have a nice weekend everyone !

day 03

2007-09-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Shortly: today we had navigation (interesting !) and more about instruments (working about the altimeter and vertical speed indicator (VSI)). And I saw a plane making a go-around this morning; hooray :p

day 02

2007-09-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day we had "meteo" ... and to get into the right mood for that, there was this morning ... RAIN. The typical belgian rain. Anyway, I went trough it with my bike, to the railway station, arrived there really on time (good to know for tomorrow), took the train to Kortenberg (direct and only 10 minutes !), then again by bike to SFA (at least I'll practise sport 4 times a day :p), this time they received the fax from SFA with my name on it @ the security entrance :-), drank a coffee with my other classmates and went to the classroom on time.
And then we waited ... and waited ... the teacher wasn't there and wouldn't come. Normally we would have had 3 hours Mass and Balance, instead of that we went to the departure area of the airport to drink something. Expensive but sweet :-). Some of us went into the B-terminal, but since I don't have my airport badge already I wasn't allowed :(. Another time then !

In the afternoon, we had meteo. Interesting, but also not easy. The book of Instrumentation is crying for attention, gonna have a look at it now ;-)

Hasta mañana !

day 01

2007-09-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Wow ! (and that's not the Vista Wow, or the abreviation of the famous but weird game ... ;-))
It looks like we'll have to play it hard. I never thought something else, but after day 1 I realised that there won't be many evenings without making resumes of what I've learned that day. Today was filled with radio communications in the morning and Instruments in the afternoon. And that's certainly not only about how to turn on your radio and change the frequency or how to read how fast you fly. So, if you don't hear something from me for a while, I won't be taken by aliens or eaten by my big fat cat, but just ... studying. And doing some observation flights in the weekends, trying to tune the communications to the frequency of Studio Brussel ;-).

Start of the day: everything went well, I was able to get out of my bed (not that I slept that well), took a shower, had a fast breakfast, got on my bike to the railway station and was there nicely on time ... the only problem was that they wouldn't let me in trough the security office at the airport. Since I still don't have my airport badge the people from SFA have to send a fax to the security people to tell them I should be allowed to enter. Well, that fax didn't arrive this morning. After waiting for about half an hour, they received a second fax ... . I can't wait to receive my airport badge !

schedule of this evening: diner and study. Hooray :-) (I'm not complaining at all !)

Cleared for take off !

2007-09-14T05:07:00.000-07:00

Medical certificate: confirmed that everything is OK, will be send on monday
introduction day at SFA: cool, received my flightcase, 2 ties (for the uniform), some other stuff I'll need and already 9kg of books :p. That are 6 books, there are still 9 missing ... .
# Holidays: very low. Pressure: very high. Workload: very high. Observation flights: 14. Motivation: very very high :-)

Courses will start on monday, from 8:20AM - 4:50PM. Let's get started !

Still on the ATC Clearance channel ...

2007-09-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

Since a few days, I am again able to walk normally, to use my bike, to take the stairs several times a day to go to my room without the need to take a break after every 4 steps ... that feels good :-). As I'm still waiting for the piece of paper that says I'm qualified to become a pilot (professionalism of the belgian government), I already started refreshing my knowledge of physics (thanksfully, it isn't that long ago I studied all that). My room is totally clean, my bookshelves are almost empty, ready to receive the books I'll have to study the next 8 months.

one more week to go ... I'm getting pretty excited about it by now !

Swiss International Airlines vs. Sobelair, Airbus vs. Boeing

physics

desk #1 (study)

desk #2 (computer)

You know you want to become a pilot when ...

2007-09-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

rest vs. busy
stay in bed vs. move your apartment
don't use stairs vs. my room at the 2nd floor
don't raise overweight boxes vs. pack stuff into boxes and unpack them back at home

the text before vs. was the advise of the doctors after the research and test of my heart, last wednesday. The part after the vs. is what I did the last days, because I had to. I guess that's why I feel a bit tired now ... .
One may wonder: what the hell did they do? Well ... they connected cables trough my heart via the groins (they say it's the easiest way like that ...) and did some tests for about one hour. They made my heart beat faster and harder, but the hardest part was actually when they put the cables into my body. Even with 3 anaesthesias it could feel it quit well ! Thanksgod the doctor and assistants were very friendly. There was actually also a handsome assistant, maybe it was because of her that my heart beated that hard and fast ;-). The principle doctor told me everything was ok, so he wrote a report that stated my qualification to become an airline pilot. What a relief !!

Afterwards I had to lay in bed, totally flat, for about 3 hours. After those 3 hours I could get up, but as I was still a bit tired and felt groggy after standing up, I decided to stay in bed for another hour before trying to get up again.

another sleepy hour passed by when a doctor woke me up and told me that everything was fine. Normally, the research was going to be in the afternoon, but they managed to put me on the schedule in the morning, so I didn't have to spend the night in the hospital. At about 8 o'clock in the evening I could leave the hospital.

You know you want to become a pilot when ... you feel happy after such an examination, just because it saved my future plans and desk above the clouds :-)

I guess I'll spend a lot of time in my bed the next days, hopefully I can walk again "decent" next wednesday.

to be continued ...

every new beginning ...

2007-08-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

... comes from some other beginning's end.

Today it was my last day at the RVP/ONP. I worked there for about 1 year and 11 months (started in october 2005), as webdesigner. My colleages described me as a crazy person, I guess they were right ... :-).

co-workers from over there, if you read this: TAKE CARE AND THANKS FOR EVERYTHING !!! I will never forget about you all, even not at 40 000 ft. ASL with a crew of nice female flight attendants ;-). Don't forget to do the scrum meetings on time, don't spend too much time at the coffee machine and don't forget to feed the plants ! ;-)

Hasta la proxima, chicos y chicas, que te vayan bien !!

Welcome

2007-08-23T02:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome !!!

After about 20 years of dreaming, I decided that the risk is worth it and so I'll start with the integrated ATPL course to become an airline pilot. I'll use this blog site to share my experiences, feelings, stories and the progress of my training.