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 :-)

Going down ...

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 ...

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 ...

"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