On 13th June 2012, I had my Instrument Rating Test (IRT) which was Oxford - Cardiff (EGFF) - Oxford, a big flight and apparently the hardest test I will probably do in my whole career (so they say anyway)! I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous beforehand, however, I knew I was ready to take it as the training I received at Oxford was fantastic throughout the whole IR phase.
My route was a weird one, as nobody that I know of, had been to Cardiff on their IRT before, so there was no one to consult on handy hints or tips for the route. The flight to Cardiff was absolutely fine, the route down was nice and smooth and the controllers at the airport were fantastic and a great help. My call sign for the day was 'EXAM18' so in the control tower, they knew I was on my IRT, so knew to give me plenty of attention. My ILS procedure was the best I have ever done as was my engine failure after take off drill. Once you go around at the destination (EGFF) you then request a procedural IFR diversion back to Oxford (or wherever your diversion is, can often be Gloucester on Oxford routes). This was where my flight got a bit tricky. Cardiff handed me over to Filton radar as I was going to have to enter their airspace for my diversion. They then made me fly over their NDB (OF), circle and depart to the NW, which I found weird. I didn't have the frequency for the NDB on my planned route, so had to scramble and find it on my VFR chart. Once this was completed and I was on my way out to the NW Filton told me that they had lost their radar, so to 'free call' Brize Norton. This 'free call' is a call whereby you have to include all your details (callsign, type of aircraft, route, diversion, altitude, position, QNH etc...) which is a pain but it's all part of the job. I was identified by Brize Norton and received a traffic service (they can provide me with information about traffic in my vicinity over the radio). Route, ILS, general handling and everything up to now had been going great... then Brize informed me that they had had a major power failure, so free call Oxford. This really wasn't helping me out, but again all part of the job. I free called Oxford and got told there was a 20 minute delay, so orbit out to the NW of the field, just south of Morton on the Marsh. Finally, I was able to make my way into Oxford to enter the hold and shoot the NDB procedure (on one engine), do an asymmetric (one engined) go around, into the visual circuit and then land and give a big sigh of relief. Like most of the flight, this all went really well and once we had touched down, the examiner took control and told me that I had passed. I have never felt so much pressure and stress lift off me at any one moment as much as I did then, the best feeling in the world!
The IR was definitely a difficult phase and needed lots of study, extra practice in the elite sims at night and dedication. However, when you get the A5 sheet of paper with PASS in every section, all that seems like nothing and so, so worth it.
For anyone in the IR phase reading this, just stick at it each night as the rewards are tremendous.
Next stop for me and my flight partner Ash, is the MCC/JOC phase, more three letter abbreviations to explain (Multi Crew Co-operation and Jet Orientation Courses). These are not exams and tests thank goodness, but a certification to say you can safely and efficiently work as a team on the flight deck of an airliner, something the airlines themselves regard very highly. This means the work is nowhere near over yet at OAA, as this phase is just as important as the last. The report from the MCC/JOC phase outlining how you work in a multi crew environment is just as important as, it is this environment that hopefully I will be working in for the rest of my life and the airlines want their new recruits to be able to work with safety and efficiency in mind as it is these aspects that greatly affect the company's success.
I will update the blog once I have started on the 737 sims and keep you up to date with how things are progressing!
Sam
