It's CHRIIIISTMASSSS!

Hello there everybody and let me start with saying thank you. Thank you for following me through what has been the toughest, most rewarding and exciting year of my life so far. It means a lot to me that you are interested in what I am doing and keep the numbers of hits on my page increasing and increasing at an impressive rate. I hope that's because of the quality of blogging, however I am sure that isn't the case!

For all the people who are interested in OAA as an FTO and have fired questions to me throughout 2011, I hope you had all your queries answered and I wish you all the best with your future career. I love to help people who are interested in the same things I am and if anyone is reading this and has any questions regarding any of the well known FTOs contact me for an unbiased opinion on here or alternatively:
Facebook.com/sammoy
twitter.com/sammoy

To my family and friends, I can't wait to see you all in 2012 and I hope all of you have a safe and very happy Christmas!

As for my parents, I'll see you in Vegas on Friday! It's going to be a memorable one for sure!

Sam

Night Landing Video

So to give a complete different view of down wind, base and final to land on Rwy 21 at KGYR and in comparison to my sunrise and day light landings posted on here, this is the beautiful view of Phoenix at night!

I am sorry for the bad quality of the picture, however, when I take out the power to turn onto base leg the vibrations decrease and picture is restored to a decent quality!

Sam

Sunrise Circuit at KGYR

I said most things out loud for the purpose of the video, but I surprise myself when I watch my videos back at how much I do talk!

I have night flights tonight, so expect a video from that, later on in the week.

Enjoy watching :)

I PASSED 5000 views!

A few weeks ago I passed the landmark 5000 views, thanks to everyone who reads this on a regular basis and sorry for the delay in a blog update, I've been fairly busy, which I will describe in the following text.

I passed my PT1 with an excellent score of 2 (6 being the worst and 1 being the best, but it's very difficult to achieve a 1 even with a faultless flight). So understandably I was over the moon with that and it's something to live up to in my next PT which will be in a couple of weeks time, which will focus on emergency procedures, stalls, steep and gliding turns, flapless,performance and glide approaches and instrument flying.

I also spent Thanksgiving out here, which was darkened by the fact I had to write and submit a 3500 word mini-assignment for the Bucks New University aspect of the course and I also worked in a team to create two presentations which again were prepared and presented to BNU which contributed towards the overall score for my foundation degree. Thanksgiving was really nice though as everyone else vanished off on 'vacations' so there were literally 10 or so people left on campus, so it was nice and peaceful. One of my good friends Sari made the fatal error of leaving his dorm room open when he went off to San Francisco, this was what he got for his lapse in concentration when forgetting to lock his room...

...as the note we left him said "Your plan for an early night has been FOILED!

Desk and Walls

His sink, which was still fully functioning! 

Side shot of his desk

(click on all pictures for a better image!)

The weather here hasn't been great over the past few days so I have had to cancel a few flights, however, I have since been signed off for solo navigation flights. This involves planning a route, getting your times, winds, speeds, distances, logging in flight every detail or action you take and basically flying your proposed route as accurately as possible. Navigation is a big contributing area of PT3, so plenty of practice is available before then.

I have also had a few night flights, which have been my favourite part of flying out here so far! I did a night navigation back up from Ryan airfield (KRYN) and have also done dual and solo circuits here at Goodyear. My favourite part of the night nav back up from Ryan is that, we used other airfields as reference features to use to make sure we are on track. Some airfields have pilot controlled lighting, meaning that, if you tune up the CTAF frequency on your radios, then press the comms button which you use to talk over the frequency on 7 times, the runway lights magically come on. It is absolutely amazing to watch and also do. However, when I was focusing on getting this correct, forgetting that I was actually broadcasting over frequency on each click, I counted out loud, which was picked up on my mic, this causing an anonymous response from another aircraft on frequency to say "Nice counting man!", to which I replied having realised my error, in a very British accent "Thank you very much, have a safe flight'. I have found, any error you make, no matter what size, expect to get laughed at or  be the butt of a joke somewhere along the line, it's just how it goes in this game it seems.

Anyway, I am currently trying to upload a video to youtube of early morning circuits which I did a few weeks back, with a beautiful sunrise over GYR. It only lasts 5 minute or so so it should be done soon.

I have my final night circuits on Tuesday 6th December so expect a video from then too!

All the best!

Sam

P.S Well done to my good friends Tom Milsom, Adam Roberts and Jai Dillon on gaining their Commercial Pilot Licenses, see you back in Oxford in the new year guys! All the best to the rest of AP321 who have their CPLs in the near future too!

Thank you for my Sri Lankan blog follower  for getting in touch, it means a lot to hear that people are globally interested and are reading my blog as well as my family and friends back home. Look forward to seeing you when you start in Oxford in January.

PT1 Tomorrow!

I have had another hour of dual circuits today and then solo circuits which were cut short due to the ever descending cloud base and seeing as TPA (traffic pattern altitude) isn't variable, I came back in to land and taxiied back to parking.

I have my first progress test tomorrow, PT1. Basically just circuits and an Emergency drill, demonstrated as best as possible. Have to answer a few technical questions and the like however, nothing too much to handle!

I'll let you know how it goes

Sam


Happy 19th Birthday Mr Wallace

First Solo Video

Part One

Part Two

Enjoy!

Sam

So here we go....

Well, where do I begin? It has been a while and I am sorry for those who check this regularly to see what I have been up to for keeping you waiting. I'm just having so much fun out here it's hard to find the time to write, what can only be called an essay due to me letting events that need to be reported, back up.

Firstly, I went on a road trip with four of my friends, Jai, Sari, Ashley and Matt to the Grand Canyon, stopping overnight in Flagstaff, continuing up to Williams and then on up to the Canyon. We hired a car, which was basically a tank with armchairs, a great sound system and such a smooth ride. The time in the car flew by, putting on songs, watching the temperature continually fall due to a continual climb in altitude heading towards Flagstaff. One thing we really noticed was how clear the sky was, it was just incredible. It was clear enough to see the milky way, which I have never seen before and would never get tired of seeing again.

We checked into the the hotel hassle free and went out to get some food. We stopped to eat at a place called the lumberyard which was so cool. Good food, fire pits and six mile trains rumbling past the front. Just the job.

The next day we headed out to Williams and Grand Canyon. Williams is a typical old style, almost wild western town which is so small, everyone knows each other and is on the world renowned Route 66. Everyone we met there were really friendly and when taking photos across a road, people stopped their cars so they didn't spoil your shot, which just blew my mind, you really wouldn't get that back home. We stopped at a diner there and got milkshakes and met a few locals, filled ourselves up before moving on towards the Canyon.

Driving from Williams en-route to Grand Canyon National Park, we came across a museum of vintage aircraft which, when a car full of student pilots approaches, is a must see attraction. Despite it being cheap, there was a multitude of all sorts of aircraft which would even keep the non aviation lover interested and inquisitive.

 

Me With an Ex-Blue Angels Aircraft

Once we had secured our fix for not being involved in anything aviation related for at least one day, we continued towards the 'main event'. 

We arrived at the Canyon from the South and therefore parked up on the South Rim. We went to see the sunset, so we got to witness the breathtaking sights during day, dusk and night, which was definitely the best way to do it for sure! We were told that the best place to see the sunset was a point on the rim called Mohave. Sunset was at 17:43 and we reached it at approximately 17:30, taking pictures the whole way up and chatting with some Americans who had travelled to see the sights too. 

If you have never visited the Grand Canyon, despite my boldest effort to try and master the description of emotions and sights, I really just can't emphasise how vast and overwhelming it is. I'll just let some pictures do the talking...

We ended up being the last people at the Canyon and we headed back towards the bus stop. There was a stage where I thought we had missed the last bus and were therefore stranded at Mohave point needing to walk about 5 miles back to the car, but luckily the last bus passed and picked us up! Phew, the black bears that live in the wild around the canyon were on my mind, wandering down an open road in the moonlight....at the Grand Canyon. Sometimes I really do need to pinch myself.

Overall, the trip was well worth all the driving and expense and I will never ever forget it. 

The following day I flew in the morning, just performing emergency checks and practicing my circuits, which was just a normal flight. However, once I had finished my flying for the day, I headed to the Aeroplane Graveyard in Tucson. The museum there is unreal. It has all retired aircraft, including an SR-71 Blackbird, military, commercial, political and NASA aircraft. The phrase, kid in a candy store comes to mind. It's a really cool place to visit if you're ever out here!

Yesterday (1/11/11) I had my first solo flight. It was just one circuit out of Goodyear which only lasts five minutes or so, but it was the most awesome 5 minutes I have had out here so far. To finally get my first input in the 'Pilot in Command' column felt so good and all the hard work and revision all came together and was truly worthwhile. I have many more solo flights ahead however, I have put together a cool video of my very first solo and me having the traditional celebration at the end. I am having trouble uploading it to Youtube video site. I will upload it to here once I get it sussed and if it doesn't upload after trying as hard as I can to get it to work, I will burn it to a disc and send some home for Mum and Dad to show or distribute to anyone who would like a copy (e.g. Grandparents).

Pretty much all I have been up to, oh and I went to play trampoline dodgeball again tonight, which is basically what it says in the title... I told you life out here was tough.

Any comments are completely welcome. It will be nice to hear from anyone who reads this, I see I had a view in Saudi Arabia, which I can only put down to Google and Oxford Aviation popularity.

Stay safe everyone and I'll speak soon

Sam

P.S Happy Birthday Helen :)

Sorry to keep you waiting....

...but my next blog post is going to be a big one and I will need time to put my weekend and beginning of this week into words. It was just incredible. I will aim to have it done by the weekend, just to let you all know.

Sam

VIDEO: Oil Leak, shortest flight ever!

We had an oil leak and I thought it would be easier posting a video of the air traffic control conversations which basically explain it all :)

I am away this weekend to Sedona, Flagstaff, Williams and the Grand Canyon. Will hopefully update this before then, but if not much happens inbetween then I may choose not to as I have a 1000 word essay to write!

Sam

Last Few Days...

Saturday saw my first early start, 4am to be precise. However, it wasn't difficult getting myself out of bed, ready and sorted cause I knew I was getting up to fly and despite it still being dark outside, it was nice enough to walk around in a short sleeved shirt, which I still find amazing.

I back seated the first flight, watched what my flight partner did and the beauty of it is, I can learn from his mistakes and he can learn from mine when he back-seats my flights. This flight on saturday morning was just amazing though as we took off probably, five minutes before sunrise and honestly, I am not one for appreciating scenery, but the view and colours of the sky were sensational. Unfortunately I didn't have any camera with me to capture the sight so you'll just have to take my word for it!

My flight went really well and all the practicing checklists and familiarising myself with the aircraft and it's features really paid off! We flew through the checks and took off from runway three with a left hand downwind departure heading out over an area in Rainbow Valley called The Greenfields. We practiced straight and level flight, climbing turns and descents and then moved onto the effects of flaps. All really interesting and it was a great flight!

I spent most of the day by the pool and managed to fall asleep, much to the amusement of some of my course mates as there is now a picture of me, face down on a sun bed fast asleep. When they have early flights, I will get my own back!
I was also trying to recharge my batteries as on Saturday night, the course ahead of us 322, threw our (323) initiation party which was a wholehearted messy affair and don't really need to go into it. Loads of games, loads of beer and loads of dancing. A lot of people ended up fully clothed in the pool and I think it is safe to say everyone had an amazing time. Thank you to everyone on 322 for the time and money well spent on a great night!

Yesterday, I went with six other guys and one girl out to lake pleasant and hired a speed boat for water sports and a day just bobbing around in the sun. It was so, so cool and really did make me realise how relaxed I was! We had wake boarding,  water skiing and a big inflatable donut which caused quite a few laughs when people went flying off and head over heels into the water. The boat was also equipped with a pretty decent speaker system too, so flying across the water at 60mph listening to some music, was safe to say pretty awesome.

My next flight is tomorrow morning and I hope the conditions stay as perfect as last time, I'll keep this up to date with what I am doing over the next few days.

Sam

First in AZ

Today made me realise why I had slaved over what seemed like endless ground school material, hours and hours of work and having to bounce back from  failing an exam. As you may have already gathered, I had my first flight in the PA28-161 aircraft (registration: N398H) out of Goodyear with a duration of 00:50 minutes.

We took off from runway 21 and headed out to Rainbow Valley, South of Buckeye. We performed general handling manoeuvres and the lesson was a basic familiarisation session. I controlled the plane in the air and on the ground however, my flight instructor landed us back on safe ground for me, especially with the variable crosswinds!

Map of KGYR Surroundings (Aforementioned Rainbow Valley approx due South of Buckeye)

I also got to back-seat with one of my good friends, Sari, on his flight which consisted of right hand closed traffic circuits, whereby you take off, turn right at 90 degrees, fly for approximately 1 minute, then turn right 90 degrees and fly parallel  to the runway in the opposite direction in which you have just taken off. Then repeat and descend at the end of the downwind leg so you are effectively flying in a circle, once you land flaps come up, full power is restored and you repeat.

Life out here is so much fun. The heat, the lifestyle and the planes are a recipe for fun, fun and more fun. There seem to be parties round the pool fairly often and the 323 initiation party is on this weekend. The organisers, 322, have been to Walmart and bought beer on what can only be described as an American scale. I know it's going to be a great night as I know how much time and finance has been put into the event!

Anyway, my next flight is on Saturday morning at 0745, however I will be back seating my Dutch flight partner's flight which takes off at 0600, so early night for me tomorrow I think!

I will sign off and leave you with a little video I took of Sari's circuits from this afternoon. Spot the strong crosswind on the first landing filmed inside the plane at the last minute, forcing him into a go-around also known as a missed approach!

American Ground School Finished

Today I have come to the end of the mandatory week of American ground school that is scheduled in the first week of the Phoenix phase. I cannot wait to start flying this week, my first flight I believe to be on Wednesday, with a 2 hour briefing with my instructor, Martha, tomorrow.

The weather is looking rather sketchy this week so I have everything crossed that it holds out enough so I can get my first flight done and get the ball rolling on that front!

However, for the time being, I'm just going to relax by the pool and try to comprehend just how lucky I am! This is the life!

Click on images below to open in full size

Sorry for the MASSIVE break in blogging...

Well, here we go again on the blog. I feel as though I should fill the people who don't know why I haven't been blogging in, on why I haven't.

I failed my Flight Planning exam on the first attempt, by one mark and had to take approximately 2 month break inbetween failing and re sitting. Anyway, I have since completed my re-sit and scored 92% in the second attempt, meaning that I was able to fly out to Goodyear in Phoenix, Arizona to start my primary flight training.

I arrived yesterday at about 18:30 Arizona time, with a headache that had migrated with me from the UK and made the flight awful. I was very very tired, however as soon as I met up with all my course mates who came out in July, I just forgot all about how tired I was and started settling in. I eventually got to sleep at approximately 00:30 local time (8:30am) meaning I had been awake for almost 30 hours, however, it worked out and I conveniently woke up 2 minutes before my alarm was due to go off.

We had groundschool today, which consisted of a number of different briefs on state laws, the local area, tour of all the facilities and do's and don'ts of the campus and a class photo (AP323). We are going to the AME (Aero Medical Examiner) to gain our FAA Class 1 medical certificates tomorrow and then back into ground school after lunch for more briefs on a number of things, of which I don't know what yet.

Anyway, it's been a gorgeous day here in PHX, 37 degrees celsius and a clear sky which made for a gorgeous sunset.

I will keep this up to date as much as I can and I cannot wait to start flying!!!

School Finals Done, Time For JAA Exams

So the school finals exams have been and gone and I achieved an average of 85% in them. I have been studying for the upcoming JAAs which start this Monday (4th) and run until Thursday.
I've been using all resources possible to secure a hopefully, great average to take out of ground school and allow me to jet off to Arizona on the 25th!

I'll keep you posted

Sam

END OF LESSONS!

Well folks, the time has arrived whereby AP321 have no more ground school lessons!
We had a great final day, going over some final tips and tricky questions regarding Gen Nav and all of us had made some sort of effort to accessorise the uniform, or come in in fancy dress!

Click on the picture for a bigger version!

Part of me is going to miss the togetherness of ground school, however, we are at the beginning of the end before the biggest and best stage of the course, USA primary flight training.
Standing in the way of me and Arizona are 14 exams, 7 in School Finals 2 (starting next Tuesday) and 7 in JAAs commencing the first week in July. Then, if all the exams go well, I will be jetting out of Heathrow on the 25th to Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport to start my four months out there living the high life... literally!

Now, better get on with some revision as unfortunately the exams determine whether I go to the USA or not!

Sam

Test 2

Hello all,

I thought I should just update you on how my latest exams, (Test 2s) went. I achieved an 82% average overall, which I am very happy with at this stage. Phase two is very front heavy and very intense, meaning that most of the phase is taught in the first period between the start of P2 right up to test 2s, of which we had 13 days to go through approximately 70% of  the syllabus due to the numerous bank holidays and other delays that we encountered.

Phase two exams seem very hit and miss, you need to take a lot of time over each question and it's very easy to go wrong. I think this is down to the fact that there is a lot more working out and methodologies to remember, rather than just regurgitating facts and figures.

Anyway, next up are School Final 2 exams in mid June, which are just as important if not as important as the final JAA exams which I will be taking at the start of July. These will take a lot of preparation and hard work, so can't leave it too long before I get started on the long working hours and little sleep regime again!

Off to London tonight to stay in Paddington, as I am going to the U.S Embassy to have a nice little interview with the American representatives and hopefully have my application to live and train out in Arizona for four months (59 days to go) accepted and receive a visa!

I am so ready to start flying and ground school is getting very tiring at the minute, however, can't lose my focus or rest on the back of my previous exam results as there is still a lot to learn and a lot of hard work ahead in these next few weeks, which, pardon the pun, will fly by.

"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail"


Speak soon
Sam


-- Well done to all of AP322 on their impressive JAA results, now for phase two!!! --

I am sorry to leave you in suspense for the past two weeks…  I am really pleased to tell you that I achieved an average of 93% across the 7 modules in my JAA Phase 1 exams, which was the same as the mark I got in my school finals.  This was fairly representative of AP321 as a whole who all did remarkably well.

So it is back to ground school for the second phase and after all the recent bank holidays, these 5 day weeks are a shock to the system. I am revising around the clock with hardly time to feed myself or draw breath because test 2s start on Thursday 19^th. I didn’t think it was possible but this 2^nd phase seems even more intensive than Phase 1. There is a lot to learn and you can view the Phase 2 subjects on this OAA link under the 'Ground Training' drop down menu. I am so busy I have had to forego a trip to the Radio 1 Big Weekend this Sunday.  I am sure my best mate will have a great time and tell me all about it when he gets home :-(  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to be missing out but it is a small price to pay…

I will update you on my Test 2 results in the not too distant future, I am not expecting as high as 90% however, I'll give it the best attempt I can give!

Speak soon,

Sam

Results Today! (27th April)

So, we didn't receive our results on the proposed date as the Civil Aviation Authority and their technology had a fall out and we have since been pondering when we will be obtaining our long awaited marks.

Well it seems as though they will be available today (27th) and I look forward to seeing how I got on.

AP321 started phase 2 today after a two week break and already I can tell it's going to be a very intense learning and memory game! I am sure it will test us harder than anything so far, so there's no better time to grab the bull by the horns and get stuck in again!

I shall keep you posted on results and go into greater detail regarding phase 2 and how it differs from phase 1, in the next post.

Sam :)

JAAs Done, Well Earned Break!

I have been home for over a week now, enjoying my free time, which in my opinion was well earned.
The JAA exams finished on the 7th April and went (without jinxing it) as well as I could have hoped, bar a few horrible questions.

I get my results on Thursday (21st April) and am excited and nervous to hear the result of weeks and weeks of tedious study and effort.

I will update this on Thursday once I have my results, whether they be good or unexpectedly bad!
Good luck to all of AP321, I'm sure we've smashed it

Speak soon
Sam

School Finals Done, JAA Exams Start Tomorrow....

I was unbelievably happy with my 93% average I achieved in School Final exams. Trying to maintain the same level of effort to revise for the CAA regulated exams, 'JAA exams', which commence tomorrow (4th April), required some serious motivation! My exams start with Theory of Flight and that is closely followed by the AGK (Aircraft General Knowledge) Systems exam, then the rest of my timetable is:

Tuesday - Instruments
Wednesday - Meteorology
Thursday - Human Performance
                  VFR Comms
                   IFR Comms

I have been using a certain well known resource (an online question bank called Bristol) to revise. However pleasant a way that sounds to revise, staring at the same screen for up to 12 hours each day for ten days, can get rather monotonous.

Anyway, bring it on this week, I think I am prepared as best as possible - at least I hope I am!

Sorry for not keeping your up to date recently but you will understand how busy I have been.  However, after Thursday, I will have plenty of time to update you as I get two weeks off after my exams.

Roll on Thursday night!

Sam

I am so unbelievably busy...

This weekend consisted of:

Friday night after school... 4 hours of work.
Saturday... awake at 8am, sat doing work with food at desk for the day until 9pm.
Sunday... went into school to study for a change of scenery, from the room that now feels like a cell with a bed and a desk full of books... I managed to work from 9 till 7:30pm pretty much non stop!

I feel physically and mentally drained, but all this work will hopefully pay off!

14 exams over the next couple of weeks... bring them on!

I have a well deserved fortnight off in April and I seriously can't wait to go home, relax and see everyone.

Sorry for not keeping everyone up to date fully!

Sam

First Week Back After Test Ones

Well there goes another week. The heavy workload has started coming at a ridiculous pace and is needing a lot more hours of notice at night.

We have started gas turbine engines, so the big commercial high by-pass engines, turboprop etc and also started looking at autoflight (autopilot, autoland, autothrottle et al). All very interesting stuff, however, a lot to learn whilst retaining the past knowledge from before our first tests.

I forgot to mention that a week or so ago I obtained the role of class representative and have been carrying out a register each day, checking for class mail at reception and basically being a spokesperson for the class of AP321 as a whole, which may I add, I love. Within the mail this week were Bucks New University student cards, which means DISCOUNT! ;D

I am helping out on the skills assessment area of the school tomorrow at the open day and once again helping out during the presentations. I always look forward to the open days as they're great fun to answer everyones' questions and really help provide a deeper knowledge and understanding for potential future attendees of OAA. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

As for the above, it's been a fairly good week, the class were groggy to start on Monday after the week off however, thawed out a bit towards the middle of Tuesday!

Weekend plans:

Saturday: Open day then back home for ironing (yes, your eyes do not deceive you) and a night of Gas Turbines and Meteorology.

Sunday: Instruments, Human Performance and AC Electrics and an early night!!!

Speak soon
Sam

Apologies

Good morning readers,

I would like to apologise for the drought of blogging that has taken place over the last three weeks or so. This however, can be justified by the sheer workload and preparation for test 1s.

Regarding test 1s, I achieved a 75% average which I am rather happy with as it was nowhere near the worst grade in the class and also allows me to make a target of 90% average for School Finals. School Finals are again OAA regulated exams and will be taking place at the end of March, they will cover a much larger range of topics, infact the whole of the stage one syllabus and will be approximately 10 days before the biggies, the JAR exams (Civil Aviation Authority regulated exams).

We will now be given access to the Oxford question bank called Oxcel. This is an online site for Oxford students, post test 1s full of JAR style questions, so we can do question after question all day everyday if we wanted, but I think that would lead to insanity, so I probably won't go for such an intense approach. This is already helping as I know where I fell down on my test 1 exams, so I have been looking over these areas on Oxcel and cementing answers I was unsure of into my head and learning the theory behind these answers as I go.

It was a great relief to have the first exams done and all passed. All of the course members came round to our house the night of results, for Dominos pizza (27 pizzas!!) and the celebrations continued until late.

We have been lucky this week and have been given a week out of ground school after test 1s, which no other course gets. This is because our group started early in December and the intakes are usually towards the end of each month, so we needed to be staggered, it's been fantastic! It has allowed me to catch up on my sleep, catch up on my work and also given me a chance to go up to Carlisle to visit my girlfriend this weekend. This being said, I cannot wait to get stuck in again and just tick off each day, the closer and closer the 321 get to Arizona the better.

Now I haven't got exams until the end of March, I will update this more often!

Hope you're all well and by all means post comments underneath here, I'll return them as  soon as I can
Speak soon

Sam

Three Weeks to Test 1s

So this time in three weeks, I will have my first exam results. Scary really seeing as it feels as though we have only been at OAA for a matter of minutes. I guess it indicates the speed at which learning is expected and I cannot tell you how much work there is after each day to go home and really gather a true understanding of everything. Whether it be how a component works, why it may be there, what if it fails, how is it powered... the syllabus volume within the timeframe we have is extremely intense. However, I am starting to fall in love with the content and being knowledgable on topics I have always wanted to be disgustingly knowledgable about.

Well last night was AP321's official welcome from OAA which coincided with the monthly happy hour (loads of free beer, wine and food) which was fantastic. Both groundschool and advanced flight training stage courses were invited and it gave us all a chance to ask questions and network with these 'further down the line' courses, seeking advice and highlights we should be aware of. Groundschool apparently isn't anyone's favourite, whereas flying for three hours a day and spending the rest round a pool in Arizona heat is up there.. I really can't see why...
Well we had our fair share of freebies and being intelligent and charming pilots that we all are becoming, we were able to re stock the fridge with beverages courtesy of OAA.

I was also able to have an informative and lengthy conversation with Anthony Petteford, who is the Managing Director of this fine establishment that I attend, about graduation and job vacancies that are forecasted for spring 2012 aswell as the updating of OAA's fleet. He is a very friendly, approachable and down to Earth guy, despite his authority and credibility, which somewhat surprised me. He assured me that if I don't get multiple job offers, he would be curious as to why, which sounds hopeful! It's a very, very promising time for aviation and a certain British Airways are on the hunt for new recruits in the years 2011 and 2012, work hard, play hard and fly hard and I could be landed with my dream airline coming out of training. But let's not run before we can walk eh? It's only little over a year before I will be training on those monsters of the sky though, so I've got to keep the lookout for trends of recruitment across all the major and notorious airlines who favour low houred pilots.

Tomorrow is OAA's first open day of the year and muggins here has been landed with a position in the presentations with the aforementioned MD and assigned to a classroom for Q&As from aspiring candidates for entry to OAA. Which, I really am looking forward to, as I was in exactly their position last year and know how jealous I was of the guys I spoke to who were in the school, so I can't wait to give advice, opinions and hopefully in some way motivate the visitors whether they be young or older people to go for it as it is certainly the best decision I have ever made. However, ask my parents that same question with regards to finance... ;)

Lots of work to do over the weekend to keep me busy and out of trouble, I will update the blog in relation to how the open day went and what's ahead next week.

I seem to be chatty, you can certainly tell it's Friday.
Sam

Books, check, Stationery, check, energy supplements, check.

Happy New Year

Well we have been back at GS for a week now and its good to get back into it! Everyone came back in good spirits and it was great to see everyone again. We had four days of lessons as Monday was obviously a bank holiday.

The week absolutely flew past and it was Friday once again, in The Black Horse with all the course having a few well deserved beverages.

A pretty unremarkable week, however, having looked at next week's timetable with triple Theory of Flight on both Thursday and Friday, I think I will need to stock up on Red Bull as there may be times during any three of the lessons my eyes will feel increasingly heavy.


Sam


Happy Birthday Jun (Mr AP321)