AQC - Week 2

Well it was worth it; the week of groundschool as well as the endless hours and evenings spent learning checks and SOPs got rewarded with our first week in the Boeing 737-300 simulator.

For the simulators, we are all paired up with another cadet who we do the whole AQC with. I’m paired with Jonny (a CP106 coursemate). Each session is 4 hours long where we do 2 hours of pilot flying (PF), before swapping, then doing 2 hours of pilot monitoring (PM).

During the first week we have been allowed full use of the autopilot and autothrust systems, and we have been practising a whole manner of profiles. In the first couple of sessions we practiced the basic jet flying procedures such as take-offs and landings (which always come in useful), go-arounds and basic jet handling – the 737-300 is supposedly one of the more difficult jets to fly. The next couple of sessions looked at ‘non-normals’ and emergencies. We practiced engine fires, engine failures, engine seizures, rejected take-offs and many other system failures making us work as a crew and methodically. Rapid depressurisations were certainly interesting, diving from 37000ft to 10000ft in just a few minutes, at maximum speed while wearing oxygen masks.

pretty lights

The final flight of the week was a LOFT assessment exercise where we flew a mock passenger flight from A to B (Manchester to Stansted). As far as luck goes, LOFT flights normally offer very little – poor weather, engine failures, system failures, and closed airports all often happen simultaneously in this one flight. The aim is to assess both our technical and non-technical skills. Both mine and Jonny’s flight went quite well; and I managed to land in Stansted for my flight rather than divert – thankfully the weather improved!

For the last week of AQC, we have all the automatics taken away and fly manually for the 4 sims. Myself and Jonny are on late shifts this week, one session finishes as 2am - we might as well get used to it considering our choice of career..............