Sunday 30th April 2023 to Sunday 28th May 2023. What a manic, busy, intense few weeks its been! The reason this blog covers a longer time span than I would usually post, it’s because from Sunday 30th April 2023 to Tuesday 16th May 2023 I was on distance learning where each day was very similar. We then had 2 days of systems refresher lessons, going through a brief overview of the aircraft and a test in the afternoon before on Friday having our tech exam. The following week was filled with things necessary for flying the line and to also help us in our simulator phase of training which would shortly be upcoming.
Sunday 30th April 2023 to Tuesday 16th May 2023 – Distance Learning
For these 17 days we were on distance learning what we needed to do was set out in a nice structure for us so it was easy to follow. It started with technical so from Flight Crew Operation Manual (FCOM) Volume 2 as well as Computer Based Training (CBT) which gave us videos of more depth on how a specific system works. At the end of the CBT’s there were quizzes to test our knowledge and again once all of the technical CBT’s were complete there was a bigger test on the system as a whole. Following on from technical, there were Ryanair specific SOP’s we had to learn, such as our flows that would be used in the flight deck setup from cold and dark all the way through to the full shutdown procedure. Finally, there would be any operational documents or videos to review such as classes of airspace. All of this would need to be done in a day. For a bit of perspective, there are 15 chapters in FCOM Volume 2, totalling approximately 1,000 pages – because this runs through everything on the Boeing 737 and every page contains useful and information that needs to be known for safe operation of flight so I couldn’t skip any!
The Ryanair programme runs Monday to Friday with weekends ‘off’ but more likely to catch up on anything you’ve missed and revise the topics you’ve been over in the previous week. My days consisted of starting work before 08:30 in the morning, having a short break for lunch, another short (but longer) break for my dinner then carrying on until at least 21:00 at night. Although I would be done with the Ryanair set work by approximately 17:00, I couldn’t stop there, I needed to complete revision for myself so I could understand the topic fully and/or questions from Ryanair so I can grasp an understanding of what’s going to be asked in the exams and to check I’m thinking on the right lines when it comes to answering a questions. I didn’t stop on weekends apart from having one day off to watch The Coronation of King Charles III, but was straight back to work the following day. I’ve always said and I maintain to this day that I’m not a naturally smart person, I’m where I am today because I work so hard to get where I need to be, others on my course were done by 17:00 and have time to relax whereas I didn’t have that luxury. It’s the same as ground school, some people can look at a page once and recite it word for word whereas I need to spend time going through things over and over to make it stick and grasp a full understanding. Not to mention, I’ll be flying 189 passengers (737-800 series), and if a non-normal event occurs, I’m not going to get 4 options pop-up on what course of action to take, I need to know my stuff and what to do an when.
Wednesday 17th May 2023 & Thursday 18th May 2023 – Systems Refresher & Progress Test
Back in East Midlands and it was good to see some familiar faces again after being away for 2 weeks. Both days were the same format, the morning and early afternoon was filled with systems refresher where the instructor would ask questions and we would have to answer. Although we were asked many times if we had any questions from our distance learning and the instructors wanted to help as much as possible, when a question came up on the board and there was something we were unsure of, this opened discussion in the room allowing both students and the instructor to help clarify issues that we may’ve had.
Once the refresher part was completed we were given a progress test to ensure we were all on the right track. 50 questions to answer in 1 hour with a pass mark of 75% – the magic pass number in the aviation world! On Wednesday I passed with 88% and 94% respectively. This stood me in good stead ready for my final technical exam on the Friday, but it didn’t stop me revising and studying hard the night before and morning of my exam as I was desperate to make sure I passed this exam with flying colours.
Friday 19th May 2023 – Technical exam & PT/FMS 1
The morning started with our technical exam, 2 hours long and a total of 120 questions. Like our ATPL’s they were multiple-choice so on some of the ones I wasn’t sure on, I could use my knowledge to come to an outcome where I was picking between 2 answers and then could deductively choose the one I thought was right based on what I know; 9 times out of 10, it’s the first answer you think is right is right! It was a really difficult test as they were picking just sentences at the bottom of a page in FCOM and asking stuff about that or asking really big questions where there answers were only one or two items in the answer changed, such as what does Hydraulic System B power? I’m delighted to announce I passed with 108/120 so 90% in my technical exam, don’t get me wrong, I’m slightly disappointed regarding the 12 I got wrong, especially when I know there was 2 that I changed my answer from the right one to the wrong one when going through and checking, and another one where I didn’t RTFQ properly. Still, a pass is a pass an that’s what’s the most important thing. The revision doesn’t stop there, it’s important I brush up on my knowledge on where I didn’t answer the questions correctly, and also preparing for the upcoming simulators.
The afternoon we were in the PT/FMS which is the procedural trainers, so flat panel posters of the 737-800 cockpit, and the FMS system which basically replaces the job of a navigator. This little whizz of a computer is what we need to fly on lateral and vertical profiles. Myself and Stepan, my sim partner were in the procedure trainers first and ran through the setup from cold and dark up to the before start checklist. We run through the cockpit flow from memory to begin with, turning on or off the necessary switches, buttons and dials and testing the equipment before then having a checklist as a safety net to catch any mistakes or anything that we may’ve missed. We managed to do this relatively successfully and only needed to ask a few questions to the instructors. Next we were in the FMS trainer and ran through a setup and the necessary pages we needed to go through for pre-flight. This was more difficult as this was the first time we could practice this. It’s easier to download pictures of the 737-800 cockpit and run through setup and visualise, but the FMC is different and up until now I haven’t been able to practice this.
Monday 22nd May 2023 – SOP
Back in the classroom after a weekend ‘off’. Using the term off is pushing it, as it was more revision of what’s to come and looking over the SOP’s of Ryanair and beginning to commit all my flows to memory. We spent the day learning the Ryanair SOP’s including the profiles to be flown, such as take-off, climb, descent, approach and landing which includes the standard calls for each stage of the operation. Although it doesn’t sound like a lot, there are many different scenarios we could be in – is it an NADP 1 departure or NADP 2 departure (noise abatement procedures) which require accelerating and retracting the flaps at different stages so will require different procedures to be followed. Not to mention all the different types of approaches we can fly, each slightly different than the last so will require different callouts to be made. It was good to be taken through a full flight however over the course of the day and all of the callouts I will make every day that I’m in the sim or flying for Ryanair.
Tuesday 23rd May 2023 – PT/FMS 2 & QRH Non-Normal
The morning started off in the procedure trainer and up to take-off which myself and Stepan managed well, this then followed on another setup on the FMS and some of the functions it is able to complete in flight. In the afternoon we looked in the QRH (Quick Reference Handbook) which takes us through any non-normal event that may occur in the flight deck. This also includes our memory items, so things we need to know and action from memory in the event of a non-normal condition such as an engine fire. As you can imagine, there are some conditions we need to be able to know and action immediately, we don’t have time to be able to go into our QRH and look it up and then action the steps as by then it may already be too late.
Wednesday 24th May 2023 – Performance
Performance is all about calculating whether we’re able to take off and land at our origin and destination. We calculate the required take-off distance before we dispatch which also ensurer if we need to reject take-off at V1 – the take-off decision speed, this is the latest we can reject the take-off then we’re committed to flying – we can still stop within the runway distance available. As you can imagine, some runways are kilometres long so this isn’t so much of an issue, but imagine a small runway, with rain and suddenly stopping may be an issue. We also calculate whether we need to use the full performance of the CFM56-7 engines on the 737-800 and whether we can use less thrust and save engine life. We can either derate so produce less maximum thrust, and/or raise the assumed temperature to produce less thrust or a combination of the two. This also applies coming into land and what setting of brake we need to use to ensure we stop in the required runway distance, or meet a specific taxiway exit to get off the runway quicker.
Thursday 25th May 2023 – Performance & PT/FMS 3
In the morning we finished off our performance from yesterday by looking at what happens if our EFB’s break… the manual load sheet. This is everything our iPads do for us, but we have to do it and calculate all the conditions and ensure our aircraft is able to take-off, conforming to mass & balance restrictions. I rather enjoyed this I can’t lie! I wouldn’t want to do one every day and coming to the 4th sector of a day, most definitely not! But for the purposes of learning and doing it in the classroom, I rather enjoyed it. The afternoon contained our final PT/FMS session and myself and Stepan ran through from take-off to shutdown then onto the FMS exploring some more of its many vast functions.
That evening although we were complete at about 16:00 I stayed behind with some others to work through some homework set as practice questions. We worked through these individually but as a group, helping each other out where needed and it was great brainstorming off each other and working out the answers and helping each other as much as we can. Remember what I was saying about CRM in week one and use all available resources to help you? This was CRM in action and the synergy between us was electric. Although there was only 6 of us in the room, the output of us combined was definitely more than 6.
Friday 26th May 2023 – Performance & SOP Exam
Final day in ground school before heading into the simulators, and it consisted of 2 exams. The first one being our performance exam consisting of a manual load sheet question, then approximately 20 questions of shorter length. We had 2 hours to do this with a higher pass mark of 85%, and although it was easy enough to get it done in the time, if you started flapping and struggling where you didn’t know your stuff then I can imagine the time would quickly drain away from you. This was a hand-written exam so our results weren’t instant. Once we all completed our performance exam, it was into our SOP exam. This was 50 questions and 1 hour to complete with a pass mark of 75%, and I passed this with 88% so another exam passed, just the result of my performance exam to go. We went back into the classroom when our exams had been marked and the teacher asked if the best score buys shits for the rest, thinking I had got one wrong speaking to people after the exam, this sounded like a great idea so I agreed… little did I know I got 100% in my performance exam, so that meant shots were on me! Despite my protests of everyone should be buying me shots, I was quickly drowned out, costing me £20!
And for the second time in approximately 3 years, that’s ground school complete! The next stage going forwards for me is into the simulators, and I am so excited to get going again and getting my hands on the Boeing 737-800. The schedule is roughly 4 days in a row scheduled in the sim then 4/5 days not scheduled, I would say these are days off, but there’s a lot of revision and improvements to be made in the days not in, so I wouldn’t call them a day off! We have 20 sims in total, 12 in a fixed base and 8 in a full-flight simulator so 5 blocks of simulator sessions. I’ll be point soon with my progress in the sim, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
