Friday 1st December to Sunday 31st December 2023. Sectors flown 67 to 70, 151 hours 53 minutes line training flight time; total distance of 47,815nm; which equates to flying London to New York 15.89 times, going round the entire length of the London Underground 191.26 times, or riding the Orient Express train a total of 28.13 times! And of course, I couldn’t forget my running total in getting to the moon… I’ve made a total distance of 26.2% of the way to the moon.
Only 4 sectors flown in December, partly due to the schedule and roster but also because I took some annual leave over the Christmas period which had been booked for nearly 2 years! However, the 4 flights I had were always as enjoyable as normal, and they took me over to Alicante and to Malaga from Leeds Bradford airport. My flying is improving and from where I was when I first started flying for Ryanair the improvement and difference is night and day! The Boeing 737 trims the aircraft so that when you disconnect the autopilot on approach, it will pitch the nose up slightly so rather than maintaining approximately 700 feet per minute on approach, it will pitch up to around 300 feet per minute, and as such will put you high if you don’t correct it. However, this requires pilot action to correct and I have found that the earlier I disconnect the autopilot and start flying manually, the easier this is to control and thus my approaches have been more stable and flown better. Not to mention, I am a pilot so enjoy flying rather than the autopilot flying it!
To review my year as a whole, it’s been nothing shy of incredible! As I talk through each step I’ve been through this year, I’ll link in a previous blog too for you to read. I began the year as a delivery driver for Sainsbury’s supermarkets in my local town, and now I’m flying the Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-8200 predominantly from Leeds Bradford airport, all across Europe; going as far South as Malaga, West as far as Santiago, North as Glasgow and East as far as Warsaw. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been on out of base placements to London Stansted, Dublin and Alicante meaning I’ve had a chance to fly with different people and experience new airports too that I wouldn’t usually fly to from Leeds Bradford. I make targets for where I want to be for each birthday, and last year on my 22nd birthday, I said by the time my next birthday (23) I wanted to be flying, I also made it my New Year’s resolution at the beginning of 2023 to get a flying job. I ticked off my New Year’s resolution on Monday 13th February 2023, only 43 days into the year; and as far as my birthday’s target, well, on my 23rd birthday I flew from London Stansted to Venice so it’s safe to say I ticked that one off too!
As mentioned above, my year started as a Sainsbury’s delivery driver and I was having interviews with both TUI and Ryanair at the beginning of the year. I mentioned in a previous blog that you can read about by clicking the link here. I accepted to start with Ryanair pretty much immediately, almost biting their hand off at the offer! I let Sainsbury’s know that I would be handing in my notice to pursue my dream again, and to their credit and my manager’s they were super supportive in allowing me to take time off for interviews and sim practices, and not to mention pleased when I handed in my notice as they knew I was going on to what I wanted to do. I began my type rating on Monday 24th April 2023 as part of course FR2333 at East Midlands airport. Before this I was studying the Boeing 737 in as much detail as I possibly could, knowing everything about it as much as my brain could feasibly take in! After a week in the classroom I passed my security, dangerous goods and safety exams all with 100% in my first week! We were sent on remote learning to continue our studies into both the Boeing 737 and the Ryanair way of doing things, I.E. our cockpit flows and SOP’s. In May I was delighted to announce I had passed my technical exam with 90%, my SOP exam with 88% and my performance exam also with 100%! To say I was delighted with these results is an understatement! Again, if you want to read more about these weeks in detail, please click the link here.
Next I was into the fixed base simulators at the Stansted training centre. Here I was with my superb sim partner Stepan and was constantly pushing myself to become better and I’d like to think I was pushing him too. The bar would be set at one level and we’d both raise it another two rungs and be unhappy with ourselves if we didn’t meet it 3 higher! We were always striving to be better and nit-picking everything in terms of our performance. If we were to set-up in under 45 minutes and we did it in 44 minutes, the instructor would be very pleased, big tick in the box; but we’d turn to each other and say why wasn’t it done in 43 minutes or 42 minutes – how could we make it quicker and improve! Equally for our engine failures, if we drifted 5º from our track, it’s well within the tolerance, but could we make it 4º, 3º, 2º or even better, no drift at all. For the first 10 fixed-base simulators, we were partnered with Dilan and Tarik whom in themselves were superb too which of course pushed myself and Stepan further. These first 8 simulators can be read all about here.
Following on from the fixed base simulators we entered the full flight simulators and these were incredible, and since flying the actual aircraft, I’m amazed just how realistic they are! When I’m asked how similar they are to the aircraft, I say they’re identical apart from one difference, the views out of the window of the proper aircraft are a lot better than the sim. On Friday 7th July 2023, myself and Stepan took our licence skills test for the Boeing 737 and I was delighted when I was told that we had both passed. The news we passed was great and a mixture of joy, relief and a huge invisible weight had been lifted off my shoulders; but then it was asking where we could improve upon to be better and working out what we needed to do to improve ourselves as pilots. I was so glad I had a sim partner in Stepan who was so similar to me in the way we think and the way we always wanted to improve. The LST and the previous sims can be read about by clicking this link here. I drove home from Stansted that evening with a huge grin on my face, and I’m not ashamed to say I had a celebratory whiskey when I got home!
Once the LST was passed, it was straight away looking forwards to what’s coming next. This was my preliminary simulator circuit training (PSCT) back at Stansted training centre. Here we completed circuits in the simulator with varying winds to help prepare us for when we’d be taking the aircraft up for the first time soon! As you can imagine, taking a Boeing 737-800 aircraft up for the first time is a big risk to Ryanair, so having a practice in the simulator first makes a lot of sense. It was an hour in the simulator and come the end of it, flying on rails without a moments break or rest I was truly knackered! However, I knew with this being ticked off, it meant I was one step closer to flying the aircraft for the very first time – I’d dreamed of this moment forever.
The next step came about rather quick, I received a phone call asking if I was free, and I was which meant I was going to complete my base training in the Boeing 737-800 on Thursday 20th July 2023! Which as you may’ve guessed, can be read on this blog here. I drove back up to East Midlands airport. We received our briefing and found out we would be heading to Prestwick, near Glasgow and because I would be going last for my circuits, this meant I would be flying the aircraft back to East Midlands airport! We flew up to Prestwick and the two lads I was with completed their circuits and both did very well – set a tough bar to follow. I was next and I already had a big smile on my face. Before we went the Captain said to me ‘you’ve worked hard to be here, just do exactly what you’ve done to get to this point, and most importantly of all… enjoy it.’ That is exactly what I did, and as I was in the circuit, I loved every minute. Some of the views out of the window were breathtaking and after my circuits were complete, we headed back towards East Midlands with me in the right hand seat as pilot flying too. I landed back at East Midlands behind a Boeing 777, and to think I did that was incredible. It was certainly a long time before I could take the smile off my face after completing my base training!
Following on from our base training was my line operations training day, wings ceremony and MAX differences training which can be viewed here. Essentially, we completed a day of admin and filling in forms, some of which were exciting as it was to do with getting our Boeing 737 type rating put onto licences. Next was a trip over to Dublin, our wings ceremony being the occasion, where we received our wings and welcomed officially into Ryanair. It was great to see everyone from my old FR2333, some of whom I hadn’t seen for a few months and catch up with not only their recent flying in the simulators and base training but also their personal lives too. Finally, in the month of August was another trip over to Dublin for my Boeing 737-MAX differences training and completion of this training allowed me to fly the Boeing 737-8200 for Ryanair, hopefully soon on the line with up to 197 passengers behind me. I love flying and whether it be in a simulator or in the aircraft I cannot get enough, so offer me a flight or a sim and I’ll bite your hand off at the opportunity to get behind the controls.
Following on from my MAX differences training simulator I shortly found out my line training base would be Leeds Bradford! An exciting move for me to branch further away from home and explore a new place that I haven’t been before. Full disclosure, it wasn’t my number one choice, in fact it wasn’t one of my choices, but I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to go and learn from the Captain’s up there, and I’ve had a great time. Not to mention, Leeds Bradford airport is a challenge in itself as we saw with the TUI aircraft experiencing a runway excursion back in October, and from a pilots point of view too, it’s a challenge in the descent management too. You can read about my experiences in line training in September, October and November by clicking each month respectively; you’ll also find some discussion items in these blogs too!
When we’re in line training we begin with 8 flights as a supernumerary cadet. This means sitting on the jumpseat behind the two pilots and observing what’s going on. Some people say this is rather boring and tedious, but I saw this as a challenge to become a sponge and soak up as much information as possible, jumping in and doing whatever tasks I could. This included filling in our electronic flight log on our company electronic flight bag (EFB) and taking the radios while the others were eating for example. It was definitely beneficial doing these 8 flights, because as much as you can be told how to do something, and it being shown to you in videos and PowerPoints, for me the best way to learn is to get your hands dirty and getting on and doing it. These 8 flights set me up nicely for when I would be flying with a safety pilot behind me.
Next, as I’ve already alluded to, I was flying the Boeing 737 with passengers behind me and with a line training captain in the left hand seat and a safety pilot on the jumpseat behind me too, just keeping a watchful eye just in case something were to happen. My first flight was to Paris Beauvais, France which is only about an hours flight so I was definitely thrown in at the deep end! It was a 4 sector day so things calmed down a bit as we then flew over to Warsaw, Poland afterwards. What a first day it was! By the time my head hit the pillow when we were done, I was absolutely shattered and felt like I was asleep in seconds, but boy did I love it! I had a safety pilot behind me for 18 sectors in total (the minimum is 12) and then after my safety pilot was released I began earning my sector pay too so being paid an additional bonus for doing what I love – not bad at all! September I flew a total of 24 sectors, October a total of 20 sectors, 22 sectors in November and as I mentioned at the top 4 in December bringing my total sectors (flights) for Ryanair in 2023 up to 70.
The minimum required sectors for signed off from line training is 66 so I am now above that threshold; that being said I’m not concerned, the average is around the 86 mark – some are more, some are less that’s why it’s an average and because it’s taken me a little while to get my sectors in, it’s normal and natural for me to take slightly longer. I would rather be ‘held back’ in line training for a smidge longer if it meant I could learn more and be safe as opposed to being rushed through and then when it comes to flying on the line with a regular captain as opposed to a line training captain, things don’t work so well and this could spiral. I don’t think it’ll be long before I am signed off, but in my view it takes as long as it takes. I have an out of base in Alicante in the new year and it’s possible I’ll be signed off then.
EDIT: Friday 5th January 2024
I have just got back from my out of base at Alicante and I am delighted to announce that after 76 sectors I have been signed off from my line training! I had a total of 3 days, 6 sectors flying. The first took me over to Norway in Torp Sandefjord, the second to Eindhoven in the Netherlands and the final to Poznań in Poland. The first two days of flying went well and I was considered to be line standard after the first day, I asked to have at least one more day before my line check to make sure so that’s what we did and after the second day flying I was recommended for my initial line check and all being well, I would be signed off and complete this chapter of my journey. I arrived on Thursday 4th January 2024 ready for my initial line check with the Alicante base captain, and although I was slightly nervous, I viewed it as just another flight, and if I continued to do exactly what had got me to this point, I’d be just fine. I was pilot flying on the way over to Poznań, and then pilot monitoring on the way back to Alicante; and I’m pleased to say that whole day went well and I passed my initial line check with a ‘strong performance’ and as such has marked the end of my time in line training. What’s next you ask? In the next few days/weeks/months I will find out where my permanent base will be, I will be offered a new contract to be officially a pilot for Ryanair as opposed to being on the Airline Flight Academy contract and with that comes a nice pay rise! I’ll also be moved onto the 5 on/4 off roster and that’ll be stable so I can begin to plan my life a bit more accordingly rather than hopes of when I’ll be on and off. Essentially passing this line check is all good news for me!
So that bring my 2023 year to a conclusion and it’s been incredible! From driving a 7.5 tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter to now a 76.2 tonne Boeing 737-8200 aircraft, I never quite believed I be where I am today. I had set myself the new years resolution this time round of passing my line training, however, 4 days into 2024 and I’ve completed that – maybe I’ll have to limit when I can have chocolate or something instead now! Looking forwards though, what would I like to achieve? I’d like to learn more; I will never be content with what I know and I always want to learn more. No matter what anyone tells you, they can always improve their knowledge on anything and everything. I’ll be honest and say I’ve had to look up who said it, but Loyal Jack Hewman said “never stop learning, for when we stop learning we stop growing” and I couldn’t agree more. I aim to learn more about the Boeing 737, more about Ryanair, more about aviation in general and even more about how I an improve myself as a pilot, as a man and in my personal life too.
This also marks the end of my line training chapter and as such, my blogs are going to become a little bit less frequent unless something major happens. I’m going to aim to post a Blog every 3 months, so 4 a year. I’ll explain about what I’m up to, how things are going and anything interesting as well as bringing you a discussion item to lift the lid as to what goes on inside the flight deck. I would highly recommend you suggesting some items to me either by commenting on a post, or by emailing me at pilotpowling@gmail.com with your suggestions and I’ll see what I can do for you.
Until next time, where I’ll have some more exciting news and stories for you as well as a thrilling discussion item, please take care and I’ll catch you all again really soon, and of course a very happy new year to you all!
