27th January 2020. It’s one small step for man, but one giant leap forward for me! Today I had my very first day as a trainee pilot at Coventry ground school. A few words come to mind when describing this day; excitement, anticipation, relief (when it was over), and a whole lot of nerves.
Myself, my mum and my dad decided to leave on the 26th, stay a night in a hotel so we could access my accommodation from 8 o’clock on the 27th. We checked in to my accommodation, and unpacked all of the stuff I had bought up with me. My accommodation is in Liberty Park in Coventry centre, where in my block 5 rooms have a shared communal living and kitchen area. I met the other 4 people I would be staying with, introduced myself, asked about their journeys up and how far they’ve travelled from before going to unpack some more and repeating with another person in another room!
We went out to get some food and perishable items along with some stuff we’d never thought to take such as spare coat hangers for when I receive my uniform in a few weeks, before returning back to the accommodation to unpack some more!
At 2 o’clock we then made our way to the L3Harris training centre in Coventry for our welcome aboard day and briefings. By which point, nerves were probably the main emotion running through me! We were asked to all congregate in a main room, where conversations went something like this approximately 15-20 times:
Me: “Hi, I’m Harry, nice to meet you”
Fellow Trainee: “Hi, I’m *enter name here*, nice to meet you”
Me: “Have you travelled far to get here today?”
FT: “No, not really/a fair way, how about yourself?”
Me: “Only from sunny Sussex that’s never sunny! *cue mild laughter from both sides* Did it take you long to get here?”
FT: “No we had quite a good run (seemed everyone got here fine without traffic) how about you?”
Me: “Only about two and a half hours so quite good especially considering the M25”
FT: “Yeah that’s true, can be a bad bit of road”
*cue a bit of awkward silence before someone else comes in and this conversation is repeated again!*
We then received a small presentation explaining that we’re in good hands here in Coventry and then received our epaulettes, by way of a small ceremony. Epaulettes are the small black things often seen on the shoulders of pilots. A First Officer has one stripe, a Senior First Officer has 3 and a Captain 4. Because I’m a trainee, I have the L3Harris logo in white and a red plane underneath without any stripes!
Then we were split into two, us trainees were taken into what’s going to be our classroom and explained on how all stages of our course followed by what’s going to happen over the next few days. We then got briefed on the importance on speaking up and asking questions if were unsure and then got told about our uniform, how the fitting was going to work followed by how to wear it. Next we were explained a bit more about our accommodation and if we needed anything who to contact.
While we were receiving our brief, our friends and family were taken into a Q&A session in another room where they were further reassured we were going to be fine here at L3Harris and that its highly likely were going to struggle at some points on the course, whether its with work or emotionally, and that if/when we do that they will do their best to help us through it.
By now all of my nerves had disappeared and I was buzzing! Raring to go at this point and get started properly on my course. After a bit more mingling with my fellow course mates and their families we headed back to my accommodation where we said goodbye to one another before my parents headed back to the not so sunny Sussex.
With a bottle of champagne given to me after I left my work, I got closer to my new flatmates over a glass (that’s a really good way to make friends is share a glass of champagne if you’ve got one!) before talking about our backgrounds and how we’ve all always wanted to be a pilot since a young age.
In a WhatsApp group with some fellow trainees, we met at a local pub opposite the accommodation, and bonded a bit further over some food, getting to know each others backgrounds a bit more. Would highly recommend going out with your fellow course mates as soon as you can as that was a really good way of getting to know each other better.
Next stop and you guessed it, back to the accommodation or my new home for 29 weeks, where 3 out of the 5 of us sat in the communal kitchen and lounge area and talked a bit further before finally turning in for the night.
Now if you’re still with me, it was a full on day! But as I write this now, I cannot wait to get started properly on my course with my fellow course mates.
