R2F's American Eagle Training Updates

Days 16 - 18
Sorry I haven't posted this week. HECTIC week! Trying to get squared away for my written exam tomorrow (Thursday). This'll be a 100 question multiple guess with an "essay" question wherein we have to list, ver batum, all five of our memory items. :D :D

More concerned about the mutliple choice. All who have come before have said it's going to be a non-event, but until it's over, it ain't over. Dig that scene? ;)

Back to this week: finished up my CBT's (thank God) and listened to lectures on FMS, the APU, Anit-Ice, Bleed Air, auto-pilot....yadda, yadda, yadda.

Monday, I was "there" in body but was suffering from a virus which I picked up from my son and wife during their visit this past weekend...so, needless to say, I wasn't there in spirit.... but I was "there."

We had two FMS labs this week and one CSI lab to throw into the mix. Starting to feel a little more comfortable with the two. It'll be nice to actually get to USE them in the sim next week..... provided I (a) pass the written, and (b) pass the oral on Monday.... which I plan on doing. :bandit:

For those who may be wondering - I'm still LOVING this!!! I'm tired. Very, very tired, but REALLY loving this "next step". Hope all who follow will have the same experience.

More later

R2F
 
sh*t, 14? Saab's got 16!

And our systems don't tell us what's wrong with them, just a ding ding ding and a bunch of lights on the overhead.

And I have to walk through 2 miles of snow in bare feet every morning just to get to the aircraft, ok just kidding.
 
I know I don't belong in this thread since I'm not in the airlines yet....but I sure am lookin' forward to posting these experiences when I get there, even the one when I'm unceremoniously given MY wings!!!:rawk:
 
Day 19
All who have come before have said it's going to be a non-event,
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Non-event my A$$!!!!!

Started out well. Screamed through the first 25 or so, then go bogged down for a couple in the next 25.... after that, the friggin' gloves came off.

In the end....after the test was graded..... I passed in the 90's... but I was PISSED at the ones I missed!!! I KNEW those items! But, hey....all we needed was an 80 to move on...so...bitching = done. ;)

Tonight, we actually don't have anything mandatory to do. Our oral is Monday and tomorrow, it's on baby!! :bandit:

Tomorrow, it's mock oral time, and some lecture time and then we sweat out the weekend until we have to regurgitate what it is we know or don't know.

We have to have the Limitations down pat - that's deal-maker or deal-breaker. We'll also have to go through our origination cockpit scan and answer questions about systems.

Cannot WAIT to get that done and get into the sim on Monday...but I have to get past it first, right? ;) As I said before... "until it's over, it ain't over...dig that scene?" :D

I'll fill ya'll in on Monday.

R2F
 
WAFlyBoy said:
Awe... poor guy!

j/k glad to hear you're doing well out there.
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Having a blast. I keep meaning to call you, but I some how never have the time left over at the end of the day. How's the new flight school?


Oh, and there are only three memory items that are "Oxygen mask/smoke goggles don + 100%, establish communications" thank-you-very-much. Now there are a lot of one liners and a couple that deal with the gear that are pretty close. :)
 
Red5xwingdriver said:
...even the one when I'm unceremoniously given MY wings!!!:rawk:
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I don't know if it is like this is most places, but day one of training they sort of dropped the wings and hat brass on our desks in little plastic baggies. It wasn't really anything. They handed them out with the insurance forms and contracts. The FAs make a big deal about getting their wings as they don't get them until they pass their line check but on the pilot side it seems to be just a part of the uniform.

R2F, nice getting through the written. I remember I bombed a few questions on mine that I was pretty upset about getting wrong. Write it off to stupid wording :). Good luck on the oral.
 
keep them coming boys, I really enjoy reading them and I am also learning a lot. Some really good stuff. by the way thanks for putting your time and posting these updates.
Good luck on everything!!!!!!
 
kellwolf said:
How's the new flight school?
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Things out here are great. Lots of fun, albeit challenging at times. Flying my ass off when the weather is good. (It's been an unusually wet winter.) It will be a few months before I get back into a twin though.

On the down side.... There's no Caves in Atwater and you can't even compare central CA chicks to Texas hotties. Oh well, you take some, you leave some.


kellwolf said:
Oh, and there are only three memory items that are "Oxygen mask/smoke goggles don + 100%, establish communications" thank-you-very-much. Now there are a lot of one liners and a couple that deal with the gear that are pretty close. :)
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Can't wait till I get to fly something that has an oxygen mask on board :)
 
Five memory items? I'm definately coming over to the CRJ when my seat lock is up, then.

By the way, I've not only got a hard line next month, but it's got 15 (!!) days off. I've been down here in San Juan two months, but there's also guys behind me with lines as well.

Good luck on the oral!
 
Yeah, we get zilch until we pass the checkride. No uniforms, no wings (which are only worn on the blazer anyway), no hat hardware, nothing until we get the blessing that we won't kill 53 (or 54 in case of a jumpseater) people in a blazing glory.

Past couple of days have been mostly review. We finished up the FCOM with water and waste, pneumatics and bleed air. Now we're cramming for the systems test on Tues, the memory items test, the limitations test and the oral.

I did finally get the rest of my schedule, but it is highly subject to change. I start my CPT training after a day off after the gauntlet of tests, my oral is scheduled for the 12th, I get three days off, then I start the 10 sim sessions. Checkride will either be May 8th or 9th (depending on whether I go first or my sim partner). Then I get one day of LOFT training, jumpseat on 4 legs to observe, then it's off to IOE.
 
thats awesome news about getting a line in 2 months in SJU. as for me i have only a phase check and then i have my checkride on monday. cannot wait to get out of this hotel with only a subway within walking distance. i should be in SJU for IOE in two weeks. hopefully i line by june or july.

adam
 
it depends where you are coming from. i live in NY and jetblue and american each have about 6 or 7 flight a day. a friend of mine got MIA awarded during training but wouldn't actually work there unitl july. but they actually just moved him up his transfer date to may. and he just finished IOE.
 
A lot of the east coast is OK for commuting, but anywhere else you're looking at two legs or only one or two flights a day. I've been semi-commuting to Tucson (3 times a month or so), and it's worked out OK even on reserve because I was 4 on 3 off for the most part. Eight hours each way is brutal, though.

Miami depends--the people who are getting it right out of class got lucky in their timing. Miami has been short FO's for a while--they were deadheading us up there quite a bit recently, but there's a lot of people moving up there now permanently. I hope to get it in another three or four months, but I guess it all depends.

-Zach
 
Day 20
Today was the oral exam. I had stressed, studied, and stressed so much for this thing that when it actually happened, it was a non-event. I was very, VERY prepared.

Started out with the memory items. Verbal this time instead of written. Got those with no muss, no fuss, no bother. ;)

Then, straight into the Limitations. Had to have those down too. I did pretty well. Stumbled on a couple, but quickly got my wheels back under neath me and that was done and over with in a matter of minutes.

After Limitations came systems. Had to get an 80 % or better on that. We were supposed to do our Cockpit Safety flow and Origination flow and have questions off of that, but since the instructor doing my oral had done some of my CSI's he said he knew I could do the flows, so he basically started at the top and worked his way down the panel asking questions such as:

If the IDG switch says "FAULT" what does that mean? What do you do?

If you have an APU AVAIL light and you select it and nothing happens, what does that mean? What can you do?

If the RTU's are inop, where can you tune your comm/navs?

There was a LOT more, but I'll not go into it ad nasium. Let's just say it was thorough and leave it at that.

Did pretty well there too. My roommate and I had worked on those for about 8 hours over the weekend.

Lastly came a Performance problem. My flight was from DFW to LIT.

Had to fill out the Manifest, get the Flex Thrust setting, the V speeds for T/O and Landing and the STAB Trim setting.

All said and done, It took about 1.75 hours and I was done.

Tomorrow, we go to the sim. First three days are pretty much FTD with little to no flying.

CANNOT WAIT!!!

More later!

R2F
 
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