The end is near

One and a half weeks to the flight test. Hmmm. Before then I have one flight left to pull it all together. This is going to be some sort of magic show, it really doesn't get any easier. Most of the work left to be done revolves around study, with aviation law featuring quite prominently here. There is so much fine print about what can and can not be done. It's endless. And of course there is a lot of study to be done about the aircraft itself, knowing it inside and out. The list of questions which the examiner can ask on the day is endless. When I did my instructors' rating, if I asked "what do I have to know to pass this test?", the answer would have simply been "all of it". In some respects this flight test and any other flight test is the same. There is no point in going into battle ill prepared, so just learn it all. It's terrifying, there are so many ways to screw it up. I am sure once it's all over I'll look back and think that it wasn't so bad. Yeah right.

When I started this blog I talked about the emotional/psychological aspect of this industry. The best term that I can come up with is "emotional rollercoaster ride". I have tried, but I can not find any other term which sums it up so well. At every step along the way there really is no grey area, it is very black and white. In the past week there have been a few flight tests, and I have seen the total elation of passing, and the despair of having to do it all over again. It's heartbreaking. Even when just having lessons there are not many grey areas. Either the flights were great, or they were crap, "okay" just doesn't come into it.

As you can imagine, while eating sleeping breathing this aviation emotional rollercoaster ride, if the rest of your life is going ok then it's not too bad. However, if a spanner gets thrown in the works of some other aspect of your life then it rocks your world. I saw it first hand a few weeks ago with one of my classmates. It was soul destroying, to be there at the moment when the bottom fell out of his world. Suddenly priorities change, and aviation doesn't seem so important any more. The important thing however is not how these hurdles are dealt with at the time, but that with time we do get back up on that horse and go forth. I am happy to report that he is indeed back on the horse and is riding on.

For myself, this week my world was rocked. I have had several challenges outside of aviation since I have been here, and for each it is a matter of adapting to the situation. This week however was pretty tough. It changes your perspective about what is really important. The reality though is that there is a job to do, so we just have to continue and get it done. One of the subjects we study as part of our licences is Human Factors (aviation psychology). Simply put human factors recognises the human component in flying, whether it be from a purely practical standpoint looking at how the person fits inside the cockpit, or from a psychological view at how factors both inside and outside of aviation affects the pilot. This has become increasingly important as investigators look at aircraft accidents and determine what was the real cause. So it is always important to keep the human factor in mind when flying.

From a practical view IFR requires a clear head. During the flight there is a lot going on and lots of checks and procedures to follow, not to mention a few calculations to be made. So if your head is not totally on the job it ain't easy. I got through, but at the time I just wanted to flag it, to do it on another day. I guess at the end of the day I have a job to do and just have to get on with it. It's all about prioritising. Right now I'll get the job done, and when the time is right I'll deal with the other issues.

Ok, enough psychology. Since my last blog entry I have had three IFR cross country flights, one in the Cutlass, and two in the Seneca. The last couple of flights have pulled it all together, with instrument approaches while one engine is shut down. It's a circus. Actually, an engine failure on the approach isn't too bad. More of a freakshow is having an engine failure shortly after takeoff. At that moment I'm still getting into the groove of the flight and the aircraft is at a high power setting with a high nose attitude, so when that engine shuts down it's all on!

At each stage I have found different areas of the flights difficult. The satisfying thing about this is learning from it and being able to do it better next time. One area I am finding a bit difficult at the moment is having to have several plans of attack in my head for the flight. While flying back to Nelson back from Paraparaumu there is more than one approach that can be performed, and it depends on what the controller will give us at the time as they deal with shuffling air traffic around. My last flight was no exception, with my approach changing a couple of times as air traffic control deal with their own issues and moved us around the sky as they saw fit. Ahhhh it's all character building. And I have a number of characters built in my head all arguing amongst themselves!

So that's been my past few weeks. Rollecoaster ride indeed. And I am sure that it's going to continue on this path to the end. Ohhh yeah, bring it on!!