Beginning of the Bournemouth training

So I have been in Bournemouth for a week and a half now, meaning I am well into the simulator sorties. The initial two days were ground school - going over any differences from both procedures and how things work in the UK. The radio calls vary quite a lot compared to New Zealand and time is even more precious than in NZ due to the busier airspace - we need to be as concise and accurate as possible.

The first four simulator sessions are pretty much to help get back into the swing of instrument flying, consisting primarily of various VOR, NDB and ILS procedures. We have used Cardiff, Bristol and Bournemouth airports so far, with Cardiff and Bristol both being potential IR test routes.

The next sim which I have tomorrow is an autopilot flight. We are going to try using the autopilot for things we haven't tried so far - approaches, for example. Hopefully will be a fun flight!

After this, there are four LOFT sims. LOFT is Line Orientated Flight Training - basically single pilot commercial operation flights. One includes taking off from Heathrow, which in a Twinstar could be a laugh! The flights will include various scenarios which will require us to make firm, 'Captain-like" decisions, such as diverting. They are going to be hard work, but also sound like a lot of fun!

Once these are done we are onto the IR routes, which means that we prepare to get back into the aircraft (which I cannot wait for!). It seems the IR exam will be here in no time...

CTC's Bournemouth training centre is great - it is a very professional environment and has many extremely experienced instructors sitting inside of it to help us! The traffic we get is great and I have yet to tire of seeing the companies private jets; seeing these and the other jets go past is still a novelty; I am used to Dash 8s and ATRs!

Also, I made a little video putting together my New Zealand flying - hope you enjoy!