Still alive...

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Geee- it really got a little dusty in here- huuh whats that? Must be the remainders of a pizza I had when I was writing the last blog- move along you filthy thing!

Ah well- no excuses...

A day out of a student pilots life. Chances are I will bore many of you to death. But since I haven't written a blog for quite some time I just wanted to give you the chance to take part on my life for a very brief time again. A lot has happened since the last blog- I know- much of that worth writing a blog. But since I'm a lazy ass I never „found the time“ (Yeah- whatever...!).
Anyway, for those of you who care- I am good, healthy, well fed and I've got a new uniform to show off with!!! I know I look good- but if you feel like telling me that the uniform suits me- please do so... :)

The type rating, which will (hopefully) qualify me to fly an Airbus 320 started in mid-august. Since most of you know that I have been waiting for almost 1,5 years (in words: one and a half years- or 18 month- thats some 540 days- equals 12960 hours...) for that to happen also know that I was eager when we finally got started. Four of us met that morning with all the officials and where greeted and given about 20 kg (or maybe 200kg???) of books and charts and stuff! Already next day we where supposed to sit our first simulator mission! ORSM! Not... why? Because we had lots to read and study and I didnt have a clue what exactly they wanted me to read etc. Well anyway it all went good and we had a lot of fun! Even though I must admit that the tower from which they threw us into the bitter cold water was fairly high. But as all of you know- there is nothing -absofu**inglutely nothing- a german officer cannot handle...! ;)

Since than my days look pretty much alike. If I dont fly early in the morning (which means I have to get up five-ish..:( ) I get up around eight o'clock. Thats not too bad. Usually my flatmate Mike already searches his books for answers only they can provide or he is sitting in the kitchen to have his early morning coffee. Mike is one of my friends I made during the pilots school in Bremen.

Before proceeding with the description of the day I need to tell you about the apartment I found. Since Mike and me are lazy buggers we needed a furnished place- I found a flat for a reasonable price which provided us with everything (well, almost everything- we need a dishwasher and a housemaid!- preferably around early 20's and blond with all the usual extras-> I mean the housemaid and not the dishwasher, in case some of you where wondering...) and in addition it has that orsm balcony which is big enough to house a major BBQ and party event. Its a shame that we have only limited time to make use of its partycapabilities- but chilling in the sun with a beer does a pretty good job as well.

Anyway, after getting some food and a coffee down my throat and cleaning my prestine body I am also ready to get started with studying. Every simulator mission needs to be prepared according to a syllabus. Everything new needs to be read and ideally understood as well and in the very best case we memorize most of it. Makes you passengers feel save? Well, what am I supposed to say? I will be flying a lot more than you...
But, no pain no gain! And in addition I must say that it is a lot of fun and very rewarding. The A320 is a fantastic airplane and we discover more of its capabilities with each new day. I wont go too much into detail since most of you are probably not too keen to know which pushbutton (Pb) is for what.

Usually we meet about an hour before the sim mission starts to brief the lesson. The instructors emphasize whats important (which is basically everything...great!...) and after that its time for a quick cup of coffee (I am not really into coffee, but the amount I already consume by now scares me- how will that end? I mean- later on I only have to push that one button and a bird gets me a freshly brewed coffee- or so I think) and we jump into the simulator for either a 2 or 4 hours session. The sim is pretty cool, it feels almost real (there is too much artificial stuff happening around me at the moment...). The screens in front of us make the scenery make look real and if we fly into turbulence we better make sure that we are strapped tight to our seats!

After all that there is another hour of debriefing. Which the instructors use to tell you what you did wrong and what you did right. Usually the first part takes about 55 minutes and the later fits in 5 minutes ;) But this system works pretty well, in that way I know on what to concentrate more etc.
Coming home means food and guess what- studying!
After that we do a little studying followed by more studying. Something really interesting and helpfull is „chairflying“. I sit in a chair and rehearse all the things I do and see and say during a flight in my mind. In that way I can train my brain and memory and prepare for the situations to come. That works really well and I have been doing that since Arizona and I can only recommend it, for it works with other stuff as well.

After that part of mental training (not only you think that at this point I start to get mental...) its time to nurish this god given, perfectly shaped body....
Now its time to relax for about 5 minutes at the max ;) -listening to music as loud as I possibly can does a pretty good job.
Finally I start to prepare the next simulator mission before going to bed.

Reading the last few sentences over again one could think that all of this is getting boring at some point- but it isn't! Trust me- every new day is a challenge and its fun to see that all that studying can be put to some use. The instructors and teammates are relaxed and friendly and make for a good learning atmosphere.
So the only thing I am missing at the moment is to go out every now and again- but I guess that will come back soon enough. I'm already thinking about planing my holidays for next year- so it aint that bad! :)

Alright- I guess thats it folks. A day in a student pilots life aint that extravagant as we all try to make it look. But it sure still is better than having to work ;)
I am open for any inputs and comments you may want to make- if you dare :)

One more thing- and this one goess out to all you Thailanders out there. I love you guys ;) and think back pretty often. So wherever you are THANX! and don't do anything I wouldn't do!
The rest of you may feel hugged and kissed as well!


It's time to move on- have a good one!

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