So I am coming towards the end of my IFR training in New Zealand. This all gets put on hold for just over a month while we focus on the CPL test, which is a VFR examination. To clarify, the IFR routes we have been doing in the Twinstar for the last few weeks are all based around following signals from radio beacons or GPS signals and can therefore be achieved in weather conditions that have no external references (provided the runway can be sighted prior to landing according to aerodrome specific minima). The weather for the last few weeks has actually been fantastic so we simulate the conditions by putting up screens in the cockpit or wearing a hood.
The CPL test is different. Oddly, it tests skills that we will never directly use in our entire career as airline pilots. The sections of the test include Visual Navigation (never do that), circuits at an aerodrome (never do that), steep turns (beyond 45 degrees angle of bank - never do that) etc. So why sit the test? 1. We have to. 2. It tests your general ability to handle an aircraft, make assertive, safe decisions and sets a standard of flying that acts as a foundation for the Instrument Rating (which is really what we've been training for in the last few weeks). Some airlines are moving away from this style of training, which you might consider to be the more traditional route, and using the MPL route which focuses on a multi-crew, commercial perspective from day one rather than the single-pilot operation that we are ultimately being trained for. Both routes have their positives and negatives but, while I am nervous about the impending flight test, passing hurdles as significant as this along the way is part of being a pilot and will continue to be so throughout our careers. So I just have to pull myself together and get on with it!
I've got another 3 IFR routes to do but have been lucky enough on the last few to be put in an aircraft with the instructor and two other cadets, offering the chance to go a little further afield. Here are some shots from those trips:
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Back at Hamilton after the first trip while Tom flies the 36R VOR holding pattern
Departing Napier via the missed approach for runway 34, heading to Palmerston North
Our own personal Jet A1 refuelling truck at Palmerston North
Departing Palmerston North, heading for Wellington International (NZWN)
The Cook Strait, being asked to orbit in between commercial flights
Heading in for the ILS from the hold
Tom established on the ILS DME, runway 34 at NZWN
Safely back at Hamilton after a 14hr working day!
