Clouds..continue..  

Posted by y. 源

Clouds are classified into three general categories. Low Level, Medium Level, High Level, and Vertical Development Cloud.


Low Level:
- Stratus
- Stratocumulus
- Nimbostratus

Medium Level
- Altostratus
- Altocumulus

High Level
- Cirrus
- Cirrostratus
- Cirrocumulus

Vertical Development Cloud
- Cumulus
- Cumulonimbus




The word "strato" means layer, while "alto" means middle. "Nimbo" comes from the word nimbus meaning rain-bearing cloud. "Cirro" comes from the word Cirrus, meaning 'wisp of hair'.

I have included pictures according to the names above. So the next time you go out for a walk and look into the sky, you will be able to name the clouds you see!














Stratus








Stratocumulus
















nimbostratus














altocumulus










altostratus














Cirrus



















Cirrocumulus
















Cirrostratus


















Cumulus















Cumulonimbus



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Clouds Intro  

Posted by y. 源

If you have been following my blog, I am sure you have noticed that I have not been updating my blog for quite sometime already. Everyday is pretty much the same. You know, like wake up at 6.55am, breakfast at 7.20am, parade at 750am, class starts at 8.15am, lunch at 12.30pm, class resumes at 1.45pm, class ends at 5.00pm, online at crewroom until 7.00pm, dinner at 7.15pm, bath at 7.30pm, revision at 8.00pm, and finally sleep at 11.00pm.


Anyway, since today I am so bloody free and nothing to do, I shall share with you what I learned yesterday in Meteorology Class. Don't worry. I won't bore you with scientific terms. I will use layman terms here. =D

Topic: Clouds.

Clouds form due to a process called condensation, which water vapour in the air changes into the form of liquid known as water droplets. In this process, latent heat is released into the atmosphere. Whenever you order an iced drink, I am sure you have noticed water starts to form around the glass after some time, right? That's what we term as condensation.

Now, do you know that the air surrounding us contains water vapour? There are two types of air: Dry air and Saturated air. Dry air does not mean the air is totally dry! Air will never be totally dry as it will have some water vapour content in it no matter what. Saturated air means the parcel of air is full of water vapour.

The ability of a parcel of air to hold water vapour is dependent upon its temperature. The higher the temperature, the better is its abililty to hold water vapour. Dew point is the temperature for the water vapour to condense into water.


So far so good??


For the next post, it will be about the types of clouds in the sky. =D

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Winds eh...  

Posted by y. 源

Radio Aids result is out today. I scored 92%, made two mistakes out of 25 questions. This is the result of did not study enough. These two bloody questions are as follow:

Q: What is the meaning of Loaded Antenna?
A: An antenna with its natural wavelength is increased by having an inductance, or a capacitance or a combination of both.

Q:How to increase the brilliance of CRT?
A: By decreasing the negativity of the grid voltage.



Today's meteorology test has been postponed to next Tuesday by the instructor. Which means the test gonna include much more chapters than what was supposed to have. I still have few more days to study for the subject though. Meteorology this subject is kinda tough. Just by studying about wind, there are so many types of wind to talk about, namely: Geostrophic Wind, Gradient Wind, Surface Wind, Sea breeze, Land Breeze, Fohn Wind, Katabatic Wind, Anabatic Wind, Valley Wind, Gust, Lull, Gale, Squall, Hurricane, and Cyclone. That's alot eh. Oh yea, still got a few more. Jet streams and thermal wind too! Haha.

By the way , I thought I could get a day-off after Labour Day just to go back home. But I lost the "fight" against the principal. Hahaha. I only said ten words.


And he bombed me back with a hundred words. Goddamnit.

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Met, FP, Nav results out!  

Posted by y. 源

Second week of CA6 with 3 papers completed already and marks have been obtained as follows:

Meteorology: 83%
Flight Planning: 90%
Navigation: 91%

I could have scored higher in Navigation because I made a stupid mistake.

306-10=286

Haha. It was because I did not have time to re-check again my calculations. 35questions in 35minutes. The time given was just enough for me to finish the last question. As for flight planning, there was only 10 questions, so I suppose you can count how many questions I wrong. I have no excuse for my poor performance in Meteorology because I didn't read enough. So, I still need to put in more effort.

By the way, tomorrow got two tests summore. One is Radio Aids and the other one is Flight Planning. The latter is for those who failed on the first test. For those who passed, we still have to sit for it as an exercise. Thursday will be second progress test for Meteorology too. Damn.

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Etihad Cadet Pilot Recruitment 2008  

Posted by y. 源

Cadet Pilot ( 12 vacancies )

Department: Flight Operations
Location: Abu Dhabi
Expiry Date: 31/12/2008

Description:

If you’ve ever dreamt of becoming a pilot, then this could be your chance to train for a prestigious career with Etihad Airways.

Our new cadet pilot training programme based in the UAE, will be a full-time, 18-month course. Successful graduates can look forward to a rewarding career with Etihad Airways.

We are inviting applications for this programme and will commence assessing candidates throughout 2008.

Training

Flying and theoretical knowledge training shall be to the standard required to pass successfully Abu Dhabi General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) approved examinations for obtaining a frozen airline transport pilot license (ATPL). The cadet pilot shall be flight tested to the level of CPL (UAE GCAA approved commercial pilot license (aeroplane)) and IR (UAE GCAA approved instrument rating (aeroplane)) skills test. On passing successfully all relevant examinations and fulfilling all applicable requirements of the GCAA, cadet pilots will be awarded CPL licenses with IR privilege and frozen ATPL.

The cadet pilot’s license will be upgraded to an ATPL only after fulfilling all requirements of the GCAA including but not limited to achieving minimum flight hours applicable at the time of issuance of the ATPL and provided he/she attained the age of 21 and passed the IR skills test. These entitlements are subject to change by the GCAA as necessary.

Minimum Service Period

Cadet pilots are required to serve the company as a pilot or any other position determined by the Company in its sole discretion, for a minimum period of 72 months from the date of successfully completing the training and receiving frozen ATPL.

Medical Examination

Cadet pilots will be required to undertake and pass the company’s standard medical and dental examinations prior to joining. Cadet pilots will also be required to undertake and pass the UAE government standard medical examination and the GCAA medical examination. Details will be given during a briefing prior to joining the programme.

Sponsorship and Guarantees

The company shall sponsor the cadets participation in the programme by covering the cost which shall not exceed a maximum amount of AED 500,000 (the “sponsorship cost”).

The company shall be entitled to recover from the cadet on demand the sponsorship cost on a pro rata basis (i.e in proportion to the sponsorship cost incurred by the company to sponsor participation in the programme). If, prior to the successful completion of the programme the cadet:

-fails to comply with any of the employment obligations and training attendance requirements;
-is for any reason expelled or prohibited from continuing the training and/or fails to complete the training within the period specified;
-fails to pass satisfactorily any final GCAA examination given by the training provider as per the GCAA regulation and as a result participation in the programme is discontinued;
-fails to achieve the minimum requirement of the training; make unsatisfactory progress with any aspect of the training or fails to display the necessary aptitude for the training; or discontinues, suspends or terminates training at any time before completion of the programme.

The company shall be entitled to recover the sponsorship cost in full (and subject to any right of set off as stated in the joining contract) if after completion of the programme, the cadet fails to comply with any of the stated obligations in the joining contract.

Participation in the cadet pilot programme is subject to (a) ability to obtain all required security clearances and medical approvals from the GCAA or other relevant authorities as may be required from time to time by the company and (b) furnishing of appropriate guarantee acceptable to the company and such guarantee remain


Qualifications:

Etihad is an equal opportunities employer and encourages both male and female applicants to apply. Candidates should be:

• between 18-26 years old
• medically fit to fly
• accredited secondary school diploma or higher with proven pass grades in Physics, Mathematics and English


Salary & Benefits:

Salary

A monthly stipend of AED 6,000 will be paid to cadets subject to the cadet pilot’s participation in the cadet pilot programme in accordance with the employment contract.

Accommodation & Transportation

At no cost to the cadet pilot, the company will ensure the provision of accommodation in Al Ain United Arab Emirates and transportation from the place of accommodation to the place where the training is given. The cadet pilot will not be entitled to any housing or transportation allowances in lieu of the accommodation and transportation offered under this provision.

Application Procedure

If you meet the above criteria and want to give wings to your dreams, please click on the “Apply Now” link below.

Please Note: The application is designed for experienced pilots, so there is some information that will not apply to you. Please follow the application instructions as mentioned below.

Complete the following sections:
Contact Information
Personal Details
Language Skills
Reference

Provide “0” for numbers or “NA” for text in the following sections:
Employment Details and History (Unless you have previous Pilot experience)
Current License Details (Unless you have a current Pilot’s license)
Flying School (Unless you have attended a flying school)

Please attach your current CV in the Documents Upload section. Select “Copy of License” as the category from the pull-down menu but attach your CV instead.




If you wish to apply, go to this link: http://careers.etihadairways.com/ehire/english/careers/jobDetails.aspx

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Ground school..  

Posted by y. 源

Yesterday was the first day of CA6, instructor already told us that we will have our first progress test next Monday. What a wonderful life! I love progress tests!! Oh man....

By the way, we also have received a total of 11 books which includes subjects such as Flight Planning, Basic Instruments, Advanced Instruments, Navigation, Radio Navigation and Meteorology Theory&Practical. Classes also has started on the first day too with most of the instructors refreshed us back about the basic we learned in PPL stage. My knowledge about the usage of CRP5 has somehow became rusty already. Haha. No surprise at all since I didn't revise on it during my PPL flying phase.

Today second day of CA6, I found out that the CRP5 is really being used in most of the subjects like Flight Planning and Navigation, where we have to calculate the Fuel Requirement, Heading, Track, Wind Velocity, Density Altitude, Pressure Altitude, Conversion units, etc. Quite a headache. But I guess everything gonna be alright when I master the CRP5.

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Are you kidding me???!  

Posted by y. 源

It's Saturday morning and the electricity is out!! Goddamnit. I know the school cuts our electricity during weekdays morning till noon. But I didn't know that they even cut it during weekend! Bloody hell. I had been in the hangar every weekend morning for the past two months, that was why I had no clue the school has gone to such an extent to cut cost. I was bathing at 8am and suddenly the lights went out. I can't do my laundry. Washing machine was spinning for 5minutes before it stopped dead. My clothes are still inside there, waiting for electricity to come. Oh yea, I can't boil water for a cup of hot Milo too. I ate only a few biscuits with plain water and then came to this crewroom to online.


Basically crewroom is my last lepak place to seek 'refuge'.


Pathetic, isn't it?


That's is the way of life at here, to those who still think this place is cool. Haha. My tolerance level has also increased significantly, thanks to the school's cost cutting measures. How long can I survive at here, I wonder.

Anyway, my progress now is still on track. Keeping my fingers crossed, I might be able to graduate May '09. Many of the senior batches are already not happy with us, especially those who come from the same company as us. Why, you ask? Isn't is obvious? One, we juniors who came much later than them gonna graduate earlier than them. Two, we are in the top priority list to fly. Three, when we go back to report for work after graduation, our seniority level is higher than them. For your info, this company of mine gives promotion based on seniority and not looking at performance.


And oh yea, some good news here:




31 Mar, 2008
MALAYSIA AIRLINES TO BUY UP TO 55 BOEING 737-800 AT USD4.2 BILLION, TAKES DELIVERY OF A380 IN 2011

Subang: Malaysia Airlines today announced its narrowbody fleet acquisition plan which saw the national carrier ordering up to 55 B737-800 aircraft. The national carrier will also take delivery of 6 A380-800 in 2011.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sri Idris Jala said, “Under our Business Transformation Plan, we are embarking on our network expansion to transform into the World’s Five Star Value Carrier.

“I am very excited with these developments as these new fleets will both form a strong platform for Malaysia Airlines to profitably grow. The deliveries will not happen for a few years yet, when the weakness in the global economy should be less of a concern.

“We have placed a firm order for 35 B737-800 with an option for another 20 aircraft. The total cost of the 55 aircraft is USD4.2 billion at list prices.

“We expect to take delivery of the first aircraft from September 2010 onwards, which will be used to replace our existing B737-400 fleet and to allow us to expand to points which were not previously economically viable.”

Malaysia Airlines also have the option to swap the B737-800 to the larger B737-900.

He also said, “These aircraft will be used mainly for the ASEAN region, including the domestic sector in Malaysia and the fast growing economies of China and India. Clearly, we are now gearing ourselves to benefit from the growth of this region which is projected at around 6 percent per annum.

“As our aim is to ensure that the aircraft for the core network will always be the latest in terms of technology, we will likely partially purchase the B737-800 on our own and partially lease them as that would give us the flexibility to manage our balance sheet and financing commitments, and to sell some of them when the timing is right.”

Jala also announced that Malaysia Airlines will take delivery of all 6 A380-800 in 2011, with the first aircraft to be delivered in January and the sixth in August.

“After extensive discussions with Airbus and Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad, we have agreed on the terms for the delayed delivery of the 6 A380-800 aircraft ordered by PMB in 2003. The terms include an agreed amount of compensation for the delay.”

The 6 A380-800 aircraft was supposed to have been delivered from January 2007 to December 2008.

Jala added, “I think today is a good day for Malaysia Airlines, Airbus and Boeing. We kept the A380 on terms that are win-win for us and Airbus. We placed narrowbody jet orders with Boeing. We are happy to work with both aircraft manufacturers.

“We are now looking at the widebody aircraft replacement and will intensify our discussions with the manufacturers. This is again an opportunity for both Airbus and Boeing to make their best pitch for our business. Malaysia Airlines is committed to expand its network for the medium and long haul market.”


Issued by: Media Relations Unit, Communications Division, Malaysia Airlines, Subang





click here to view the photos of B737-800.


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Flight Day 37  

Posted by y. 源

Ladies and gentlemen....


I have PASSED my PT1!!!! Hahahhahha!!! I yesterday night couldn't sleep much. The stress level was bloody high, you know. Each and every minute was like a year to me. I kept thinking of what kinda questions he was going to ask. And I was like doing thousands of mental flying already!

My batchmate who was also having the same examiner as me also passed this flying exam! Congrats to him too and congrats to me!! =D =D

As always, below is the summary of what I have done generally today in the training area for PT1.

Medium Turn - 180degress turn left and right.

Steep Turn - 360 degrees turn left and right.

Stall - Clean Stall, Dirty Stall (Landing Flaps configuration), Approach Configuration Stall (simulate downwind-base-final).

Instrument Flying - Climbing, Descending, Climbing Turn, Descending Turn.

PFL - at training area and overhead airfield.

Circuit - Flapless, glide, normal.



All these air exercises took an hour and a half to finish. So now my flying hours now is officially 39hours 50minutes. Although it's short of 2hours of 10 minutes to get my license according to the DCA, but the Chief Flying Instructor said that it's ok and I still can obtain the license. But I will have to use up the remaining hours in my CPL flying stage.

Now is relax time. What to do next? Sleep? Eat nice food? I think I should go wash my clothes first. No transport, I wanna go out to buy food also cannot. Sad case. Anyway, with this, I shall conclude that my PPL flying stage has finally come to an end and the next ground school stage (3 months) is coming soon. Real soon.

Next Monday: CA6

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Not my day..but..  

Posted by y. 源

I was supposed to do my PT1 today. Again, I was re-scheduled for tomorrow. And the best part is, I will have a DCA Captain as my Examiner! Do I sound like I am happy or what?

Honestly I am not, guys. One, I dunno what to expect when I am flying with him. Two, I heard that he is much stricter than any other instructors in my school.

Damn!! The reason why the DCA sent their staff here to do our PT1 is perhaps they don't trust the authorized examiner (AE) from our school. My other batch mates all got the AE to do their PT1 for them. But luckily I am not the only one. I have another batchmate here whose PT1 will also be conducted by the DCA guy tomorrow. So we are now like guinea pigs as no one else has ever done their PTs under a DCA Captain.

If I can pass this PT1, I tell you, I gonna treat myself some delicious food!!!!! I can't think of any food yet. Maybe food related to pork, i guess. =D

I've prepared everything already. Theory of Flight book and the emergency procedures are all inside my stomach now. Yes, I "burned the papers and boiled the ashes with hot water and drank" it. And tomorrow if the examiner asks me, I gonna vomit out all those stuffs in front of him!!! Bloody hell...........


Anyway, below here are some other emergency procedures that I would like to share here. It might sound pointless to some of you, but you can close this window if you don't want to continue reading this.


Total Electric Failure:
1) Circuits Breakers check all IN.
2) Essential Bus ON.
3) If no success, Emergency Switch ON.
4) Flood Light ON.
5) Power set according to engine noise and/or power lever position.
6) Verify flaps position.


Windmill Engine Start:
1) Attitude select 75kts
2) Power lever IDLE
3) Emergency Fuel Valve check NORMAL
4) Alternate Air OPEN
5) Fuel Transfer Pump ON
6) Avionics Master OFF
7) Electric Master ON
8) Engine Master OFF then ON
9) Avionics Master ON.


Powered Engine Start:
1) Attitude select 75kts
2) Engine Master OFF
3) Power Lever IDLE
4) Emergency Fuel Valve check NORMAL
5) Alternate Air OPEN
6) Fuel Transfer Pump ON
7) Avionics Master OFF
8) Electric Master ON
9) Engine Master ON, check Glow Light ON, then wait for Glow Light OFF.
10) Electric Master START
11) Avionics Master ON.

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Flight Day 36  

Posted by y. 源

Guess what, guys. I have finished my last two sorties already!! Those two are Nav4 (solo) and GH11 (dual). Remember the previous post I mentioned that my Nav4 was cancelled due to my RT mistakes? Yeah, so I had fly Nav4 again today to complete it. The weather today in the morning was damn good. There was not much of low clouds. Bright sunny day!

But when evening came, bad weather kicked in. It started to drizzle and then thick cumulonimbus was hovering over the aerodrome. I thought my GH11 gonna be cancelled for today. But, my instructor said that we would just gonna give it a try. If it's really that bad, we will just turn back to land.

For GH11, it was sort of like a check whether I can go for PT1 (Progress Test 1) or not. I am not sure I've mentioned this before but PT1 is the flight exam for cadet pilots to get their Private Pilot License (PPL) license. Of course, there are many more PTs and those are in Commercial Pilot License (CPL) stage.

My GH11 was not that bad. Main mistakes were more to Practice Forced Landing (PFL) at training area and airfield where I could not maintain 75kts. This speed is the best gliding speed for DA-40. I could only maintain the airspeed for 70% of the time. Reason, I chased the airspeed indicator's needle. So I was like going 80kts, then 70kts, 80kts, 70kts. Although I could make it to the place I wanna land, but still I think I could have performed better. The solution for that mistake is to select an attitude, hold, then refer to instruments, adjust if necessary and lastly trim.

Another mistake was the Approach Configuration Stall. This air exercise was actually conducted in a different manner from what I knew. Just like the name, we have to simulate downwind-base-final at the training area.

Downwind: 60% power, check Engine parameters, check annunciator panel, speed<108kts,>

Base: Landing&taxi lights on, maintain 85kts, power maintain 10-20%.

Final: Power as required, airspeed 80kts, put landing flaps, then inform your instructor that you are too low on final, pull back the control stick, wait until the stall warning comes.

Recovery from stall: The moment the stall warning is heard, apply full power, reduce the back pressure at the control stick, check airspeed alive, put flaps to take-off position, after passing 400ft from the simulated runway altitude, landing&taxy lights off, check airspeed >75kts, Vertical Speed Indicator check positive rate of climb, then finally put the flaps up to zero position and climb out at 80kts with full power to regain the height loss.




Kinda confusing to some of you, I know. Especially to those who do not have any flying experience. Haha. By the way, my PT1 will be on this Thursday! Tomorrow is an off-day but I still need to go to hangar from 7-30am to 5pm. Since I got nothing to do there, I am gonna brush up on my Emergency Checklist procedures and simulate flying in my head. Oh yea, if you are free, pray for me so that I can pass the test too! Thanks! =D

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