Okay… the first blog was much easier to start than this one. I’ve been sitting around for about 5 minutes now trying to think of a creative title and way to open this entry. Not working. Coming back to what I said in my opening, I don’t want to be too “try hard” – just simply convey the journey that I’m on. So bugger the creativeness (I’ve saved this entry as “SGBlog_Entry 2”), let’s get straight to the nitty-gritty!
It’s been an exciting weekend with a good quantity of constructive practice in the Instrument Proficiency Trainer (IPT) and a good dose of exploring this region of Australia that I am presently in.
Friday morning was spent in the IPT from 0800 – 1200 completing much needed rehearsal and consolidation of normal procedures in the LJ45. It's a virtual world with no exterior views, control columns - just a cockpit. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve “conquered” the normal checklists from before start till shutdown. We’re needing to work on the transition altitude checks – haven’t bothered to go that high yet because all the sectors thus far attempted are between MCY and BNE – a mere distance of 112 km. 7000ft has been sufficient – not higher than the trips in the Baron back in Perth!
On a break in our IPT session, we even managed to get airside for some shots with the Learjet. The aircraft is even better up close and in the sunshine.
The Simfinity IPT is provided by CAE – I believe it came along with SIM B. It’s a really neat concept that allows pilots to train for normal procedures during early training as well as gaining a good understanding of the intricacy of the avionics and EFIS. I’ve been exposed to EFIS/FMS instrument panels in the past with my love affinity for Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, this brings it to a whole new level! I would kill for one of these devices in my house and hook up multiple monitors for external views and link it with MSFS9. It’s really superb – all instruments and switches are functional.
Soft white sand, crystal clear waters (no seaweed), small gentle waves and hundreds of people crowded this place. Yes. We were in Noosa! I couldn’t believe it. Traversing the beach and taking a walk in the water were extremely refreshing even though the water was a bit cold – but the sand was so fine and soft it felt as if you were walking on slightly coarse bed of talcum powder. There was no rocks even in the sand – just pure white sand!! Unbelievable!
It’s been an exciting weekend with a good quantity of constructive practice in the Instrument Proficiency Trainer (IPT) and a good dose of exploring this region of Australia that I am presently in.
Friday morning was spent in the IPT from 0800 – 1200 completing much needed rehearsal and consolidation of normal procedures in the LJ45. It's a virtual world with no exterior views, control columns - just a cockpit. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve “conquered” the normal checklists from before start till shutdown. We’re needing to work on the transition altitude checks – haven’t bothered to go that high yet because all the sectors thus far attempted are between MCY and BNE – a mere distance of 112 km. 7000ft has been sufficient – not higher than the trips in the Baron back in Perth!
On a break in our IPT session, we even managed to get airside for some shots with the Learjet. The aircraft is even better up close and in the sunshine.
The Simfinity IPT is provided by CAE – I believe it came along with SIM B. It’s a really neat concept that allows pilots to train for normal procedures during early training as well as gaining a good understanding of the intricacy of the avionics and EFIS. I’ve been exposed to EFIS/FMS instrument panels in the past with my love affinity for Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, this brings it to a whole new level! I would kill for one of these devices in my house and hook up multiple monitors for external views and link it with MSFS9. It’s really superb – all instruments and switches are functional.
However, the FMS is not FULLY functional – which is a bit of a downer because this is considered quite essential for our training and future careers. The FMS or Flight Management System is basically a super computer that allows the programming of lateral and vertical flight data, departures, arrivals and approaches etc etc. It integrates with the Flight Guidance System or “George” (that’s the name given to the Autopilot) to provide precise automated* navigation and flight (*no autothrottle in the LJ45). Of course, we still learn to fly this beautiful airplane “stick & rudder”, as we will the wide-bodies – but this gives us a platform to get used to deriving maximum benefit from available aircraft systems and maximise our Situational Awareness (SA) – e.g. flying in congested airspace and multi-tasking communications, traffic separation, and setting up the aircraft for arrivals/departures, “George” comes in handy!
I digress – The other annoying thing about the IPT is that only one person can touch it at a time. So procedurally, we know what we have to do, and at times (a lot of times) we have to be doing things simultaneously (i.e. the PF and PNF duties) – but the IPT doesn’t let us do that. It’s one at a time. And boy, do we constantly forget that. Hehehe. Imagine trying to adjust the heading whilst your PNF is setting up the approach. Each time you touch the displays, you cut him off, and vice versa – and the plane is flying at 8 miles a minute! Cilaka! The upside to all this is that it has made us fast with the checks and setting up. Oh, one more annoying thing – all the turn knobs don’t work as they do in the cockpit – imagine having to tap the monitor furiously to get your heading bug to move from 000 to 250. My guy’s will see when they arrive.. but here’s the warning for you guys anyway!
So after conducting multiple ILS’ at Brisbane and shutting down the aircraft, we left the college and pondered our Friday afternoon. The sun was shining bright, it was lunchtime and we were hungry. Hmm, things were adding up here. Where could we go to enjoy the sun and fill up our stomachs and have a light discussion on the last four hours of training?
The answer was as clear as the beach water we were about to see…
NOOSA – The OC of Queensland!
BUS – AUD$4.80 one way.
CAMERA – Charged
SENSE OF ADVENTURE – PRICELESS!
The bus trip took us along the coast from Mudjimba (where Pacific Paradise Resort and the airport is located), up to Mount Coolum, Coolum and finally Noosa Heads. All in all a 40 km journey – completed in 45 minutes. Mount Coolum is even more majestic from it’s base – we are sure to conquer this mountain in the next few weeks. The town of Coolum is spectacular with the waters of the South Pacific smashing against majestic rock cliffs. Aloof this cliffs and winding with the coast line are man-made wooden walkways with lookout points and park benches and tables located at periodic intervals. These were interlaced with landscaped gardens and grassed areas. The beach – being school holidays – was crowded, in fact packed with school kids and families. The Surf Life Saving Club gave me that “Home & Away” kind of feeling. Coolum was nice – an improvement from what we saw last week at Mooloolaba Beach.
Like most stories, the best was yet to come. When we got to Noosa Heads Interchange, we were at first a little bewildered at where we were. We couldn’t see a beach, there were large hills all around with the occasional mansion built along the slopes. Those looked nice, OC-replica living up to its name. Quick look at a tourist map and we discovered the main street was a little walk ahead – so we made our way to Hastings Street. Wow! OK, the sikit atas image became apparent as soon as we made our way onto Hastings street. You knew it was posh from the pedestrian sidewalks. Low rise apartments and hotels lined either side of the street interlaced with high society shops and the odd restaurant. A path to the beach was found and we followed the crowd to be found in awe and dumbstruck when we saw this:
I digress – The other annoying thing about the IPT is that only one person can touch it at a time. So procedurally, we know what we have to do, and at times (a lot of times) we have to be doing things simultaneously (i.e. the PF and PNF duties) – but the IPT doesn’t let us do that. It’s one at a time. And boy, do we constantly forget that. Hehehe. Imagine trying to adjust the heading whilst your PNF is setting up the approach. Each time you touch the displays, you cut him off, and vice versa – and the plane is flying at 8 miles a minute! Cilaka! The upside to all this is that it has made us fast with the checks and setting up. Oh, one more annoying thing – all the turn knobs don’t work as they do in the cockpit – imagine having to tap the monitor furiously to get your heading bug to move from 000 to 250. My guy’s will see when they arrive.. but here’s the warning for you guys anyway!
So after conducting multiple ILS’ at Brisbane and shutting down the aircraft, we left the college and pondered our Friday afternoon. The sun was shining bright, it was lunchtime and we were hungry. Hmm, things were adding up here. Where could we go to enjoy the sun and fill up our stomachs and have a light discussion on the last four hours of training?
The answer was as clear as the beach water we were about to see…
NOOSA – The OC of Queensland!
BUS – AUD$4.80 one way.
CAMERA – Charged
SENSE OF ADVENTURE – PRICELESS!
The bus trip took us along the coast from Mudjimba (where Pacific Paradise Resort and the airport is located), up to Mount Coolum, Coolum and finally Noosa Heads. All in all a 40 km journey – completed in 45 minutes. Mount Coolum is even more majestic from it’s base – we are sure to conquer this mountain in the next few weeks. The town of Coolum is spectacular with the waters of the South Pacific smashing against majestic rock cliffs. Aloof this cliffs and winding with the coast line are man-made wooden walkways with lookout points and park benches and tables located at periodic intervals. These were interlaced with landscaped gardens and grassed areas. The beach – being school holidays – was crowded, in fact packed with school kids and families. The Surf Life Saving Club gave me that “Home & Away” kind of feeling. Coolum was nice – an improvement from what we saw last week at Mooloolaba Beach.
Like most stories, the best was yet to come. When we got to Noosa Heads Interchange, we were at first a little bewildered at where we were. We couldn’t see a beach, there were large hills all around with the occasional mansion built along the slopes. Those looked nice, OC-replica living up to its name. Quick look at a tourist map and we discovered the main street was a little walk ahead – so we made our way to Hastings Street. Wow! OK, the sikit atas image became apparent as soon as we made our way onto Hastings street. You knew it was posh from the pedestrian sidewalks. Low rise apartments and hotels lined either side of the street interlaced with high society shops and the odd restaurant. A path to the beach was found and we followed the crowd to be found in awe and dumbstruck when we saw this:
Soft white sand, crystal clear waters (no seaweed), small gentle waves and hundreds of people crowded this place. Yes. We were in Noosa! I couldn’t believe it. Traversing the beach and taking a walk in the water were extremely refreshing even though the water was a bit cold – but the sand was so fine and soft it felt as if you were walking on slightly coarse bed of talcum powder. There was no rocks even in the sand – just pure white sand!! Unbelievable!
We found a nice place and chilled for 3 hours and discussed our surroundings and procedures – what an environment! We minimised time on procedures to enjoy ourselves more.
We’re definitely coming back to Noosa to spend a day lazing at the beach – maybe after the base check – we’ll see how time goes. Jen, I found a good place for holiday!!
We’re definitely coming back to Noosa to spend a day lazing at the beach – maybe after the base check – we’ll see how time goes. Jen, I found a good place for holiday!!
To be continued…
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