Sorry it's very late and written by past Emily

(I’m so sorry about my lack of posting, it’s literally been so far from my mind this past month and I’ve just been hoping to pass my finals! I tend to jot things down on word before I ‘publish’ the blog post on here so I’m going to upload what I’ve got, sorry it’s a little past the time I meant for it to be. I think this one was about a month ago; time flies!)

At only 8 teaching weeks long phase 2 definitely seems too short, I’m genuinely getting a little worried about the amount of information I’m going to have to cram in before School Finals, which are on Wednesday! We’ve had our last full teaching day at school and it’s actually kind of sad, I’m really going to miss seeing our instructors every day; they’ve all been brilliant! It’s scary that we’re now the top of the timetable list and therefore the next course to sit exams, you never feel like it’s going to come around but 6 months really does go fast.

We have a couple of revision sessions on Monday, Tuesday off, Wednesday & Thursday school finals then debriefs on Friday. It’s sort of an Oxford tradition for people to dress up on their last day of ground school so we’ll be going with the Snow White and the Seven dwarfs theme (as there’s still only 8 of us) though it’ll look a little different from the classic. Pictures next time ;)

After that we’ve got a week off for study leave before EASAs, I’m debating whether I’ll get more work done if I go home or not. It’s a little annoying that our Visa interviews fall on the Monday which means a trip down to London (for 8am?!) when we could be studying. Needs to be done I suppose…. There was a lot of paperwork for the VISAs, part of it meant putting down everywhere you’ve lived in the past 5 years for more than one month. I realised I have had 8 different addresses; with uni and summer camps in America I’ve really not been too settled. We also had to register for the different types of aircraft we’ll be flying whilst over there which is kind of exciting. We have the PA28s and PA44s whilst we’re out in Phoenix. I still can’t believe I’m actually here in Oxford but it’s getting more and more real by the day now!

My EASAs start on Monday 2^nd March and I’ll be doing two of the same subjects as my little brother who started at CTC in January but they do ground school in a slightly different order. Just in case I wasn’t feeling the pressure before let’s add a little sibling rivalry into the mix!

There was an open day last weekend so of course I volunteered. It was less busy than normal as it was only a short day but BA made an announcement about their new FPP program. I even got to see some familiar faces who I’d met at previous open days and a couple of people who actually read this blog, I was so thrilled J

My plan for the rest of the day is to hammer out questions on Aviation exam. I think the most difficult subject is Performance and the one I like least is Air Law (way too many numbers and figures to remember). I was wrong about my prediction with Flight Planning, it’s actually one of the more fun subjects. Wish me luck for exams, I definitely don’t feel prepared!

Phase 2 is going way too fast!

In week 4 of phase 2 (much sooner than with phase 1 and we had 2 weeks off at Christmas) we began our Test 2s! I'm now about to start week 6 and still have Ops to do but so far I've passed all of them and have an 86% average. My worst mark was in Flight Planning (79%) but I felt it was more because of the length and time of the exam as oppose to my actual ability. Flight Planning is a subject where there are a lot of different sections and calculations to do, as well as using the graphs in the CAP. During the 2 hours exam going over and over different graphs was rather tedious and a few of the mistakes I made were silly ones. Oh well, that’s what de-briefs are for, I find them really helpful and now I'm just hoping I can improve a little between now and school finals.

The mark I was most disappointed with was Radio Nav, I got 83% but expected higher as I thought the test went really well and that I knew most of it. Again it seemed to be silly mistakes and not reading the question properly. The instructors here have a saying they constantly remind us of: “RTFQ!” it stands for ‘Read The Full Question’ and it is so true. So many times do I think I know the answer without properly understanding what the question is asking for.

For G.Nav I needed to go out and get these special pens for use on the CRP-5. They’re the only ones which show up on the back AND are easily removed. I’d definitely recommend them, absolutely essential for working out crosswinds and drift.

(For those who are interested the CRP-5 is currently displaying a TAS (true airspeed) of 590kts and that with a heading of 360 degrees there is 5 degrees Right drift and a ground speed of 650kts. Swizzle the inner circle round so the little cross moves down to the 180 position and you are given wind direction of 224 degrees at 80 knots).

Another essential item I had to pick up would be those extendable pencils with the really thin lead. My normal HB pencil just wasn’t cutting it. Most of the graphs in the CAP have a really small scale but it’s important to get the numbers right so even the thickness of your lead can affect your answer.

We also started using the Jeppesen Manual that we were given way back on the first day. It contains loads of charts and maps and looks pretty cool. So far it doesn’t seem to be as complicated as it was at first glance; we’re using it in Flight Planning for finding aerodromes. Everyone recommended borrowing someone else’s to highlight the useful information which will save time looking for it in exams, it’s a really good idea. I just don’t particularly want to mark it as it looks so pristine at the moment.

Happy new year!

After the EASA phase 1s we had only the weekend off before starting straight back at the academy and into phase 2. Having only just done exams and it being just two weeks until Christmas we were less than enthusiastic about starting work again. It was also kind of sad how we have some new teachers, don’t get me wrong they’re all fantastic but we were used to our old phase 1 instructors and new instructors and new subjects took a little getting used to. Our System’s instructor covered one of the lessons and we cheered him back into the classroom again. Ground school is hard work but it has a pretty great atmosphere!

Here’s all of the phase 2 subjects

• Air Law – Past students have warned me about this one, it’s a massive book and apparently quite tedious with loads of dates, facts and figures to remember. Gulp.

• Flight Planning – I’m imagining this to be quite a tricky one. We use booklets called ‘CAPS’ containing tonnes of graphs and figures.

• General Navigation – I taught Basic Nav. As a C.I. at Air Cadets, this is definitely a lot more advanced and there’s already too much maths and trigonometry involved. We also do a lot of work on the CRP-5 which is very clever once you learn how to use it.

• Mass & Balance – By far the smallest book, so far it’s been fairly straight forward calculations for weight, CG position and moments.

• Operational procedures – The human performance of Phase 2, there’s a lot of random bits of information to remember and very few pictures in the book L But on the plus side we have our class mentor as our instructor!

• Performance – Principles of Flight part 2, I’m finding I actually understand most of it and we still have our PoF instructor.

• Radio Navigation – Completely new to me, this is concerned with frequencies, ranges and navigation aids such as VOR & ILS. I’m finding it pretty difficult at the moment; it’s most similar to Instruments from phase 1. I think this is already my least favourite….

We’ve also had to start doing CBTs again however there was only two weeks of phase 2 before we broke up for two weeks off during the Christmas period. It was lovely being home, seeing friends and family and going to my cadet dining in night once more. We got a fair amount of snow (I live in Sheffield) though it only came on Boxing Day and not on Christmas. I also went to see the new Hobbit film in Imax which was incredible!

I took all of my books home and definitely intended on studying more than I did. However I found I needed a break and everyday just seemed to get filled up very quickly. This is dangerous as I can’t afford to forget weeks 1 and 2 when there’s talk of Test 2s in week 4!

AND, I got some awesome Ray-Ban aviators for Christmas though, I’m a real pilot now! 

Exam time! Stress, lack of sleep and red bull pretty much summed up this week for me, though I know I spent my week off re-going over my books and did the whole of aviation exam at least once for each subject. I don’t know how I could have prepared more but still went in feeling nervous. The CAA examiners were there and you needed to sign in, show your passport and have your calculator checked before each exam. You weren’t even allowed to take your own pencils!

The exams were very much like school finals and were all done on the computer. I finished most of them well before the time limit which gave me time to check. Met, Instruments and PoF were all very hard as I expected and I even got a dodgy question in Human performance which is one I was hoping to do well in. The instructors have all been very supportive after the exams though when relating these questions to them. I also love the support you get from the other students here who help you to stay positive. In the end the only exam I felt confident I’d done well in after leaving was the two Comms papers.

The results were due to be posted on the Friday and you had to wait by your computer knowing that they could be released any time before 5pm; refreshing the browser every 2 minutes was still a necessity. Mine came through one by one but I am pleased to say I passed them all with an average of 88%, maybe slightly lower than I was hoping for at the start of the course but much better than I had thought considering how the exams did go. My lowest grade was Instruments (80% but hey, I passed!) and my highest was IFR Comms (96%). That day I went to the airport to assist with showing a group of students around the school, I love doing things like that, before preparing for a relaxing weekend of celebrating and not having to do any work for the first time since being here.

I started phase 2 today and they really didn’t go easy on us even though it was the first day back and we had only a weekend to recover from EASAs. It was strange having new subjects and new teachers (though we did keep some of our old ones which I was very happy about). The timetables are fun; not only is AP365 getting scarily close to the top of the list, the week is back to number 1, we are to start doing CBTs again AND it also has new colours for the new subjects, yay!

School Finals 1!

It’s been so hard to keep up to date with this, I thought I’d be more likely to forget than anything else but I’ve been spending my time practising questions online for my exams and after I’m done with that I can’t seem to bring myself to look at a computer again. I do apologise to my few readers out there. Ground school is certainly to be endured, not enjoyed.

I had my school finals the week before last, it was tough. All exams were within two days and I found you’d be so tired by the end of the day you were making mistakes, you knew you would be making mistakes but just couldn’t seem to see it. It also didn’t help that there was a ‘computer malfunction’ during our Instruments exam which was the first one on Monday so that got added onto to the ones on Tuesday. My results were okay, HP and Comms I got 92% in each which I was quite happy with (definitely didn’t dedicate as much time to these as for other subjects). I improved upon my engines mark and managed to pass instruments, which is honestly all I was hoping for at this point. My big disappointment was Met, I got 71% which qualifies as a pass in School Finals but it was one of those that I’d hoped to do well in, I love Met L Hopefully I’ve focussed enough on it this week to pull that grade up.

We did the exams in a separate exam hall and they’re all computerised now. The computers even have a funny polarised covering which means it looks blank if you view it from a different angle; I found this so annoying on my eyes! One thing I really loved though was how positive and supportive the other staff and students have been here when they see you waiting outside the room, it really gives you a nice boost before going in J

We’ve been given this week off for studying which has been brilliant, especially since all my housemates have still been at school so it’s been quiet and I’ve been able to get on. I don’t feel particularly nervous for these exams; I just want to get them over and done with now. I’m sure I’ll change my tone on Monday morning when I realise I know nothing. Oh, and it’s Met first thing so at least I’ll be getting it out of the way.

The exam timetable is a little friendlier than for School Finals in that we only have two a day so there’s at least a break in between each of them. I really just hope I can pass instruments again. The results are on Friday so it’ll all be over soon. This weekend will be amazing.

Last weekend was another Oxford open day only this time the lectures were inside the graduation tent which just looks magical, I love it. I also can’t believe how fast a year has gone by, I attended that open day as a potential candidate only last year. Scary.

Wish me luck, my first real EASA is tomorrow morning !!

Week 11 and I haven't an original title for this post

Last weekend I went to the Heathrow flyer show, it really was good fun and very busy. Talked to quite a few people about coming to Oxford and remember what it was like when I went to one of these a few years ago and how different I am now. I actually met a few people who'd read this blog so thank you for that, I'm glad the feedback has been positive and I just apologise for the lack of posts lately. Time really does fly here (excuse the pun!). As well as chatting about OAA we had the chance to talk to the airlines exhibiting there like Virgin, BA and even Susi Air. All in all it made for a nice revision break and got to see some big air planes, yay!

This week has flown by, with school finals fast approaching (they're on Monday), it's very satisfying to have finished CBTs for some subjects however scary in that we haven't yet covered all of the subject matter in lessons like Human Performance and Comms. With Comms we've only really started this week but I'm hoping I'll have picked some of it up before in the experience flying that I've been doing.

I had my medical last week and was given the all clear, so that's a weight off until next year. I actually found it a lot more relaxing than the initial, there were fewer tests and it was done just at Oxford airport. I only ended up missing half an hour of Electrics, though that does now mean I have to make up the time during the revision break before EASAs.

All term we've given a TAF, METAR and surface weather chart to look at which has been great for familiarising ourselves with so we don't suddenly have to learn them when we reach the chapter in the book. It's also really interesting and satisfying to actual sort of pretend we know what the weather has been doing. It's been really cold this week and that's because there's an Arctic Polar Maritime air mass coming down to Britain.

Met is still my favourite subject and Instruments my least; just because of how much information there is to learn for it, I'm nervous to say the least about how I can pull this off...My School Finals are on Monday. This Monday. Wish me luck!

I'm suddenly finished with test 1s in week 9!!!!

Wow. Was week 4 seriously my last post?? I'm now finding myself in week 9 completely unaware of where the time has actually gone, especially as every day is very much the same here; up early, lessons during the day, CBT, then home to eat and do some work in the evening. It’s fairly intense though I must say that at no point have I found the work has increased in difficulty, we are taking it a little bit faster during the lessons now but I like to think we've adapted to the routine and it’s going well so far.

I also have the added bonus of being able to mention Test 1s. For us they started in week 5 and we finished them off in week 6. I was quite happy with my 85% average which is an indication of your progress. The test 1s are really helpful in showing you the layout of the questions and particular subjects you’d need to work at. They weren't too bad as long as you've put in the work! There is already talk of school finals which are in 1 month so I know how much more work I’ll need to put in now as they are most definitely going to creep up on us before we know it, in preparation I have caved and purchased an on-line question bank from aviation exam to help me out with my studies.

www.aviationexam.com

Though after test 1 we've been given a few revision guides from our instructors and Oxford’s question bank. The more practice you can do the more prepared you’re going to be and I’m finding it’s helping me structure my revision a little better in the evenings. We’ll see if it pays off…I’m also getting a little tired of CBTs, they’re a tad tedious at times…

We finally had our class picture!!!

My domestic life is going well (although completely boring as the only thing I really do is eat. Sleep. Work. Repeat. On weekends I get to do my laundry and a food shop just to shake things up a bit! We have two new house mates starting on the new 367 course this week (seriously, where has the time gone?!) and so have a full house which is great.

This week has been very heavy on Instruments which I've got to say is now my least favourite (the hardest subject) I quite enjoy systems now! As we have a lot of ground left to cover they split up the instruments topic into several different areas with different teachers and we pretty much solely have an instruments topic every hour!

It’s come up to class 1 medical renewal time (you have to get one every year!) do wish me luck? I’m also looking forward to helping out at the Heathrow flyers exhibition representing OAA this Saturday! 

Other than that I don’t really have a lot going on so will blog again (apparently I'm really bad at it!) when I have something significant to talk about other than drawling on about studying, school finals are now only a few weeks away which is very scary and I hate the guilty feeling you get where you know you could always be doing slightly more work…