Phase 1 Results and the start of Phase 2

So after a relaxing couple of weeks off results day finally arrived. I will admit I was rather nervous as phoned up to find out how they had gone, these are probably some of the most important exams I'll take in my life, along with the other 7 due in April. I was very pleased to find out I'd averaged 97%, meaning all the hours of revision I put in over Christmas and New Years were not wasted! It's also a great relief as I can put these subjects behind me and concentrate on the next 7.

So then it was on to Phase 2 on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon we were already introduced to all 7 subjects that we would be sitting in this phase. It's obvious from the outset that there's going to be no let up in the pace of work in this phase, but at the same time it does seem that most of the subjects in this phase are a lot more practical than the first one. A lot of the modules in this phase concentrate with getting an aircraft from A to B in a safe and efficient manner, a brief breakdown of what I'll be learning is given below.

Air Law: All the legal and regulation details that revolve around flying and operating both private and commercial aircraft. Very much a fact based module and I will admit not one of the more interesting ones.

Operational Procedures: Similar to Air Law but look at the regulations and laws that operators must comply with in order to operate commercial aircraft. It also looks into various operational scenarios and emergency situations that have to be planned for.

Flight Planning: A lot of this looks around calculating the fuel required to get an aircraft from A to B with the need to account for the reserve and diversion fuel that an aircraft is required to carry. It will also go into route planning using navigation charts and planning approaches and departures from airports.

Mass & Balance: Looking at how to safely load an aircraft so that it is within its weight limit and the weight is safely distributed around the aircraft.

Aircraft Performance: Looking at aircraft performance during take-off, climb, cruise, decent and landing.

General Navigation: How to plan the navigation for a flight under visual conditions.

Radio Navigation: Introduces the theory behind how radio navigation aids work and how to use and understand them (all commercial aeroplanes navigate around the world primarily using radio navigation aids).

Flight Planning, Mass & Balance and Aircraft Performance are all based around calculating the performance and limitations for 3 theoretical aircraft the SEP (Single Engine Piston based on something similar to a Beechcraft Bonanza or Piper PA28), the MEP (Multi Engine Piston based on something similar to the Piper Seneca) and the MRJT (Medium Range Transport Jet based on the Boeing 737-400). The calculations and considerations required get more complex as you move from the SEP to the MEP and the MRJT.

So now it's just 6 more weeks of teaching left (with Test 2's in 19 days time!) then more school finals, study leave and the final set of EASA exams scheduled for the start of April. After that it should hopefully not be too long before I go out to Phoenix to start the actual flying training and I can't wait!