De Havilland Beaver - New Years Eve Flight

My last flight of the year (although I didn't fly it) was a satisfying ride in a De Havilland Beaver around Auckland Harbor on New Years Eve.

I organised the flight through Auckland Seaplanes. You can check them out here

Below is a video of the flight

As far as my CTC Studies go:
I have passed CPL Air law and CPL Principles of flight. I only have 2 exams left (CPL Meteorology and CPL Navigation) and then I will be into the flying again!

Day One at CTC

Day one of Many
I have arrived at CTC and moved into Clearways (Local CTC Accomodation)
Put on my uniform for the first time and commenced my first day of training at CTC
Right off the bat there are a lot of things to catch up with like getting everything set up, email, lesson plans, operations, schedule, id card, parking pass, access card, books, folders, settling into the accomodation, finding my way around... etc.
Lots of fun.

The training schedule is intense Starting with CPL Air Law.  From here on I will have 4 more exams to pass between now and Mid January.  
(I have already passed CPL Human factors and CPL Aircraft Technical Knowledge earlier this year)

My Exam schedule looks something like this

Dec 16 - CPL Air Law
Dec 23 - CPL Principles of Flight
Jan 06 - CPL Meteorology
Jan 13 - CPL Navigation

After all that It should be time to get into the air!

Last Club Trip, Another type rating, and Start Date for CTC

A lot has happened since my last post.
I went on my last club trip with the Auckland Aero Club, which was a fun trip to Raglan for their annual fly-in. We had lunch at a local bakery and got to check out a lot of cool aircraft.

Flying from NZAA (Ardmore) to NZRA (Raglan)
Good opportunity to try out my brand new Sony ActionCam

Here are some select photos of the trip
You can check the rest out here -> Raglan Fly-in Photos

I've also obtained another Type Rating.  This time in a Slingsby T-67B Firefly.
I was quite excited about this one as many have raved about how easy and fun it is to fly.
It doesn't have great climb performance, but has excellent glide performance.  My favorite feature is how easy it is to maneuver, only had to trim twice the whole flight and landing is easy! Plus who doesn't love a plane you can comfortably control with 2 fingers.

The final news to share with you is that I have received my start date for CTC.   9th December.
So with mixed emotions I get ready to say "so long" to AAC and "hello" to CTC.  12 Days to GO!

Great News

I have received some very good news!
I heard back from Jetstar and I have been accepted into a Jetstar Cadetship.
This means that I will have a Job as a First Officer at Jetstar flying the Airbus A320's at completion of my training.

Only things left are
Assessment Flight with CTC
Organise Accomodation in Hamilton
And start my training next year!

While I bide my time I am sitting a couple of CPL exams
I have also got some exciting club trips between now and the end of the year. I will update with pictures and video!

Tim.

Around the Mountains Trip - Auckland Aero Club 28 July 2013

With Business all sorted it was time for a fun club trip to Taupo to fly around the mountains (Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu)

Flew from Auckland to Taupo in a Cessna 172 and then around the mountains in a Cessna 162 before having lunch in Taupo and heading home in a Piper Warrior PA28

                                        Mount Ngauruhoe with Mount Ruapehu in the background

                                         Flying around Mount Ruapehu

                                         Cessna 162 Cockpit

                                          Snow and Clouds

                                          10,200 feet. Officially the highest I've flown.

                                                    Negative 4 Degrees Celsius

Check out this video of the trip!

Jetstar Interview - Melbourne, Australia

The Jetstar Interview

An extra step that is required for Jetstar Cadetship applicants is to take part in an interview with a Jetstar Training Captain and a member of their HR department in Melbourne.

                                         about to depart from Auckland NZ to Melbourne, Australia

I arrived in Melbourne on the 23rd July at 1230am.

I gave myself 2 days to settle in, relax, and get ready for the interview

                                          Arrived in Melbourne, View from my Hotel Window

Interview Day 25th July 900-945

I was dressed to impress, refreshed and ready.  The interview took place at the Qantas Training Centre and I had arrived very early (a little past 8am). It was ok, had an anxious wait in the waiting area before being called through for my interview (I was the first interview of the day). 

                                                    ready at my Hotel. Just about to leave.

The Interview consisted of 2 sections, the first consisted of questions about Jetstar (which was great because I had done a considerable amount of research into Jetstar in preparation for the interview) and there were also a few general interview questions like 'what does teamwork mean to you' 'what are good qualities for a pilot' etc.

The second section of the interview was more story based questions relating to experiences you have had like 'tell me about a time when...' type questions.  I felt I didn't do as well in this section of the interview than I did with the first half.

All in all I felt I did well, but we will see when the results get back.  I should hear from them in approximately 2 weeks.

The Next Step - Jetstar

In 10 Days I will be having a job interview with Jetstar at their headquarters in Melbourne!

I have booked my tickets and accommodation and am now continuing to prepare for the interview.

                                        Keeping the end goal in sight at all times!


This is the last hurdle to jump before I start at CTC in January