Back to Oxford

After an enjoyable couple of weeks away from text books and online question banks, I arrived back at Upper Heyford today to prepare myself for Phase 2 of Ground School! It feels strange saying that I will be going in to Phase 2 when it only feels like yesterday that I got here, though it is in reality 4 months ago. Another new class starts tomorrow, they will be the fourth to have started since we arrived. It’s a great feeling as the next big milestone for us is Arizona now, and I’m already counting down the days, 95 by my reckoning!

I also popped in to the school today to collect my results for our Phase 1 JAAs, and here they are:

• Principles of Flight – 95%
• Airframes/Systems/Powerplant – 93%
• Instruments/Electronics – 94%
• Meteorology – 97%
• Human Performance & Limitations – 97%
• VFR Communications – 100%
• IFR Communications – 91%

That means I have an average of 95% for Phase 1 which I’m very pleased with. My only slight disappointment would be IFR Comms, as it was a relatively easy exam and I was aiming for 100%, but at the same time 97% in Met is a surprise, and so I guess these things just balance each other out. Anyway, the overall result is a good one; the task now is to keep the momentum going into Phase 2 and keep that average where it is.

We pick up seven new subjects going in to Phase 2 which are as follows:

• Mass & Balance
• Performance
• Operational Procedures
• Flight Planning & Monitoring
• General Navigation
• Radio Navigation
• Air Law & ATC Procedures

It looks like there’s going to be a lot more maths involved with some of these subjects as they tend to revolve around flight planning, and performance calculations. However, everything should be a lot more practical and relevant to what we’re going to be doing in the cockpit so fingers crossed it may be a bit more interesting! I’ve attached a couple of photos of the books that we’re going to be using, including a close up of some charts from the Jeppesen  Student Pilot Airway Manual. Can’t wait to decipher those!

Finally, it has been really nice to have a break from the hard work of Ground School. Most of my time has been spent relaxing with the simple pleasures of the TV or even my XBox which has been in storage since I moved to Oxford. I also got down to Swansea last weekend and saw a few friends which was great, and then got back on Monday which was my birthday. Although I spent most of the day driving, we went for a nice family meal in the evening, and it was nice to see everyone, especially people I haven’t seen for a long while.