The
final exam of the aviation course was a simulator flight in the
actual coastal pacific training simulator. For the flight we had to
partner up with a copilot and then were sent together into one
simulator, where we flew after each other from Abbotsford to Nanaimo.
Because there were nearly twice as much groups as simulators, we were
divided into two groups that would go into the simulators after each
other. Two groups, including me and my copilot, were so lucky to go
both times.
On
the first flight we sat in one of the better once, where had a quite
good view out of the window. Because I had only flown Microsoft
flight simulator with the cheating options like no wind, no crash,
and endless fuel, I was a bit nervous. But everything worked fine,
except for the light turbulence that bounced me all over the place.
We
worked quite well as a team, the copilot controlling the heading,
watching the RPM, setting the radio, and giving the pilot the needed
information from his flight plan. So we did quite well on that
flights and landed both safely at the correct airport.
On
our second time we sat in the other simulator, that had only a small
window to look outside, what definitely made it more difficult to fly
via VFR(Visual Flight Rules). But that wasn't that bad, because the
flight instructor we had taught us how to fly via IFR(Instrumental
Flight Rules), and then made us fly via IFR, by putting clouds all
over the place. This also worked quite well, also we had to
experience bird strikes and micro bursts(strong downwards winds) and
a short engine failure. Here the copilot also had the task to watch
out for instrument changes that might show another problem. But still
we were both able to land safely, also on the second flight we
couldn't throttle down, so we had to shut down the engine in order to
land.
Overall
this has been a great experience and probably the funniest and most
interesting final exam in my life. We got a great view on what to
expect from flight school and showed me that the simulator is, also
with a little bit more realistic conditions then I used to use
before, not to difficult.
