6 days to Malta...

The day is fast approaching. In 6 days, I'd be on a flight to Malta. It is only for a short time but at least I'll be there. Obviously I am really looking forward to see my family, my parents, my sister & her husband and my cute little nephew!!

And obviously I am really looking forward to see her... my girlfriend. Being away from her is quite tough. So I am really looking forward to it even if it's for a short time. Ye I look forward to a nice dinner with her on Friday night... that is, in 7 days... final countdown starts ;-)

Aah yes forgot to mention the election. I have recently discovered I have the honour of having 2 ballot papers to fill in rather than 1, because apparently we also have Local Council Elections. Ye really I couldn't care less, I mean, politics in Malta follows quite the usual "same shit different day..." and whoever wins the next election, it's either "same shit same party" or "same shit different party" welcome to Malta...

First test... GREAT... visiting Malta in 9 days!

So, once again, another week has passed since my last post. Yes I haven't got much of free time unfortunately. But I'll try my best to keep this blog up to date.

Anyway, I had my first progress test yesterday; DC electrics. I did great and I'm very satisfied. So... first test is done. As regards courses, we started two new courses last week; Air Law and Flight Planning. Flight Planning looks great but Air Law looks a bit boring. I hope it gets a bit more interesting.

Another great news is that I shall be visiting Malta next week... for elections... ye right!! To hell with elections, I just want to see my girlfriend, my family & my cute little nephew!! But ye I'll take the time to go and cast my vote, keeping in mind the country was, is, and will always be run by assholes... commonly known as politicians.

I'mm looking very forward to go down to Malta because that's were my heart lies... and some people know what I mean!

Take care all...

Lost and found...

Hello all,
It has been a week since my last post. Things here are quite busy so I have very little time available for me to update this blog. But I'll try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.

During the past week we were introduced to three new courses; Principles of Flight, Radio Navigation and today we had Airframe and Systems. All three of them seem to be very interesting. Most of the subjects are not that difficult so far but the material we will be covering is a lot.

Anyway, back to the title of the post; Lost and Found... why? So, last Saturday, we decided to drive to Brussels city centre in the evening. We went to a bar and played some billiard but I didn't want to stay out late so I decided to drive back home on my own. It wasn't my first time driving here of course but some important things to note include a) I never drove from Brussels centre to our house in Nossegem b) It was 1am in the morning (my brain is usually switched off IF it had been on in the first place) c) Given the time... it is usually dark at 1am d) The car was thirsty, aka fuel low e) No GPS or any sort of modern navigational aid other than my brain (switched off...) So, off I left from Brussels to find my "home sweet home"... straight out... tunnel... out of the tunnel... perhaps a wrong turn... damn where the hell am I? Yes, I ended up wandering in some forgotten area of Brussels. Anyway this unexpected sightseeing tour around Brussels wasn't so interesting so I tried to make my way back home once again. After a few "go-arounds", a sign "Ring" emerged in the dark. This is the ring motorway around Brussels. Once you get to it, following signs should take you home. And luckily for me it did. After what seemed like hours of driving watching the fuel tank slowly approach the bottom, and getting tired of seeing "Zaventem" signs without any sign of Zaventem, I reached Zaventem and then Nossegem; aka home. So ye I had my little adventure of Lost and Found.

I'm off because tomorrow I have another full day again. I should be starting a new course, Communication. This should teach us how to communicate with ATC and other aircraft in a civilised way, hopefully.

Till later...
PS Sorry for any e-mails which remained unanswered. I will try to answer ASAP.

First test coming up...

Hi all,
When it comes to studying, time is literally flying. And free time seems very limited, so much that this blog has been 'silent' for the past few days. Anyway better not waste time...

Since my last post, we had our first lecture from another new subject; powerplants. We started with piston engines and the topic doesn't seem that difficult. Today we also had another lesson of psychology. I'm finding this subject quite interesting. We also had another lesson of electrical and we were told about our first test, which will be on 25th February (that's 2 weeks!!) so serious (ye right!) studying will now commence!

On Sunday we also went to Brussels Centre in the afternoon. I uploaded some photos in the online photo album; link available on the right or simply click here to go to the album directly.

I also would like to excuse myself to anyone (family and friends) who has sent me any e-mails and have not yet received any answer. My time is very limited! Sorry peeps, but I promise I will reply as soon as possible.

Till later peeps,
Miss you all...

PS I heard Malta is quite cold at the moment. Over here, it is not hot obviously but guess what... the sun is shining!! :-) (during the day of course)

Elections 2008...

I forgot to write something about the forthcoming general elections in Malta (which for everyone's info, will be held on the 8th of March). Obviously I will not bother writing about who I think will win and all that crap. I'm leaving that task open for all the idiot fanatics who obviously think THEIR party will win. Funny how at the moment, both parties say they are going to win! Welcome to Malta, the land of winners... ye...

Well, I'm not really interested in the current politics and in fact I'm quite grateful for the fact I will not be present to witness the low level of politics we have in Malta; like those useless mass meetings where a bunch of blue/red painted heads gather on some open area (such as the famous "Fosos" or Granaries, ye to hell with Heritage Malta for election time) and the red/blue leader reddens/blues the crowds with tons of low level talk and countless promises.

I do look forward to elections 2008 however. They should be my first opportunity to go down to Malta. I'm really looking forward to that because obviously I am missing people; my girlfriend, my family, that little nephew of mine... So I look forward to go down to Malta and "vote"... ye right... and most importantly, see again my girlfriend and family.

Miss you all dear peoples...

Update from far far away...

So, I've been very very busy lately and didn't have much time to waste on the blog. Basically in the last 4 days we were introduced to 5 new subjects; electrical, instrumentation, meteo, human performance and limitations (phsycology part) and general navigation. Instrumentation is so far the most interesting. It does not seem so difficult so far either. So far we covered some air data instruments like the airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator and pressure altimeter. Electrical is ok but I'm finding it a bit boring. Human performance is quite relaxing and today I also had navigation and it looks interesting too. Tomorrow we might start using the CRP5 Flight computer as well. Meteo seems my nightmare so far. I didn't understand much.

Anyway, I'm off to start reading something cause it is quite busy over here!! Lots and lots of stuff in a short time. The course is very intensive and it is leaving me with very free time!

I also updated the online photo album. I added some photos I took at Brugge last Sunday. The link on the right should take you to the album. Or simply Click Here.

I'm off... miss you all!

Brugge visited...

Hello all,
I just got back home. We visited Brugge today. It is quite a nice place with splendid buildings, especially Cathedrals. The drive to Brugge took about an hour and we stayed there for about 3 hours.

I'm also putting up the first 2 photos, which I should have put up in my previous post but had not downloaded the pics from the camera yet. The first photo shows all the stuff we were given on Friday, and the second one shows me in SFA uniform.

That's all for today. Tonight I'll try to clear up my room and read something about the first topic we have covered yesterday. I will also try to put up some photos of Brugge in my online photo album. Oh and I also plan to upload some of my old photos from Malta but I ahve to try and find the time as it is qutie limited!

Bye Bye!

Geared up and "took off"

So I wanted to post this yesterday but it was a hectic day and I was too tired to write something. Yesterday we had our first visit at Sabena Flight Academy and we had an introductory briefing. We were told the rules of the school, the program of the course and some other information. We were also taken around the building and saw the various simulators. We got into a 737NG simulator. It was so cool. It is so realistic and I am really looking forward to the sim sessions. We were then given our stuff, which is quite a lot of stuff; 15 books, a flight computer, student air route manual, plotter, ruler and protractor, flight back, kneeboard, student airroute manual an our part of our uniform. So I've been geared up with some real pilot stuff. I'll try to put up some photos as soon as possible.

Anyway this morning we "took off" and had our first lesson on Basic Radio Theory. It doesn't seem difficult. Next lesson is on Monday but I haven't looked at the schedule yet.

See you around

The Dream Begins...

Here we go... I am now in Brussels and my lifetime dream of becoming a pilot is set to start. We arrived in Brussels at about 1930 yesterday evening. The flight was ok though the landing was not entirely smooth as it was very windy. We met an Airmalta captain and were later greeted by 2 guys from SFA. They took us straight to our accomodation. The place is great; large living room, kitchen and dining room, bedrooms and a shower/toilet. We just thre our stuff at the residence and were taken to an Italian resturant for a meal. We were als given a car, Volkswagen Touran!! Anyway, back at the residence we tried setting up our internet but had some problems at first, but should be ok now. We ended up sleeping at 3am since we unpacked our stuff and settled in. This morning I woke up at 7am and couldn't sleep again so I wrote this blog.

This morning we will try to go around looking for shops and to get to know the place. At 1200 we're being picked up and taken to the academy for our first briefing. We'll probably also be given the tons of books we have to study!!

I would like to say hi too all my family, girlfriend and friends. Missing you all and hope to see you soon.

I'm off...