And the A320 finally got an even step closer... this week I started my Full Flight Simulator sessions on the Airbus A320. Stepping into the simulator for the first time was something I will never forget. It is true that it is a simulator, but inside, it's a real thing! It's an A320 cockpit! And once you experience one session, it feels even more real. Below is a photo of me in the A320 simulator, today before "flying" from Charleroi Airport to Ostende Airport. Oh that seat is fantastic!! (Thanks to Andre for the photo, and for being a great flightmate!)
I had my first session in the simulator last Tuesday. It was supposed to be a "fixed base" session in which the simulator stays stationary, so you do not really "feel" anything. However, we were told that if the session was done with full motion, we could better understand what we're doing, especially during landings. And guess what, I did feel what I was doing... haha!! So yes, I took off from runway 25R in Brussels Airport and flew straight out. Flying the A320 is different. Being a 'fly-by-wire' aircraft, it doesn't behave like a conventional aircraft, which at first feels ackward, but starts feeling better once you get the hang of it. It's actually much easier to fly, as long as you know how the aircraft behaves. Anyway, my flight continued by turning back to 'Bruno VOR' for an approach on runway 25R, with a manual landing... my first simulator landing on the A320. I felt a bit anxious, but anyway, it's a simulator no?! I descended down to the runway and guess what... the first one WAS a hard one! Oh what a bang! Well, there's always the first time, but by the end of the session the landings were improving. It doesn't seem that difficult to land, and as long as you do a 'textbook' landing, you can get a really smooth one, but it takes practice. Well, overall, for a first time, it wasn't too bad at all!
Today I had my second session. I did a flight from Charleroi to Ostende. It already feels just like the real airline stuff, with procedures to do, and always being a two-men crew, taking it in turns to act as 'Pilot-Flying' and 'Pilot Monitoring'. Today's session went pretty well. Procedures were great and aircraft handling was pretty good as well. I also did some steep turns, and also tried to stall the aircraft, but guess what, it's an A320, and it says "No, you won't stall me!" So I could witness a bit the protections which the A320 has to avoid stalls and other ackward situations. Landings were a bit better as well today. First two weren't quite smooth, but much less harder than last time! But my last one was my best one so far I guess, which was a good way to end my session :-) Oh touching the runway smoothly feels so great... just like one of my instructors used to tell me "nice and smooth!!" ;-) Well anyway, I can summarise my simulator sessions so far in a couple of words... I'm enjoying it! And I just can't wait for the day when I step into a real cockpit and fly a real A320... a couple of months to go... but it will come!
Anyways, I'm soon heading to bed. Tomorrow I've got another session and I have to wake up early so better get a good rest! Tomorrow we should be having a demo of an engine failure during takeoff... should be interesting! Oh and by the way, my training is coming close to the end, and within less than two weeks I'll be back Malta... back home! I'm counting out the days!! Oh the future looks great!!
See ya soon boys and girls!!!
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