CRJ Schoolhouse

Still haven’t made it to the sim yet.  It was scheduled for 8/4, and today was the first pushback day, 8/12.  Well, then the time changed to this evening, and low and behold…..this evening gets here and no instructor available.  So, now it’s at least looking like another 2-3 or so days before my partner and I get into the box.  On the one hand, I’m happy for the extra paid study time, however on the other hand–I started this adventure over two months ago.  Ah well, it’ll work out somehow, and I’m still looking forward to it.

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen this blog.  Oops.  Well, since the last one, I got thru the GOM class, and moved onto systems class.  That was a pretty interesting class overall.  Our instructor was really good, and managed to keep things lively, to combat the ever expected sleepiness that sitting in a classroom can bring on.  It was a 3 week class, with 2 written tests at the end.  Walking into test day, I felt pretty confident, and ended up getting a 94 on the systems test, and a 93 on the limitations test. I never went to ATP, or any of the other programs that have a preferential interview if you go thru the FTD course.  My school did have a CRJ program, which I took, but that was 4 years ago now and there was no interview.  Personally, if you have extra cash and want to take the course,then have at it.  But you don’t need it.  You can pass just fine through the 121 groundschool with what they give you.

Learning a new airplane is both fun, and challenging at the same time, and I would absolutley recommend to anybody with enough time to start applying now.

Well this isn’t too much to remember in a week is it?  Compared to a lot of people……..it probably isn’t.  But, its only been 4 days for me to learn it so far.  Time to roll those dice once more.   And I’m feeling lucky.

Friday is coming, and we have been studying in groups at the hotel like mad.  Anywhere from 3-7 hrs a night, and it’s nice to have other people to bounce things off of to get their perspectives on it all.  On a sidebar……whoever invented Exemption 3585 should have their kneecaps busted with a louisville slugger.  Anyway….today we got to watch some REALLY exciting videos that were probably made circa 1975. We also discussed how to do the alternate calculations and qualifiers for those.  I still don’t get it completley after about 6 hrs of going over it.  Hopefully it will make more sense when I can see it done outside of the classroom.  It’s amazing how much stuff you can learn in a week, and how many small details there are to know!  Oh well, hopefully by Friday I’ll know enough of the book to pass the test.  They tell me it’s only 40 questions, and I’m not sure how I feel about that…….is it a good thing or a bad thing?  Hmmm…..not worth wasting valuable brainpower on that I suppose.

Well, its getting close to 11pm, and I need to sleep.  Taping your eyelids open in groundschool gets tiring after awhile!

I Kid.   But I really do need to goto sleep.

Goodnight, and Godspeed.

So, after a restless night of a whopping 4 hrs of sleep, I woke up to the sound of the alarm at 0455.  Class starts at 0600.  For a night owl, these were not usually my typical wake up times……..more like bedtimes.  Oh well, I’ll adjust.  Ok.  I board the hotel shuttle which was packed….and off we go.  As training centers go…….it was a decent place, with all the amenities I thought were necessary.  They even had energy drinks in the vending machine!  A sign of things to come?  Perhaps.  There’s roughly 30 of us in my class, and another 20 or so in another class for a different airplane.  Luckily, the classroom is pretty big, so we aren’t breathing on each other’s necks.

First up was a quick hello from the instructor and a schedule of the days events.  An hour or so later, off we go to have the drug test.  This is where I consumed roughly 80oz of purified water in a matter of 15-20 minutes.  I had to cut to the front of the line to keep from exploding.  Heh.  Then it was up to get fingerprinted, but the line was running quite long, so we went to go and get some lunch, came back and got right in.  After all that fun stuff, back down to the classroom for some HR paperwork, and then some benefits paperwork (which I still have to fill out).

Overall, today was quite long, and tomorrow we dive right into the FAR FC, and the GOM.  It will be interesting to see what’s what in this industry from the crew side of the fence.  Hopefully some of the stuff I had to learn as a ramper regarding Hazmat and the like will come in handy.  Only time will tell.   For now though, I’m enjoying what will probably be the last night for the next 7 weeks with no homework!  (Yes, I’ve already gone thru 2 chapters in the GOM for all those that are getting ready to ask me what the hell I’m thinking watching TV and drinking beer on day 1.)

Well, that’s it for today, and I’ll keep going tomorrow if you’re interested…….

Ok Kids. The reality of starting a 121 groundschool is officially setting in now. I just checked out the new room for the next 6o days or so, and posted a picture for all those that are interested. So, I don’t really know what to say today, but I’m sure that after tomorrow’s day…..I’ll have something. With that, I leave you now, and I hope you enjoy hearing about my journey thru the 121 world of training, and learning the CRJ.