Stimulator training

Just completed my 6 month recurrent crash course ground & simulator training which is a requirement for newbies who've transitioned to the 737 (like me from the dying fleet of MD80's). This now resets my training for 12-months - so with 11 years to go and a NOV training date, I've only ten more of these sessions to endure before I retire.

Ground training consists of computer based learning and review on various aircraft specific systems while the simulator can do anything the devious instructor wants to throw at us - from low visibility to extreme turbulence to any system failure that can be thought of. The only rule is that it must be a realistic scenario and not pile up multiple emergency situations so as to task saturate us to the point of overload (if they were allowed to to that nobody would ever pass for one thing and nobody would ever learn for another).

I would love to report to you - my dear traveling public - that we're all like Rex Kramer who knows everything and never makes a mistake; but the truth is - that although we're not anything close to Ted Striker - just as in bike racing we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Weaknesses! Say it ain't so.

Fortunately at this point in our careers we're at flying proficiency is a pretty strong point for 99.9% of us (that .o1% does get weeded out fairly early). Weaknesses may include poor crew resource management - gone are the days where the Captain is expected to do it all - now they are expected to manage all available assets to the degree necessary for each situation. I'll admit up front that my weakness is studying all the details that are in the multitude of publications issued. I don't know how many bolts & rivets hold the left engine onto the wing for example, or exactly how that low pressure system formed in the Gulf of Alaska - but that lack of knowledge doesn't hurt me when that engine is on fire and we're landing on a very stormy runway in Juneau. And if I ever need to know the details for something like that I know who in Maintenance and Dispatch I can call if necessary.

Also gone are the days when the instructor just dreamed up his own torture - now all the pilots receive the same standardized curriculum & are evaluated (supposedly) on an impartial basis. I'd like to believe that to be the case but I know that as long as human beings are involved personalities will conflict (or already have) and the pilot being evaluated will suffer as a result. Fortunately all the instructors I've had the privilege to be associated with have always been very professional in their approach and quite willing to impart their observations in a supportive manner.

So fear not my friends - when you're off flying to DFW or DEN with me this weekend - you're flying with a proficiently trained highly skilled professional who'll do everything in my power to ensure your flying experience is as safe as it can be; just don't expect me to be wearing my hat.