Prepare for Class?
 

Hey all

I've got my very first part 121 class date coming up in a couple of weeks....hooray!!! Super excited, and obviously want to do my best.

Do you guys prepare ahead of time? If so how?

thanks in advance

love this forum!!!!

Your company should send you some training materials. If not, get a hold of the "flows" that you'll be required to memorized, and work on that.

A "flow" is exactly what you did in that Cessna. After you landed, you reached over and brought the flaps up, set the transponder to standby, lights off, etc. That's a flow.

There's just a lot more things to do than a Cessna.

Like Tony said, work on the items that they give you to study. Don't immerse yourself in too much material; just stick with basic, 'cut and dry' stuff that your company may assign like limitations or flows.

I know this probably goes without needing repeated, but what helped me the MOST in preparing for ground school was to clear myself of outside distractions. I know this is a broad statement, but if you're traveling somewhere for training, do whatever you can to prepare to be away for a few weeks with minimal input to 'home'. If you're married, have kids, etc. it will be hard. But take care of as many future obligations as you can before you go so you can focus on just showing up and learning.

Well, your biggest hurdle in training is that check-ride.
Not much you can do about getting ahead of the curve for the sim part, and unless you get some current training manuals, you don't want to confuse yourself...just let them teach you the way they want to...BUT

KNOW LIMITATIONS !! Front and back...whether it's a memory item or not, if you study limitations thoroughly, it could be a huge benefit during the oral. (obviously there's more to it than that, but limitations and emergency action items are biggies!)

Congrats, and good luck!

Bingo, this is more important than pre-study although you can certainly benefit from pre-study of material provided by the company.

If the company provides limitations and memory items for a test on day one...know them VERBATIM and COLD. In 121 paraphrasing is often considered the same as being wrong.

I would avoid studying material not provided by the company...even with the same airplane some things are different from one company to another. Surpisingly even the systems can have different explanations... :rolleyes:

I would suggest that you relax. If anything, familiarize yourself with Jepp plates and charts. Don't kill yourself trying to learn flows and systems of an aircraft you've never flown. Heaven forbid you teach yourself the wrong thing. Ground instructors and simulator instructors are there to teach you the right way to do things. That's what they are there for. Simple as that.

So with that being said, enjoy your last few weeks at home. And definitely spend as much time with your family and girlfriend/boyfriend as you can. A month to a month and a half is a long time away from family, especially with the type of stress you will endure in training.

If you've been hired at Colgan, welcome! If you are on the Saab, awesome! PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!

Start by getting 2 30 packs and a couple of bottles... and start planning for the second night after that.

The only people who didnt party were the ones who failed out.

How to prepare
 

Buy as much top ramen and boxed mac and cheese as you can. Once you start flying you won't be able to afford food anymore. Also, along the same lines, try to eat as much now as possible so you can store fat like a bear does before winter....tell your family to do the same.

I have had to learn two different airplanes. First time I didn't study at all and did just fine. The second time I memorized my limitations and memory items and did just fine too. Just know how you learn. If you can memorize things quickly don't worry too much, if not start now. Some guys studied 4-5 hours a night, I would review fr about 30 minutes and move on with my life.

I would just relax at this point, and enjoy your time at home. Training is going to be stressful enough, so there is absolutely no need to get yourself all worked up ahead of time trying to learn everything in advance. Here are some of my suggestions:

1) If the company gives you a packet of materials and tells you that you need to know it for day one, then obviously spend the time learning it. Otherwise, I wouldn't go overboard trying to study your new aircraft - they will teach you what you need to know once you get there. It's generally not a good idea to try and teach yourself things out of context.

2) If you're the type of person that feels the need to study something before class (I know I am), pick up a copy of "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot in Plain English". Review the sections on commercial operations. If you have some background in that stuff (T/O mins, exemption 3585, etc) before class it will make indoc that much easier.

3) The suggestion that someone here made about reviewing Jepp charts is an EXCELLENT one. We spent VERY little time going over them in training, and there's a TON of great information in those binders and on those charts that very few people know about. If you can get your hands on a set of Jepps, spending some time actually reading all those informational pages at the front of the binder can be really helpful.

4) This may sound obvious, but don't forget to pack some "school supplies" to take with you. Pens, pencils, highlighters, blank flashcards, a divided notebook, and some of those little colored tabs that you can stick in your manuals will all be very helpful.

5) When you do start class, study what they tell you to study. Don't try to jump ahead to systems on the second night of indoc just because they gave you the systems book. Follow the syllabus/outline, listen to the instructors' suggestions, and do what they tell you. It's very manageable if you just pace yourself appropriately.

Hope that helps. Best of luck with class!