About the Airbus A320/1 type rating

[alwayswannafly]

Good morning,

Long story short, after training in Canada and then returned to South East Asia, I've managed to land a job after sitting around for 8 months. The company is sending me to Airbus type rating school in Toulouse for 40 days to get typed on the A320. I am quite nervous on what to expect, I have heard it will be the hardest thing to learn and the easiest to fly? I really want to do well and failure is not an option, I read over the A320 FCTM (Flight Crew Training Manual) and had some trouble finding the FCOM online (Flight Crew Operating Manual). I guess my question is, are there any pilots around who's gone through an initial type rating on the Airbus, was it as hard as they say? How much time did you have and what can I do to prepare myself?

I'm a CPL with a group 1, I also hold an ICAO level 6, gone through MCC and JET FAM course.

I realize that this kinda question doesn't come up a lot but I always been fond of Canadian pilots (to me you guys are a lot more knowledgeable, but also very proficient at flying, all Canadian instructors I had the chance to work with are all spectacular. Truly proud to be holding a Canadian licence).

Thank you for reading!

[Colonel Sanders]

Congratulations! I'm sure if you work hard
you can do it.

FWIW: A guy I know flies Airbuses for Air
Canada and on his own time, he flies a high
performance single of a type which is scorned
by the harrumphers here. However, he says
it keeps his stick & rudder skills sharp. Think
about that.

[Pop n Fresh]

Congrats alwayswannafly. The course should be pretty thorough. Have you tried to contact airbus directly by phone or e-mail?

single of a type which is scorned
by the harrumphers here.

Piper Tomahawk?

[Colonel Sanders]

Champion Lancer.

[Pop n Fresh]

Oh, that's scary. Put on your 3d glasses kids. Oooooowww!

[Colonel Sanders]

Stephen King has owned one of the few
remaining Champion Lancers on the FAA
registry for many decades.



Where do you think he got the inspiration for
all those books of his?

[alwayswannafly]

Colonel Sanders, thank you I will try my absolute best! I'm planning to comeback Canada in the near future to get some single and multi time so I can brush up my stick and rudder skills, and maybe do the ATP check ride

Pop n Fresh Thank you, I cannot contact Airbus directly, my airline is the middle guy. But I've managed to borrow some manuals and training videos from a friend, gonna run to the airport to get them now.

[Colonel Sanders]

In 3 days, FO times counts 1:1 for the ATPL
so do it!!

[Pop n Fresh]

Airbus is pretty public. If they have the FCOM online it might even be some sort of open link. Liability does seem to suppress that sort of thing. They are also sensitive toward information being too available.


While I have the colonel's attention. Did you go for a DC-3 type rating?

[Colonel Sanders]

Not yet. If I have some spare time this year I'll
get it on my FAA ATP and transfer it to my TC ATPL.

Last time I mentioned doing this I was attacked
by hordes of angry Buffalo rampies, thinking I was
going to try to jump the queue (WTF?) so I try to
not talk about it.

[Pop n Fresh]

I would probably buy the DVD where you worked with Joe for a couple of weeks.

[Colonel Sanders]

I get along great with Mikey but I've
never met Joe. We'd either become
great friends or try to kill each other
within 5 minutes. Could go either way.

[ahramin]

Airbus courses are very straightforward. Starts with basic flying the aircraft and works it's way up from there. You will need to understand the entire FCTM, as well as the Emergency/Abnormals training manual. The FCOM is of very limited use for studying before the type rating, except for the SOP section which will be specific to your airline. Asian carriers tend to follow the Airbus SOP verbatim but you'll still want to get their FCOM with their SOP. You should have the SOP memorized before showing up in Toulouse. As you get to the failure part of the course you'll want to be very familiar with what is - and isn't - in the QRH but like the FCOM I wouldn't waste time on it ahead of the course.

Smartcockpit.com is a good resource and has many Airbus Operations Bulletins that will be of interest but you should be concentrating on the SOP, FCTM, and Emergency/Abnormal procedures.

[alwayswannafly]

Thank you Mr. Ahramin I take it you fly airbus too? I've had a few looks at the FCTM, took down notes and made some efforts to understand the acronyms involved in that manual. I also found Smartcockpit and Airbusdriver.net yesterday. My F/O friend gave me Airbus VACBI to watch (similar to CBT I guess).

I'm starting to get a basic understanding of the ''fly by wire'' control LAWS, maybe just a touch but I'm making notes. The system (i.e electric, hydraulics) is another beast, I dont understand one bit...

Your comment has been very helpful, I appreciate your input, I'll try to get a copy of the SOP from the company asap.

Thank you

[Colonel Sanders]

The system (i.e electric, hydraulics) I dont understand one bit

Rather than jumping right into an aircraft schematic,
it's important to understand the fundamentals of
(e.g.) electricity. Once you do, you can break down
a complicated system/diagram into smaller pieces
that you can understand.

There is plenty of good information about this sort
of thing on the internet. I suggest you start with
the fundamentals:

- what is a volt?
- what is an amp?
- what is an ohm?
- what is a watt?

Are you familiar with this equation?

V = IR

What often helps people understand electricity
is the metaphor of a waterfall.

Volts is the height of the waterfall.
Amps is the width of the waterfall.

Multiply the two together, is the amount
of work (watts) that they are doing.

Note that you can model AC as DC
by using RMS. For example, household
wiring in north america is "120 volts"
but it's actually 170 volts at peak.

Anyways, if you understand what a volt
and an amp is, you can understand any
aircraft electrical system. There's just a
lot of it.

[DHC2eater]

The advise given regarding the learning of SOP, NORMAL and ABNORMAL procedures I'd most valid....

It's a complicated machine and trying to learn systems from the manual will only confuse you...

I'm not sure what your company requires but understanding generally how a system works is what we required but a detailed knowledge of systems was not.

The ECAM tells you what and how to correct your issues..

The most important thing I learned was that the Airbus wants to do almost everything for you...and does a good job.....so let it...this is something we resist as pilots....

The airbus was the hardest machine I've ever learned( I'm a slow learner of average average abilities)

I was afraid of it and afraid to go to work for almost a year....now,however, I understand and love the bus and miss it dearly.....

I remember doing engine cuts early on.....I had a death grip on that big black stick and was stirring the pot as they say and was all over the sky....my grey haired instructor leans forward and tells me to treat that stick like a strangers penis....." You don't really want to touch it but if you have to just use two fingers"...it worked...remember that...

Your going to love it ......those that don't usually don't understand the logic an principles....have fun

Eater....

PS...the Beaver and Cub are right up there with the Bus in terms of great machines. JMHO

[alwayswannafly]

Colonel and DHC2eater,

Thank you for your advice, I will certainly take it to heart. I'm spending more and more time everyday going through the manuals and the procedures, they make more sense now, sometimes I find the English used in Airbus' manuals funny, it doesn't sound very natural.

I've managed to set up some private tutoring with a TRI and I'm so happy about it, again thank you everyone for your input.

Cheers,
alwayswannafly