Ground School

[pilotots]

For those of you in the 91K or 135 worlds. How do your companies deal with yearly recurrent ground school.
Online? In a classroom? One day? One week? Exams or Quizzes?

Just curious.

Thanks.

 

[Flex-ible]

2 days classroom for company stuff. 2 days classroom for airplane stuff. 2 sim sessions.

Some online stuff before you go (hazmat, etc)

 

[captain dad]

Annual company recurrent. Five days class room.

Also emergency medical training by the Mayo Clinic and pool/raft training biannually.

Sim training every six months for Captains and FOs. Four to Five sim cessions depending on fleet and Three to Four days of class room with written, oral and sim evaluation.

I know there's more but I can't think of it right now.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Annual company recurrent. Five days class room.

Also emergency medical training by the Mayo Clinic and pool/raft training biannually.

Pool training is, fortunately and thankfully, gone for this year. Raft training now takes place in a room at FSI.

Day five of company recurrent for '09 is a full day of service-related training and a 2-ish hour presentation typically from DR.

 

[o2bflyn]

2 Days in a classroom for company recurrent. Pool stuff is Biannual usually on the second day.

Tried to put into motion a cd based recurrent, but that project did not last very long, reason for its demise is unkown. Seemed like a good idea to me, but there may have been regulatory concerns. I don't know.

 

[fischman]

Pool training is, fortunately and thankfully, gone for this year. Raft training now takes place in a room at FSI.

Day five of company recurrent for '09 is a full day of service-related training and a 2-ish hour presentation typically from DR.

Personally I liked the pool training. The best way to get a good idea how that raft is going to work is to put yourself in the water.

I found the experience worthwhile. Now, if they only trained us on how to deploy the raft! If we honestly need the raft, it will be in a high stress situation and you only get 1 shot on throwing it out the window. That thing will sink like a rock if you don't get it right.

The CPR training done by Mayo Clinic is worthwhile too. How many lives have NetJets pilots saved over the past 5 years because of it? 3 I think?

 

[o2bflyn]

Personally I liked the pool training. The best way to get a good idea how that raft is going to work is to put yourself in the water.

I found the experience worthwhile. Now, if they only trained us on how to deploy the raft! If we honestly need the raft, it will be in a high stress situation and you only get 1 shot on throwing it out the window. That thing will sink like a rock if you don't get it right.

The CPR training done by Mayo Clinic is worthwhile too. How many lives have NetJets pilots saved over the past 5 years because of it? 3 I think?

I agree. My company sent us to a dive pool. Told us to wear some "regular" clothes that we did not mind getting wet. Had us tread water for a while (fully clothed) ,get in the raft, pull someone else in the raft who may be incapacitated, set up the shelter all the while hitting us with cold water from a a sprinkler.

Granted, that would be a fraction of the stress we would have during the real event. It did give you the ideal that it would not be as easy as one would think to do everything.

I thought it was kind of cool.

 

[Mike Jenvey]

<<<< The best way to get a good idea how that raft is going to work is to put yourself in the water. >>>>

Very true - & even better if you can do the military liferaft training - get thrown off the back of a high-speed launch, have to right the liferaft, scramble in, stay inside for an hour or so (yep, feed the fish time! uke: ) & then get a rescue helicopter lift back to the launch.

Next best thing? I thing that Gulfstream in Savannah have a excellent facility, a couple of our crew have visited it, & thought it was fantastic:

The Corporate Cabin Trainer features a computerized, fully-outfitted Gulfstream fuselage section that is used to simulate a range of emergencies, including rapid egress and fire and smoke environments. The emergency simulation is enhanced by the use of a noise-generation system and an 8-degree motion base.

The all-new Water Egress Trainer simulates a sinking aircraft fuselage. As the fuselage sinks in a safe, indoor pool environment, students must demonstrate the proper techniques for exiting an aircraft. The simulator rolls as if pushed by ocean waves and sound, smoke, darkness and emergency lighting make the environment as realistic as possible. Upon exiting the fuselage, students must inflate their life vests and climb aboard a life raft. The experience also includes a simulated helicopter rescue, complete with an overhead rescue basket and high-pressure water system to accurately simulate the helicopter's rotor downwash.

Classroom stuff - we also do CRM over here, or as the Australians would say "Count the Rings Mate!!"

Our first aid is run by MedAire, very good training & backup.

 

[Flex-ible]

Very true - & even better if you can do the military liferaft training - get thrown off the back of a high-speed launch, have to right the liferaft, scramble in, stay inside for an hour or so (yep, feed the fish time! uke: ) & then get a rescue helicopter lift back to the launch.



Don't forget it's in "boots and utes" while carrying an M-16!

 

[captain dad]

<<<< The best way to get a good idea how that raft is going to work is to put yourself in the water. >>>>

Very true - & even better if you can do the military liferaft training - get thrown off the back of a high-speed launch, have to right the liferaft, scramble in, stay inside for an hour or so (yep, feed the fish time! uke: ) & then get a rescue helicopter lift back to the launch.

Next best thing? I thing that Gulfstream in Savannah have a excellent facility, a couple of our crew have visited it, & thought it was fantastic:


Classroom stuff - we also do CRM over here, or as the Australians would say "Count the Rings Mate!!"

Our first aid is run by MedAire, very good training & backup.

i have seen the savannah facility from a distance and would love to go through it. I love that kind of stuff.

 

[realityman]

Pool training has been seriously watered down here at NJA (pun sort of intended ). Most unfortunate. I guess doing a little bit is better than nothing though.

Still, when I started here, we had to jump in the pool fully clothed. The instructor would toss the raft and let it inflate, but we still got to see how it worked. We has to right it, get everyone onboard, as well as pulling someone in who was incapacitated. In addition, we did life survival drills in the water. Learned how to inflate our pants to be improvised flotation devices (I can already hear all the jokes coming from you characters, but it was good training!), as did drills where we had to learn how to float as a group to minimize fatigue and use body heat to keep us warm in the water (no, it didn't involve a group pee for heat, you bunch of funny fellows!).

Anyway, we made fun of it at the time, but looking back it was very good training, and we had a lot of fun too as well as having the nice opportunity to get out of the classroom for a while.

Really a shame what it's become. And a true shame if it's canceled all together. Last March we still did it. I'll be sorry to see it go. True, it wasn't like when I first started here, but as I said, something is better than nothing.

 

[skyismyoffice]

At FLOPs 2 days of 135, 2 days of airplane ground, 2 days of sim training, 1 day of 135 checkride all at Simuflite.

 

[HSDriver]

That thing will sink like a rock if you don't get it right.

Not true. They float even if not separated from the survival kit or inflated. It may float away from the plane as you watch in horror, but they don't sink.

 

[fischman]

Not true. They float even if not separated from the survival kit or inflated. It may float away from the plane as you watch in horror, but they don't sink.

Really?!? Those things weigh 65 lbs! I had no idea they would float. Are you sure about that?

If it does float away, is the correct procedure to yell "WILLLLSON!!!"

 

[AvroJockey]

Really?!? Those things weigh 65 lbs! I had no idea they would float. Are you sure about that?

I'm 220 and the last time I check my fat a$$ floats!

 

[fischman]

I'm 220 and the last time I check my fat a$$ floats!

Touche`

 

[o2bflyn]

Really?!? Those things weigh 65 lbs! I had no idea they would float. Are you sure about that?

If it does float away, is the correct procedure to yell "WILLLLSON!!!"

lol.....I like the procedure.

I am pretty sure that if they are not inflated, these things have the boyancy of a cement filled Buick.

 

[PUNISHER]

Ours is 6 days of GS from 8am to 5pm on your week off followed by a 90 question written. Plus 3 days of sim also on your week off. Pay is $57 a day which amounts to $6.33 an hour.
uke:

 

[o2bflyn]

I'm 220 and the last time I check my fat a$$ floats!

Yeah, but you got a lot of hot air trapped in that fat a$$.

 

[ksu_aviator]

lol.....I like the procedure.

I am pretty sure that if they are not inflated, these things have the boyancy of a cement filled Buick.

They float. Many rafts are designed to be used by aircraft AND boats. They are designed to be thrown overboard at a moments notice and inflated by someone in the water with a vest on. They even have hand pumps to be used to inflate the raft if the quick inflate method doesn't work. Now, who's airplane is going to float for an hour while you pump air into your 9 man raft??

Just because they float, doesn't mean you can pile 9 people onto them. They have just enough bouyancy to stay on top of the water.