Type Rating Confirmed

I finally have a date... and a base!

* A rather grand building of my future home city. Can you guess where? *

Up until recently I was expecting to start my type rating in late January. However, last week changed all of that. At the start of last week I received a phone call asking me if I could be available at short notice. It was stressed that while it wasn't certain there was a possibility another trainee may have to drop out for undisclosed reasons. Being the next in line they were preparing me "just in case". A couple of days later I received a second call saying that should I want it I could start training on the 27th December. Christmas truly had come early! I jumped at the opportunity. 

* EGGP - My new airport base *

My type rating is to be held at L3 Airline Academy in Nursling, Southampton and is to consist of both technical groundschool and simulator phases. It's expected to last 6 weeks meaning I'll be taking my skills test around the first week of February and joining the airline for their induction process and base training shortly afterwards. When it comes to my airport base I didn't get any of my choices but given I have simply taken the spot of someone else and bases had already been allocated that's to be expected. However, I'm very pleased to say that I've been allocated Liverpool and look forward to relocating there from late February to start my career. If any blog readers frequently fly out of John Lennon Airport then who knows, I might be your pilot one day!

So... with not much time left between now and the 27th I've handed in my notice at my current employer and am looking forward to cherishing the time I have with family this Christmas. Who knows... with the schedules of short-haul European airlines it could well be the last full Christmas I get with them for a couple of years. 

New website design...

In other news, after nearly a month in the works I'm extremely pleased to say that Pilot George website has had a face lift. Back in 2016 the former design was fresh and unique with it's left side bar menu layout but soon began to look tired. This new design is fresh, clean and photo-centric and represents my future plans to move away from simply training related content to a variety of posts on different topics within the airline industry. 

Let me know your thoughts on the new design :-) 

Until next time,

George.