Having succeeded in earning and passing your Professional Pilots lIcence, with a frozen ATPL and valid CPL, was a very big step towards your dreams of that office job in the sky. So to fly that chosen jet for your career you have to train to fly it, which is where a Type Rating comes into play.

The very first thing you need to do is choose what aircraft you wish to fly. There are a lot of types out there, so our advice is to find an aircraft that is commonly used a lot worldwide, which on the passenger jets is the Airbus 320 or the Boeing 737. As this will give you the maximum scope for getting your first job, due to the requirement to fill so many positions in many Airlines.

Starting on the Type Rating will involve Ground School tuition, self study after class hours on computer based study, followed by in class computer based training, with exams to check your understanding of the syllabus.

After which you will start on a Static Trainer to learn the position of the instruments and buttons, leading into the Fixed Simulator to train procedures and emergencies, followed by the more realistic Full Motion Simulator to accurately train everything that you have learned so far and extra scenarios.

In the Full Motion Simulator sessions you will have briefings beforehand, and debriefings afterwards, to teach and grade your progress. With the Type Rating end in sight you will have an initial test by an Instructor to assess your suitability to be put forward for the Type Rating test with Examiner.

The next part that goes with the Type Rating is the Base Training, which is the part we are sure you will thoroughly enjoy. It is the training on the actual aircraft to complete six take off’s and landings, or more commonly known as Touch and Go’s.

You will position to the airport where the training is to be held, undergo a full briefing by the Instructor, and then prepare for the Base Training. The preflight checks, the onboard briefing, then you will stay onboard the aircraft with any other Pilots completing the Base Training on the same aircraft. Once it is your turn you will enter the Flight Deck, take your seat in the First Officers chair, then feel the thrust as you take off for the very first time.

Upon passing the Type Rating and Base Training tests you will have the Type Rating qualification put into your Professional Pilots Licence, giving you the ability to apply for a position as First Officer with an Airline. Hopefully you succeed with only the Type Rating and no experience to gain a placement. If you hit a barrier to being accepted by the Airlines without experience, we have Line Training options to give you the level of experience you require for an Airline position.

We enjoy seeing all cadets take off to a Professional career.

If you are interested to discuss what we can provide to you, please get in touch via: training@flymedirect.com