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| Official Newsletter of the Western Australian Aviation College – June 2006 | |||
From the Principal's Desk |
Welcome to our June issue of CentreLine.
The Australian winter is upon us and I have seen nothing but blue sky! There's no complaint from me I can assure you, it is of great assistance when keeping our students on schedule. Class A & B 2006 have all settled in well, they look like they've been buddies for years.
The JAA Modular Ground School is getting busier by the week. The first CAA exams completed at our Perth JAA Exam Centre went reasonably well, demonstrating an 82% first time pass rate. The second sitting finished this week. All JAA students seemed quite comfortable with the exams, especially after receiving the extra help from our latest recruit, Wayne Crosby, recently employed from the UK. Wayne joins our team after spending many years working in the heart of JAA territory, in Bournemouth. Welcome Wayne, I hope your stay is long and enjoyable. .
The new Web Based Training tools (Exams & Forums) are now available on-line through our web site Login. We have had wonderful reports about these 24/7 study facilities. I am sure it is really helping with exam preparation.
Next month we will be commencing a JAA Integrated ATPL Course. All the students land in Perth ready for a July 24 start. The course has had immense interest recently, demonstrated by a strong intake. We look forward to welcoming our new recruits from Europe. I hope you enjoy this issue.
Mark Cheveralls |
FREE Career Information Seminar
to be held on Thursday 11th August 2005 at the Hyatt Hotel Perth 7–9pm. Bookings essential, friends and family welcome.
Call today on (08) 9417 7733 or register online at |
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Helicopter News |
Let me start this edition's article by congratulating Nick
Robinson on the successful completion of his CPL flight test. Nick is our first
correspondence student to achieve this career milestone and we are very pleased to have
been able to play a part in his training. We wish him the best of luck with his future
flying. Our full-time students have also been busy and have all completed first solos recently. Well done Ginny, Dave and Warwick. I had the pleasure of being invited to go flying with another of our students recently, James. As I don’t get into the cockpit anywhere near as much as I would like to these days, I jumped at the opportunity. The flight was most enjoyable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was a top day weather wise and flying up and down the Perth coastline was the only place to be. Secondly, the level of skill and professionalism displayed by my pilot was first class. The lads at Heliwest have done a fantastic job with all of our students and it is good to see that a culture of safety and professionalism is being reinforced in the theory and practical components of the course. We are getting ready to welcome our next course of rotary wing students starting in July. I am confident that they will do as well as our current students. Safe Flying! Craig Peterson |
The Western Australian Aviation College is now offering students excellence in pilot training (Advanced Diploma in Aviation Studies) and graduates an opportunity to continue their studies in Management (B.Com) at university. • In only three years you will have completed two highly recognised qualifications. • The combination will make you more employable and open up more career options. The duration of the course is three years full-time. The theoretical and practical flying training (Advanced Diploma in Aviation) is completed at the college facilities at Jandakot Airport using specialists from the military and general aviation industry. The Bachelor of Commerce degree in Management follows at Murdoch University.
Call today for more information on (08) 9417 7733 or visit us at |
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Comedy Corner |
Sitting here on Mother's Day and thinking: Did your mum ever
say to you: "How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?" "Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too." "Just leave all the lights on . . . it makes the house look more cheery." "Well, if Fred's mum says it's okay, that's good enough for me." "The curfew is just a general time to aim for. It's not as if I'm running a prison here." "I don't have a tissue with me . . . just use your sleeve." "Don't bother wearing a jacket. The wind chill is bound to improve." No? Didn't think so.  |
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Industry
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Air New Zealand upgrade Air New Zealand has reached the 21st century after its new owners have given their 747s a total refit, introduced 777s, premium class beds and a new premium economy class product. The latest in-flight all entertainment (IFE) technology has been installed and the percentage of customers who would recommend Air New Zealand has grown form a paltry 4 per cent early last year across the international network to 90 per cent for the first time ever in November last year. New Services for Emirates In March this year, Emirates launched services to Hamburg, its 20th destination in Europe. Later this year, the airline will introduce a new service between Dubai and New York via Hamburg on October 29. Medical Treatment on board Emirates is one airline that uses MedLink services and has recently introduced the passenger health monitoring system, Tempus. The system records a passenger’s blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, electrocardiogram (ECG), blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. The data is then sent via the inflight communications system to MedLink, whose personnel can diagnose the problem and advise the crew on the best course of action. Emirates is among three airlines worldwide to have purchased the technology, with a number of others expected to follow shortly. Good news for Qantas The Australian International Air Services Commission has approved Qantas’ applications that will enable Jetstar to operate long haul international services from Australia to South- East Asia, Japan and the Pacific from later this year. Jetstar released plans to commence flights to six international destinations covering nine international routes directly from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane with Perth services to follow. As part of the celebrations to mark Qantas’s inaugural Sydney to San Francisco flight last month, the airline officially signed for up to 115 Boeing 787s to be used extensively from Perth. The first 787s will be delivered to Jetstar International in July 2008 and Qantas will receive its first in mid 2009. The aircraft is capable of flying between Perth and London non-stop with a full passenger payload. |
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Student
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NAME Virginia Hargreaves AGE 23 PLACE OF BIRTH Hong Kong NICKNAMES AND WHY? Ginny. My parents gave it to me. PREVIOUS JOB/S Horse stud manager, Equine nurse. MY FAVOURITE PASTIMES Horse riding Swimming Pub crawls FUTURE GOALS Owning helicopter company in Africa. Climbing Mount Everest BEST AIRBORNE MOMENT TO DATE? My first autorotation. |
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Notes from the Mad Medic |
‘Eyes wide shut’ If we are considering human factors in aviation then there is one important element that is often overlooked by even the most experienced pilots and that is ‘situational awareness’- being aware of factors likely to be influential when either preparing or conducting a flight. Three categories may be considered: The aircraft (airframe, engine, and fuel); the environment (weather, terrain, light), and the human element (health, mental state, and fatigue) Sadly the abovementioned are possibly so obvious that we are often lulled into ignoring them. Investigators of aircraft accidents and incidents frequently cite a lack of situational awareness as the underlying cause behind many non-mechanical and even some mechanical mishaps. How many of us think that someone has just flown this aircraft - surely maintenance will not be an issue, even though we may note an oily smell. Or, that the fuel truck has just been, so why check quantities? How many times do we look at weather forecasts and purposely ignore or attach diminished significance to cloud base and visibility because we are intent on completing the journey at that time. Who has had a full week at the office and late nights but feel that flying is different because it is for pleasure and not work? How many pilots fly into controlled airspace because they failed to spend a few extra moments perusing relevant maps? So what can be done to become more aware? Well, detailed check lists are there to be followed in detail. Believe your instruments. Brief yourself before entering the runway. Actually look at the windsock before you open the throttle. If a fellow crewmember is behaving a little erratically, note the signs and take action. Tell passengers that there is a chance of delays or cancellation and, if you are sick or tired stay home. Taking stock of all the issues means that you will live to fly another day. Until next time.. Keep safe.
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 Peanut Butter Muffins Recipe |
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Safety |
Well, 2006 is certainly marching on. I trust you are all
enjoying your flying and learning lots along the way. And be assured, just like amendments
the learning never stops. At the forefront of that learning should be how we can continually improve and enhance the safety of all facets of our operation. Whilst many of you are still trying to come to grips with basic aircraft handling, navigation or the plethora of ever changing rules and regulations, you should also be continually conscious of the importance of the role you play in upholding safety in aviation. Most of you are also no doubt striving for a job in the airlines and at this stage your flying is mostly single pilot however it is still the right time to start learning about and using ‘CRM’ skills in your training and flying. Crew Resource Management (CRM), and a term more recently been used Threat and Error Management (TEM) which encompasses and is a development of CRM, are tools to be used to minimize and identify failures and threats that can cause accidents. A good place to start is by reading accident investigations, talking to and learning from others, using the various reporting methods available if you feel safety has or will be compromised and understanding safety is a team effort involving everyone from the management, the engineers, ATC, the refuellers to name a few and ultimately YOU. If you would like to know more on CRM,TEM, airline interviews or have any questions at all please email waacinfo@waaviationcollege.com.au or me direct at crwstr@cathaypacific.com Think Safety and happy flying Stuart Rallss |
Official Newsletter of the
Western Australian Aviation College PH: +61 8 9417 7733 |
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