IFR training
This module focuses completely on flight training – advanced flight training, that is. Initially, we set out to make the students utilize their newly obtained knowledge from Module 2.
IFR training means flight training with no visual reference to the ground. Students fly in rain, in misty conditions and into and over clouds with zero visibility. This part of the training is done in the P2006T aircraft and in the corresponding P2006T FNPT II simulator. You will fly 57 hours in the aircraft and 25 hours in the simulator. The IFR training is split up into three blocks of aircraft training and two blocks of simulator training. As a consequence, your training will switch between aircraft, simulator, aircraft, simulator and back to aircraft. The IFR training is completed with a MEIR skill test. This flight exam provides you with the right to fly multi-engine aircraft in instrument conditions.
CPL training
Next is CPL training, and you are back in the same aircraft in which you just passed the MEIR skill test – the P2006T. You now have 57 hours of flying experience and 25 hours of simulator experience, and you know the aircraft very well. Now it is time to go back to visual flying. You will spend five hours training visual flights, and this time you will focus on becoming a commercial pilot, which means that you have to handle the (imaginative) presence of passengers. Passengers must be briefed – also in case of emergencies, which are a large part in this phase of training. The CPL training is concluded with a CPL skill test. The CPL skill test provides you with a CPL certificate, which is a commercial pilot certificate. You have now passed your final flying exam, but you need further training to comply with the hour requirements.
UPRT
The final part of this module is the UPRT training. The aircraft used is the military aerobatic trainer Zlin-242. Now it is time for the biggest and wildest roller-coaster ride of your life. You will fly with an aerobatic instructor who will take you through your passes. First, the instructor will demonstrate the maneuvers, then instruct you, and finally monitor you doing it yourself. You will experience several fully developed spins during which your aircraft will spin around its own body at a rate of approximately 420 degrees per second while being in a very steep dive. You will see more than 1,500’ (which is equivalent to half a kilometer of height) disappear in about 10 seconds, and most importantly, you will be able to get the aircraft out of that situation and back to normal flying.