Weather to pilots: FU

It’s been just one of many delays to training that have both frustrated me and taught me how to cope with adversity since I started flight training in New Zealand back in August.

One of the reasons why I picked my flight school was the opportunity to fly in New Zealand, not only for the beautiful scenery but also because I assumed the weather would be better here.

But that was before I started studying meteorology as part of the process to gain my Airline Transport Pilot Licence. “Met” is a subject dear to the hearts of pilots, whether with 30 years of experience flying jets, or those learning in single engine propeller planes. Each day we pore over surface charts, significant weather charts, reports like METARs and TAFs — and stare at the clouds — to get an idea of how the weather will affect our flight and routing.

It turns out the vast majority of New Zealand is what is classed as a temperate climate, the same as Europe. That means cold fronts, which bring wind and rainfall, are common. With high pressure systems in the winter and spring, you typically get early morning fog, which then lifts to become low level stratus cloud, neither of which are ideal for flying first thing in the morning, although they do make for some beautiful sunrise pictures!

This spring and summer, the weather has been much worse (and especially windier!) than usual, my instructors say. The worst phase for me was in October, when I was effectively grounded for three weeks while trying to get a milestone solo lesson done because of such weather. Constantly preparing for flights, putting on my uniform and driving into school, only to be cancelled, sometimes twice in one day, really took its toll on my mental state — especially as other cadets seemed to be scheduled in just at the right time, or had higher cross wind limits than me, and were able to get their flights done.

The lack of regular flying practice and my own doubts led to some ropey landings when I did eventually go up and meant I required additional lessons to regain my confidence. However, I believe that going through these struggles has taught me resilience and how to have faith in myself (and my landing skills!).

A similar period of weather-related cancellations in November led me to doubt my flying skills and question whether this was the right career move for me.

These frustrations came on top of constantly having our training timeline changed by my flight school, which, like many others in the industry, was already struggling with overcapacity, partly due to instructors moving to pilot-hungry airlines to fly the big jets.

I was forced to wait four months after passing all my ground school exams before starting the fun part of actually flying. Along with the basic phase of flying taking over two months longer than expected, I faced another delay before starting the advanced phase of flying. In all, what was billed as an 18-month course is now set to take me 28 months.

What these delays have taught me is that it’s crucial to have a backup plan in life and to be more philosophical about events outside of my control. Having a previous career to fall back on means I have the chance to earn some money during the periods where I am waiting for the next phase of training to start. This should stand me in good stead after my training finishes because it will likely take some time to find a job once I leave flight school.

It’s taken me a while to grasp, but the main lesson I have learned is that getting stressed and annoyed helps no one.

Sharing my experiences with fellow cadets, commercial pilots who have been through the same training process, and my instructors has made me realise that I am not the first, and certainly won’t be the last, person to experience these frustrations. As my instructor is fond of telling me, in the aviation industry, things often don’t go to plan. So, learning to be flexible and having the ability to re-plan at the drop of a hat is a crucial skill.

Better to learn the habits now that will stand me in good stead for the rest of my piloting career: take a deep breath, and save the energy for that old adage — aviate, navigate, communicate.