So on the 18th of July I completed my flight test. In Australia it's the CPL(H).
It was a huge 3 months leading up to it with delays due weather and the operation requirments for the CFI and testing officer. Things are busy in Australia!
My CFI check was good, I still needed to work on my slope landings (my arch enemy) and touch up on some auto's. I went out on the day after the CFI check with my instructor to work on slopes. Yeah, that was very wel worth it.
The next day I was supposed to be my flight test but the weather came in and the command decision was made not to fly on that day. So I re-booked for Monday and had the whole weekend to stress and worry about it.
Come Monday, I was a mess again. I get nervous in any testing environment!
I had a 3 hour ground component which again showed that you will never know everything and how important it is to keep your head in the books, brushing up on rules and regs and air law and everything involving flight!
After that it was time to get in the air, I was no where near as nervous as I thought I would be. So in all the flight went really well. There was a couple of areas that I was unsure of but I just followed procedure and it all came together.
So what now? I'm still waiting on that piece of paper to come in the mail but I have already sorted out a private hire agreement with the compnay I did my training with so that will be one way of keeping current and keeping my hours up. But that's costly and I can't pay for it myself for ever!
So it's time to look for that very fist flying job. There's pro's and con's to this. The main issue is always going to be pay. A junior pilot with 120 hours will have to work hard to get that first job and that first job isn't going to be all fair and roses. Expect to be a hanger rat, expect to have to proove yourself before you even get into the seat. yeah there's a lot of work in front of you but keep the chin up and don't let anything get you down. After all, you're living the dream now!
