Tag: airlines

Critical Thinking for Pilots: Self debrief and Learning from our own mistakes…

Anil Goyal

What’s the point in thinking about what could have been  or what might have happened?   What’s done is done.   We’ve heard this.  We’ve probably thought this.  But don’t drown your sorrows or celebrate too soon,  because this self debrief is how important insights are revealed that will improve your decision quality in the air as well as on the ground. But before we start let me say that it is best to learn from others’ mistakes then make your own. However, as pilots we undertake multiple flights every day and not one flight is…

What is a blindfold check for military pilot and why is it important?

Anil Goyal

Before a military pilot goes solo, he/she has to successfully demonstrate the ability to locate switches blindfolded. It is not without reason. And this is checked periodically, generally every fortnight along with critical emergency actions. The pilot is made to sit in the cockpit as if during flight with eyes shut and instructor checks out pilots’ ability to locate and activate cockpit switches, to make sure they could find them in a nerve blinding situation (bird strike, smoke in the cockpit, electrical failure by night, etc.).  This practice remains with…

8 THINGS TO DO JUST BEFORE YOUR VIVA

Anil Goyal

That crucial 15 minutes before a VIVA can become the longest 15 minutes in an aspiring ATPL seeker’s life. What are you doing in those last few moments before you go into high stake Viva? Most people are getting just nervous or more nervous. They are thinking about all the things that can go wrong and all the ways in which they might screw up. They are worried about being judged by others and found lacking. In other words they are sabotaging themselves. Not many professionals are able to collect…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL. CPL) EXAMINATION: TOP 3 TIPS FOR VIVA

Anil Goyal

Reading time: 5 min Once you have passed the written examination, life can seem a little flat for a while. Congratulate yourself, take a breath – but try not to lose your momentum. Remember that this is not an interview but is an oral examination and, like any other examination; you need to revise and prepare for it thoroughly. And, as with other exams, there are strategies that you can adopt that may help you with this. Purpose of the Viva Voce Examination. Literally, “viva voce” means by or with…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 7: EXAM DAY PREPARATIONS

Anil Goyal

Reading time < 2 min Get plenty of rest the night before. Sleep, learning, and memory are complex phenomena that are not entirely understood. However, animal and human studies suggest that the quantity and quality of sleep have a profound impact on learning and memory. Research suggests that sleep helps learning and memory in two distinct ways. First, a sleep-deprived person cannot focus attention optimally and therefore cannot learn efficiently. Second, sleep itself has a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information. We suggest to sleep…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 6: KEEPING MOTIVATED

Anil Goyal

Reading time less than 2 min. Take breaks. You need some time to have fun and it is better to study when you are feeling relaxed than to exhaust yourself studying all day! Carefully structure your break and study time. Usually, 20-30 minutes of study and then a 5-minute break is the most effective method. If you have trouble bringing yourself to study, instead of long uninterrupted sessions, chunk your work into 20 minute periods, taking a 10-minute break at the end of every period.  Make sure that you structure the…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 4 ORGANISE YOUR LEARNING

Anil Goyal

Focus on your study objectives. What do you intend to accomplish during this session? Setting a concrete study goal may help you. Creating study plans is also a good idea. If 3 out of 5 lessons are easy and can be finished fast, finish them first, so you can spend quality time on the difficult lessons without fretting. Take Notes. Take notes and rewrite the most difficult and important information and display it where you are most likely to see it. Make mnemonics to remember. Not only will this give you a…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATIONS: TIPS # 3: SOLVING MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Anil Goyal

Studying for a multiple-choice exam requires a special method of preparation which is distinctly different from an essay exam. Multiple-choice exams ask a student to recognize a correct answer among a set of options that include 3 or 4 wrong answers (called options/distracters ), rather than asking the student to produce a correct answer entirely from his/her own mind.  Students commonly consider multiple choice exams easier than essay exams. Perhaps the most obvious reasons are:  The correct answer is guaranteed to be among the possible options.  Many multiple-choice exams tend to emphasize basic definitions…