AirAsia Cadet Pilot Programme 2017 : Experience Sharing

A very good day to all reading. A friend of mine has just recently completed all the stages of his AirAsia cadet pilot programme of 2017. Hence, I thought it would greatly benefit others who are anxious to know about the whole process from start to finish and what goes on behind it. As updated resources and articles from blogs are few and scarce, I am very grateful that my friend has accepted my invitation to write for this humble blog, sharing the same hopes that this will encourage, inspire and in due course, prepare the next batch. Happy reading.

P.S. - It's long. But if you're truly interested, it won't matter, wouldn't it?

"I'm a candidate of the AirAsia Cadet Programme Year 2017 and have just completed my SPM last year. It's a golden opportunity for those who dream to soar the skies when AirAsia announced their cadet pilot programme opening. As an SPM leaver without having any hesitations, I directly applied for the programme on the day my SPM results were released. Soon after that, I was glad to get an invitation of STAGE 1-Entrance Exam a month before sitting for the assessment. The assessments of this year were basically still the same as the previous year. Now I’m going to share in detail all of the processes I’ve gone through.

In Stage 1, we'll be assessed in 3 SPM-syllabus based subjects namely English, Maths and Physics. All papers were in the form of Multi Choice Questions (MCQ). English paper's standard was slightly more advanced than SPM and it was similar to MUET standard. Without any doubt, I just kept practicing by doing MUET Paper 3 as much as I could, although I knew that I was just an ordinary SPM leaver. Remember what Sir Tony Fernandes has said, "DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE, BELIEVE THE UNBELIEVABLE and NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER." Bear in mind, we weren't allowed to use any calculator for MATHS paper. But non-programmable scientific calculators were allowed to be used in PHYSICS paper. Physics paper was okay for me because it was more to SPM syllabus. Please do not just pick a chapter of SPM Physics which is related to aviation to study, TRUST ME the questions asked in the exam covered all the chapters. Do practice lots and lots of SPM past year questions especially for Maths and Physics until you get familiar, by then you should be able to ace the exam. The most important thing for this first stage is to focus as much as you can in doing your preparations as those efforts will pay off.

Surprisingly, I got my invitation email for Stage 2- Harrison assessment after 2 weeks. The Harrison assessment is a personality test assessing our characteristics whether or not we are suitable to become a pilot. Firstly, I was assisted by a HR lady in logging into the test, so there shouldn't be any problem. Always listen to instructions from the HR people during the assessment. Well, in this test, there are at least 8 statements in each question. Eg. I like outdoor activities, I don't mind sitting for a long time, etc. You will need to drag the statements according to your personality, the one you put at the top describes you the most while the one you put at the bottom describes you the least/not at all. Don't arrange the statements as how a pilot is going to arrange, just be yourself when answering. The system itself is able to detect our dishonesty if our answering pattern is not consistent. So, you will be asked to repeat the test again from beginning to ensure consistency. There's no time limit for this test BUT the HR lady told us not to do more than 30 minutes as doing more than that, means you're over-analyzed of yourself and this surely will affect your marks. As there is no wrong and right in this test, you can’t really tell if you did well or not. And once again, BE YOURSELF when answering the test. That's all for stage 2.

And again after 2 weeks, I was very excited to be invited for Stage 3- Face to Face Interview. It was an individual interview instead of a group interview. There were 2 sets of interviewers, so each set would be interviewing ONE candidate at the same time. We had to wait for our turn to be called for interview session. Yes, it was indeed a very nervous period of waiting time. Moreover, I was the last to be interviewed. My interview panel consisted of one captain and 2 HR ladies, thus it was 3 vs 1. As soon as I handed over my documents and certificates to them, I was asked to tell them about myself. They did ask me a CRM question which seemed to be quite hard. Try not to ignore their suggestions though. And, DON'T lie to them and just say you don't know if you have no idea how to answer their questions because they'll know from the way you answer. I was asked about AirAsia, specifically about the background, newest route and board of directors (Who are they? What are their roles in AirAsia?) all in rapid fire. There were a few candidates interviewed earlier who were asked to draw an aircraft on the whiteboard, label the components on the drawing and explain their functions. They might not ask any technical questions at all, but instead ask a lot of questions related to your academic experiences and qualifications (not necessarily related to aviation) if you're a diploma/degree holder. Everyone has their own background, so we would be given questions differently, but still we have to prepare at least for questions regarding the basics of flight. As they know I'm a flightsimmer and did study about the A320, I was asked to visualize the A320 cockpit instruments, what's shown on Primary Flight Display, what are ECAM actions, how do I cope with engine 1 fire etc. I believe they were just interested in your passion towards aviation. My advice is, BE HONEST. Alright, stage 3 done.

After that, I got an email saying I passed the interview and invited to attend Stage 4- QCT and psychomotor test/Final Assessment of AirAsia Cadet Programme 2017. We were given a manual of the psychomotor test and a short briefing on the overall assessment, so technically don't have to worry much. Then, we were split into 2 batches. I was in the first batch going for QCT first while the second batch would be waiting to sit for psychomotor to save time. QCT (Quantitative Critical Thinking) is a computer-based Maths exam to test our quantitative reasoning ability. There were a lot of problem-solving questions related to simultaneous equations (2 to 3 unknowns) and each question had its own time limit depending on the difficulty. They were in the form of multi choice questions (MCQ) and had 8 choices of answers. Once the time limit is reached, you will automatically jump into the next question. So you need solve as fast as you can and not waste any time. Although you have solved the question and still have time left, you can't go back to it right after you've clicked to proceed to next question. Thus, do make use of the remaining time to double check your answer. The system will keep giving you questions until you can’t answer anymore to see how smart you are. And yes, you're allowed to use non-programmable scientific calculator and given A4 papers in this test.

Next, we proceeded into the 2nd part of the assessment which is the psychomotor test to assess our multitasking skill. In this test, you will be facing a monitor with a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick provided, a 3x3 numeric keypad, a headset and a mouse (which you don't actually need). Before the psychomotor test begins, you will have a short trial for practice and familiarization. Okay, let's talk about the tasks.

First task- On the Primary Flight Display (PFD), you have to follow the flight director/crossbar which constantly moves, as close as possible under the conditions of wake turbulence.

Second task- You need to memorize the 5-digit recall numbers displayed at the top of PFD as you will have to key the number in a box which only appears when the PFD freezes. There will be only ONE 5-digit number appearing for about 5 seconds at once. In my session, I had two different numbers appear consecutively so I had to memorize them and input the numbers in sequence. After you've keyed in the recall number, the PFD unfreezes. Note: You can't write down the recall numbers in a paper, you MUST memorize instead. <------ (This is new) 

Third task- You're required to listen to the voice from your headset, continuously calling out a number (range 1-9) with an interval of roughly 5 seconds before the next one is mentioned. When you hear 3 consecutive odd numbers, press on either one of the odd number-labeled buttons on the joystick. If 3 consecutive even numbers, then press on an even number-labeled button on the joystick. There are buttons labeled 1, 2, 3 etc. on the joystick. Try not to miss out any number callout.

Fourth task- You'll see two virtual 3x3 numeric keypads situated beside the PFD, one on the left and right respectively. It's just like a game. Whenever any key of any of the virtual keypads illuminate yellow, you must quickly react by pressing on the corresponding key on your 3x3 number pad to acknowledge. Prolonging the reaction time will affect your result. Only one key will illuminate yellow at once. It's kind of a test to see how fast our reaction is towards a change.

Overall, you have to carry out all the tasks continuously up to 10 minutes. Felt so exhausted after the test but I was grateful to have completed all the assessments of AirAsia Cadet Programme 2017.

Thankfully after everything I’ve gone through, I received an email from AirAsia to prepare for Class 1 Medical test. I've got my Class 1 Medical Certificate and am now waiting for my enrollment into HMA, Langkawi next month. Being a pilot has always been my dream since childhood, it's now getting one step closer towards getting it realized. Invest your efforts into something you dream to achieve in life and the efforts will definitely pay off. They will."

150 dollars and an hour at SG Flight Simulations

Now where do I begin..I don't mean to sound negative and all but definitely SG Flight Simulations wasn't the experience that I had hoped for. It fell short of my expectations, actually.
So I dragged along my friend to join me (Sorry, A) at Orchard Central. I didn't tell him what I wanted to do there until we got there. I just told him I had a 'mission'. Heheh..

So right from the start before even going into the sim I was already beginning to feel like it wasn't going to be like what I probably had expected. But it was now or never as it was my second last day in Singapore. Long story short, we were told to come back at a later time in the evening because they had an instructor shift change. When we came back some angmoh guy beat us to it so ok fine he got his turn first so we had to wait another hour. During his turn the sim had a lot of problems which I don't really know much about. The instructor was constantly going back and forth to the instructor station at the back to fix some stuff and I overhead about the sim hanging or freezing and after the angmoh the instructor had to call her other colleague or something. So basically after the angmoh we had to wait another two hours or more for them to fix whatever.

But then eventually we got in also lah and yeah there were problems while I was in the sim but there weren't such huge messy problems. The speakers were not working at first but it worked eventually before I took off. So we were sitting on the ground wasting away time because of sub-woofers not working. And then later on my ND disappeared (more on that later).

Now on to problems with the sim hardware aspects.
The RUDDER PEDALS!! Bloody hell I hate those things. Toe brakes work fine but the left and right memang cannot make it lah. They were so bloody tight and on takeoff roll however hard I kick them they just won't deflect much. I've double checked this on the lower ECAM FCTL page. As a result, lineups and takeoff roll plus the landing rollout was seriously at risk of putting me on the grass and off the centreline.

The TILLER! When I asked the instructor whether they worked or not (because I tried using them and it seemed like they didn't) she was like 50/50. So okay lo not that bad mah I can use differential thrust and brake plus the rudder pedals to do runway lineup and vacating. So the tiller actually works SOMEtimes. Sometimes when you twist it and if you're lucky, your nosewheel will turn. If not you're stuck in life wondering what to do next.

The HDG knob on the MCP!! This bitch just won't turn. You really have to turn it slowly only then it will respond well. If you turn it using the normal speed or however else you might turn the SPD and ALT knob it just won't work. Because of this, turns in the air with reference to HDG can be quite troublesome as your left hand has to keep on the sidestick to make the turn, your right hand on the HDG knob and your eyes to scan your instruments. If you are not feeling so rajin, can always ask the PNF to turn it for you.

The MCDU! For those who want to do a point A to B flight, of course you have to set up the MCDU first right? And one of the first pages you have to go to is the INIT page right? It won't work in this sim. The other pages are okay but for some reason INIT just won't work. Maybe it's a once in awhile occurrence because the sim was having some problems that day.

The TRIM WHEEL! I know that trim wheel in Airbus is mostly only touched on the ground for setting takeoff trim but it would be great to have all essential parts on the pedestal working properly. Normally when you turn one side of the trim wheel the other side will turn with it also but this one no. It's like independent movement for each side.

The PDF/ND XFR button doesn't work. Which is quite troublesome especially when one of your two displays don't work, which was what happened to me. So I had to 'borrow' the FO side ND.

My ND which stopped working .Even though I was doing a visual into Dubai, it would have been useful to have my ND to crosscheck stuff and to use as a reference. 

The AP1 button! That doesn't work but AP2 does.

The AP disconnect button!! The one on my sidestick (left side) doesn't work. Not sure about the FO side.

I think I've rambled on enough already regarding the downsides of the sim. Hopefully whoever out there planning to go visit and try out the sim will read this to help you decide whether you really want to do it or not. But keep in mind those problems I encountered were on the 12th September 2015 so maybe by the time you read this and decided to visit the sim they would've already been fixed. But on to the experience itself.

So for one hour we did one takeoff, some turns with the usual climb and descend, two ILS approaches and one visual approach. No circuits here cuz they kinda take a lot of time. But still, this was more action compared to the one hour I had at Flight Experience Singapore which you can read about here. We did a takeoff and then once in the air did some turns plus climb and descend. After that my instructor set me up for an ILS into Changi but I will be hand flying the approach with the ILS to guide me. We did another one of that and then decided to go to Dubai which according to her was among many other customers' favorites. For Dubai we did a visual approach from 6000 feet. Looking for the runway was fun and the Dubai skyline was actually quite pretty. I was quite happy with all my landings. The sidestick works well however it is quite sensitive so I advice you to be gentle with it especially on approach. Only small minute adjustments are needed. I requested some weather from my instructor to kick it up a notch but I guess she kinda forgot. So landing wasn't that much of a challenge like I wanted it to be.

All in all I have nothing much to say though. For any member of the public who's just curious about flying or even for someone with fears of flying, your fears can be allayed when you visit this sim. The instructor I had was very nice and very keen on explaining things so go ahead and ask questions. I certainly had a fun time and was grateful for the opportunity to be able to learn some new things as well.

Thrust levers which were originally black with super obvious signs of wear. This sim is oldddd

Approach into Singapore

To get there, take the MRT to Somerset station and exit onto Orchard Central via Exit D. If you need any reassurance, Orchard Gateway is just opposite and the two buildings are linked via a bridge.
SG Flight Simulations have a special weekday offer called the Altitude Package. Visit them at http://www.sgflightsimulations.com.sg/index.php to see what they have to offer. 

Virtual flying? Virtual airlines? Virtual air traffic control? What?

So many people have dreamt of flying, me including. The feeling of soaring above the clouds with the shadow of your aircraft beneath you in the clouds. Yes, YOUR aircraft, piloted by you, with you at the commands. However for many very valid reasons, not everyone has the luxury to fulfill that dream. So those people turn to virtual aviation. Virtual aviation makes use of desktop flight simulators, an online aviation network and software developers who create addons to add to the level of realism in these flight sumlators. 

Some might think that desktop flight simulators are nothing in comparison with the real deal. Admittedly, that is the case. You cannot feel the same things you feel when you are up in the air with the sun in your face and feeling your stomach falling when the aircraft climbs. However, desktop simulation has reached a level so high that certain aircraft addons have been approved to be used for training purposes be it at home or for commercial simulation training. So when it comes to system simulations, you can be assured that the virtual aviator community has got that covered. 

That being said, I will show you in detail a flight operated by a virtual airline called Malaysia Virtual Airlines. MVA is not in any way associated with the real life operations of Malaysia Airlines or its subsidiaries. It does, however simulate operations of the aviation industry in Malaysia based upon the real world activities of Malaysia Airlines, Transmile Air Services, AirAsia, AirAsia X, Firefly, MASWings, MASKargo, Berjaya Air and Malindo Air. 

I fly for the AirAsia and AirAsia X portion of MVA and as such, I mainly fly the Airbus A320 and A330-300. Today we will focus on a popular domestic route, Kuching to Kuala Lumpur as flight AK5209. 

My pilot badge as of 3rd July 2014

MVA uses a flight tracking software which connects to Microsoft Flight Simulator X to track the VA pilots' flights in real time. The software is called mACARS and it records the flight profile and other details of the aircraft along its journey. 

So first before starting a flight I would start up FSX (Flight Simulator X) at the origin airport, set the aircraft up and connect to an online network called VATSIM which stands for Virtual Air Traffic Simulation. VATSIM is a network populated by virtual aviators such as myself. In VATSIM we have the virtual pilots and virtual air traffic controllers. The ATC follow real world operation procedures for the region/country they are in and it is really close to the real thing. We even have real world ATC logging onto VATSIM to help control the virtual airspace in their free time. The Malaysian side of VATSIM has its own batch of controllers servicing mainly Kuala Lumpur and Penang. However these controllers can switch to control at any airport they like.  For more information of VATSIM in Malaysia, the link is here. So at the end of the day, VATSIM is quite a professional environment to be in. More on that later.

The aircraft we will be flying today is an Airbus A320-216 registration 9M-AQR. All aircraft registered in Malaysia will carry '9M' in front of it followed by whatever code the operator chooses. The A320 is a short to medium haul passenger aircraft with a max seating capacity of 180 passengers. It has a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.82 (which is 82% the speed of sound) and a maximum range of 3100 nautical miles. It uses the famous Fly-By-Wire avionics technology and has an excellent safety record all over the world.

So I load up the aircraft in a cold and dark state (with no electrical power and with engines off) and I prepare the aircraft for the journey. This phase of the flight mainly includes powering the aircraft up and setting up the flight computers with all the necessary information. 

The aircraft all powered up and ready to load cargo and passengers

Catering trucks have started loading. Note that the aircraft doesn't use the PBB (passenger boarding bridge) like in the real world operations in Kuching.

The aircraft registration can be seen here

At this time I will 'walk around' the aircraft and physically inspect everything outside the aircraft and check for any damages  

Registration is also under the wings

The cargo has arrived and is being loaded

After the walkaround is completed, I set up the flight computers for the route and wait for the boarding and loading to be finished. 

The MCDU (Multi Control Display Unit) being set up for the initial stages of route planning. 

 The route we will be using to KL is given by MVA which is:

KAMIN G334 SAROX

A flight plan route follows the format ORIGIN-WAYPOINT-AIRWAY-WAYPOINT-DESTINATION
In this case, the origin will be WBGG which is the airport code for Kuching International Airport and the destination will be WMKK which is the code for Kuala Lumpur International Airport. A waypoint is a set of coordinates that are given names to identify them easily and they can be considered as 'checkpoints' which pilots need to fly over in a route. An airway is like a highway in the sky used to get from waypoint to waypoint. In this case, KAMIN and SAROX are waypoints and G334 is an airway. Airways are usually denoted by a combination of a letter and numbers.

We are taking 8,480kg of fuel today. The total number includes the trip fuel, contingency fuel, reserves, taxi fuel, holding fuel and others.

So once we have everything set up and loaded, we can now push back from the gate and start our flight.
Contrary to what some people may think, aircraft do not have a 'reverse gear' or a 'drive' mode. That is not how they move on the ground. Aircraft move by forward thrust and reverse thrust. Reverse thrust are mainly used during the landing roll to redirect the flow to help slow the plane down. It is possible to use reverse thrust to move the aircraft backwards but there is always a danger of ground equipment damage, injury/death, foreign object and debris injection into the engines, not to mention higher fuel consumption. Therefore it is not practical to start the engines at the gate and reverse the aircraft from the gate using its own thrust. However smaller prop aircraft may use reverse thrust at the gate although it is still under the authority of the airport regulations and air traffic control for that manoeuvre.

Pushback commences at 7:59AM, one minute ahead of the scheduled departure time of 8:00AM.

Pushback is done using a pushback tug/tractor. The aircraft is positioned on the apron in a way that it is far from any ground crew or equipment for the safe start of engines.

Engine 2 (right engine) is started first followed by Engine 1. Both ECAM displaying the engine parameters that needs constant monitoring throughout the startup process.

Pushback tug has been disconnected and we are ready to roll!


Flight controls check. The ailerons on the right wing lifting.

The lower ECAM screen showing the flight control surfaces' deflections.

We will be taking off from runway 25 using the SID (Standard Instrument Departure) IGEVU1E. SIDs are predetermined routes that need to be followed by all outbound traffic flying IFR. It reduces the ATC workload and provides a more systematic flow of traffic away from the airport. 

Our V speeds for today's departure will be V1=148knots, VR=149knots and V2=150 knots with a flap setting of 1+F.

The IGEVU1E departure from runway 25. We will first climb out on the runway heading (248 degrees) and reach the MUPEP waypoint at or above 3100 feet. From there, we will turn right on a heading of 293 degrees and track direct to the IGEVU waypoint. From IGEVU, we will continue on to the first waypoint of our route. Note the M761 in the black box. That is another example of an airway.

08:11AM
Lined up on runway 25, slowly advancing the thrust levers for takeoff power.

Climbout. Goodbye Kuching! See you soon! :D

Gorgeous Kuching scenery

Climbing to our cruise altitude of 36000 feet, tracking the IGEVU waypoint on a heading of 293 degrees just like in the SID chart, thereafter to our route's first waypoint KAMIN. The blue arrow on the right hand side display (ND-Navigation Display) denotes the top of climb, a point in which we transition from the climb phase to the cruise phase.

The captain's sliding tables. No traditional yoke or 'steering wheel' here. Airbuses are flown using a sidestick.

Passing Gunung Rumput and the town of Lundu. The view in real life is even more breathtaking. If you bother to look out and appreciate it. 

Leaving Borneo at 27000 feet

Reaching out cruise altitude

Tracking my flight. On the radar you can see other pilots around. Those are all virtual pilots in the air doing the same thing we are doing right now. Flying in the virtual skies! :) Over at Peninsula Malaysia, you will see it is covered in a blue shape. That is the Malaysian airspace (Peninsula side) also known as Lumpur Centre. When you see this, it means that there is an air traffic controller on VATSIM controlling that airspace. Over at WMKK (KLIA) you will see D,G,T,A. Those are Delivery, Ground, Tower and ATIS. Those stationed are manned by different people for each station and they control certain parts of the airport (such as ground movements and takeoff/landing clearance) and airspace. Once I cross into the blue boundary, I am required to contact the controller for Lumpur Centre. He will give me a transponder code to squawk so he can identify me on his radar. From there he will give me clearance to KLIA and also issue me descent instructions. At a certain distance from the airport, I will be handed over to Tower who will give me my landing clearance and once the runway has been vacated, I will be handed over to Ground for my instructions to the gate. Just like in real life :) ATIS stands for Automated Terminal Information System and it gives me information regarding the airfield such as the weather, cloud bases, temperature, runways in use etc.

After cruising for a little over an hour, I am given my descent instructions and arrival information. I am given the LENK1A STAR via SAROX transition. STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Route uses the same concept as SID, just that STARs are for arrivals). I am instructed to descend from 36000 feet to 13000 feet. 

Choosing the ILS runway 15 approach. Runway 15/33 is the new third runway built for KLIA2 operations recently. As we are an AirAsia flight, I am given runway 15. Runway in use is usually determined by the wind direction as aircraft should land and takeoff into the wind.

Selecting the SAROX transition. As SAROX is the last waypoint in my route, I will transition from SAROX into the LENK1A arrival.

Entering the arrival information. The final approach speed is calculated by the computer which in this case is 137 knots.

Descending into KL.

And from SAROX we go to LENKI (that is why the STAR is called LENK1A). Note in magenta there are numbers next to the waypoints. Those are speed and altitude restrictions. At LENKI we should be at or above 10000 feet at a speed of 250 knots. At KIDOT, we should be at or above 6000 feet with a speed of 210 knots. A pretty straight forward visualization of the approach path to the runway. 

Autobrake setting on LOW. Runway 15 is long enough with dry conditions so I don't need that much braking power.

Banking right to join the circuit

The blue line of the route is the missed approach line. In case the landing has to be aborted, this is the route I have to follow before being given instructions by ATC to rejoin the pattern for approach.

Speedbrakes deployed to help us slow down

Gear going down

Flaps in full configuration for landing

Runway 15 ahead. On the left is runway 14R

Touchdown at 9:38AM, spoilers up! These panels are also called 'lift dumpers' because they 'spoil' or 'dump' the lift from the wings, allowing for more drag

Nice solid thud onto runway 15

After vacating the runway, I am handed over to Ground traffic control and was told to taxi to any gate at my discretion. I chose gate J2. In real life operations, AirAsia operates domestic flights from the J and K apron of KLIA2. 

Follow-me car to the gate. KLIA2 apron and taxiway operations still need getting used to for me. Follow-me car and at the gate services provided by an addon called GSX (Ground Services X). I recommend you to get it to add a nice touch to your ground movement in airports.

Passengers disembarking via jetway just like in real life KLIA2. Baggage unloading at the same time.

On block time: 9:49AM

With a total amount of fuel used at 4200kg, we have safely arrived at our destination. That concludes the 1 hour 38 minutes flight and I hope you enjoyed everything. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section. 

DISCLAIMER: FOR USE IN FLIGHT SIMULATION ONLY. THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE COMPLETE OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES OF AIRASIA AND ITS AFFILIATES IN REAL LIFE 

All in all, I hope this gives you enough information to satisfy your curiosity as to why some people spend hours in front of their computer 'playing' a 'game' like this. I strongly disagree when someone calls Microsoft Flight Simulator X a game. The level of realism keeps growing over time and people do it out of love for aviation. Some treat it as a hobby or a passion satisfied by alternative means. Some just like the fun of flying an aircraft and to be able to simulate emergencies and failures without actually endangering their lives. I apologize if this post has been too long. I did try to keep it short >< Perhaps I will write another post like this but from a different perspective. Perhaps. Till then thanks for reading and happy landing always!