R-18 Training

Chris asked this question…..Is that as stressful as it sounds?? Is it like a BFR times 10??
Do very many pilots fail it, if so what happens? Do they get a second attempt or do they immediately lose their job??
Do you REALLY stress out and worry about it or is it second nature by now?? Is it half oral and half sim or what?
This is a lot of questions but I've always heard about it and i've never got a chance to ask anyone about it.

Answer….
Training is stressful. But it is a healthy kind of stress. One that keeps you in the books, thinking about situations that can arrise. It is probably harder than a Biannual Flight Review because there is more information. But we do it every nine months and that makes us more current and have more knowledge. I challenge my private students to fly with an instructor every year. To do more than is required. Because, this is important stuff and you can learn from every situation.

We have two types of recurrent. R-9 which is a basic normal flight with some manueuvers tacked on at the end. Or R-18 which is more training and maneuvers to keep us current. We practice engine failures, autolands, go arounds, windshear, stalls, and terrain avoidance procedures. We will practice every kind of approach that we certified to perform. And depending on the instructor we might get multiple emergencies in one flight. We have one day to practice our maneuvers with a simulator instructor. The checkride is the next day with one of our pilot Check airmen. There is a 2 hour brief with question and answer session. Like an oral but more laid back. We talk about Hot Topics that they are told to brief us about. Such as a trend of our aircraft to be running off of the end of runways and how to avoid these situations. We go to the simuator and in two days I will spend 8 hours in the simulator. It is intense to say the least. Your instructor sets the tone of the checkride. And in some cases you set the tone. Are you prepared? Do you and the Captain work as a team? I try to fly like I would on the line and do things at the same pace as a normal flight. It seems to work for me. I don’t get too excited and I try not to stray far from our checklist. One of the most difficult things that I have seen in the simulator was a two engine flameout. I was flying and I landed in the touchdown zone and it was even a nice touchdown. The instructor probably just wanted to see how I would react to the situation. Would I give up? Would I crash or land safely? He was very happy with the results and the checkride was over.

I really stress out over training. At the same time, it is second nature. I have been flying the Super 80 for 7 years now. When your job is on the line it is stressful. Everyday I go fly my job is on the line and deep down I know that. That is why I want to be prepared. If I don’t feel good I don’t go to work. My passengers don’t need me to be 70 percent flying them across the country. I have never failed a checkride yet. But if I do they will give me more training and work hard to get me through it. American has so much money invested in me and my training they will not fire me for one bad showing. But I don’t want to go down that path. It is not a happy one I am sure. So I better get off of here and start reading over my memory items and checklists. Chris…thanks for asking some very good questions.