U... S... A...!!

The journey to Phoenix was much better than that of our colleagues who made their way to NZ! One of the first perks was a direct flight from Heathrow with none other than British Airways! The other guys have endured the 30 hour journey to NZ, our journey door to door was around 16 hrs, with 10.45hrs in the air direct to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. We had a slight delay due to a dust storm which are quite frequent out here.

We were treated extremely well by the cabin crew and pilots at British Airways when they found out who we were and the flight was comfortable. We were visited by both the Captain and the Line Training Captain who were aboard the flight and who spent some time talking to us about their experiences, which was amazing. This all lead to a trip to the flight deck of the 747-400 that we flew on at the end of the trip, so thanks to those guys! Cheesy snap below... (after a long flight bear in mind!)

After that the fun ended! The headaches started to set in from our over indulgence at Heathrow and early in the flight. Also our trip to the flight deck and chatting with the pilots had put us right at the back of a queue of 747 passengers to go through customs, where we were immediately met by a man with a gun... Welcome to America! Customs is not the fastest process with only three desks open and everyone giving finger prints and retina scans! 2 hours later we were through!

We were met by the team from CTC and driven quickly to our very comfortable accommodation (photos below.) The guys at CTC had somewhat underestimated our stamina however! We were presented with an application form and internet access and told to report with the form filled in at 7.30am local time to travel for our FAA medical examinations at 10.00am. The time when we were told this was 12am! 

Nevertheless, due to the Jet Lag, we found ourselves wide awake at 5am, (12pm UK time) so this did not turn out to be a challenge at all. We were stuck straight in with a full day of ground school, mostly admin, organisation and issuing of kit, finishing the day with a chat from the Goodyear Police Department. Which was hilarious, they are nothing like boring British police. 

The organisation out here has been really good in Phoenix considering we are the first course out here for CTC. There is a car which has been arranged for our use for the first couple of weeks, we have fully catered accommodation, the food is good, all be it american! so everything comes with cheese! Cable TV is available in the living spaces, and the briefing rooms and crew room are comfortable and well equipped. So all in all things are looking great, and excited to get stuck into some more of the flight safety briefings tomorrow. 

The DA-40's flew for the first time today after assembly so we are expecting to start flying on schedule next Friday as there are no differences exams for the US! Happy days.!