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Evals finished today. 12 of 15 passed. Had a shot at Seattle (3 spots) but poo poo the bed on problem 2 and placed 4th in the class. The first three people took Seattle. My choices are now between ZKC and ZAB. The last two people are stuck with ZSU. E: holy poo poo curve ball. The guy ahead of me chose ZKC. I'm going home to ZSE. its all nice on rice fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Jul 18, 2018 |
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Jul 18, 2018 03:34
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An apology to whichever of you poor buggers were working arrivals to Vegas Monday... yes I was in THAT A330. But seriously... 1 in loving 4 descent angle if we are lucky, and it was 30-50 knot tail all the way loving down. I was trying to explain in simple terms that I cannot do 300 knots level and end up 4000 feet high and then get in. You stop my descent that you have already delayed and I will slow to 220 knots 100 miles out... no other way to do it... In the end the penny dropped and it was just fly the star at the speed you need... And still couldn't manage the RNAV 19L any faster than 135 knots after 6000' because of the wind/ temperature.
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Jul 18, 2018 06:31
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hjp766 posted:An apology to whichever of you poor buggers were working arrivals to Vegas Monday... yes I was in THAT A330. But seriously... 1 in loving 4 descent angle if we are lucky, and it was 30-50 knot tail all the way loving down. I was trying to explain in simple terms that I cannot do 300 knots level and end up 4000 feet high and then get in. You stop my descent that you have already delayed and I will slow to 220 knots 100 miles out... no other way to do it... Just over 10 years ago (holy poo poo time flies) when I first started flying a BBJ over in Russia, all the ATC arrival procedures to Moscow were geared toward the old, Soviet-era jets that had been plying the skies over there for 40 years. Since most of these aircraft were slick-wing jets with insane wing-loading, ATC expected all aircraft to be able to make 2 to 1 descents at 300 knots. The BBJ would not do this - especially since Boeing had restricted Speed Brake travel from their already anemic performance on the 737 for some reason. The first time I approached Moscow from the east, the dude I was flying with briefed me on the procedure he used to accommodate the ridiculous descent: "about 20 miles after you start freaking out because of how high you are, slow the aircraft back to below 205 knots, dump the gear and Flaps 15. Stop laughing. When you get the descent clearance, nose the bitch over and keep it just below the 205 knot Flap 15 speed." My response was "I'm not going to loving fly like that. ATC will have a fit over how slow I'm going a hundred miles from the airport." He just shrugged and said "We can try it your way, but ATC is going to bone us with vectors." ATC boned us with vectors. I ended up over Vnukovo at something like 11,000ft and 320 knots and we got vectored out 70 miles or so to the south at Flight Level not-very-many-meters, burning a poo poo-load of gas and cutting into our reserve before we landed. "Told you so." A week or so later we were back flying Tyumen to Moscow and I watched other dude do it his way with nary a peep out of ATC for the incredibly weird descent profile. About six months later we hired a guy I'd flown with in the 737 at ATA and when I explained what I was going to do to get down approaching Moscow, he looked at me exactly the same way I had looked at the first guy. WTF? "Seriously, trust me on this."
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Jul 18, 2018 14:43
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its all nice on rice posted:Evals finished today. 12 of 15 passed. Had a shot at Seattle (3 spots) but poo poo the bed on problem 2 and placed 4th in the class. The first three people took Seattle. My choices are now between ZKC and ZAB. The last two people are stuck with ZSU. Congrats! I heard my area (B) will be getting some of the new academy grads, so we might be working together soon.
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Jul 18, 2018 20:19
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its all nice on rice posted:Evals finished today. 12 of 15 passed. Had a shot at Seattle (3 spots) but poo poo the bed on problem 2 and placed 4th in the class. The first three people took Seattle. My choices are now between ZKC and ZAB. The last two people are stuck with ZSU. Congrats! Now there's a chance it'll be a fellow goon giving me the standard "I show you with a 10 minute delay, expect vectors for metering" speech every time I get handed off to Seattle.
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Jul 18, 2018 22:12
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its all nice on rice posted:E: holy poo poo curve ball. The guy ahead of me chose ZKC. I'm going home to ZSE. Congrats on graduation! Also congrats on somehow beating the FAA and ending up where you want, instead of a thousand miles from anyone you know.
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Jul 19, 2018 01:56
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its all nice on rice posted:E: holy poo poo curve ball. The guy ahead of me chose ZKC. I'm going home to ZSE. Congrats! ZKC is an alright facility, but now is not the time to go there as a trainee. They've thrown a ton of people to the facility since they got their numbers revised and there's a massive backlog of people. I was told that some have just flat out quit instead of waiting which seems insane to me as KC, unlike many other facilities, is very doable on AG pay.
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Jul 19, 2018 05:38
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  Content: Immediately before this guy was in my airspace, I had my busiest session, ever. 37 on freq, 49 radar. In a sector 120mi long and 37mi wide at the widest point, 25mi wide down south. I'm an idiot. Bonus task: Figure out how a Falcon off Provo, headed to Portugal, ended up in my airspace over Orlando. THANKS TMU.
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Jul 21, 2018 04:29
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Did it have something to do with their equipment for MNPS airspace, so they had to go up the coast? I can't think of any other reason
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Jul 21, 2018 06:14
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So is MRFAP the registration number or what?
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Jul 21, 2018 06:28
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vessbot posted:So is MRFAP the registration number or what? It is.
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Jul 21, 2018 13:16
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I'd like to think that the owner is a porn baron and the aircraft was full of hungry, over-made-up porn chicks. I would proudly fly MrFap - well, a contract trip at least.
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Jul 21, 2018 13:43
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Just, uhh..bring plenty of alcohol wipes.
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Jul 21, 2018 16:28
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D01 was taking arrivals in a departure gate today!!! 
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Jul 22, 2018 23:28
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Everyone should try it at least once.
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Jul 23, 2018 04:52
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1r3XZQc4Zo Unprofessional controller? He seemed to just have a stick up his rear end the entire time.
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Jul 24, 2018 21:02
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Fancy_Breakfast posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1r3XZQc4Zo Is that controller arguing with someone that has a weather radar pointed at a cell?
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Jul 24, 2018 21:09
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Fancy_Breakfast posted:Unprofessional controller? He seemed to just have a stick up his rear end the entire time. hobbesmaster posted:Is that controller arguing with someone that has a weather radar pointed at a cell? I’m so glad that dipshit gets 25% for OJTI and everyone in their AOS gets $5k or whatever whenever they check out a trainee. gently caress N90 forever and ever and ever and ever.
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Jul 24, 2018 21:21
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NATCA posted:The #FAA is accepting applications nationwide beginning July 27 from people interested in becoming air traffic controllers. When the application link is available, NATCA will share it on social media & member communications.
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Jul 24, 2018 21:55
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I turned 31 last month. Is there any chance at all at getting hired, or is it pointless to apply?
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Jul 25, 2018 15:39
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Update on the Nav Canada front: I passed the 5 hours assessment so now they will call me for a phone interview. Some day anyway. Clock is reset again to 18 months.
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Jul 25, 2018 19:34
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RCarr posted:I turned 31 last month. Is there any chance at all at getting hired, or is it pointless to apply? AFAIK you need a TOL before your 31st birthday. If you're already 31 you're out 
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Jul 25, 2018 23:10
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https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/506307400 direct link to the career.
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Jul 28, 2018 17:19
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Bhurak posted:Update on the Nav Canada front: I passed the 5 hours assessment so now they will call me for a phone interview. Some day anyway. Clock is reset again to 18 months. I’d be interested in an effort post on NavCanada’s hiring process if you have the inclination. I’ve heard good things about our northern cousins. Minclark posted:https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/506307400 direct link to the career. Thanks for that, I had three people I promised to get that link for, and totally forgot... 
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Jul 28, 2018 17:31
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MrYenko posted:I’d be interested in an effort post on NavCanada’s hiring process if you have the inclination. I’ve heard good things about our northern cousins. I've only had one or two bad experiences with them. I had one guy yell at me the other day for taxiing off when he wanted me to backtrack on the runway (it was a hot day and my student touched down too far to be a safe touch-and-go, so we stopped unexpectedly), but to be fair it was a busy afternoon and he was working three frequencies with a full circuit and a bunch of inbound aircraft (I assume someone was on summer vacation and they didn't think 5PM on a Wednesday afternoon would be busy) and I would've been in a state of complete nervous collapse at that point if I were him, so I'll give him a pass.
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Jul 28, 2018 17:54
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MrYenko posted:I’d be interested in an effort post on NavCanada’s hiring process if you have the inclination. I’ve heard good things about our northern cousins. I've the 1.5 hour telephone interview (step 4 of ?) on Monday after work. Doing up a big effort post will probably be a good study session so I will make an attempt. It will be from in the trenches though as I am not an employee yet.
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Jul 29, 2018 03:30
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ausgezeichnet posted:Just over 10 years ago (holy poo poo time flies) when I first started flying a BBJ over in Russia, all the ATC arrival procedures to Moscow were geared toward the old, Soviet-era jets that had been plying the skies over there for 40 years. Since most of these aircraft were slick-wing jets with insane wing-loading, ATC expected all aircraft to be able to make 2 to 1 descents at 300 knots. The BBJ would not do this - especially since Boeing had restricted Speed Brake travel from their already anemic performance on the 737 for some reason. I'm interested but don't understand what flaps 15 means or why flying like that is weird. Is it that common for ATC in other countries to require pilots do vastly different descents and takeoffs? I was reading that in Europe the transitions zone from flight level to local measurement for altitude is much much lower than in NA. Is that for example something that makes much difference?
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Jul 29, 2018 04:53
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Effort post incoming: Nav Canada is the not-for-profit private corporation that manages civilian air traffic in Canada. If you want the Wikipedia description here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nav_Canada . Long story short, the government was loving poo poo at managing the organization, maintaining equipment and staff levels (hmmmmmm  ) and they needed an out. Nav Canada was that out.Canada is divided up into a number of regions (Flight information Region FIR). I am in the Edmonton region.  There are 4 main jobs divided into controllers and FSS Area Controller (IFR): Self-explanatory. These people manage large swathes of airspace from a central location Tower controller (VFR): Self-explanatory. Only a few actual towers in my region. Flight Service Specialist (Aerodrome Advisory Service AAS)- “Tower” guys for non-tower aerodromes. Which in a place like Canada is most locations. The website very carefully words it to make sure that you know they can’t actually tell you what to do, just advise you. FSS (Flight information Centre FIC): Specialists at the main centre. Near as I can tell they are sort of a cross between a weatherman, customer service and a librarian. There are also some techs and trades people but no one really cares about them. The recruitment itself is managed via https://takecharge.navcanada.ca The requirements as state from the website: https://takecharge.navcanada.ca/training/ -be 18 years or older, -have a high school diploma, or equivalency, -be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, And because Quebec: -meet language requirements (a high level of proficiency in English and French for the Montreal Flight Information Region (including the National Capital Region), English for all other regions). In addition, the ideal candidate must have a quick mind, have the personal will to succeed in spite of setbacks and be able to pick up and retain information rapidly by listening. I think that’s enough of a background. As we can see there is no age limit and Nav Canada is not part of the government meaning they don’t have to wait for acts of parliament (congress) to change things. I’m not often the sort of Canadian to think that we necessarily do things better here than our southern cousins but I think this is better based on my reading of this thread. I’m going to break the next part down by putting my own personal experience in a quote bubble and verifiable fact in normal text. Anecdotes aren’t data etc. One thing to note is that at every stage there is a timer that resets upon entry into the next stage. If you time out you reapply. If you flunk out, wait 12 months then reapply. From your end, everything is managed via a web interface.  The process starts with you doing a very standard online registration and application via the website. As a part of the application process you are then asked to write a 250 (300 max) word essay. Bhurak posted:I don’t know if the essay topic changes person to person but my paraphrased topic was “Why are you awesome and what makes you think you are awesome enough to become more awesome? Also tell me about your lust for aviation.” Following the application and essay submission you then are directed to a 29 question 8-minute timed online aptitude test. This is the part everyone does. Following successful completion of the online test you are then placed into a pool of candidates for up to 12 months. Bhurak posted:I did the test, saw I passed. I then read the prospect page where it said “See you in a year, fucker!” and resigned myself to another year of self-loathing in the oil patch. They contacted me in 10 hours to place me in an assessment a month later. Either I hit them at just the right time or I loving nailed the essay and test. Either way, I progressed. The next step is a five-hour aptitude test held near the local FIR HQ. People travel in to sit in a small room with about 30 strangers and complete a series of timed aptitude tests. There are 2 tests that stand out. One is a paper simulation of a radar screen called “W-Sim” where you have to answer questions about aircraft losing separation and basic things like air speed etc. The second is an aural exam where you listen to rapid-fire recordings once and then have a few short minutes to answer questions about the recordings. The proctor of the exam then tells you what to expect in the coming few weeks as well as more information about the job and expectations. Turn around time on the exam results can be two or three weeks because they are graded by third party contractors. Pass rate is 50% based on historical results. Successful candidates are placed into a pool for up to 18 months until they are contacted by a retired controller for a phone interview. Failures get a "Better luck next time" email. Bhurak posted:I did the test on a Tuesday. I used to be married to a psychologist so let me assure you based on my experiences that most of these tests are IQ tests by another name. Except the 2 stand outs. The proctor said they are weighted differently. I suspect but can’t prove that the only 2 tests that matter are the W-Sim and the aural test and that the rest of the exams are red herring/ a strainer to filter out the people that had someone else do the online test for them or cheated in some other way. They don’t contact you if you are successful so you have to  the website until you get a result or an email. The phone interview is conducted at a convenient time by a retired Nav Canada employee who had a distinguished career. Bhurak posted:Full blown cultist. Bhurak posted:It was a good interview. The fellow who interviewed me used to be a manager at a busy airport. I’ve never enjoyed an interview before but it was a good chat. I took about 1.25h to finish mine but I’m a chatty bitch. Bhurak posted:I’m not entirely sure why they mailed them back. What am I supposed to do with a notarized birth certificate with my candidate id scrawled in the corner? The face-to-face interview gets conducted at the FIR HQ. The interview takes 30-45 minutes and covers the all the basic interview questions: teamwork, leadership, decision making etc as well as your knowledge of the positions and training timelines. Following the interview they will give you a red or green light depending on your success after two weeks. You then enter the pool of training candidates. Based on your relative score to the other candidates you may or may not be offered a placement. Since they are recruiting all the time your position will fluctuate. The clock is once again reset and you remain at this stage up to 18 months. Intake is spring and fall. Bhurak posted:For me the interview was in a building outside the Edmonton International Airport. I had to buzz in and request a certain person from security. She came down and was pretty personable as we made our way to the waiting area. She dropped me off and I waited. Another woman came out 15 minutes later and fetched me. It was a 2 person panel interview. They mentioned that they had to take notes and so there wouldn't be much eye contact. So that was weird. They wanted the training time for the 4 positions as detailed as possible. So if you are a prospective candidate and you make it this far, make loving sure that you know those timelines. The rest of the questions were bog standard interview questions. Then it was over. I was done in less than 30 minutes which is incredible considering how I can yammer when asked to tell a story. Now I wait and see if I'm awesome enough to become even more awesome. I'll continue to update this post if I progress. Bhurak fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Oct 16, 2018 |
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Jul 29, 2018 19:46
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:I'm interested but don't understand what flaps 15 means or why flying like that is weird. You generally only commit to extending the flaps and gear (especially flaps 15 in the BBJ - it's an intermediate landing flaps setting) when pretty far into the approach environment because you have to slow way below normal cruise air speeds to reach the maximum flap and gear speeds. This funky maneuver was employed probably 100-150 miles out from the destination airport and would have produced squeals of outrage from ATC and probably certificate action in the US. Only because the Russians left aircraft so many miles in trail of each other was this not the case there. Every airport was a slot-controlled airport. Permits were required to fly between different Flight Information Regions (FIR's). ATC in every country wants you to do what you filed on your flight plan. The ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization - the worldwide convention that defines common aviation procedures) rules and State AIP's (local differences from ICAO standards) dictate how you're supposed to fly. Russian Transition levels/altitudes were ridiculously low. In the US Transition occurs at 18,000 ft everywhere. Leaving Vnukovo the Transition altitude was 600 meters QFE, which is roughly 1800ft above the ground. This caused massive problems to foreign air crews not used to this, since you would routinely get a climb clearance to 1000 meters before takeoff and if you were fatigued or overworked (not uncommon for operating over there) you could miss the transition altitude setting to standard and level off hundreds of feet in error - depending on the local barometric setting. It could really be a goat rope.
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Jul 30, 2018 21:59
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Apparently the mountains in Russia change their height based on the local altimiter setting.
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Jul 31, 2018 05:29
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KodiakRS posted:Apparently the mountains in Russia change their height based on the local altimiter setting. QFE is a MF.
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Jul 31, 2018 12:28
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I'm slowing going through the thread I'm up to page thirty then read the last four apologies if my questions have been covered. I had the alert on USA Jobs for trainee set up and got this alert: Air Traffic Control Specialist - Trainee http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/502735700 Department: Department of Transportation Agency: Federal Aviation Administration Number of Job Opportunities & Location(s): Many vacancies - Westbury, New York Salary: $24,086.00 to $30,134.00 / Per Year Series and Grade: FG-2152-1 Open Period: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 to Tuesday, June 26, 2018 Position Information: Temporary NTE - 13 months - Full-Time Who May Apply: Open to the public on 6/20. I applied and then turned 31 on 7/7. On 7/23 I got an email saying "You have been successfully registered for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) examination. Please click here to schedule your examination in the PSI System. " I signed up to take the exam on 9/1. 1.If I got through to where I can take the ATSA exam I'm cleared to take it, right? I'm not aged out no matter how I do on the test? 2. If I am not wasting my time by taking an exam I'm already disqualified for, has anyone had any luck with this test prep https://www.jobtestprep.com/at-sat-test-prep alternatively there is the platinum member thing at Stuckmic that also has practice exams. 3. If I somehow pass, this is saying it's a temporary position not to exceed 13 months, so what happens at the end of the 13 months they bring in a new set of people and you have to find a new bid and would I be qualified to go somewhere else the same as if I went through the normal channels and just ended up at Westbury? Or is this just how all position information looks because it seems to be also the exact same as what Minclark posted.
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Aug 7, 2018 04:59
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I turned 31 during the hiring process, but was further along than you. Short of anyone else having better info, I'd say just go for it and take the ATSA & psych exam. If you make it through, just roll with it. I didn't bother trying to pretest, nor would I worry about it if I were you. From what I remember of the ATSA, it's some pretty basic stuff: short term memory; multitasking; quick math; basic reading comprehension; etc.
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Aug 7, 2018 06:00
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I would keep trucking along and not say anything about your age if I were you. Every ATC position is listed as a "temporary position" but it's not really. There is just a one year probationary period.
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Aug 7, 2018 06:07
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I did the stuckmic prep and got hired. My buddy went in blind and aced that test That website had largely died off, years back, so I don't know how current the info would be. My test was 10 years ago. As for the age, I have no idea.
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Aug 7, 2018 09:46
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Thank you all, I guess I'll just take the test and roll the dice agewise. I guess I'll just do some brain age stuff since that what it seems like most of the test is equivalent to or do this thing http://www.atcprep.com/ which pointsixtyfive recommends. It turns out that job prep thing I linked to previously is a scam that just ripped off pointsixtyfive so if anyone else was thinking about that avoid it. Has the test changed dramatically from what was in the OP? The test I signed up for is listed as 4 hours compared to the 8 hours in the OP and compared to the 2 hours 50 on pointsixtyfive (though I guess it could just be that doesn't have the breaks factored in)? Is the BQ part of the AT-SAT or did I somehow end up skipping that, the way I've been reading this thread you took the BQ then you found out if you were able to take the AT-SAT and I did not take the BQ?
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Aug 7, 2018 23:34
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Mollymauk posted:Thank you all, I guess I'll just take the test and roll the dice agewise. I guess I'll just do some brain age stuff since that what it seems like most of the test is equivalent to or do this thing http://www.atcprep.com/ which pointsixtyfive recommends. It turns out that job prep thing I linked to previously is a scam that just ripped off pointsixtyfive so if anyone else was thinking about that avoid it. Make sure you're getting the ATSA prep, not AT-SAT prep. The AT-SAT is the old test that (as far as I know) isn't used anymore. The ATSA is the new one, although I'm not sure how many in here have experience with that one since it's fairly a fairly recent change.
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Aug 8, 2018 08:15
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I did the ATSA. Like I said previously, it's mainly cognitive stuff. There's simple add/sub problems that require you to remember the number value assigned to letters. Another format makes you take the answer from a problem and use it in the next (2+6=?, ?-5=?) that goes on for a bit. You'll get a top down view of two aircraft in random spots and orientations, and you have to indicate what side aircraft A is on in the relation to Aircraft B. The interactive task has three or more dots moving across the screen, and you have to click and remove as few as possible to prevent them from colliding. You can get rid of all of them, but there's always a minimum/most efficient number to remove. You're given a few essays to read and have to answer questions about them (what was the message/intent, what statement would the author agree with, etc) There's more, but that's what I remember.
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Aug 8, 2018 14:08
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So I'm sitting here waiting for my flight from Seattle delayed now by 3 hours, weather is clear. They said it is a 'ramp problem'. What?
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Aug 9, 2018 01:33
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I think the ramp was full.
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Aug 9, 2018 05:24
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