So we began the tower cab table tops today...

AUPilotAU

AUPilotAU

New Member
And let me say, it kicked my butt. I've done well during the academic portion of classes thus far, but when you get there and have airplanes calling you for this and that...it's different :) It's definetly a reality check for you, but a motivational feeling at the same time.

One thing I'd like to emphasize to those either on their way to training or in training now...this is not like high school or college. Learn your information in class and REMEMBER it. You will use it all once you start working traffic in the labs. But my goodness, it sure is a lot of fun :)
 
AUPilotAU said:
And let me say, it kicked my butt. I've done well during the academic portion of classes thus far, but when you get there and have airplanes calling you for this and that...it's different :) It's definetly a reality check for you, but a motivational feeling at the same time.

One thing I'd like to emphasize to those either on their way to training or in training now...this is not like high school or college. Learn your information in class and REMEMBER it. You will use it all once you start working traffic in the labs. But my goodness, it sure is a lot of fun :)
Click to expand...

soon you will be a controller young learner!
 
AUPilotAU said:
And let me say, it kicked my butt. I've done well during the academic portion of classes thus far, but when you get there and have airplanes calling you for this and that...it's different :) It's definetly a reality check for you, but a motivational feeling at the same time.

One thing I'd like to emphasize to those either on their way to training or in training now...this is not like high school or college. Learn your information in class and REMEMBER it. You will use it all once you start working traffic in the labs. But my goodness, it sure is a lot of fun :)
Click to expand...


I'm here now too, i'm curious how was the PV? How long did you get to remember your airspace? Monday I take my final in basics. I can't wait to get to phase 2. It might sound crazy but from what we've learned about non-radar I think it sounds fun and challenging!
 
Oh, I'm no where near the PV :) We just finished the academic phase of level 2 this past tuesday. We had two weeks of academics in level 2...so I guess we had 2 weeks to learn the airspace...though it isn't very difficult airspace...9 taxiways, 10 if you count kilo, which half of the instructors say doesn't exist anymore. Three runways, two parallels seperated by 2500ft 10,000ft by 200ft. The other is a crossing, 9750ft by 200ft. You have the terminal, spartan, falcon, and the main ramp to park at. Three helipads at taxiway charlie, delta, and foxtrot. Since the tower only looks to the south, you have 5 VFR reporting points from the southeast to the southwest in which planes pop up around at, plus one ILS runway (28R) and one VOR/DME runway (10L) which your IFR planes pop up around. The airspace itself has a 5 mile radius, which goes out to 7 miles both to the east and west for the instrument approaches. The ceiling is 2500ft agl or 3100 msl.

You also have some points in which the fire department would setup in case of an emergency landing...

Now if you've been talking about non-radar, you're probably an enroute student...if that's the case, the above does NOT apply to you :) Plus, if you're enroute, you'll have more than 2 weeks of academics in level 2...sorry :)
 
AUPilotAU said:
Oh, I'm no where near the PV :) We just finished the academic phase of level 2 this past tuesday. We had two weeks of academics in level 2...so I guess we had 2 weeks to learn the airspace...though it isn't very difficult airspace...9 taxiways, 10 if you count kilo, which half of the instructors say doesn't exist anymore. Three runways, two parallels seperated by 2500ft 10,000ft by 200ft. The other is a crossing, 9750ft by 200ft. You have the terminal, spartan, falcon, and the main ramp to park at. Three helipads at taxiway charlie, delta, and foxtrot. Since the tower only looks to the south, you have 5 VFR reporting points from the southeast to the southwest in which planes pop up around at, plus one ILS runway (28R) and one VOR/DME runway (10L) which your IFR planes pop up around. The airspace itself has a 5 mile radius, which goes out to 7 miles both to the east and west for the instrument approaches. The ceiling is 2500ft agl or 3100 msl.

You also have some points in which the fire department would setup in case of an emergency landing...

Now if you've been talking about non-radar, you're probably an enroute student...if that's the case, the above does NOT apply to you :) Plus, if you're enroute, you'll have more than 2 weeks of academics in level 2...sorry :)
Click to expand...

What Airfield are you using for your layout?
 
AUPilotAU said:
And let me say, it kicked my butt. I've done well during the academic portion of classes thus far, but when you get there and have airplanes calling you for this and that...it's different :) It's definetly a reality check for you, but a motivational feeling at the same time.

One thing I'd like to emphasize to those either on their way to training or in training now...this is not like high school or college. Learn your information in class and REMEMBER it. You will use it all once you start working traffic in the labs. But my goodness, it sure is a lot of fun :)
Click to expand...

The toughest part for me is just listening and writing down the correct call sign. You're thinking about talking to one airplane then all of a sudden another calls you inbound and you're not even thinking about listening to the call sign. The most important thing in table tops is to get all the phraseology down and learn the rules. It makes things a lot easier once you get to TSS and EDS.
 
My biggest problem is I cannot find a type of pad management for local. I've tried a couple different ways, but none seem to work for me. I'm doing good on flight data/clearance and ground, but local is eating me for breakfast so far :)
 
For pad management most of the people in my class use the left margin for writing down wake turbulence. I used to do one column for vfr arrivals and one column for touch and go's/stop and go's etc. After i assigned a runway then i would put 28r or 28L next to the call sign and then i'd put a check mark when i gave them their landing clearance. I'd also try and mark down what taxiway they were on if they landed on 28L so i'd know who they were when i went to cross them. Now i just use a column for 28l and 28r since there are more touch and go's in tss and eds. It's easier to keep track of the order of the planes with all the touch and go's in one column along with the full stops. Some people also move the touch and go's down on their pad every time they touch and go just to have the correct order of aircraft.
 
That sounds about how I'm trying to do it...I can keep track of the planes pretty easily, but wake turbulence gets lost in the shuffle on my pad. Eh, I'm heading to a buddy's place now anyway to go over phraseology and other stuff...maybe they have found a way :)
 
After about a year it becomes clock work. It is most fun working the patterns with fighters and heavies. Especially when there is eight or nine of them!
 
when i started training on GC in my facility i brought a pad with me and i got laughed at... apparently pads arent used so much in the facilities
 
I haven't worked in a tower in a couple of years, so I have to ask...what's this pad you speak of?

Are you referring to some sort of legal writing pad?
 
At the academy, they have us use pads of paper, yes legal writing pads, to keep track of airplanes and such. I don't use it much for ground, only to jot down a callsign when I have something else to do, but I use it all the time for local, with all your VFR pop ups, t/g's, s/g's, wake turbulence, etc...
 
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