Controller Jump Seat/FDT

Ozelot said:
Learned two things on my FDT day today. 1) Pilots just want to talk about how hot/not hot the flight attendants are. 2) TSA had no clue what I Was trying to tell them, but since I had a FAA badge they just whisked me through a super fast lane with no metal detectors.

But seriously, it was a cool learning experience. I'll definitely use the privilege again.
Click to expand...

They think you were an FAA inspector intitally?
 
JimmyK said:
I'm a controller who just got signed off on Ground and should have local in few weeks. I'm thinking about taking a FDT trip back home before I go to RTF. One leg would be on a E120 since that's the only thing that serves my hometown. Being 6'1", would the cockpit be too small for everyone to be comfortable? If the thought of a tall jump seater is the worst thing a Brasilia pilot dreams of, let me know and I'll just drive home from the closest hub.
Click to expand...
Get used to having your knee touched when they reach for the rudder trim.

Incidentally, unless the flight is fairly light, you may have a hard time getting on.
 
Ozelot said:
Yes.
Click to expand...

That happened to us. We had a guy from NorCal approach fly over to Hilo with us and the gate agent told us he was a "fed". We got things straightened out, but the captain wouldn't let him on the plane until he took off his tie.
 
Last time i FAMd it was on a SUPER 80 and both pilots tryed to fondle my legs with the piss poor excuse that they were reaching for the penumatic crossfeed valves............................................................yea right HOMOS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Before this thread goes south or north of knee touching. I wanted to say interesting read.

A couple of questions I thought of were:

How hard is it to reverse the situation? Say a crew member wanted to tour / visit a controller facility.

The OP mentioned the flying experience was dwindling in his office. I am not aware of the controller career progression, but wasn't there an age cut off somewhere?

If not, say you had been flying for a number of years and wanted to be a controller, how is that possible?
 
Hawks said:
Before this thread goes south or north of knee touching. I wanted to say interesting read.

A couple of questions I thought of were:

How hard is it to reverse the situation? Say a crew member wanted to tour / visit a controller facility.

The OP mentioned the flying experience was dwindling in his office. I am not aware of the controller career progression, but wasn't there an age cut off somewhere?

If not, say you had been flying for a number of years and wanted to be a controller, how is that possible?
Click to expand...
I took a very extensive tour of the Potomac tracon just after the new facility opened and all it took was one call. I had other business to be there but when I asked to see the star trek room of screens they happily obliged.
 
Hawks said:
How hard is it to reverse the situation? Say a crew member wanted to tour / visit a controller facility.

The OP mentioned the flying experience was dwindling in his office. I am not aware of the controller career progression, but wasn't there an age cut off somewhere?

If not, say you had been flying for a number of years and wanted to be a controller, how is that possible?
Click to expand...

It is not hard. You just need to call the facility and they will find someone to chaperone you if you don't know anyone there.

The age cutoff is 31, and you need to have an offer letter by that time, so realistically you would need to apply by 29 or so. Unfortunately public vacancy announcements are infrequent and sporadic.

I believe if you went to school and got a CTO on your own you could apply at any age to work at one of the many contract towers, but not sure about that.
 
BobDDuck said:
That happened to us. We had a guy from NorCal approach fly over to Hilo with us and the gate agent told us he was a "fed". We got things straightened out, but the captain wouldn't let him on the plane until he took off his tie.
Click to expand...

I've always thought things like that are ridiculous. Who the heck cares if someone is wearing a tie...

Bernoulli Fan said:
It is not hard. You just need to call the facility and they will find someone to chaperone you if you don't know anyone there.

The age cutoff is 31, and you need to have an offer letter by that time, so realistically you would need to apply by 29 or so. Unfortunately public vacancy announcements are infrequent and sporadic.

I believe if you went to school and got a CTO on your own you could apply at any age to work at one of the many contract towers, but not sure about that.
Click to expand...

Yep, some places restrict tours to Monday-Friday, but I think mostly it can be worked out any day at the majority of facilities.

Job announcement coming out in March for another public hiring. Probably down in Oklahoma for training from that announcement starting next October.

Technically, yes that could work with a CTO from a school, but all the contract companies want at least a year and usually two years of controlling experience. 6 months working the local tower won't cut it for the requirements.
 
Stinger said:
I've always thought things like that are ridiculous. Who the heck cares if someone is wearing a tie...
Click to expand...

Because Hawaii.

Also, because the guy was super nervous as it was only his second time riding up front ever and the FO on the other flight had been a friend of his.
 
Ozelot said:
That's good to hear, unfortunately my buddy found one who refused to let him go cause she "Hated controllers" as she told em. But I'm sure those are a very small percentage.
Click to expand...

Really? I thought aviation was one big happy family where everyone gets along!?

I'm kidding, but still that seems severe. Is this a fairly common occurrence?

BobDDuck said:
Because Hawaii.

Also, because the guy was super nervous as it was only his second time riding up front ever and the FO on the other flight had been a friend of his.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I fully understand; was this an attempt to make him more comfortable, or is it just hawiian policy "no ties in the flight deck" or something?
 
Seggy said:
What airline was that?

Many airline unions have a Jumpseat Coordinator that may want to have a discussion with this Captain and put out a reminder how important it is to have Controllers in the Jumpseat to their respective pilot group.
Click to expand...

Attacking CA Authority?! We're under fire gents!
 
Luigi said:
I'm kidding, but still that seems severe. Is this a fairly common occurrence?
Click to expand...
Doubtful, I've only heard two instances of this stuff. My buddy and another friend of mine at my old facility had a similar issue with Frontier last year sometimes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top