PV in a week... Suggestions?

A

AnImbroglio

Well-Known Member
Ok... Here's the thing.. I'm en route. My class is above average. We're all, for the most part, doing quite well. We just ran problem 27 and 28 today. By in large, we did quite well on them. I know my phraseology, I know point outs, apreqs, handoffs, 6-7-10s, route keys, military changes of destination, emergencies, all of it. In fact, most of my class can do most of that in our sleep... I can't tell you the number of times I've been driving down I-40 giving a point out to some car, or declaring that a school bus next to me is, in fact, cleared from the Vicksburg airport to the Greeneville airport via as filed.... lol...

Thing is... we're all scared to death. The two en route classes that most recently PV'd... well... They had 9 total fail the first time, 7 on their second time. We watched as 7 people had to go find something else for their life to be about.

So this is to those old hats out there... Any advice about what you did to calm down before the PV?
 
Just go in there like it is any other run in the sims. I can't stress that enough. As a PV failure myself, that's the one thing I can say that I wish I had done. I personally feel I got screwed on my re-take, but it's all said and done and I'm back to the field I got my degree in.

Treat the PV just like any other problem and I think you'll be just fine. No caffeine, no coffee, nothing too sugary for breakfast. All that stuff will make you shaky.

If you're doing well, keep at it.

That is all.
 
Oooooooooook. So. This is for all of those who read this post later on in eager anticipation of the PV. There are several posts out there detailing a decent amount of the things you'll see, and I'm not going to reiterate those things. You can (and probably have) found them easily enough. What I'm going to do is mention some of the things no one told me before I went into that room.

#1. That god-forsaken printer never shuts up. In my problem, it printed nearly every 10 seconds. It was enough to make you lose bladder control. Most of those strips are for aircraft you'll never see (i.e. proposed 2 hours from now)... But there are some that you'll most certainly need.

#2. You will make mistakes, and when you do, you'll likely think it is the end of the world as you know it. A simple 6-7-10 entered incorrectly on the PV will be nearly enough to make you cry on the spot. However, it is never as bad as you think it is in there. Stick your head down, clear it out, do it again, and move along. You truly will be fine.

#3. The evaluator truly does want to see you pass. I know, you won't believe me here, but they do. They're not out to get you. They're rooting for you. Remember that, it helps.

#4. If you get to the 30's, and you handle one of those problems decently (no sep errors, no missed point outs, etc), then relax. You've got this. There are no surprises on the PV. It's all stuff you've seen before. You handled one of the 30s, and I promise, the PV isn't that bad. That means you can do this. Try your absolute best to calm down and get some sleep the night before.

#5. I don't believe there is any nicer feeling than walking out of that room after they told you you've passed. Keep at it, never say die, and give it EVERYTHING you've got. You'll do fine.
 
Just the one sliver of advice from what I remember... be deliberate. I remember my hands shaking to the point that I couldn't slide strips in... and I work very well under pressure.

Take your time, and enter your amendments/etc. right the first time. Make your traffic search complete. You may feel behind at some point due to that God-forsaken printer, but you'll have an A-side in the real world. Just take it one bite at a time, and minimize errors.

Best of luck!
 
scongdon said:
You may feel behind at some point due to that God-forsaken printer, but you'll have an A-side in the real world.
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???? where are you going that has and uses A-sides still?! :laff: I'm not talking about the 2 hours "certification" joke either. Obviously all the facilities are different, but when you start training I HIGHLY DOUBT you will have an A-side, you need to learn to do it by yourself from the beginning or you will have a very very short career. From Day 1 on D-sides, your trainers will watch you go down the crapper and then yell at you to go faster, hurry up, there's stuff to do, etc. -- gotta learn to manage it somehow.
 
JoeBe55 said:
???? where are you going that has and uses A-sides still?! :laff: I'm not talking about the 2 hours "certification" joke either. Obviously all the facilities are different, but when you start training I HIGHLY DOUBT you will have an A-side, you need to learn to do it by yourself from the beginning or you will have a very very short career. From Day 1 on D-sides, your trainers will watch you go down the crapper and then yell at you to go faster, hurry up, there's stuff to do, etc. -- gotta learn to manage it somehow.
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lmao, yeah I don't know how you got a hold of that information that A-sides are still used... maybe from one of the Raytheon instructors who has not worked live traffic in 15+ years.
 
Cheezypoof said:
lmao, yeah I don't know how you got a hold of that information that A-sides are still used... maybe from one of the Raytheon instructors who has not worked live traffic in 15+ years.
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They are still used to post strips in one of the two oceanic areas here at ZNY.
 
Cheezypoof said:
lmao, yeah I don't know how you got a hold of that information that A-sides are still used... maybe from one of the Raytheon instructors who has not worked live traffic in 15+ years.
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Or here at my location where the training dept is so far behind you can sit on the a-side 6 months to a year before a d class.
 
JoeBe55 said:
???? where are you going that has and uses A-sides still?! :laff: I'm not talking about the 2 hours "certification" joke either. Obviously all the facilities are different, but when you start training I HIGHLY DOUBT you will have an A-side, you need to learn to do it by yourself from the beginning or you will have a very very short career. From Day 1 on D-sides, your trainers will watch you go down the crapper and then yell at you to go faster, hurry up, there's stuff to do, etc. -- gotta learn to manage it somehow.
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I work in an area that has three (very busy) VFR towers, hundreds (literally) of uncontrolled airports, and a slew of non-radar. We are very strip oriented.

I apologize for belittling the rest of the jet route world. :)
 
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