The REAL Day to Day at the Academy!

IntlJetcrew

New Member
Ok. I have been here 3 days now and I wanted to start this thread to help out all the people after me. If you have any questions, please feel free to private me and I can try and answer them. I am currently in basics for enroute.

Day 1: Everyone has to meet at the main security building by 7am to get your security badge. Try to get there between 630 and 645. If you are driving, thats fine because they give you a parking pass right there. If you are taking the FAA bus, that's fine too. It will get you there in time. Just be sure to tell the driver that you have to go to the security building or they won't stop there. If you did take the bus, you'll have to catch a ride with someone who drove to go over to the training building. The rest of the day is typical 1st day on the job type of stuff. Lots of paperwork and briefings. You get a 10-15 minute break every 60-90 minutes and 30-40 minute break for lunch. There is a little snack place in the building that is a little pricey. The big dining hall is just across the road. You can get a full lunch and a drink for like 7 bucks.

Everything you have read here at jetcareers about cell phones, lateness etc is all very true. Don't have your cell on in the class. Don't ever, ever be late. You probably won't get fired the first time, but they will write you up and the letter will go to your facility. So far, the instructors are great. They know what they are talking about and are very professional. At the same time, they know how to crack a good (clean) joke and have tons of great ATC stories.

Day 2: Spent the morning finishing up orientation stuff. Finally started on actual ATC stuff in the afternoon. All the lessons are on powerpoint. You get a booklet for each lesson, which is basically the powerpoint on paper. At the end of each lesson, you take a test which is just for you to gauge how much you retained. At the end of every block (about every week), you have a block test that counts. You get to keep the lesson booklets and the test questions and answers so they make great study guides!

Day 3: Just more learning. This stuff is as basic as it gets. Even if you have zero knowledge about aviation, you'll do fine. As for your schedule, for basics at least, you'll be on days (7am-330pm) or nights (330-midnight) or a mix of both.

I'll update this post as more interesting stuff happens.
 
Burt is outta control. He wasn't my instructor, but our class and his class did the weather lessons together....talk about high energy!
 
BW is the man..... "So there I was" "No No No":rotfl:and I was on the beach.....

I guess he told you guys the story when he worked at Memphis Tower and one of his co-workers decided it would be funny to empty a fire extinguisher down the gravity tube to the tracon.

Or the flare gun incident at Navy Memphis (Now Millington Regional).
 
Ok so. Didn't really mean for this blog to turn into posts about favorite instructors but anyway... Block 1 test today. If anyone is reading this for the info that I am providing then I'll keep posting. If not, let me know and I won't waste anyones time! Enjoy!
 
Ok so. Didn't really mean for this blog to turn into posts about favorite instructors but anyway... Block 1 test today. If anyone is reading this for the info that I am providing then I'll keep posting. If not, let me know and I won't waste anyones time! Enjoy!

Keep the posts coming, threads always get sidetracked....No worries, just cuz people aren't replying to you doesn't mean we aren't reading and looking forward to them. I'd like it if you had the time to continue. At the rate I'm going and all of the pessimism around, reading ur "day to day at the academy" is prolly as close as i'm gonna get to okc :)
 
I'm starting Enroute Basics on January 20th, so it's VERY interesting stuff for me to read. Heck, I'll probably even know all the instructors by name on the first day if I read around here enough.
 
I'm starting Enroute Basics on January 20th, so it's VERY interesting stuff for me to read. Heck, I'll probably even know all the instructors by name on the first day if I read around here enough.



I started basics last January 20th...can't believe it's been almost a year.
 
Soo. It's the end of day seven. Only 80 something more classroom days to go. Winter in OKC is no picnic! I don't know how much more I'll up date this blog during basics as everything is, well, pretty basic. As I said before, after the each of lesson ( 1-2 per day) there is a test. These tests don't count, just a barometer to gauge your own retention. We had our first "real" test on Monday. It went very well. It was pretty much a compilation of the end-of-lesson tests and everyone passed with flying colors. Several people even managed to get 100%! So here we are now, plugging along each day, praying for the end. I can tell you that Basics is pretty boring. I'm not saying this just because I have previous experience. It's just that the information is so, gosh I hate to use this word again, basic. Even if you have zero aviation knowledge, the material is broken down so much that you'll get it.

If you want to get a head start on class, I would recommend glancing over a few publications: http://tiny.cc/ngaUG and http://tiny.cc.9ZZPP

As for the your class experience, I can only speculate. My class is unique as we are all guys. As far as I know, all the other classes have at least one female. (I want to say the following as politically correct as possible) I think it makes our experience a little unique as there are certain ways in which guys relate to each other when females are not present, compared to when they are. I hope everyone gets what I am trying to say. Our class is really bonding and it's awesome. So far, everyone gets along and everyone respects everyone else which is really nice.

Now, I know that all the people that have yet to come to OKC must have tons of questions, like I did. I would be more than happy to answer them. Actually, it would give me something to do while sitting in my hotel room! LOL. I feel confident that I could help out with info about where to stay, things to do, expected daily costs, etc. So, if you have any questions, feel free to message me.

Until the next update,

IntlJetCrew
 
Guess he didn't pass the PV.

Do they mention blogs on day one in the Academy? If they don't yet, I'm sure they will soon. Academy blogs keep showing up and disappearing.
 
Maybe it's my morbid sense of humor, I'm not really sure, however this:

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
"Tomorrow and Thursday are one the biggest events in my life so far. Those are the days of my Air traffic P.V. or Performance Verification. In other words my career final. I am not worried about failing. "

Plus this:

Friday, December 4th, 2009
"i feel terrible. i don't know what to do. i'm very lost. do i go back to school, and what school do i go to. or try and find work. very lost. "

=

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL PWNZERED!
 
I should also mention that I am in no way politically correct at all, and anything can be made the subject of a joke.
 
So, 15 days have gone by since my last update and what a time it has been. We have had our 2nd and 3rd Block tests. But, more on those later. Christmas weekend was an awesome blizzard that pretty much put a damper on anyone's plans to go home for the holidays. Mine included. BTW, if you are planning on going home at all during your time at the Academy, please be aware that you are technically not allowed to claim hotel costs or any other per diem for the days you leave. Just be careful. Anyway, back to the class. Block 2 was pretty straight forward. Test was all good. Block 3 was another matter. The amount of information that is presented each day is impressive. Especially in Block 3. There are 5 individual lessons in block 3 that are all really intense. This block is where the knowledge starts to get really aviation intensive. If you have no prior experience, then study groups will really come in handy. Speaking of study groups, I need to address something. It is really important here at OKC to have an outlet for stress. However, this place and this experience is not like normal life. If you are the type of person that goes out on the town most every night, then you will struggle. I've seen this first hand here. Blowing off steam is very important, but, don't risk the future of your amazing career to have a good ole' time with the boys at the Academy!

So today was our Block 3 test. Our instructors informed us that this test historically has the lowest average. My class was no exception. Twenty-five percent of my class failed the test and has to re-take. It's not necessarily that the information was difficult, it's just that there is so much of it. I'm confident that everyone will pass the re-take, though. What scares me is that while Basics seems tough to alot of people now, we are always being reminded that it's nothing compared to the rest of the program. I wonder about the future of some of my classmates when the s$#t really hits the fan.

We started the next block today. Three days of weather is included in this one. We are "lucky" enough to have a meteorologist from the NWS come and teach. Here's to hoping that we can keep our eyes open for three days of talking about clouds!

My next update will most likely be approaching the dreaded 100-question final exam. Hopefully I'll have great news to report! Again, if anyone has any questions, from lodging to classroom stuff, please drop me a line and I'll be happy to help!

Keep 'em separated and Happy New Year!

IntlJetCrew
 
Good to hear from you again. Enjoying reading your blog/thread/whatever. Keep em coming.
 
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