5.6 Hours Night, X/C; 2 Landings; KOUN-KIXD-KOUN
The Good - While taxing out for departure from KOUN, I was able to assist another pilot who was unfamiliar with the area activate the lights on the field and assisted in contacting OKC Approach. Night navigation to a distant, unfamiliar airport using VOR and ATC flight following was good, as well as recognition and use of the airport at night. The return approach into KOUN with calm winds was nearly 'textbook perfect', extra close attention was paid to maintain appropriate airspeeds, and the localizer was used to maintain a stable glidepath.
The Bad - Approximately 40 miles south of KIXD, AWOS indicated overcast clouds at 4,900, making a VFR descent impossible from cruise altitude of 11,500; as the skies were clear in my present position, I queried the controller for weather information and asked him to advise a decent profile to maintain VFR; the controller was unable to understand my request despite rephrasing three ways. The approach into KIXD was with calm winds, yet was still slightly unstabilized on final, resulting in a less-than-ideal landing roughness.
Questions - Sometime within the final 30 miles of arriving at KIXD, during the decent below the overcast cloud deck, radio communication was lost with Kansas City Center; should I have squawked lost comm?
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
ATC Employment - Part 1 - Summary of the Current Staffing Situation and the Initial Application Process
My journey to Air Traffic Control starts back in April of 2007. A friend of mine who had just retired from the FAA called me with an announcement that for the first time in many years, the FAA was hiring people from the general public to fill vacancies in Air Traffic Control.
Traditionally, these positions are highly coveted and reserved for people from two different entry routes. One can either gain their training, experience and ratings through the military, or they can attend one of 14 FAA approved CTI (collegiate training initiative) schools.
However, there are currently a couple of unique situations currently that are causing controller vacancies to outnumber controller candidates. In 1981 more than 14,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike as a result of a break down in the contract bargaining process, which was a violation of federal law. Approximately 11,345 controllers did not return to work and were fired and banned from further federal service by President Reagan on August 5th, 1981. As a result all managers, staff and some military controllers were brought in to fill the space, however, there were thousands of positions that needed to be filled and new controllers were hired in droves.
Air Traffic Controllers are eligible for retirement with 25 years of service. If we take 1981+25 we come up with the year 2006-2007 as the retirement eligibility year of the replacement controllers. Controllers are not mandated to retire until age 56 (or 61 if exceptionally well experienced). Recently though, controllers have been choosing to retire as soon as eligible rather than work longer. These en masse retirements are a result of another breakdown in talks over the latest contract negotiation. Controllers are currently retiring at a rate of 2.35 per day (856 retirements in FY2007) causing yet another shortage in the workforce.
The situation is further compounded by the fact that retirement-eligible are now working longer and harder duty shifts to cover the vacancies left by their now-retired peers until the more slowly-hired controller trainees are certified to work on their own. Not only are the controllers aggravated, but the trainees who are trying to learn are discouraged as well, encountering situations such as receiving outdated training materials upon reporting for duty. In some facilities, trainees account for almost 40% of the total controllers, in locations already staffed at below minimum safe levels.
So a member of the general public wants to become an air traffic controller to help bring relief to the situation. What is the process? It starts with finding an opening when posted at the FAA Job Opportunities website. These announcements are for specific duty stations to which an applicant would be willing to work. For each separate duty location one is interested in, a separate application must be filled out on the ASAP (Automated Staffing and Application Process) web site.
This application is several pages long and very detailed, collecting information on one's background, military experience, education, other qualifications/skills, geographical preferences, conditions of employment, basic qualifications, an extensive biographical assessment, work history and references. Once these applications are submitted to the ASAP system, you wait, sometimes in excess of a year.
Once the FAA chooses a duty station to hire for, they will generate a list of candidates to take a pre-employment exam and send the list to a contractor which administers the AT-SAT (Air Traffic Selection and Training). Although this is a cognitive abilities test for which one cannot study, this doesn't mean it should be walked into completely blind. Just as pilots are to perform preflight planning using 'all available information', there is information available online and in various books that can give an overview of the kinds of material to expect on the exam.
Once the FAA hands the testing list to the contractor for a specific region, the contractor will send initial contact contact via e-mail and a regular mail letter anywhere from a month to a week before the actual test date. This first letter will confirm a region for testing, along with a one-week time frame and will ask for confirmation of availability.
After confirmation of the first letter, an actual testing site and test date/time will be sent in a second e-mail/letter combination. The testing is usually done at hotels in a meeting room, and group rates are arranged with the hotels.
Next up, the test itself.
Traditionally, these positions are highly coveted and reserved for people from two different entry routes. One can either gain their training, experience and ratings through the military, or they can attend one of 14 FAA approved CTI (collegiate training initiative) schools.
However, there are currently a couple of unique situations currently that are causing controller vacancies to outnumber controller candidates. In 1981 more than 14,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike as a result of a break down in the contract bargaining process, which was a violation of federal law. Approximately 11,345 controllers did not return to work and were fired and banned from further federal service by President Reagan on August 5th, 1981. As a result all managers, staff and some military controllers were brought in to fill the space, however, there were thousands of positions that needed to be filled and new controllers were hired in droves.
Air Traffic Controllers are eligible for retirement with 25 years of service. If we take 1981+25 we come up with the year 2006-2007 as the retirement eligibility year of the replacement controllers. Controllers are not mandated to retire until age 56 (or 61 if exceptionally well experienced). Recently though, controllers have been choosing to retire as soon as eligible rather than work longer. These en masse retirements are a result of another breakdown in talks over the latest contract negotiation. Controllers are currently retiring at a rate of 2.35 per day (856 retirements in FY2007) causing yet another shortage in the workforce.
The situation is further compounded by the fact that retirement-eligible are now working longer and harder duty shifts to cover the vacancies left by their now-retired peers until the more slowly-hired controller trainees are certified to work on their own. Not only are the controllers aggravated, but the trainees who are trying to learn are discouraged as well, encountering situations such as receiving outdated training materials upon reporting for duty. In some facilities, trainees account for almost 40% of the total controllers, in locations already staffed at below minimum safe levels.
So a member of the general public wants to become an air traffic controller to help bring relief to the situation. What is the process? It starts with finding an opening when posted at the FAA Job Opportunities website. These announcements are for specific duty stations to which an applicant would be willing to work. For each separate duty location one is interested in, a separate application must be filled out on the ASAP (Automated Staffing and Application Process) web site.
This application is several pages long and very detailed, collecting information on one's background, military experience, education, other qualifications/skills, geographical preferences, conditions of employment, basic qualifications, an extensive biographical assessment, work history and references. Once these applications are submitted to the ASAP system, you wait, sometimes in excess of a year.
Once the FAA chooses a duty station to hire for, they will generate a list of candidates to take a pre-employment exam and send the list to a contractor which administers the AT-SAT (Air Traffic Selection and Training). Although this is a cognitive abilities test for which one cannot study, this doesn't mean it should be walked into completely blind. Just as pilots are to perform preflight planning using 'all available information', there is information available online and in various books that can give an overview of the kinds of material to expect on the exam.
Once the FAA hands the testing list to the contractor for a specific region, the contractor will send initial contact contact via e-mail and a regular mail letter anywhere from a month to a week before the actual test date. This first letter will confirm a region for testing, along with a one-week time frame and will ask for confirmation of availability.
After confirmation of the first letter, an actual testing site and test date/time will be sent in a second e-mail/letter combination. The testing is usually done at hotels in a meeting room, and group rates are arranged with the hotels.
Next up, the test itself.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Flight Reflection - Ponca City Fly-In
2.3 Hours X/C; 2 Landings; KOUN-KPNC-KOUN
The Good - communication and interaction in a busy traffic pattern/ground environment (fly-in). Good wind correction for landing.
The Bad - Return to KOUN- traffic pattern flown to tight, overshot extended center line on base-to-final. Slightly high airspeed over the threshold, resulting in a dragged-out/floating longer than normal.
The Good - communication and interaction in a busy traffic pattern/ground environment (fly-in). Good wind correction for landing.
The Bad - Return to KOUN- traffic pattern flown to tight, overshot extended center line on base-to-final. Slightly high airspeed over the threshold, resulting in a dragged-out/floating longer than normal.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Flight Reflection - Stillwater by Night
2.6 Hours Night, X/C; 3 Landings; KOUN-KOKC-KSWO-KOUN
The Good - pilotage navigation, use of information resources, coordinated flight, use of unfamiliar airspace/airports.
The Bad - landing at KOKC (RY 17R) did not have enough aileron input wind correction, causing touchdown on/float on right main and nose gear before left main, some altitude drift while performing other cockpit duties.
Questions - very soft landing was made at KSWO, after touchdown before beginning takeoff roll, the airplane "settled/dropped" on the right side, followed by the left. Suspect full extensions of the strut while airborne, followed by the knee releasing after touchdown causing the settling feeling.
The Good - pilotage navigation, use of information resources, coordinated flight, use of unfamiliar airspace/airports.
The Bad - landing at KOKC (RY 17R) did not have enough aileron input wind correction, causing touchdown on/float on right main and nose gear before left main, some altitude drift while performing other cockpit duties.
Questions - very soft landing was made at KSWO, after touchdown before beginning takeoff roll, the airplane "settled/dropped" on the right side, followed by the left. Suspect full extensions of the strut while airborne, followed by the knee releasing after touchdown causing the settling feeling.
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