Announcement Ending 05/02

[FM_Weasel]

So yesterday I toured the Fort Worth Alliance tower (KAFW). It was pretty cool. I wasn't sure what to expect out of the whole experience. I emailed the contact on the website asking about how to get a tour, and the lady replied with a phone number direct to the tower. A phone call later and I had a date and time set up. I went with my friend who is also an applicant.

It's a level 5 facility, so traffic was low. The tower is very beautifully constructed and it seemed like a really inviting place to work. They let us hang out with them for about 3 and a half hours, even after the office employee escorting us had left for the day. We got to see some FedEx heavies depart, several citations and gulfstreams arrive/depart, and some T38s arrive and depart. Everyone was really friendly and willing to explain what was going on (I have a long history of being an aviation enthusiast with some flight training, and my friend is a private pilot, so we weren't completely alien to the conrolling environment). They had a developmental working that day, as well as a guy who was certified recently. One was a CTI applicant and the other was an ex military controller, so they couldn't really offer a whole lot of advice for us OTS guys, since the experience was vastly different for them.

Anyway, I would encourage anyone to check out a facility near you, even if it's not one you plan on going to. I'm kinda turned off to the pay grade of AFW, but regardless it's highly unlikely I'd be placed there simply because it's a low-staffed tower. It seemed like a great place to work otherwise. I'd be willing to answer any questions about what I saw in the cab of the tower if anyone has any.

[Freezer41]

FWIW, the CTI application for the next hiring panel closes August 26th and for the last panels, referral lists were created out only 6 days after the CTI announcement closed.

[mah584jr]

Originally Posted by Freezer41

FWIW, the CTI application for the next hiring panel closes August 26th and for the last panels, referral lists were created out only 6 days after the CTI announcement closed.

How do you like the prospect of working at LAX. I put that facility down in the comments section of my geo pref. Hopefully I'll get a TOL like yourself

[Freezer41]

Originally Posted by mah584jr

How do you like the prospect of working at LAX. I put that facility down in the comments section of my geo pref. Hopefully I'll get a TOL like yourself

At first I was disappointed. I didn't want to move to Southern California. I didn't have the luxury of choosing counties in the CTI application and the first time I submitted the paperwork I left CA off my list due to the 50/50 chance of getting a facility in SoCal not to mention the TWO ARTCCs which I most definitely didn't want... again CTI no choice terminal or enroute. It was a last minute decision to put California and was pretty much based on my girlfriend and remaining close to her family. I tried to redirect facilities but the LAX District Manager wanted to keep me in process for LAX. After research of the area surrounding LAX, I'm pretty excited. It sure is going to be a challenge starting at a facility like that though.

[HonuPineapple]

So I took my AT-SAT today and wanted to ask you experienced folks about the math...

1. Dials - very easy!
2. Math - Yikes. I didn't finish them all :-( Oh man...
3. Scan - Not bad, goes by quickly
4. Angles - Easy, but there were 1 or 2 where it was close.
5. Letter Factory - as expected. Some questions fine, others hard. Moving letters/boxes easy.
6. Scenerios - rocked it
7. Analogies - strange, but I did OK I think


I didn't finish 2, and had to click too quickly through maybe 3 or 4 of them so I'm not sure they're right. It started off very easy for the first half or so, then the uneven division started to get me.

Did anyone feel like they did badly on the math but end up OK? I'm worried about the math. That seems like the most important part of this test.

[ohioaviator]

Originally Posted by HonuPineapple

...
Did anyone feel like they did badly on the math but end up OK? I'm worried about the math. That seems like the most important part of this test.

I wasn't sure on about 3 of the math problems but managed to finish them all within the time frame.

[scongdon]

Honu: Too late now, but I hope you didn't second guess yourself on the math... first insta-calculation is usually correct

Keep us posted!!

[Freezer41]

My friend did not finish the math portion and received a 90.3

[ATC Hopeful]

My friend said he bombed the math portion and got a 64.

[chichi]

ATC Hopeful -

I saw you posted the PUBNAT6 thread, but I figured it'd be more appropriate to ask here... did you get any new information regarding panels, PEPCs, etc, or is it the same things we've been hearing/speculating?

[ATC Hopeful]

Originally Posted by chichi

ATC Hopeful -

I saw you posted the PUBNAT6 thread, but I figured it'd be more appropriate to ask here... did you get any new information regarding panels, PEPCs, etc, or is it the same things we've been hearing/speculating?

She said she couldn't give me any specific dates, but panels are definetly meeting in September, and then she said two to four weeks after that we would be notified if we were selected. So nothing new.

[HonuPineapple]

Originally Posted by ATC Hopeful

My friend said he bombed the math portion and got a 64.

Can you define bombed? He thought he didn't get anything at all?

[ATC Hopeful]

Originally Posted by HonuPineapple

Can you define bombed? He thought he didn't get anything at all?

He didn't answer like two or three of them. no i am just kidding, he said he felt like he missed about ten of them, and also crashed four planes.

[HonuPineapple]

Originally Posted by ATC Hopeful

He didn't answer like two or three of them. no i am just kidding, he said he felt like he missed about ten of them, and also crashed four planes.

The guy next to me must have crashed 20 planes, easy. All I could hear was "boom!" over and over.

[ATC Hopeful]

Originally Posted by HonuPineapple

The guy next to me must have crashed 20 planes, easy. All I could hear was "boom!" over and over.

Aren't you the one who i read has a B.S., and did like a year in medical school, or was that someone else?

[HonuPineapple]

Originally Posted by ATC Hopeful

Aren't you the one who i read has a B.S., and did like a year in medical school, or was that someone else?

Yup

[ATC Hopeful]

Then i would be willing to bet my future ATC career on a well qualified score, most likely 95+.

[HonuPineapple]

Originally Posted by ATC Hopeful

Then i would be willing to bet my future ATC career on a well qualified score, most likely 95+.

Aw that's nice of you, thanks.

Only if they don't kill me on the math, though.

I didn't realize how calculator dependent I have become! I knew how to do all those problems, they were totally easy...and then I had to divide in my head.

[ATC Hopeful]

Originally Posted by HonuPineapple

Aw that's nice of you, thanks.

Only if they don't kill me on the math, though.

I didn't realize how calculator dependent I have become! I knew how to do all those problems, they were totally easy...and then I had to divide in my head.

I am sure you did great, and for now try not to check your ASAP page every ten minutes(It will drive you crazy, believe me I know), and good luck.

[K-Dog]

So do we hear if we are on a referral list before the hiring panels?

[ATC Hopeful]

I haven't heard for sure, but i imagine the referral lists will come out a couple of weeks after the last day to turn in Geo Pref.

[wosmack]

I missed a bunch of the letter factory questions, crashed 3 planes and got a 93.8

[Luftwaffe]

Originally Posted by K-Dog

So do we hear if we are on a referral list before the hiring panels?

Yeah, it'll show that you've been refered on ASAP when you click on "submitted." For us it was about a week after the geo pref email deadline and the last business day before the panel met.

[ATC Hopeful]

Just a complete guess, but i would say that we can start looking for the refferal list in the first week of September.

[reedo11]

Originally Posted by MrBucket

Here are the facility levels:
http://faaimposedpayrules.natca.net/...ratesrev13.xls
The level rating is in the column, "ATC Level, July 2007" As you can tell by the date, it MIGHT be entirely up to date, but it's all that is available publicly.
All facilities are numbered based on their complexity. It doesn't matter if its Terminal or En Route, the pay is the same.

and here's the pay scale:
https://employees.faa.gov/employee_s...o_locality.xls

Does anyone else find these numbers to be a little bit off. I find it hard to believe the highest paid atc at a level 9 facility is getting paid 85 thousand a year. Am I wrong?