Any Colgan pilots recall training?

[Shamrok]

Hey there, any Colgan pilots have any suggestions or points of interest for a new hire heading off to Manassas Sept 24th. What were your high points and low points during training? Any info regarding your experience with Colgan's training department is appreciated, thanks.

[sorrygottarunway]

Depending on the instructor you will get much more information than necessary to actually fly successfully on the line. Drink up though, because it is all very good information. By the end of class you should have a notebook to serve you in future checkrides as your "cheat book."

Its long, 5 weeks if I remember. First week is indoc where you will get into the nuts and bolts of company policy, weather, dispatch procedures, etc. Take a written exam that is open book. Then a nice 2 weeks of systems followed by a written exam. Then off to sim training for 2 weeks followed by a checkride. THEN its off to IOE for a few days. I think in toto, 6 weeks away from home? Maybe a day off or 2 in between.

Ask desertdog and SmiteyB, they just went through the whole new hire training.

You WILL get to know either Ed's dog, or Vic's "ehemm... lets go ahead and take 5 minutes."

[Snuggle]

Indoc is torture! That 1 week felt like 1 month.

As far as the training goes, they are there to help you..not fail you. As long as you make an effort to study hard you won't have any problems. From my experience I really can't say anything bad about their training. I never felt like I was worried about failing out or anything. They want you to learn and want to help you. So just have fun and good luck!

[Coney]

First of all, Congrat!

As for the training, it was long. The entire ordeal lasted about two months for myself and much of my class due to the busy sim schedule. Be ready to have unusual sim training slots. 11PM-3AM, etc. Everything submitted by sorrygottarunway is on the money. The best advice I can give is to study hard and don't take it lightly. Remember, you're there to learn and show them what you're made of. Try to always display fortitude and an attitude of positivity. I really think the instructors value that.

Go get 'em!!

[Cruise]

Originally Posted by Coney

Remember, you're there to learn and show them what you're made of. Try to always display fortitude and an attitude of positivity. I really think the instructors value that.

Go get 'em!!

Right on Coney! Remember you're now truly a "professional pilot." Don't take ground school lightly. Prove them you deserve to be there by studying hard and use this time to learn.....not going out drinking all the time.

That being said, don't be that guy who WON'T go out and drink from time to time. Gotta set a little time aside to let your brain cool down and get to know your classmates.

[Shamrok]

Thanks for the input thus far. I appreciate the little tid bits of info. Really just want to get training out of the way and start flying. It will be strange not flying for a month. By the way, Colgan sent me a packet with training contract and very basic info. They said I should bring a black flight case? Do they mean flight bag or a chart case? Any recommendations? Also, whats with the request for the navy blue tie, pants and white shirt(long or short sleeve) with black leather shoes and black belt with pewter buckle? Sounds like a mock uniform. Why would we need this outfit when they said the attire is business casual? Just curious.

[Shamrok]

Oh, one other thing. This is my first time around in a 121 training environment and am not sure whether or not I am expected to do large amounts of note taking in class or do the manuals hold most of the required informaton needed. Some people say take lots of notes and make flash cards. I have never been much of a note taker and just want to know if I should brush up on this skill. I normally absorb what I am taught in a classroom setting and textbooks pretty quick. But If you think good note taking skills are REQUIRED then I have some work to do. Yikes. Sorry for a stupid question, I just dont want to show up without the proper notebooks and such. I would just be sitting in class saying HOLY $&!% while everyone else is taking notes at light speed.

[ERfly]

I will say the training was very good part of my Colgan experience. I had Ed for the SAAB and he was fantastic! The sim portion was great. Neither my instructor nor the other instructor that gave me my checkride are there anymore, but they were great guys.

The only negative I saw to training was the CP's "You'll Be Fired" speech. That was not a very good image of the company.

[Cruise]

Ok, I wouldn't worry too much about being a crazy note-taker. You'll receive a three-ring binder that has the entire a/c systems in powerpoint presentation slides....next to the slide is a block for note taking. Then, you can make notecards/ flashcards from the information contained in binder.
However, if you want to have a separate notebook for the indoc portion of class, that's probably a good idea. Also, maybe a couple different color pens (red/ blue/ black, highlighter??) for accentuating different information. Really depends on your note taking/ learning style.

As far as the flight case, yeah, they're not talking about a GA bag....get yourself a true chart case. You get a cheap one at Office Max or search online for better ones. I wouldn't be overly concerned about having it before going to class...although, it would be good if you had one before sim.

The sudo-uniform they're talking about is for your IOE. Classroom is business casual. For some reason, we continue to use M&H as our supplier (complete junk....but you don't have a choice) and they never have the uniforms out to you prior to being on-line. So, you're gonna need something to get you by for the first week(s).

Any more questions, just give a shout.

[greaper007]

I liked parts of Colgans training and I disliked other parts. Indoc wasn't bad, and it was an open book test. Don't take that lightly though. The flight attendant's decided to go out the night before our test. As everyone knows, where flight attendants so go horny pilot candidates. So about half the class stayed out all night that half also got a significantly lower grade on the test, though no one failed.

The tests during systems and indoc are much like the written exam you took for the interview. In that they're somewhat tricky. That would be my only complaint about colgan's training department. During my half decade or so in college I never had a multiple choice exam that tried to trick me. I felt like Colgan's exams were somewhat out to trick you.

Something I did during training that I never did during flight school or college was group study. I found this really helpful. Personally, I'm not really a systems person (hence my history major). I found that there were plenty of people in our class that were though, they were really helpful with showing me how everything fit together. Don't let anyone fool you, the Saab is probably one of the tougher planes to learn.

I also found it really helpful to get a key from Ed and go over to the classroom to study at night (I like to have a lot of quiet and no distractions like T.V. or the internet). He was more than willing to give it to me.

Also, once you finish indoc make sure you hit the Cockpit trainer and practice flows with your sim partner. This will help you immensely in the Sim. My sim partner refused to practice flows with me and we ended up having to change partners.

At any rate study hard and use all your available resources. For me it wasn't one of the toughest things I've done to date. It gave me a real sense of pride to get through though. If you're already looking on this forum for ideas to help you in training then you have the attitude to succeed.

Good Luck and sorry about the rambling.

[Kristie]

also look under the Interviews forum as there's a lot of gouge in there.

[phoenix 23684]

Hey,

Congrats on getting hired, I have just finished IOE and can share my experience with you. As you have read before training is broken into phases. The first phase and test are pretty straight forward specially since it is open book, you should have no problems there. Systems is where you'll start to really study a lot and you need to since you will have a 100 question test that is closed book. Group study is the best way, quiz each other every evening this way you will be prepared for the test, everyone in my class passed because we all studied together every night. After the systems test you need to spend as much as you can learning the profiles for the sim. This is the next phase, learn all the call out and memory items as well, it will help you tremendously once you start the sim. I had such an easier time compared to my sim partner who did not study before hand. I was in Houston so we had access to the CPT and could sit sim rides while in systems and advantage that you won't have in VA, but if you study you will have no problems when you begin your sim, also keep up with your limitations since this is what your oral will mostly consist of.
The check ride was no biggie just demonstrate what you learned in the sim, my advice think before you act of speak and you will have no problems. Finally you go to IOE, where you fly with a check pilot, the best part of training, getting to fly the real thing.
I flew the first leg and it was surreal after the sim, the biggest thing here is keeping up with paperwork. I can tell you that I felt so overwhelmed after the first day because I had 6 short legs with 15 min turn time and I could barely get the walk around and paper work done in that time. Practice doing the weight and balance and told card until you develop your method and can do it rather quickly. That was the hardest thing of IOE the rest is just flying or talking something that you have done plenty of and just happens in a bigger plane moving a bit faster.
Overall I had a blast in IOE even picked ice at 21k feet over hot TX, go figure, landing at a class B airport and having to read taxi instructions while keeping the airplane going was pretty cool, like being in the big leagues
Hope this helps.

[Loflyn]

Wow! Shamrok, thanks for asking for this info! And thanks to everyone who has replied!!!

[SmitteyB]

Colgan is the only 121 training I've been to, so I really cannot compare. However, what I did see was good to me. The systems and indoc multiple choice test will try to trick you as greaper said.

My advice when you get to these tests is: READ EACH QUESTION SLOW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE ASKING. There are 3 correct answers in a lot of the questions, however the instructions tell you to "SELECT THE MOST CORRECT ANSWER".

Expect 2 months start to finish. I'm an Aug. 13 new hire and I'm waiting on the sim still. I leave for STL on Wednesday. One thing Colgan is smart about doing is- you don't get your CFM's (Company Flight Manual- systems, checklists, profiles) until you pass the INDOC test. They don't want you "googling" over airplanes when you should be studying T/O Minimums and 3585. You will get your Jepp Kit in the middle of systems, put those aside you have no use for them...yet.

With that being said have fun. If you get Ed he is awesome and will tell you everything you need to know about this aircraft. Not to mention- if you have questions there are like 11 Colgan Saab guys on Jetcareers, we'll all lend a hand if needed.

[Shamrok]

Thanks for all the info posted here, it really helps with preperation as far as what to expect. What type of flight case do you recommend since Colgan as it on the list of things to bring? I also heard that if you can request it, Houston is the place to go for Saab sim training. I was told it had better instructors and a better sim than St. Louis. Thanks for the input. Oh, does the Best Western have wireless internet or at least an ethernet hookup in the rooms? Thanks.

[Cruise]

Originally Posted by Shamrok

I also heard that if you can request it, Houston is the place to go for Saab sim training. I was told it had better instructors and a better sim than St. Louis.

Wouldn't know. I've never done any sim training in Houston. But, if I had to guess, your information sounds like internet nonsense (but I really don't know) 'cause I've never had a bad experience in STL.

Originally Posted by Shamrok

Oh, does the Best Western have wireless internet or at least an ethernet hookup in the rooms? Thanks.

Yes, I'm certain they've got ethernet hookups in the rooms. Not sure about wireless though.