Enroute Class pass rate

WOW.. 6/11. Where do you think those people went wrong? If you don't mind me asking.
I will give you a serious answer.

Just for reference I evaled earlier this month and passed with a score in the low 70s. I came into Radar evals with a score above 32 points meaning I needed a high 50 average to pass. I averaged a high 60.

The entire point of the Academy is they give you a lot of information you need to be proficient at and barely enough time. Here's what you need in order to do well in Radar evals: know how to handle every situation, know how to scan the radar, know how to not hit anything, know how to prioritize tasks, complete tasks efficiently, and control nerves. None of these things are particularly difficult on their own if you are reasonably intelligent and put reasonable effort but sadly being subpar at any one of these things can cause you to fail. Unlike other parts of the course, being 90% good at the task at hand is not enough . . . you can catch 90% of point outs, 90% of readback errors and etc. and there goes 40+ points on a Radar eval.

Some people are naturals and pick up Radar pretty quickly without having to put in a lot of work at home. Some people just don't have what it takes. (This has nothing to do with intelligence or previous experience. People smarter than you have failed!) My advice for minimizing your chance of failure is to use the practice problems to focus on improving your scan, your ability to not hit anything, and your working speed. Be brutally honest about how good or bad you are during the practice problems. The only days you should be confident are eval days.
 
Last edited:
I agree. Just take it seriously. Put in the work. Study when you’re at home (omg but I’m not paid then!). Etc.
Dirty sheets are better than clean sheets in practice problems. Written, detailed feedback is the only way to improve upon what you’re doing wrong.
 
I will say some of the guys we lost were doing well through the late 11-12 radar problems. I don't think the academy prepares you well enough mentally though, for how to cope with the anxiety and pressure if you're not used to it or ready for it. Some guys lost big points in their first run or two over really dumb mistakes, and couldn't recover when they needed to crush the final problem to make it. Some came devastatingly close, which made it worse... But yeah, the instructors really did not want to spend any time talking about stress management and really did not prepare us for the roller coaster that are the eval days, and I think that's a huge mistake on their part.
 
I think it comes down to simply attacking the problem. I mean if you sit there and wait for crap to happen you’ll get screwed.
 
I will say some of the guys we lost were doing well through the late 11-12 radar problems. I don't think the academy prepares you well enough mentally though, for how to cope with the anxiety and pressure if you're not used to it or ready for it. Some guys lost big points in their first run or two over really dumb mistakes, and couldn't recover when they needed to crush the final problem to make it. Some came devastatingly close, which made it worse... But yeah, the instructors really did not want to spend any time talking about stress management and really did not prepare us for the roller coaster that are the eval days, and I think that's a huge mistake on their part.
I think that is part of the evaluations, looking for individuals that can handle the stress and push through it while still making good decisions.
 
Dirty sheets are better than clean sheets in practice problems. Written, detailed feedback is the only way to improve upon what you’re doing wrong.
This is what got me to pass coming into evals with a 24ish. First couple days of radar I was doing really well, but the third day wrecked me. I had different instructors each day and found that the third day ones were really nitpicky and rough on me. I felt crushed and like this job wasn't going to be for me. Called my wife and she told me to go out with a bang, and I told her that wasn't appropriate in this career. Next day I requested from my main instructors to let me work with the day three instructors as much as possible. I never had a clean sheet up to evals, but those guys told me I'm not going to have a problem getting through. Aced evals.
 
Last edited:
Jeepers. I dont envy any of you folks. Got a relative going the Z route and worried sick about him after reading this. Pretty sure I wouldn't have passed my Terminal class 10+ years ago were it pass/fail. He might have more natural aptitude than I though, who knows.
 
I passed today (ranked 4 of 4) so my choice is between NY or PR. Thoughts/input? I'm not sure which to pick and I'll look into each one this evening but am open to any feedback regarding the choice.
 
I passed today (ranked 4 of 4) so my choice is between NY or PR. Thoughts/input? I'm not sure which to pick and I'll look into each one this evening but am open to any feedback regarding the choice.

Young and no kids go to PR. You will be training for 3+ years at zny and will never leave. Plus its in bfe long island and nowhere close to nyc but with high cost of living.
 
I passed today (ranked 4 of 4) so my choice is between NY or PR. Thoughts/input? I'm not sure which to pick and I'll look into each one this evening but am open to any feedback regarding the choice.

 
Congrats on passing. If it was me I’d Absolutely choose Puerto Rico. Ive heard good things about it. You’ll be stuck at ZNY for years before you even start training. Pass rate is also substantially higher. The current projected staffing at ZSU is 85 percent while ZNY is 61 percent. That’s a huge difference.
 
Back
Top Bottom