Hiring Bid FAA-ATO-19-ALLSRCE-61676

[WaterToGo]

If your financial situation and personal life allow, do the online basics. The wait for academy basics may be indefinite. Nothing you learn in basics really matters. It is a summary of the what, when, where, why, and how of ATC and aviation. A small percentage of the info from basics is usable for the Enroute/Terminal portion of the academy . . . . maybe 10% and ALL OF THIS WILL BE REVIEWED. If you want to improve your chances of succeeding at the academy, TAKE ONLINE BASICS NOW, and spend the time between finishing and going to OKC learning the map (mainly for Enroute but may apply to Terminal as well). LEARN THE MAP! The map is the first thing you get graded on and there is no reason to not walk away with 2/2 points. Doesn't mean a whole lot if you ace your evals, but it is a good confidence boost and a few points for many is the decider between success and failure.
EDIT: Forgot to mention knowing the map like the back of your hand is arguably one of the most important things for success at the academy. I am sure people get away with subpar map knowledge but your chances of success are much higher if you do know the map well.

where can I find this map.........................

 

[AscendingTo]

If your financial situation and personal life allow, do the online basics. The wait for academy basics may be indefinite. Nothing you learn in basics really matters. It is a summary of the what, when, where, why, and how of ATC and aviation. A small percentage of the info from basics is usable for the Enroute/Terminal portion of the academy . . . . maybe 10% and ALL OF THIS WILL BE REVIEWED. If you want to improve your chances of succeeding at the academy, TAKE ONLINE BASICS NOW, and spend the time between finishing and going to OKC learning the map (mainly for Enroute but may apply to Terminal as well). LEARN THE MAP! The map is the first thing you get graded on and there is no reason to not walk away with 2/2 points. Doesn't mean a whole lot if you ace your evals, but it is a good confidence boost and a few points for many is the decider between success and failure.
EDIT: Forgot to mention knowing the map like the back of your hand is arguably one of the most important things for success at the academy. I am sure people get away with subpar map knowledge but your chances of success are much higher if you do know the map well.

Good advice. I guess I didn’t realize that given these circumstances we would have the map to study during the waiting period.

I know this has been discussed elsewhere on this site, but any advice of ways to study the map other than just building up to drawing it from memory?

 

[shoak]

where can I find this map.........................

Google academy airport map or aero center map.

Can anyone who has done or is doing virtual onboarding currently explain what a typical day is like?

Virtual onboarding is a 2-3 hour Zoom meeting welcoming you to the FAA. Do the oath of office, walk you through some EOD forms. Then they tell you you're on admin leave until you're setup for online basics and await further instructions.

 

[Rodsmash]

Aero Center

Here's an online map you can fill out and check your answers on. It was current as of 2018. You need to be able to draw everyline and write down basically every word and number on that map for the test. Mastery of the map will go a long way in non radar and even in radar.

 

[Mr.Tickles]

where can I find this map.........................

Don't study any map that isn't given to you by the academy. You'll have plenty of time for map study. It'd be a major pain and potentially a major point loss if you committed to memory an outdated map then had to relearn parts of it.

 

[kshaky]

The map was updated in 2019 I believe.

Don't study any map that isn't given to you by the academy. You'll have plenty of time for map study. It'd be a major pain and potentially a major point loss if you committed to memory an outdated map then had to relearn parts of it.

It is true the map does change but the changes are very incremetal. You do have time to study the map which also means you have time to relearn the few differences. In your mind is it easier to relearn less than 20 changes or the entire 200-300 item map? Personally, it would have saved me a lot of time during the first week or so of nonradar that I could have spent doing other things.

 

[TKA]

Don't study any map that isn't given to you by the academy. You'll have plenty of time for map study. It'd be a major pain and potentially a major point loss if you committed to memory an outdated map then had to relearn parts of it.

The map hasn't changed much at all over the years besides airport identifiers and couple other tweaks. The victor airway numbers, mileages, sector names/numbers, frequencies, intersections, fixes, etc are all the same.

With that being said, do what works best for you. Every person works differently. Some people like to be prepared and study the map in advance while others would rather wait until they get past basics and do everything in initial enroute at the academy. Both ways many people have succeeded just fine at the academy but you have to do what you think is best for you. If you're scared to study an outdated map, then just wait until you get an official updated map at the academy. If you think you can learn everything now and then go back and relearn whatever parts have changed, then do that.

I studied an outdated map during basics. Then when I received the official academy map, I double checked to see what all had changed and just relearned those things (it was only airport identifiers for the most part). I got a 100 on my map test.

I know this has been discussed elsewhere on this site, but any advice of ways to study the map other than just building up to drawing it from memory?

Break the map into its different components and learn those by groups. For example, learn all the sector names and numbers, then all frequencies, then all navaids, then all intersections, etc.

Here is an outdated document that helps you to do exactly that:

http://satcabc.weebly.com/uploads/6/0/9/3/60932257/att2824-atc_enroute_lab_manual-001.pdf

My personal advice, ESPECIALLY if you don't have any aviation background, save this resource and wait until basics to study this. A lot of the terms used in this document will not make sense right now. They will teach you a lot of those terms in basics such as navaids, victor airways, MIAs, etc. Then if you want to get a head start while waiting to go to OKC, study the map from this document.

Also ignore the second part of that document about phraseology and stripmarking. It's NOT self explanatory. They'll give you the same document at the academy and teach it to you there.

 

[Mr.Tickles]

I'd absolutely agree that little changes on the map. Perhaps maybe leaving the milages off would be best but everything else would be good to go. I'd be surprised if they change much except for the mileages.

For myself personally had I done that I'd be concerned they changed the diamond mileages by a mile or something similar. It'd be easy to revert back to what you first learned in the middle of a stressful eval.

Good advice and perspective posted by TKA and kshaky.

 

[Sassyquatch]

I know this has been discussed elsewhere on this site, but any advice of ways to study the map other than just building up to drawing it from memory?

I haven't been to the academy yet, but I did have to learn the map for non radar at my CTI school. What TKA said about memorizing may work for you, but another way that I learned it is to break it into sections. I had a copy of the map that I could write on with expo marker as well as multiple paper copies to rewrite it. I think I sectioned the map 4 ways with JAN in the middle and learned each chunk of the map separately but going back to previously learned parts and incorporating them into newly-learned parts, if that makes any sense.

I've heard you get plenty of time to study. People go in with 0 aviation knowledge and pass the academy. People also come in with tons of aviation experience and fail the academy. Personally, I would rather learn a map now and then 2-3 (who knows when) months from now, it will be easier for me to relearn a map (muscle memory) even if several parts may be changed. Just depends on how you learn and relearn information!

 

[WaterToGo]

The map hasn't changed much at all over the years besides airport identifiers and couple other tweaks. The victor airway numbers, mileages, sector names/numbers, frequencies, intersections, fixes, etc are all the same.

With that being said, do what works best for you. Every person works differently. Some people like to be prepared and study the map in advance while others would rather wait until they get past basics and do everything in initial enroute at the academy. Both ways many people have succeeded just fine at the academy but you have to do what you think is best for you. If you're scared to study an outdated map, then just wait until you get an official updated map at the academy. If you think you can learn everything now and then go back and relearn whatever parts have changed, then do that.

I studied an outdated map during basics. Then when I received the official academy map, I double checked to see what all had changed and just relearned those things (it was only airport identifiers for the most part). I got a 100 on my map test.



Break the map into its different components and learn those by groups. For example, learn all the sector names and numbers, then all frequencies, then all navaids, then all intersections, etc.

Here is an outdated document that helps you to do exactly that:

http://satcabc.weebly.com/uploads/6/0/9/3/60932257/att2824-atc_enroute_lab_manual-001.pdf

My personal advice, ESPECIALLY if you don't have any aviation background, save this resource and wait until basics to study this. A lot of the terms used in this document will not make sense right now. They will teach you a lot of those terms in basics such as navaids, victor airways, MIAs, etc. Then if you want to get a head start while waiting to go to OKC, study the map from this document.

Also ignore the second part of that document about phraseology and stripmarking. It's NOT self explanatory. They'll give you the same document at the academy and teach it to you there.

Aero Center

Here's an online map you can fill out and check your answers on. It was current as of 2018. You need to be able to draw everyline and write down basically every word and number on that map for the test. Mastery of the map will go a long way in non radar and even in radar.

Thank you for the resource and tips!

 

[MJ]

the study guide here is current

 

[flypilot]

Does terminal have to do a map or is it just enroute?

 

[kshaky]

the study guide here is current

Have they been updated recently as I noticed that some things were outdated, mostly some information that was in the study guides but not in the books and the quizzes were somewhat dissimilar from the questions I experienced.

I highly recommend the study guides. Great for reviewing before tests.

 

[GulfBravoPapa]

Does terminal have to do a map or is it just enroute?

Terminal does the airport layout map

 

[Termine]

Does terminal have to do a map or is it just enroute?

Like GBP said, there's just the airport diagram (which you can find online as well, search for "AAC diagram" or something)—but there isn't a map test per se like for enroute. You just have to know it in order to not mess up during the sims and evals.

It also changes every so often, try to find one from the past year. I think early last year they extended one of the taxiways on the north side of the airport or something. But it's pretty simple, a lot easier than the enroute map IMO.

 

[Acb425]

So i have emailed my POC 3 times and called and left a voicemail but still no reply. I want confirm that you can work a part time job while doing the virtual onboarding because im not gonna sit and wait 6 to 8 months with my life in limbo for them to tell me i have to do it anyway. Just the base pay alone is not enought to afford my apartment and no i dont have the luxury of moving home with my parents. I plan on asking my employer if somehow they can take from off salary and put me on part time hourly. It may be possible we use to have part timers a couple years ago.
Basically, what im just asking is there anyway or number i can call to confirm that you can work a part time job and then get scheduled for the virtual online onboarding? And no i dont want to take your work for it. I have been on this earth long enough to know to make sure you confirm things for yourself.

 

[flypilot]

So i have emailed my POC 3 times and called and left a voicemail but still no reply. I want confirm that you can work a part time job while doing the virtual onboarding because im not gonna sit and wait 6 to 8 months with my life in limbo for them to tell me i have to do it anyway. Just the base pay alone is not enought to afford my apartment and no i dont have the luxury of moving home with my parents. I plan on asking my employer if somehow they can take from off salary and put me on part time hourly. It may be possible we use to have part timers a couple years ago.
Basically, what im just asking is there anyway or number i can call to confirm that you can work a part time job and then get scheduled for the virtual online onboarding?

It seems every HR rep says differently. Mine said you cannot be dual employed and that I must quit my current job at least 1 day before my virtual on boarding. Other HRs have said you can have dual employment, however you can only work part time and outside of the academy hours.

 

[Acb425]

It seems every HR rep says differently. Mine said you cannot be dual employed and that I must quit my current job at least 1 day before my virtual on boarding. Other HRs have said you can have dual employment, however you can only work part time and outside of the academy hours.

Thats exactly what mine said so i dont understand where everyone is getting that from. I hope it is true tho.

 

[Gooni79]

So i have emailed my POC 3 times and called and left a voicemail but still no reply. I want confirm that you can work a part time job while doing the virtual onboarding because im not gonna sit and wait 6 to 8 months with my life in limbo for them to tell me i have to do it anyway. Just the base pay alone is not enought to afford my apartment and no i dont have the luxury of moving home with my parents. I plan on asking my employer if somehow they can take from off salary and put me on part time hourly. It may be possible we use to have part timers a couple years ago.
Basically, what im just asking is there anyway or number i can call to confirm that you can work a part time job and then get scheduled for the virtual online onboarding? And no i dont want to take your work for it. I have been on this earth long enough to know to make sure you confirm things for yourself.

We were told we could have a part time job as long as it doesnt interfere with class time, which for us was M-F 12-830pm (CST)
I would see what your current job says first while you wait to hear back ?

 

[Van]

Is anything under 40 hours considered part time.