Opinions on Facilities

[slater]

Back in my day we made the trainees ride bikes to work so they could learn not to take any kind of loan before being certified

We had one do this. I was actually impressed. Then he came to work injured after running into a light pole riding into work once, then bought a car. LoL.

 

[AB19]

We had one do this. I was actually impressed. Then he came to work injured after running into a light pole riding into work once, then bought a car. LoL.

Somewhere like N90 if you’re living on the island seems bikeable. Plus with all the money you spend on rent who needs a car

 

[boots]

All the guy was asking for was opinions on potential landing spots. I don’t think all the extracurriculars were warranted.

Sure except all the information is already available with a little bit of effort.

 

[Jake Sully]

There’s a way to try to help without being pretentious about it though. There’s 0 harm done in looking into facilities. I am fully aware there’s a good chance I could get to the academy and get a list of facilities I didn’t want. And still- 0 harm done in having info about all of the facilities.

Without being pretentious? Have you met any controllers yet ?

 

[Mr.Tickles]

But anyways, all I really know is that ZLA is in plamdale and I don't think I've heard a single good thing about Palmdale. ZSE is located in a cheaper part of Seattle and I have a couple of coworkers that came from there. I've heard better things of it and if I got enroute that would've probably been my #1 choice but I also don't have a lot of knowledge of other places. Good luck.

One thing about ZLA is though that within an hour drive you can literally live almost in any type of environment you want from small town USA, ski town, to big city life. A wide range of possibilities of places to live for sure. It’s not hard to find a nice area within 20 or 30 minutes from the center.

 

[Robert_Boucher]

Back in my day we had to go to the academy on our own dime and sleep in our cars some nights and forget about per diem. Then when we showed up at the facility we had to sing the FAA anthem and study the .65 which was really just a pamphlet. You entitled shits wouldn't be able to survive the white book, much less work the level 13 traffic we worked. Y'all aren't even real controllers with your new fangled Stars, your splat T's, and TBFMs.

/S

For real though OP I'd look into communities around the facilities, crime rates, commute times, schools, etc.

 

[julietoscar]

Gonna respectfully disagree with this. You'll be getting your shit pulled out by the 12s when you get your list and evaluating a short week later. May as well have some idea of where you want to go going into it cause it essentially came down to 24 hours in my case. I may have chosen differently had I given it a bit more thought.

Agreed. I didn't really do much research at all when I chose. I had 6 en route facilities to choose from and probably would have chosen differently had I done more research into them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions and having a better idea of what places you might want to end up at.

 

[TaylorChoate]

Sure except all the information is already available with a little bit of effort.

And yet somehow I’ve learned more information by asking because most threads are from 2017 and out of date and some threads sit empty. But go off I guess

 

[Qwertymnbv]

Gonna respectfully disagree with this. You'll be getting your shit pulled out by the 12s when you get your list and evaluating a short week later. May as well have some idea of where you want to go going into it cause it essentially came down to 24 hours in my case. I may have chosen differently had I given it a bit more thought.

i guess but if you’re going to start doing research now before you even start basics you’d have to do it on every single center. This guys asking about 3? What good does that do? There’s no guarantee any of those will be one there. I’m not giving him shit for trying to get information I just think he’s going about it wrong. Go to each centers page, look at the staffing numbers, training time, pull up the facility on a map find out how far away from the actually city it’s named after it really is, and then from there you can start looking at home prices and crime rates and commutes. You can do that all on your own.

You’ll also get a ton of information in Oklahoma just from talking to the instructors and every one else passing through the academy. The information might be a little out of date but the good towns and bad towns around a center don’t change that often. And then you’ll have a week with your list and the handful of places that are actually on it and you can start reaching out and getting some real info. Plus he’ll know where he stands rank wise and what facilities would actually be available to him. Hell he might get there and hate it and quit during nonradar.

 

[32andBelow]

i guess but if you’re going to start doing research now before you even start basics you’d have to do it on every single center. This guys asking about 3? What good does that do? There’s no guarantee any of those will be one there. I’m not giving him shit for trying to get information I just think he’s going about it wrong. Go to each centers page, look at the staffing numbers, training time, pull up the facility on a map find out how far away from the actually city it’s named after it really is, and then from there you can start looking at home prices and crime rates and commutes. You can do that all on your own.

You’ll also get a ton of information in Oklahoma just from talking to the instructors and every one else passing through the academy. The information might be a little out of date but the good towns and bad towns around a center don’t change that often. And then you’ll have a week with your list and the handful of places that are actually on it and you can start reaching out and getting some real info. Plus he’ll know where he stands rank wise and what facilities would actually be available to him. Hell he might get there and hate it and quit during nonradar.

Uh it makes sense to research all the centers and make a depth chart on where you might want to go. There aren’t that many

 

[Qwertymnbv]

Uh it makes sense to research all the centers and make a depth chart on where you might want to go. There aren’t that many

Eh I guess, everyone’s different. I didn’t find it worth the effort. I knocked off a few right off the bat and researched a handful of places I actually wanted to be location wise. But again, it’s all for nothing because you have no idea what the list will be and you have plenty of time to figure it out once you actually get the list. I think picking like a top 10 or something just location wise and looking up home prices or whatever from there is your best bet for now.

 

[caprisun]

Eh I guess, everyone’s different. I didn’t find it worth the effort. I knocked off a few right off the bat and researched a handful of places I actually wanted to be location wise. But again, it’s all for nothing because you have no idea what the list will be and you have plenty of time to figure it out once you actually get the list. I think picking like a top 10 or something just location wise and looking up home prices or whatever from there is your best bet for now.

I think the main takeaway from this is people look like complete idiots for ridiculing people for trying to educate themselves on potential places they may relocate a family of 5 to. It’s kind of, ya know, a smart thing to do when it effects more than yourself.

What I really love is those same people say “worry about passing first”. If the OP asked what he could do to get started ahead of time, he’d get trashed on and told he’ll have plenty of time and just do nothing. Essentially, don’t look at places you’ll end up, don’t study ahead at all and educate yourself about the NAS, please just sit on your hands. Some people just can’t help themselves and look like idiots.

 

[Tater_Toad]

There’s a way to try to help without being pretentious about it though. There’s 0 harm done in looking into facilities. I am fully aware there’s a good chance I could get to the academy and get a list of facilities I didn’t want. And still- 0 harm done in having info about all of the facilities.

Welcome to the OJTI personality type. "I have 30 years experience and I'm more efficient than you. Maybe one day you'll be good enough to certify"

 

[TaylorChoate]

I think the main takeaway from this is people look like complete idiots for ridiculing people for trying to educate themselves on potential places they may relocate a family of 5 to. It’s kind of, ya know, a smart thing to do when it effects more than yourself.

What I really love is those same people say “worry about passing first”. If the OP asked what he could do to get started ahead of time, he’d get trashed on and told he’ll have plenty of time and just do nothing. Essentially, don’t look at places you’ll end up, don’t study ahead at all and educate yourself about the NAS, please just sit on your hands. Some people just can’t help themselves and look like idiots.

??????

 

[El Conquistador]

ZLA is in a sexual preditor hot spot. Just go to the Megans Law website and put in the address to the facility. Now take a detailed look at all of your potential neighbors. The whole area is filled with undesireables. Fun Fact: OctoMom lives in Palmdale.
https://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/Search...uiteNum=Palmdale&city=Palmdale&zip=93552&r=10

 

[kombucha23]

ZLA is in a sexual preditor hot spot. Just go to the Megans Law website and put in the address to the facility. Now take a detailed look at all of your potential neighbors. The whole area is filled with undesireables. Fun Fact: OctoMom lives in Palmdale.
https://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/Search.aspx?l=&f=&streetNum=25555&streetName=east avenue P&aptSuiteNum=Palmdale&city=Palmdale&zip=93552&r=10

I think a reason for this is that the prison is out there so all the deviants from LA go there, their families follow, and then when they get out, they stay in the AV lol.

 

[32andBelow]

I think the main takeaway from this is people look like complete idiots for ridiculing people for trying to educate themselves on potential places they may relocate a family of 5 to. It’s kind of, ya know, a smart thing to do when it effects more than yourself.

What I really love is those same people say “worry about passing first”. If the OP asked what he could do to get started ahead of time, he’d get trashed on and told he’ll have plenty of time and just do nothing. Essentially, don’t look at places you’ll end up, don’t study ahead at all and educate yourself about the NAS, please just sit on your hands. Some people just can’t help themselves and look like idiots.

For a lot of people seeing if they can actually afford or like a place will drive if they want to live there. When I finished I had like 8 choices. Could you imagine researching 8 places the nice before while your getting totally obliterated because you just passed the academy

 

[ChuckNovember]

Since you clearly want to end up on the west coast your options will be ZJX, ZMA, and ZNY. I would start researching those facilities to keep your expectations in check.

 

[TaylorChoate]

Since you clearly want to end up on the west coast your options will be ZJX, ZMA, and ZNY. I would start researching those facilities to keep your expectations in check.

Actually I wouldn’t mind any of those either. But heaven forbid I have a top 5 list. These opinions are trite and irrelevant at this point ??‍♂️

 

[boots]

I’m sure everyone telling you to worry about passing first are wrong. You should call each facility and tell them you are going to the academy and you are already basically a certified air traffic controller.