Canadiangal75, yes you are dead right – I am an air traffic control trainee.
I’ve not once pretended or professed to be anything more, anything less. My advice to you was as a) a successful applicant and b) an employee with some limited experience of the SSO job.
I even made a point of stating
“and I don't for one moment profess to be an expert”
I’m unsure where your hostility has come from, there was nothing directed as rude or disrespectful in any of my comments. Not once did I see you mention that you trained for a year in your previous job, and irrespective of that it doesn’t change the fact that we are doing
similar things in our current stage of training.
(You stated
“do a job that is quite similar in Canada... air traffic services, flight service”
and
“I'm not sure you know what a flight service specialist actually does in Canada...”
so to show some respect and confirm my thoughts before commenting further, I looked it up. This was the result:
- Provide pre-flight weather briefings after interpreting charts, reports and satellite imagery.
- Assist with flight plan filing.
- Provide information to help pilots to safely land and take-off from uncontrolled airports.
- Stay in contact with pilots during their flights.
- Communicate safety updates.
- Provide hourly weather reports to Environment Canada forecasters for their predictions.
- Trigger search and rescue activities for missing or overdue aircraft.)
Fuji says
“In Australia we don't have Flight Data/Flight Information officers”
which was why I was very careful to state
“(equivalent) Flight Data/Flight Information”
referring to the
service we are being taught to provide in a faux G Class airspace only.
"This shows that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A rating is something you get when you finish field training"
When you finish your DTI course you won't be rated as anything
I did not pluck this from my backside
and I am under no illusions that I'm not even a quarter of the way through my college training. We were told by an instructor that "
technically" at the end of DTI course we could be rated to work a Class G sector - if such a puppy existed.
(
1Charlie, I didn't think you were being rude, and I thank you for "checking"
)
I couldn't agree more with
Le pingouin comment
“I suspect the Class G part leaves the trainees rather "underdone" “
as I myself would not for one minute be happy being set loose on a Class G sector - and have said as much to my instructors.
And despite the possible mis-interpretation of my comment
“Once we get rated to do that, we still have another nine months of training to be controllers”
I most certainly do not think that I will come out of college – if I indeed make it all the way through course – thinking that I know everything there is to know.
I have never, and hope to never be, that arrogant.
Having spent four hours a days, five days a week, for the last six weeks, working with SSO's (Blippies), (which I equate to around 120 hours) - and half of that time actually blipping - I made the executive decidion that it
might just be OK to give my opinion of their role. After all, I got my PPL licence with less hours
Just remember, just because you made it to the academy, does not guarantee a licence. So understand a lot of hard work is required.
Finally,
canadiangal75 - I know myself I would be much more disheartened missing out on a job that I was already experienced in, than I would be missing out on a job that was beyond my current skill and experience level.
My advice to you was offered as a genuine attempt in pointing out that
to the best of my knowledge there is a fair difference in what you used to do as an FIS officer and what you would have been (or hopefully will be) doing as an Air Traffic Controller.
The intent and history of this thread has been dedicted to current and past applicants and trainees offering advice and information about the application process and initial training at the college.
That's what I am.
A trainee.
I understand the work ahead of me, I know the work I've done behind me, and I now have a tiny smidgeon of an idea of the career that will hopefully be on offer to me.
These are my posts and these are my opinions. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Kiwi Chick