wannabe atco

[VIKKI]

Hi

im a 50yr old woman who has always wanted to be an atco but with family life i never had the chance until now. what i really want to know is would i be wasting my time because of my age etc.

i would be happy as an fiso at a smaller airfield i dont expect to be in the tower at heathrow or anything.

i would be interested to know wha people already in the business think.

also if any of you guys think i have a chance how do i go about getting started.

thank you for your help

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Hi Vikki. Bad news - your age is definitely against you and you would never get into NATS so Heathrow Tower is out I'm afraid!

It is a fact of life that the job of an ATCO gets harder as one gets older and it would be quite difficult for someone of your age to start from scratch and obtain a licence and validate at a busy unit.

You might well be able to find a position as an AFISO, although you might find training for that difficult if you have no background. I'm sure someone will respond with more info..

Good luck anyway and what a shame you had to leave it so late..

[Spitoon]

Well done topupper, real friendly.

Vikki, as you'll have gathered, ATC is a long shot in your position but not completely out of the question. In the old days all you had to do was pass a few exams and you got a licence - ok, that's simplifying it a bit, but you could do it at reasonable cost and a bit of help from a friendly airport. Nowadays you have to do approved courses and unless you're sponsored by an airport who will also enable you to do the practical training after you get your licence it's pretty much a non-starter. I'm not sure of the cost of a course but I would guess you're talking about something in the region of £30 - £40,000 to get a licence with useful ratings.

FISO is more feasible. You need to get a licence first. All you need to do is pass two or three exams and a medical. There's no compusory course. When you have a FISO licence you need to find an airfield that offers FISO services and is looking for a FISO. If you can do that, which may not be easy because there aren't that many around, you have to do some more training and pass a practical exam. Don't expect a lot of money, but if you enjoy doing it .....

Finally, there's an air/ground radio operator. There's lots of airfields with A/G and the job is much the same as a FISO does. As for money, well, I think volunteers are often welcome. Even easier to get the bit of paper to do that.

The rules for how to get a licence and the line are in CAA books. If you go to the CAA website (http://www.caa.co.uk) and look through the air traffic publications you should find them. Sometimes making sense of them is a bit more difficult!

The big question is do you know anything about aircraft, airfields and flying? Basic knowledge will certainly make it easier.

If you really want to do it, don't give up!

[Chilli Monster]

As Spitoon says, ATCO may be out of the question - you're at an age where quite a few are looking to retire if they've been at the busier places. Unless you've had a lottery win recently then self sponsorship is a very expensive business - it's nearer the 40K than the 30K. And still with no guarantee at the end.

However - in view of where you live the next available option could be just up the road from you - have you had a read of This thread? (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=120845)

[Guatico]

Hi Vikki!

It seems that your age is against you for becoming a professional ATCo, but there are no age limits for the virtual thing. ;)

There are several networks providing all stuff related to virtual air traffic control, such as VATSIM, IVAO... I'd suggest you to check out their sites and find out more!!

Hope you'll like it.