Dispatch student new to forum

[Aeroscout840]

Hello Friends:

I'm a 40-ish career changer starting dispatch school in August. I'll be going to Sheffield in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Lots of good info here and am looking fwd to contributing when I'm able.

Questions:

Anyone go to Sheffield? Was it a good value? What parts of the ATP Gliem book should I be looking at? What is the job market right now? Is there any geographic area with improving employment prospects (Middle East etc).

Thanks to anyone willing to help the FNG :)

[Claire Newton]

Hello

I'm even more of a newbie than you are I'm afraid!! I'm just making some initial enquiries as to how I get involved in a career in airline dispatch and wondered if you could help me? How did you make a start in the field, as a career changer? What courses would I need to do? What kind of training could I put myself through to be in the best possible position to apply for these kind of jobs?

Any help you could give would be fantastic.
I really hope you find the info you're looking for too.

Thanks

Claire :)

[Aeroscout840]

Hi Claire!

I have not started training yet but am studying for the ADX test now. The best place to start is the Sheffield website.

http://www.sheffield.com/qanda/html

It's a school in Fl that specializes in dispatch training. The Q and A section will give you all the info you need.

Good Luck!

[desertopsguy]

Aeroscout, sheffield used to publish a condensed list of questions for the ADX (wonderful and pointless waste of time and effort that it is) that was gleaned from years of exposure to the testing environment. They had narrowed it down to something like 500 or so questions that if memorised would practically guarantee you to pass it.
Studying all 2,000 questions is a time consuming excercise and best avoided if at all possible.

Nevertheless, getting the ADX out of the way first is the absolute best thing to do as it frees up your time while on-site to focus on the course and you'll need every spare hour to get through it.

Sheffield is the best school out there and has been for years, you'll find some negative posts on here about them but they are from people who failed or felt they should have been given an easy ride.

Feel free to pm me with any questions, have been there done that.

All the best.

[merrick]

When you sign up to do the course you will be given a password to access the adx material. Like desertopsguy said there is 500 ish questions.
The way I learnt them was to print off the questions with ONLY THE CORRECT ANSWER. By doing this I found that when I came to the test I recognised the answer without even fully reading the question.
I think it took about 25mins to do the test. (The record is about 19mins)

The best advise I can give you and it took me 2 attempts to pass the course is to study the adx like mad and put in for the test on the first few days because by week 3 the exams come thick and fast leaving no time for adx.

Hope this hels.

[Aeroscout840]

Thanks fellas! I'm studying hard and just enjoying the heck out this stuff. Been out of aviation for years and it's nice to tackle a challenge in a field I love so much.

Nice to know if I get stuck I have some help from you all.

[Incandenza]

Aeroscout, best of luck at Sheffield. A word of warning though, this school takes NO prisoners.You really have to absolutely get the ADX outta the way on the first week. Don't even think that they'll concentrate on it in class as I naively thought, as there was some areas (instrument flight) I had no idea of and figured they'd run over them or the course would make them clearer thus enabling me to understand them better. You will be overcome with the amount of stuff you have to learn for the schools exams and having to try memorise the 500 ADX exams while trying to work your way through the course is a recipe for disaster. I just can't emphasise this strongly enough. Otherwise you'll be in for a whole world of pain unless you have a photographic memory. Mere mortals struggle with Sheffield.

[Aeroscout840]

Update:
Studying for ADX and making good progress. Thank you again for the feedback. What worked for me was some advice about getting the CD (at $60.00 it was a splurge). I used it to create a data base of all the questions that Sheffield has "learned" over the years are on the test. It feels great studying when you know you are not wasting time on questions you just will not see. That all said -- the Flight Log questions ...ugh. I thought I might be able to pass the ADX before class starts on Aug 22, but that may not be the case because of the IFR log stuff. Comments, advice...anyone. :ugh:

[Incandenza]

Aeroscout,
I FEEL your pain. It's really difficult. The ADX is primarily a pilot driven test, as a dispatcher you can NEVER expect to use yet alone ever be asked allot of the questions - they're just way off the mark for practical dispatch. The only way around it is to memorise the questions, this sounds like an easy answer but unfortunately unless you want to know exactly how the HSI works or other likewise questions that's gonna take all your time up on these subjects alone, unless you have a strong flying background. Sheffield will spend ZERO time on ADX - they will explain if you ask out of class but it's not their thing period. You hit the ground running with weather week one and after that you'll be glad you don't have to worry about ADX. And if you do - well can't say we didn't warn you. Just knock the crap outta it NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NovemberDelta84]

I applied to do it with Jeppessen directly full dispatch including flightplanning in FRA.... the exams are not included as far as I know...

[Aeroscout840]

Roger that fellas. Sounds like rote is the way to go. Thanks again.

[desertopsguy]

Can't stress enough how important it is to get this pointless test out of the way before you get stuck into the actual course. You'll be sorry if you wait until you get there to do it. It's not difficult, it just takes time so do yourself a favour and put it to bed before embarking on the rest of the course.

[Incandenza]

Nov-Delta
any more specifics on the FRA course? Would like some if possible? Irish guy working in UK in flight ops.

[NovemberDelta84]

@Incandenza

here the link
https://ww1.jeppesen.com/industry-solutions/aviation/commercial/training/ground-training.jsp

you can view their training schedule (FRA, DXB etc.. whichever suits)
I know a guy who done it in Denver with Jeppessen (it works out cheaper to do it in US)
their initial flight planning training is in UK, far as I know they use Jetplan...

let me know if you need me to pm you more info and contact details for FRA Neu-Isenburg Jep.

[NovemberDelta84]

Incandeza:

I am new here... they wouldn't let me post the jeppessen link...
hope I am not breaking any rules here...
sorry, if you go to their jeppessen website/aviation/commercial aviation and click ground training course schedule

or alternatively try joint aviation authority training website
jaato(dot)charlie'oscar'mike

if you need more info , let me know , I'll pm it to ya

:)
ND

[Aeroscout840]

First week done today. Got 95 on first test, so off to good start. The quality of instruction is excellent, better than any college course I've ever taken; and more difficult. I can't imagine someone with no aviation background taking this course on. Day two and they toss you an e6b like "what you've never seen one of these". If I were a novice I'd probably have soiled my self.

[vijay3917]

I have been studying for the Dispatcher exams on my own
i use Culhane's books and they are pretty good for Dispatcher Exams in Canada
the books are expensive though, but the questions they have are very similar to Transport Canada's

[NovemberDelta84]

Aeroscout840

Congrats, Well done! :D

[Aeroscout840]

Hey Fellas!

Quick update from Sheffield Week 2. Four voluntary withdrawals this week. Course load unrelenting. ADX on Wednesday. 94% on 2nd exam. Weather Theory and Non-Graphic Weather tests complete. Graphic Weather next.

[mutt]

Four voluntary withdrawals this week 4 from how many?

Mutt

[Aeroscout840]

12 ttl to start. 2 of the remaining 8 are 2nd time thru. One because of a unsat last cycle, the other taking a refresher. Can't wait to get out in the real world and use my "license to learn". :ok:

[Aeroscout840]

Phew! Passed that silly a** ADX test. As for my score let's just say -- if the minimum were not acceptable, it would not be the minimum.:rolleyes:

[merrick]

Well done mate, its pretty tough going isnt it?!?

And remember.... a ceiling is the height above the eaths surface of lowest cloud base orobscuring phenomena aloft, also classified as broken or overcast, also........oops, forgot!!

[Aeroscout840]

Done with Sheffield. Course completed, practical passed. Tough road. Eric did my practical and was really cool. Job hunt now in progress. Any inside dope would be greatly appreciated. Thank you to all here for your encouragement and kind words.:ok: