Right on, brother! :cool:

There aren't many of us, apparently only 4 per class as opposed to 8 in Enroute

if it helps, chances are that you will be off to a gaap tower after training as they will need staff for the class D changes! i'd pick tower/tma over enroute, but thats just me!

Received the Pre-Course Study Material today.

They're not mucking around! :eek:

Well done on getting into Tower enemyMiG http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ies/thumbs.gif

Sounds serious! What did they send you? Does it arrive in a box or a pallet? Do they give you sections to concentrate on or recommend you learn it all cover to cover? http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ilies/nerd.gif

Do you know whether the pre course study materials are the same for Tower as Enroute?

4 per course for Tower?? Sweet!

Any chance of knowing where you are going to live EnemyMig???

I currently work at Jandakot, damn it would be scary to get a first posting there!

V11 - Cheers
Rolloffthetop - I think it would be scary getting a first posting anywhere

Received in the shipping container were:

1/ Student Curriculum Handbook

This is broken up into 3 series of modules:

ICAO (001-059) International Standards and Recommended Practises
Airservices (060-199) Airservices Requirements
Systems (200-299) System Specific

The ICAO stuff seems to be the common ground between Enroute and Tower, containing:

Basic Aviation Knowledge
Air Law
Communications
Navigation
Meteorology
Flight Instruments etc

The Airservices modules seem to be specific to whichever course applies, ie Tower covers modules in the 60's and 100's, but not 70's or 80's (maybe these are Enroute orientated?)

2/ Aviation Reference Manual (CD)

3/ Pre-Course Study Material

This is all based on the ARM CD.
There is a study guide and booklet with review questions to answer (It tells you which paragraph of the ARM CD to find the answer in).
Subjects covered are of the Basic Aviation Knowledge type (see ICAO stuff above)
This forms the basis of the Aviation General Knowledge Test in the first week of training.

4/ Recognition of Prior Learning

Includes CPL, PPL, RAAF etc (none of it applies to me)

As well as all of this, you need to enrol in an on-line course and complete the on-line training package prior to commencement at the Academy.


I think I'll lie down now

That sounds like a pretty intense package enemymig.
Good thing you got it 4 months prior. With studying that, moving to melbourne, christmas and finalising your current job you will be a busy guy.

I wouldn't fuss too much about the pre course material. Sure, do the reading and answer the questions but it really has no impact on your training at all. It's just background knowledge which you will cover during the course if needed. They are really just testing to see if they can shorten the course by getting you to learn stuff before you start.

Thanks jrbridge
Just got to find the time to get started; its a busy time of year!
Have you been on any airline attatchments yet?

Not yet. We have our procedural sim exam in about a week and a half, it's usually just after that. So should be just after new year. You usually do a return flight with Virgin Blue and one with Rex.

Hallo for any tower guys out there, do you get a choice of all 26 towers or is it a few that they have that you can select from? or none and you go where your told? Do you usually get posted to smaller light aircraft airfields for training, what are the waiting lists for towers such as adelaide, brisbane, cairns etc (all the nice places to work) Tossing up between enroute and tower...........

I'm pretty sure their only training people for the GAAP towers,
ie Bankstown, Parafield, Jandakot, Moorabbin, Archerfield. These towers are going to require more people to implement the changes to the controlling. The waiting list for the good towers is usually rather long. More of a reward for good service.

From what I can gather and have been told, tower is a matter of go where you are told and/or required.

All the gaap's will need more staff, also Broome and Karratha are getting towers as well I believe so I take it staff need there too.

place to live!
 

to all those who have completed/currently enrolled at the school in melbourne can you suggest somewhere decent to live i.e. has amenities nearby and access to the city still? i have been warned to stay well clear of stkilda (my chosen location) because it would take far too long to commute during rush hour traffic.just want somewhere that has simple things such as a gym, grocery store etc near as i do not know too many places myself that tend to be nice around airports.

PS sorry for posting such an irrelevant topic to this thread, more a personal request for information.apologies....finally can anybody tell me if they got their class III medical done all in one day? the doctor i seen charged me a fortune and did absolutely nothing, i now have to go privately to get fasting blood+serum lipids test (despite asking them prior did i need to fast), an audiogram, and an eyesight test at my local opticians!

What do you consider too long a commute? College day runs 7:30-3:30 with most days finishing by 2. St Kilda to airport at 7am is about a 30 minute trip, less if you pay the $5 or so to use the CityLink toll road. Going home on a Friday arvo can take a bit longer. Pretty sure when I joined about 5 years ago that AsA reimbursed me for all initial medical costs - is that still the case? And you'll need a designated aviation opthamologist, not your local optician for the eye test :)

some people think they are the good towers! :eek:

Punk, as far as a gym goes, there is one at Airservices in Melbourne which is free. Most of our guys live towards Melbourne from the airport. A couple live in Pascoe Vale which is next to Brunswick and is about 15min to the Airport. I live in Kealba which is about 10min to the Airport. The guys at PV pay mid to high $300's a week for a 2/3 bedroom. I pay $260 for a near new 3 bedroom 2 story townhouse. All are near shops. Supermarkets are open til midnight so there is never a problem. If you need advice on areas to live give me a yell. I've been through it all. Most real estate agents in Melbourne aren't the easiest to get along with. They won't rent you a place unless someone has a look at it first. Cheers

If anyone starting on the March 1st course needs a flatmate.. my hand is up !!
Just deciding now which dates to request for my Temp Accom through AsA.... everything depends on whether or not I can secure share Accom prior to starting !

Or if anyone starting needs to do house hunting together, PM me. :-). Looking to live around Essendon area.

P.s This Cert 3 Medical Certificate aint cheap.. already costing me approx $700.. $220 for the Opthomologist, $260 Medical (ECG etc), $75 processing fee to CASA, $70 Audio..... plus fasting bloods etc at reg GP. Oh the joys :-)

Tower postings depend entirely on the need at the time. Towards the end of the course you get to make 3 preferences to where you would like to go, that however doesn't mean you will get one of those. Some people are lucky and get their first preference, others aren't and get the exact opposite. If you are worrying about location, tower isn't for you then. If its not a huge concern, do tower, work hard at it and then worry about your posting. If it is a capital city that you want, prove that you can handle the traffic/workload by doing well in the college. If you find the college hard, the field is even harder..just my 2c

What sort of time frame (if any) is involved between finishing the college phase and starting the field training?
(Especially if you have to move?)

How long is a piece of string.....

Twice the length from the middle to one end.

But if the length from the middle to the other end was doubled, would that length be measured in weeks or months?

Not sure, I would like to know myself, I'm thinking of taking up enroute in sunny Brisbane, I'm in Melbourne at the moment, surely there has to be a gap?

gap between training at the college and starting at your station varies. its negotiated with your managers. pretty much they want you to start ASAP.

You get at least 1 week. If staying in Melbourne, 1 week. If elsewhere then travelling days as well.

That's what I was after.....nothing too zen.....:}

Time between finishing at the Academy and starting final field training can vary considerably.

For an enroute group, it will primarily depend on when they have the OJTI and sim available to start. You might have 2 days or 2 months.

Hello all.
I'll be joining you enemyMIG on the tower course 11 jan. Looking forward to the start and working hard through the pre-course study.

G'Day Nichollg

Nice to finally hear from someone on the same course as me!
I suspect that I'm the other recipient of the Kate Turner Class 3 email you might have received on Nov 6?
I'm in the process of winding up my operation, finishing my last job on new year's eve. I'm hoping a week's cramming will get me through the pre-course study material. Sounds like you're already stuck into it?

enemyMIG
Looks like (after reading your posts) i have been down the exact same path as you over the last couple of months. Even pondering the same -
"What sort of time frame (if any) is involved between finishing the college phase and starting the field training?
(Especially if you have to move?)" - question.
Live in Country victoria so have had many trips to Melbourne (3hrs drive) to, mainly, organise accommdation. Have rented in Tullamarine, 6mins 31sec drive from the airservices gate (not that i have checked.)
I also quit my current job on the 31 Dec and will complete my move on the 8 Jan. Should have a beer that weekend before starting
Been working through the study material, but hard with a wife and four younger children. Have a long way to go. They will be staying here while i'm in Melbourne to maximise my study time.
Great too see hear of someone else on my course.:ok:

Nichollg

Four kids, hey? I thought I was busy with two!
It must be hard knowing you're going to be spending so much time away from your family.
Beer sounds like a superb idea.
Send me a PM when you've settled in and we'll tee something up. I'm in Kealba, not too far from Tulla.

Finally got around to starting the Pre-Course Study Material today.

Soooooo many acronyms......:{

Yep - the place is full of TLAs......

One of these days you will think that ILS and DME are actually words.

Cheers,

NFR.

Yay! I passed my interview and am on the Order of Merit!

Now to keep waiting :ugh:

A Three Letter Acronym?
WTF?

Congrats nick83

Hi guys

Just noticed this thread while searching the net

I also did my interview in brisbane on december 4th and today received the email saying im on the order of merit list :ok:

I applied in march so its been about 9months so far but im guessing it will be at least 4-6months if not more.

Any idea on how many make it from the merit list each year?

Congrats Nick + au_viper

The first offers after finding out we were on the list were 2-3 months, i got mine after about 6... and i think there might be a couple still waiting (9 months now)

People have said everyone on the last order of merit list (march 09 interviews) will be offered a position... not sure if thats the same everytime... but i would say its much more likely you will be offered a postion.

Good luck

Hmm today i received my email saying they will be contacting referee's after christmas and could i supply them with updated contact details for the references . Two emails in two days, cant be a bad sign! :cool:

AFT! For those waiting this was my timeline.

Application 22nd Oct 2008
OCAT 1st Dec 2008
Psychometric 10th Feb 2009
Interview 4th May 2009
Referee Checks 18th Dec 2009
Verbal Offer 22nd Dec 2009 (Nice Christmas Present)
Course April 19th 2010
Enroute Brisbane

Apprently 1 spot left for Melbourne Enroute, A few for Brisbane and 2 for Tower (don't know where posted till late in course), CASA health checks, police and aviation security clearance and contract in mail early Jan.