I'm not sure when 2 of the guys were taken out, but i know the last 4 didn't find out till last week, the final week of the course.

2 Sups in Theory and 2 Sups in Sims, however you may or may not be able to use a sup on the final milestone, depending on your overall history during the course.

It is (or at least was 4 years ago) all integrated. You do about 4 weeks of theory then you start in the Sim and do theory as well. The problem is if they failed in the last week, they most likely failed for the second time the final sim check by the sounds of it. Most of your theory stuff is finished within the last month from memory. It might be a bit different now but it shouldn't have changed that much.

are they still offering a choice between ENR and Tower? ;)

ATC
 

We'll there is a reason why apparently only a few select people in the world can do the job , and to be fair everyone knows what there getting themselves into, if they didn't then i guess they didn't research the job enough, if they don't pass the milestones they don't get rated and i think thats a good thing, there seems to be enough war stories floating around even for the experienced.
For those interested Yes they are still offering tower and enroute courses.

Probably a dopey question but what sort of factors/problems do the majority of failed candidates encounter that trip them up? Is it an inability to cope with the stress of busy scenarios in the sim, or more a technical or knowledge based issue that could have been prevented with more revision/effort. I've recently applied and though I'm reasonably confident that perhaps I meet a lot of the requirements on paper, just working out for myself wether I possess that 'x' factor we hear a lot about on here. Maybe impossible to answer I understand, but would be interested in any thoughts.

Nerves posed the biggest obstacle I think. Also knowing the rules and which one to apply in each situation.

I don't know if anyone could give you a good answer but one of the current college people might be able too.

It's a huge amount of info to take in in a short amount of time. The time in the sim goes very quickly, you are continually learning new things. Just a matter of keeping up with what you are learning. ATC is very fluid, no two conflicts are the same. I think people that 'learn' conflicts in the sims, as opposed to understanding the rules and applying them to solve the conflicts end up falling over. Being confident in each transmission is also a must.
As your driving home, watching tv, in the shower, think up conflicts and as many ways as you can to solve them. If you can look at a conflict and think of 3 ways to solve it, you won't have any problems.
On top of that, sim exams can be quite stressful. If you make a mistake, don't let it get on top of you, keep clawing away and hold onto at least one form of separation. Furthermore, each exam is designed to cripple you with conflicts and problems.
No greater feeling than finishing up a sim exam, getting called into the room and told you passed.

dreamer, you need to get the basics down pat. If you learn the book knowledge well & don't have to think about that it gives you more time to solve problems. Wasting 10 seconds here & 10 seconds there repeatedly because you don't know the basics well enough soon adds up.

Separation standards, local instructions, frequencies of surrounding units, coordination requirements, using the HMI (human machine interface).

I'm not so sure it's nerves that does most trainees in. Sure, nerves & stress are considerations but you still have to be able to pull the entire package together & perform to the required level. Some people just can't pull it all together sufficiently well.

In the end if you ain't got it you ain't got it. And then you have to do it all again for real.

SAR and PERF&REC exam
 

hey......can any people who are on/have recently completed the course inform me as to what exactly was on these two exams!? im pretty lost as to know precisely what to study and time is running out.

if you could private mail me anything helpful i would be grateful....Thanks

(also if any new course starters want any revision documents etc email me because it would be very smart to get on top of it now because there is lots of study to be done, and very little time to do it) :ugh:

AIP
 

Can anyone on course at the moment let me know the numbers of the biggest sections of the AIP you are having to learn? Want to get moving but dont want to waste time on the not applicable sections

Cheers

standard phraseology. you have to nail it, the sooner the better. This includes co-ordination phraseology. Stuff about visual and instrument approaches (learning the lists word for word), when you get MATS you'll be tested on any significantly sized list in the book. As others have said, if you nail the basics you'll free up brain space in the sim. By far more challenging than the theory stuff which can be spoon fed to you.

SAR and PERF&REC exam
 

1208punk, you need to study all of it. It's not a university and a lack of knowledge will show up in the simulator and you'll go the way of the majority on the last course. The exams come from a large database and questions are generated randomly.

Accom
 

Anyone at the ASA academy in Melbourne got a room available near the airport?

Alawatu see if you contact any of your coursemates. I shared with 2 others off my course 10 minutes from the Airport. Airport west, right next too Essendon Airport. Great house! Made studying far easier as well, and kept the rent to $100 a week each :ok::ok:

Great times in Melbourne, we had another course house just round the corner in Keilor. Brilliant times!:D

references checked
 

had my references checked the other day, am hoping this is a good sign

Approach
 

Can anyone let me know where most approach controllers are streamed from - enroute or tower controllers? I know tower course includes the TMA component but a lot of enroute guys I have spoken to arent sure

most from enroute except sy, ad, and ph, however it will be more than 10 years before you even get a look in

Can any one at the ASA acadamy tell me where the tower guys on the currant courses are going and when

Our Jan Ab-Initio group won't find out for a while, probably closer to the end of the course.

We are coming to the end of our block of blippying for all the Conversion courses going through - mostly GAAP, some Radar and now some Procedural. They have obviously been a priority as positions can be filled far faster with experienced controllers than with Ab-Initios.

Rather than blip for each other, we've been doing our allocated time in one big block, so as to maximise our time in the Sim futher on, as well as to help the conversion courses get through. It's been great for phraseology and situational awareness, as well as giving us a genuine feel for the job and what's expected of you.

While it's been fun, we're really looking forward to getting stuck into the training again. We start our Met Observers Course in a couple of weeks, followed by Basic Tower, Approach, Radar, Procedural and GAAP.

Once this is out of the way (big assumption, but here's hoping!) the instructors will have a better idea as to which style suits us best, and this in combination with AsA rquirements at the time will determine where we go.

This was the first thread I found here and while the 44 pages took awhile I got a *lot* of good info out of it so thank you to all of those who took the time to contribute!

Quick query - it has been mentioned a few times about the large of amount of data that simply had to be memorised - is that data either corporate in confidence or info that simply would not make sense outside of the course's environment or is it data that we (ok I) could start memorising *before* we hit the course?

If it is the latter is there somewhere I could find it online etc as I would love to spend some of my waiting-to-be-called-re-a-course-post-referee-check time constructively pre-learning these things ....

Thanks in advance for the assist