Hi,

I have just one quick question, at what point do I give them my school reports? If it's as early as the assessment day, when do they take them into account?

Thanks,
Sam

I would be giving them all my paperwork asap, that way they can process everything a lot quicker for you.

Get your paperwork in as soon as you're able. I wasn't able to book my assessment day until I had all of mine in.

Mvdia, I was asked what aircraft I might fly in the RAAF and what aircraft the Army flies as well as what I would fly, given the choice. Very basic stuff that takes 5 minutes to learn.

The Army captain that interviewed me said I'd make a good officer, she then continued in saying that's a good thing coming from an Army officer to a RAAF applicant.

Zulk,

How did you go on your assessment day? What did they recommended you for?
Any indication as to how long you have to wait for FSP?

I was recommended for flight screening. The psych and the defence interviewer both said they felt I'd make a good officer.

I'm not too sure on a wait time for FSP at this stage; it all comes down to how well I did in comparison to all of the other applicants with their names at the PSA. My careers counsellor seems to be fairly confident that I'll make the FSP in the near future but it's all down to the PSA now.

Congratulations Zulk,

Good to hear of your success so far. I hope to be as successful as you. Do you have in mind what you would prefer Duntroon or OTS if you have a choice?

Well it sounds like the Army has come to its senses then!!:ok:

That's all well and good but PSA should probably be recommending less applicants as well. I can understand it's a difficult time for the training pipeline, but expecting people to put their lives on hold for 12 months is unethical when they could be pursuing other avenues for a successful military career.

Oh please!!! "Unethical"??
Yeah well I guess 12 months is well beyond a normal Gen Y event horizon.

CSD, I would prefer to have finished OTS or NEOC and be in employment training for an aircrew position now, 18 months after my initial application, than waiting unknowingly for a pilot position which may never present itself due to my average performance on FSP - yet recommendation. I don't believe this is due to being a member of Gen Y, but a reasonable expectation. Fingers crossed for the next 12 months...

Sorry, unethical was the incorrect term. Maybe unacceptable is more appropriate.

12 months is beyond most peoples event horizon.

How long is the wait between assessment day and FSP? i'm sure it's varied, but i wouldn't mine hearing from a few people as to how long they had to wait.

Thanks

I finished my assessment day in December and was in FSP early March, however I had to muck around with some information that I apparently had not submitted and consequently there was a delay before my dossier was submitted to PSA.

Hi Mvdia,

It varies so much. I've heard people wait up to 8 months, others waited a couple of weeks. At the moment, the earliest course for DEO is the 21st of August (2 courses, 9 positions each), then after that is the October courses (4 courses with 6 positions on each course).

Hang in there, you'll get a call eventually!!!!

Elliot.

thanks for the reply,

I assume your now waiting to here if you got in or not?
How did you go in your FSP?

Yes, we are now waiting for an offer.

Our FSP course went well, 7 people got recommended out of 9. Scores were good too, a few of our guys cleaned up and got really good results (Romper being one of them! He frequently got a stanine of 'Dean'). It is interesting, because your results are revealed at the end of the course and the instructors never give too much away!

Elliot.

Stanine of "Dean"
 

haha,

yeah, good one Elliot!

mvdia1, From when PSA received my File to getting the call for FSP was around 2 weeks for me, and i received about 4 weeks notice for attending.

From PSA receiving my file to getting the call was two weeks for me too, but I was only given two weeks notice for FSP.

Edited: Keeping the FSP secrets ;)

Has anyone here got an ADFA place at FSP for the July holidays yet?

Nope. But I have been put on for an OSB at ADFA for ACO in three weeks, should be interesting. Looks as though I'll have to wait a bit longer for a shot at a FSP. Just means more gliding in the meantime.

Next course for ADFA after June-July is September holidays. Fingers crossed.

Have you already had any OSB's for any of your other preferences?

I was recommended from Assessment Day on the 29th of April, and still haven't had my file sent to PSA in Tamworth yet. But all should be rectified by the end of the week. Seems like you are going to need quite an impressive dossier to be considered for the August Flight Screening dates... Good luck lads!

Where do you guys get the information on FSP dates?

What was the hold up mate? If you don't mine me asking.

mvdia1: Knock yourself out mate.

By the way, I've been hearing about some 'ADFA Maths Test' from a mate of mine who did his YOU session a few weeks ago, does anyone know what's involved?

Here's the link for the course schedules mate:

ADF Pilot Selection Agency: Royal Australian Air Force

The hold up involved a slight medical discrepancy, which should be cleared up on Monday. When did you complete your Assessment Day?

My dossier took like a month or two to get its way to FSP.

@Alex
Ye I believe im going to Canberra on the 29th of June, Aero eng!

Just had my assessment day today, i got recommened for both my first and second preference. 1st: pilot 2nd GSO.

i have my gso date for OSB, they told me i will be contacted for FSP.

Great feeling passing assessment day.

Now to be prepared for OSB...

if you guys can give me any tips for FSP, i'm happy to take as much information as possible. What was the routine like at FSP?

mvidia,

Routine varies. You generally do at least a flight a day sometimes two, from very early in the morning till the arvo. You have to hang around up at the BAE facility for this time studying very hard (ie. trying to do so whilst socialising with ADF and Singaporean BFTS students and playing jenga...).

I could tell you more, but its all in this thread. Start from the beginning; there's some golden material and I found it was invaluable prep stuff for FSP. ;)

Edit: Congrats on your success at Assessment day too!

Well done mvidia!! From which service was the officer interviewing you?

Daily Routine
 

Mvdia,

Mud_Rat has good advice, trawl through the forum; it has some great tips.

I had the exact same question with regards to daily routine when at FSP.
During the week, my typical day was:

0630: wakeup
0720: breakfast with course mates
0755: at BAE facilities crew common room
0930: Scheduled flight
1215: lunch
1300: back at crew room, wait around; read notes, youtube on computers and play jenga
1700: back to the blocks
1815: Dinner with course mates
1900: Eat ice-cream from mess in block common room, talk about the model plane, speeches and Dean's (Romper) flying scores.
1930: Study study study study (lots of chair flying!!).

When I had 2 flights in one day, I would normally be flying at around 1300, so I would have lunch in the crew common room. Some days you will have scheduled lessons and briefs with PSA staff etc.

On the weekend you generally have time off, go to the Aerobar if your over 18, tennis, study, Model plane work.

Each day is fairly full on, but I remember reading in the Mass Brief material: "Short stay. work hard. direct your attention." or something like that, which is a fairly good way of looking at it; its only 2 weeks so work your balls off.

Elliot.

Hi guys.

Chalk up another who has just had their material passed on to the PSA. It seems that this thread is a breeding ground for those who are passing through the selection process. I'd just like to say thank you very much to all of those that have been talking about their stories and what they have faced because it has really helped in my selection process. Hopefully a few of us that have had our material passed on will meet each other at the coming FSP sessions. I'm in the hunt for a RAAF DEO position.

Sadly I've got some depressing news as well. I can confirm that the RAAF is slowing down the training process as there aren't enough pilots leaving the ranks and this is causing a few bottlenecks. I had the lucky chance to chat to someone at DFR who had just finished her BFTS course. Initially her waiting time for 2FTS was 3 months but just recently she has been told that the waiting time is now going to be from 6 to 12 months. Hopefully this doesn't affect those trying to get in now too much.

Fingers crossed for everyone!

Yeah, I wonder whether the bottlenecks would affect anyone in the ADFA stream, Hopefully not. The rumours have been around for a while now and I can distinctly remember it being dismissed as untrue on my assesment day. Seems to be true enough now though.

@Rotor11,

Awesome, I'll see you in canberra then. I get there on the Sunday and have the Board on the Monday and Tuesday. I'm assuming this would be the same for you? I'm gonna have to start getting acustomed to waking up early.

Well as far as ADFA stream goes, was it ryano who pointed out there are more ADFA FSP courses this year than last? (Usually I'd look it up myself, but I have an Intro-Calc exam to study for).

That *probably* translates to more ADFA slots, perhaps they see more blokes in ADFA vs. DEO as a way to delay the number of pilots entering the BFTS-2FTS cycle -> Mitigate the problem? Who knows.

@AlexanderB
So you get there on the 27th?
And you have two days of ROSB?

I get there on the Tuesday and have my interview on the Wednesday.
And yeah, lots of early mornings!
We'll survive I guess

I was lucky enough to fly first wave almost every day, which means I was down there in my flight suit and prepped at 0615. Some hated being first wave, but you couldn't beat the ultra smooth thermal-free flying conditions. Also means you can take time to wait in line for an icecream at lunch. :ok:

Yes ADFA slots have been ramped up a bit and DEO knocked back, but in a few years time we will have platforms such as the Rhino and Wedgetail delivered fully and (hopefully) either at FOC or approaching it, and the KC-30A somewhere apart from Spain...hopefully. They'll have more aircraft with better availability than the ones they're replacing, they will be needing more pilots for that period and into the future (~2015 for Caribou replacement). The intake numbers have been constantly fluctuating, but no doubt it will begin to turn again as it always does.

Don't rely on a Bou replacement. King Airs will be there for a loooonnggg time!
But some good new toys are here or almost here so things should improve.

Rotor11,

Thats about right, I leave on Wednesday morning. See you there. I'm still putting together my 5 minute speech. Getting a haircut tomorrow, epic.

--------
It'll be interesting to see what happens with the intake of pilots over the next few years. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the figures from intakes in the past twenty years.

Speaking of good new toys, has anyone else seen the photos of the Super Hornets on the defence website?

AlexanderB and Rotor11,

Are you guys heading to Canberra for your OSB?

What are your preferences?

We sure are!
My first pref is RAAF pilot ADFA
My second is RAAF Aero Engineer ADFA
:ok: