Season 1
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect from the 9th week of the enroute academy. This is the week that you start running practice scenarios in the radar lab! The FAA will start you off fairly slowly on the first day, then it picks up speed quickly. The second day you will get an opportunity to watch an instructor run a scenario. They will be the student and you get to make sure they don't make any mistakes. The Instructor Demo will be the first of 4 times that you will get to sit behind someone and watch them run a scenario. Make sure you see how they scan, how they determine priorities, and just how much TIME they have to do all of this. I know they are instructors, but you will find that you have more than enough time to get every task done; IF you do it right the first time and do it in the time that the FAA gives you to do it. Pay attention to the demo, you can get a LOT of useful information from it. Thank you for listening!! Thank you for including me in your ATC journey! You don't have to go it alone. Let me help and we can get through... Side by Side. As always, if you have a question or comment, you can email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com . The website is attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom . You can get info on the coaching programs and see how to arrange a no-obligation call.
In this episode, I talk about what this week will be like for you as you continue your journey through the FAA Academy. This week, you will have a number of Computer Message lessons. These will include lessons in class, CBI lessons, and labs with instructors. There will be a LOT of information, but you will BEGIN to learn the different ways that information can be found, and changed, as you work each scenario. This week will also have your CKT2 Test. The test will cover the lessons you've had in the radar portion of the academy, AS WELL AS lessons you had in non-radar. The mix is about 67%/33%, but that fluctuates each year as the FAA tweets the course. The test is worth 5 points, and you want to get all of the points you can, but what you learned last week and what you practice this week will be worth so much more than 5 points. Study for the test, but don't obsess over it. Obsess over the phraseology for point outs and handoffs. Obsess over the steps for handling an emergency, or a military change of destination, or a departure, or holding. You end the week with a lesson on scanning. It is very important that you develop a method of scanning your entire workplace ( the radar, 75-80%, your EDST, 15-20%, the strips, about 5%). You will try different scanning techniques over your time in the radar lab. Find one that works for you. Find one that keeps you from missing point outs or handoffs. Thank you all for listening! It makes my day every day when I see that more and more of you are joining the podcast or continuing to listen! You can contact me at: email - tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com website- attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom Don't try to go through this alone. Contact me and let's get through this Side by Side.
In this episode, I celebrate 50 episodes of this podcast! I talk briefly about numbers and where we are now on the podcast, but then I ask you for a HUGE favor: Please let me know how I can make this podcast even better! Let me know what you like and let me know where you think I stink! Then I talk about some things coming in the future: YouTube channel Training videos Book Let me know what. you think of these ideas, and let me know what you would like to see from each. I also gave some thoughts on a couple of issues from earlier episodes: Prepare ahead- Prepare your life away from the academy so you can concentrate on what you need to do at the academy. Prepare ahead- Go on the Discord chat and get the map for enroute or tower. Get a head start on studying for the map tests before you get there. It will make a big difference during the first couple of weeks. Also know your phonetic alphabet like the back of your hand! Work as a team in your class- Whether you are in enroute, tower, Tracon, or N90 you will want, and need, as many as possible to pass from your class. The more that pass, the more options you will have when it comes to selecting your first facility. Do whatever you can do to help each other!!! Again, thank you for listening!! Thank you for letting me be a part of your life! Email: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com Website: attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom
In this episode, I continue going week by week through the EnRoute Academy. This week is week 7, or the start, and the heart, of radar lessons. That's right. This week is the heart and soul of the radar lessons. All of the important, and some not quite as important, lessons are this week. They include: Radar ID Handoffs and Point Outs ( VERY IMPORTANT ) Every scenario every day! Radar Transition Radar Seperation ( IMPORTANT ) Radar Vectoring Emergencies ( VERY IMPORTANT ) You will see a ton of these! Weather Military Ops ( IMPORTANT ) Position Relief Briefing ( IMPORTANT ) Team Responsibilities Fatigue Awareness ( VERY IMPORTANT ) Just kidding!! You will be tired, so be aware! The most important lessons are all right here, this week! Thank you all for listening!! Have a great week! tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com - email for any questions you might have or to set up a no-obligation phone call to talk about where you are in your ATC journey. attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom - website for my coaching program. You can also use it to set up the initial free phone call as well.
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect from the sixth week of the enroute academy. This week is the BIG ONE!! Day 29 is the non-radar eval day! Before you get to that day, you will go through some practice scenarios that are designed to be much harder than the eval scenarios will be. The FAA will take you past what you need to be able to do and will show you what could happen if a non-radar sector went "RED". That is what happens when a sector gets over 100% of its normal traffic. The complexity of the scenarios on the last 2 days of the non-radar lab its off the charts. Take heart! You won't have to work a scenario that difficult on your eval day. It may be close, but it won't be like 23-27. By the end of the week, you are starting the radar section of the enroute program. Now is where the fun really starts! As it was last week, the name of the game for this week is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Really try to focus on the things that are giving you trouble; things that you struggle with. Thank you again for listening! You have all been so supportive of the show! If you have any questions, you can email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com or visit my website at attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom . Have a wonderful week!
In this episode, I take a break from the discussion of each week at the Academy to focus on practice and what that means while you are at the Academy. I alk about: What is practice What is Intense Focused Practice Can you get by with only practice Why you have to be organized in your practice Can Intense Focused Practice allow anyone to pass the Academy I want to thank you all for continuing to listen! It is my hope that I can help each of you in your journey to become an air traffic controller. If you have a question, email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com like Miranda did, or you can go to my website attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom and set up a free call like Alfonso and his brother did. I want to help each of you in any way that I can. Remember, you don't have to go through the process of becoming an air traffic controller by yourself. I want to help; and we can get there Side by Side.
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect from the fifth week at the Academy. During this week, you will start with your CKT1 Test. It is worth 4 points and will cover all of the information from the non-radar lessons. After this test, you will continue in the non-radar labs doing 3 scenarios a day until your last day in the labs. The complexity of the scenarios is going to increase dramatically during this week. You are going to go from a fairly gradual increase in complexity to a point where you are working scenarios that are on the same level as the evals that are coming up next week. Your brain is going to be stretched to the breaking point this week, so be prepared. The name of the game for this week, and all of the coming weeks, is PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! And then, PRACTICE SOME MORE! You can not practice too much during your time at the Academy! This needs to be your primary thought the entire time you are at the Academy. It doesn't matter which program you are going through( Tower, enroute, Tracon, N90), you have to practice, and practice, and practice. It is the only way you are going to get proficient enough to pass any of these programs. PRACTICE Practice is more important than talent, and will get you further than talent alone! Thank you all for listening! I hope that these episodes are helping you all in some way. If you have any questions, email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com or visit my website at attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom . I hope you have a great week!
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect from the fourth week of the enroute academy. During this week, you will finish your lessons on separation( If you haven't already). You will learn how to read and forward the weather. You will have several "Part Tasks" and walk-throughs where you go through a scenario as a class. You will learn how to remote the scenarios and have a full day of remote practice in class. You will be surprised how much better you get in just 1 class. After that, you are in the Non-radar Labs. The scenarios will get harder and harder each day. They will follow a fairly manageable rate of increase initially. That rate of increase will get much more difficult starting in week 5. At the end of week 4, you will get to watch one of your instructors do a demo for you. They will run a scenario and discuss what they are thinking during each step. This is a very good way to see how someone does this who has a lot of experience. Make sure you pay attention and: ASK QUESTIONS! There will be information in every scenario that you will need later. Make sure you get that information!! The most important thing to remember about the non-radar labs is that you will never be able to get as good as you need to be by ONLY running scenarios in class. You will HAVE to practice at home with classmates. That is the only way to get good enough to be able to succeed on your evals!! At the end of the episode, I give some of my thoughts on the news conference given by the Sec of Transportation, the Acting Head of the FAA, and the NATCA President. Thank you all for listening!! If you have questions, please don't hesitate to email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com . You can also go to the website at attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom . If you want to set up a FREE phone call, you can either email me or go to the website to set that up. I would love to talk about where you are in your ATC journey, and how we can get you to your goal.
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect in the 3rd week of the enroute academy. During this week, you will have your MAP TEST! Yes, the first 2 points of the academy are there for you to take. Aside from that, you will finish up lessons on Holding and Approaches. Then you get into all of the different ways to separate aircraft, such as: vertical lateral longitudinal visual These are very important to at least begin to understand. Don't let your instructors escape if you have questions about any of this!! You will also have a lesson on Non-radar lab procedures. These are the rules you HAVE to obey when doing the non-radar scenarios. This lesson CAN NOT be the only time you go over this information! You have to know this information better than the evaluators and that will not be accomplished by going over it once in class!!!! One thing to mention: these lessons will be given in order, but may not take as much time as the class schedule indicated. Most Lead Instructors try to get ahead of the schedule so they can give you more time to practice in the classroom. Thank you all for listening!! If you have a question, email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com . If I can't answer via email or text, we can set up a no-cost phone call to help you get where you need to be. If you want to look into having my help through any section of the academy, go to attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom what you need. Have a great week!!
In this episode, I talk about what you can expect from the second week of the enroute academy. During this week, you will have a LOT of opportunities to study your map and prepare for your map test( which comes up next week!). You will finish off a lesson from week 1 on coordination and what information to forward to other sectors and facilities. You will be going over your LOA's( Letters of Agreement) that you have with other facilities. You will have a lesson on General Control and then get into a very important lesson for non-radar: Board Management. Now you start getting into the lessons that are so important to doing well in non-radar. They include: route assignments, altitude assignments, departure procedures, and holding procedures. All of these are very important for you going into the non-radar lab. Now you are in the heart of the Academy. The information is going to come at you fast. Make sure you ask questions when you need to; and you will need to. If you have questions after asking your Lead or A-Lead, let me know at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com . I want to make sure you don't get to a point where you are stumped and don't know what to do next! We can set up a time for a no-cost phone call so I can help you. If you decide you are interested in a coach, you can get more information about my programs at attrawell.com/sidebysideatccom . Thank you all for listening! Have a great week!