runway to air traffic control

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Approach Training

Since I've started to find that people are actually reading this blog, I figured I should probably update every once in a while.

I've been training on approach control for about six months now. It's been an interesting rollercoaster of ups and downs, but I feel I've been progressing well. I'm nearing the end of my training now. It's at the point where I will be qualified soon, or they will stop my training to give someone else a shot. I don't think that will happen, but it's a possibility.

I just want to make a quick comment about my training yesterday: Wow. It was probably the busiest I've seen it here in a long time. Lots of military aircraft in a limited amount of airspace. I was doing well for a while, but eventually I was saturated and unable to keep up. My instructor took over and straighted everything out. The good news: with a little more practice, this is something I will be able to handle with confidence. Looking forward to plugging in by myself in the near future.

6 comments:

-8541 said...

Hey man, I like reading your blog. I think it would be cool if you kept it more updated. I started reading it just before I went down to Portland MEPs for the Navy. I like reading what you have to say.

-SR Meyer

Barrier Island Girl said...

Hey there! So glad to see you may get more involved with your blog again.

Do you miss Pensacola Beach? :-)

Hope things are going well for you.

DJ

ATC LDO said...

How is the training there at NUW? I used to be an FWS there between 1995-2001. Is the Spring still terrible with the tulip fields over in La Conner? Do they still have mandatory splits? We used to work approach all the time combined. Is there still a flush around 1730 every weekday from Skagit Bayview, Victoria, and Port Angeles? That used to be fun with Horizon Air trying to beat each other to JAWBN.

I am now in Corpus Christi as a Div O. Before I was an LDO I used to work there with LT Wicker.

Anonymous said...

cool blog. im currently preparing for basic going in as AC. after Pensacola are the chances of going on a carrier highly?

Anonymous said...

hey thanks for the info im going to meps soon and my first choice i think is going to be ac and this helped seal the deal for me... good luck with life

Colin said...

Billy...
Glad you enjoy the reading. I'm always happy to hear from others who are on the fence about the Navy and the AC rate.
DJ...
I DO miss Pensacola! Can't wait to come back and visit. I'm sure it will be in the near future. I love your pictures.
ATC LDO...
You hit it right on the money. I just got qualified approach and we're all ready for the tulip festival rush! We have the 1730 rush mon-fri, but not too many Seattle Center get's the Horizon's now. We have a bunch of C208's that we have to sequence. A little easier I imagine. LT Wicker is great - doesn't talk much, though :)
Anonymous...
You're more likely to get shore duty your first tour, but a carrier or amphib (mini-carrier) is not out of the question.