It's been three years...

Hey everyone,

It’s been a very long time since I wrote here, yet earlier this month, someone still found this blog and contacted me about it. As today marks the three year anniversary of me leaving EUROCONTROL, I thought it was a proper time to write one final blog, to share what I've been doing, what I've learned and answer the frequently asked questions I've been getting the past years.

So, as you just read and as was expected after my review board, the decision to end my training was not overruled by higher management and my contract was indeed terminated. The main reason behind this decision was that I failed to be a good trainee, who followed the procedures as laid down by the IANS and build proper safety buffers into his work accordingly. (more on this later in this blog)

These are basic skills required to make it to the end, and despite a very noticeable improvement over the last few weeks of my training, I was unable to recover completely. As a result, the risk of me slowing down, and possibly compromising, the rest of the group’s development was too high and no chances could be taken.

The question I heard most throughout the past years was without a doubt if I could still apply somewhere else. The answer to that question is: I can, but it depends on the ANSP.

After I was sent home, I contacted several other ANSP’s with the question if I could or could not apply with their company and go through their selection process. I haven’t done a check-up now, so some of these may already be dated by now, but in alphabetical order, these are the answers I received:

Belgocontrol (Belgium): YES

è As far as I understood, this had something to do with anti-discrimination laws that prohibit withholding me from participating in the selection procedure because of previous results.

Belgian Air Component: YES

è Civil and military ATC are completely different, meaning they hardly have a connection to each other in terms of training success rates.

DFS (Germany): NO

è EUROCONTROL’s training course is very similar to that of DFS, so failing in either one of them, will most likely result in failing the other as well.

ENAC (France): NO

è As far as I can remember, in order to apply with ENAC, you need to be a French citizen, and have passed several high-level mathematical courses. Perfect knowledge of the French language is also a prerequisite.

EUROCONTROL (supranational): NO

è Quite obvious why not, I suppose, but added it here just to be complete.

LVNL (Netherlands): NO

è After requesting and analysing my results with EUROCONTROL, LVNL decided they were not willing to take the risk of allowing me to apply, only to fail mid-course again.

NATS (United Kingdom): YES

è NATS uses slightly different procedures (CAA), so bad results in ICAO-training would not automatically imply bad results in their training.

Skyguide (Switzerland): NO

è Like LVNL, this decision was made based on my results with EUROCONTROL.

So, that leaves me with three options, if none changed their recruitment procedures between then and now. While Belgocontrol just didn't look for Ab Initios throughout the years, NATS has recruited several times but I have never applied. I don’t know why exactly, but I always felt like something was holding me back in actually taking the step to send in my application.

What about the Belgian Air Component then… Have I signed up with them? Yes, I have. Just yesterday actually, meaning I still have all the selection tests ahead of me. So … Why only now, you’re probably wondering?

To be perfectly honest, after getting the word that my career at EUROCONTROL came to an end, I've been pretty deep. Don't worry, all is fine now and it wasn't to the extent that I got into a depression or anything, but I did spend a lot of time thinking of what to do with/in my future, as my dream had shattered into pieces. At some point, I convinced myself that perhaps, it just wasn't meant to be and tried to forget all about getting in somewhere. 

Coincidentally, this was just around the time my sister finished high school and started looking into university studies. The day she went to enrol, I also decided to start a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Sciences, which is what I've been doing for nearly 2 years now. With that degree, I hoped to eventually get a job in the PR-department of some (preferably aviation-related) company, or become a (writing) journalist.

I definitely find the course and its material very interesting, but from the get-go, I've felt it's not exactly what I really wanted to do, and with people still occasionally asking me if I wouldn't like to get another chance, I always kept feeling that pull towards the aviation sector. Add the fact that more and more people began pointing out I should do what makes me happy, rather than what pays the bills, and I come back to my lifelong interest in and passion for aviation, more particularly the military kind, which is where it all actually started for me

So that's it, in a nutshell, a quick-forward to today, where I'm registered to take the selection tests to become either a:

- military pilot

- military air traffic controller (ATC) or assistant

- military air defence assistant (ADC)

I've applied for these four to keep all of my options open. After getting the results, I will see if and what I am allowed to choose from, and decide what my choice will be.

But enough about me, as that's not the only - or even most important - thing I want to talk about. The main purpose of this blog has always been to inform you - the reader- and I have learned that there are serious pitfalls that need to be taken into account when considering a future in the aviation business.

After my contract with EUROCONTROL ended, I fell back upon the online network where I learned most about ATC: IVAO. With my real life experiences, I became Head of Training in the Belgian division almost instantly, but soon discovered that my newly created mindset did not work well with the general expectations and possibilities of the network. That's when I realized that IVAO has been both a blessing and a curse for me.

Thanks to IVAO, I have been able to discover the world of ATC, teaching me everything I needed to get into EUROCONTROL and make it as far as I did.

Due to IVAO, and especially its lack of guidance, however, I had taught myself a number of wrong procedures, which I had to unlearn in order to accomplish the procedures set out by the course, in particular the one at the IANS. My failure to do so in time, is a significant part of what eventually lead to the ending of my training.

Therefore, a VERY IMPORTANT WARNING TO ANY ASPIRING PILOT OR ATC out there:

Flight sims (any Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, Falcon-modification, DCS-module ...) and online networks (IVAO, VATSIM, ...) are nothing but a virtual experience. They CAN indeed be a great asset in your training, but ONLY when used properly and with expert guidance. ALWAYS keep in mind that it is not real life, even when the developers claim it to be very authentic and an exact copy of reality, and may therefore be entirely wrong.

This in turn leads me to a question I've been getting a lot: How much do you need to know about aviation to try for the selection tests or start the course. The answer is pretty simple: none is required, but having a base to build on does help to some extent. Some of my classmates had absolutely no experience with aviation at the start of the course, and they are now fully licensed air traffic controllers, so it's not impossible, but it will require dedication and persistence.
For me, as mentioned above, my base was formed by my early interest in aviation and my subsequent virtual experiences. Nevertheless, if you are planning to apply or start a course in the near future, I would suggest to stay away from flight sims and online networks until AFTER you've learned how to do it all properly. It's a lot easier to start with a blank sheet, than to have to erase and overwrite stuff.

Another important advice I'm forwarding here, for those that don't (always) check the comment section:

I'd like to give you some advices though for your next training, if you get in somewhere, and of course if you're interested.

Keep a low profile, don't write a blog about everything - it will come out sooner or later and during training the only reason you wanna draw attention to yourself is your extremely good performance, nothing else. Beside the fact that people don't like the whole training being published, there might be some other issues as well (security).

The other advice is to spend more time with studying and less in front of the computer. Although the pass marks might be "only" 70%, but it's not enough if you control only 70% of your traffic safely. Always strive for the best performance, it'll impress your instructors and even if something goes wrong one day, they'll be more likely to give you a second chance. 

 - Viktor

Thank you, Viktor, for your reply. Looking back at it now, I have indeed spent far too much time on other stuff than my course, including this blog, which obviously did not help my professional progress in any way. I now realize this, and if I were to get through the military selection tests, I'll be sure to follow this invaluable advice.


To conclude this blog, it's very long overdue and I don't know if this will ever reach the respective people, but I've also come to realize that my blog has at times put some staff- and my class-members, both at Skyguide and EUROCONTROL, in a corner they'd rather not find themselves in. I am also aware now that the knowledge I (thought I) had before starting the course, often lead me to being too confident - and most likely arrogant, even - in my actions, and towards the instructors.

To this day, I still vividly remember some instances where I clearly overstepped and for that, I wish to apologize dearly to anyone I may in any way have offended, hurt or caused problems towards.


Kind regards,
Mathias Jacobs-Anseeuw

The probable outcome

Hello,

As said in my previous blog, I wanted to write this blog before the 8th of May so here it is.

First of all, I'd like to thank the two anonymous commentators for the kind words. I really appreciate them.


But I'd like to cut to the chase, namely the (probable) outcome of the review board.
The review board in itself went OK. We discussed many things, with the main focus on my results and my own opinion on how things went during my course. During the conversation, there was also a bit of time reserved to give feedback and/or to ask questions.
One important thing (for me) though was that the decision to stop my training is not yet 100% definitive. This actually means that right now, I am still a EUROCONTROL-employee until the decision has been officially taken. I'm not entirely sure about the hierarchy of EUROCONTROL in those echelons, but I think this means that the Director General has to put his signature on the paper stating I'm stopped in the training.

However, I asked the question if there would be any possibility for me to join the next course but unfortunately, recourses are only very rarely done. In the occasion where they are done, they are usually only given to people who are close to the final evaluations whereas the instructors think one is not yet entirely ready for those (but very close to it).
In short, this means that my chances of getting recoursed are pretty much non-existing. The Head of Training and Head of Recruitment, who will write the letter of termination of my contract, will most probably (as in 99.9% certainly) follow the advise of the instructors to end my training.

But I don't want to quit and drop my head just like that, so I'm still willing to try and reach the ATC license. To do this, I have already subscribed for the LVNL Information Days already (July 2nd), I will get in touch with Belgocontrol soon (most probably next week) and I might even consider NATS (the UK ANSP).


I've been thinking whether or not I should write another blog after this, in which I give the final decision EUROCONTROL has made, but I'm still not entirely convinced if it's useful. I'll leave that up to you to decide. If you want to hear the final word of EUROCONTROL, you can leave a comment.:-)

In case I would not write another blog, I already want to thank everyone who read my blog. I hope you enjoyed it, have an (better) understanding of the ATC Training Course and will maybe once become ATCo's yourself or continue to be one.

Kind regards,
Mathias Jacobs-Anseeuw

The two options

Hey hey,

Here I am again with the probably long awaited new blog. In case you're wondering why I didn't write one for nearly 2 months, I have a few reasons.

First of all, I mainly had sim runs in Learning Unit 2, again sometimes up to 25 runs per week, so repeating everything over and over again seemed a bit pointless to me.
Second, I've been going through a bit of a rough ride in the rollercoaster called my life.
Third, I've been wondering how to write this particular blog, which brings me straight to the meaning of the title of this blog.

Even before I started writing this blog, I knew I would be able to write almost everything about the training. There would, however, be one thing where I would have to let the future decide: passing or failing the course.

Those who have me on Facebook may already have read it that for me, the training was stopped after the assessed runs at the end of Learning Unit 2, which is about 2 weeks ago by now. Along with me, one other person's results were also insufficient at this stage of training, so (s)he was also stopped. The reason behind the decision to end my training was mainly the lack of building in safety buffers.

There is however still a bit of hope for me left. After I got the news that the training ended, some of our group had a drink with some instructors. One of them said that he actually would have wanted to give me another two weeks to see if I made further progress (another instructor confirmed I had improved in the final days/weeks already, but that I didn't have the statistics to prove this).
Next week, I am invited for the Review Board (an obligatory meeting with the Head of Training and Head of Recruitment) in which my entire training is reviewed. In the same meeting, I am allowed to fight the decision to terminate my training, should I want to. With what my instructors said during the drink in the back of my mind, I think I will ask for the possibility to join the next course in Luxembourg, starting in June. It's a long shot, I know, but sometimes a long shot can go in, so who knows...

Should I not be able to continue my training with EUROCONTROL, I'll probably apply for ATC training at LVNL (Dutch ANSP), Belgocontrol (Belgian ANSP) or try to become a military ATC. Another option would be to get back in touch with Skyguide (Swiss ANSP) as they said we were allowed to contact them should we fail at EUROCONTROL.
As you can see, the motivation to become an ATCo is still very much alive, despite having received quite a blow. It's strange actually how I all of a sudden realize what impact the training, which only lasted 5 months, had on my life. I can't even drive around in my car without thinking about how it relates to ATC.


So next week, I have my review board, which means I'll write at least one more blog to tell you the outcome. I'll give myself the deadline to put this blog by the end of next week (May 8th), so stay tuned. :)


To end with, I'll give answers to the questions asked in my last blog.


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hi,

about this mental-note stuff! Do applicants must have some perfect memory to do this job? If you have 20 aircrafts under your control, you have to make at least 20 notes in your head and you will remember everything?
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Of course, you don't have to have some sort of super-mind, but a good memory is invaluable. While working the traffic, you can also forget things at a certain stage. For example, if an aircraft requests climb, it's useless to keep that note in your head after it has been cleared to/reached its altitude. Sometimes, if you're "lucky", this means you can forget about this after just 10 seconds.



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A I thought of a question, 
Could you describe what the coordinators task is? 
I have the following picture:
Tactical, responsible for separation. Solves the conflicts within the sectors. 
Coordinator, answers and makes phone calls.
Marks (and solves?) conflicts entering the sector.
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I have 2 pages in my Local Operating Procedures document, explaining the roles of each controller.
In short, the Executive Controller (EC) is responsible for the radio frequency and moving the traffic. The Coordinating Controller (CC) is responsible for the coordination with adjacent units, planning the traffic and looking for entry and exit conflicts. If possible, the CC should also monitor the frequency and inform EC about things he may have missed (wrong read-back, request etc).
Of course, if one of the ATCo's makes a mistake, the other should inform him/her about this as soon as possible. Examples could be an exit conflict that slipped the CC's attention or a conflict in the sector that went unnoticed by the EC.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Another question: 
What lists do you have available in the system? I know the eurocat system works with Sector Inbound List (SIL) and Sector Exit List (SEL), is that similar to what you use? 

Can you sort the lists according to the different entries (so you can change sorting between callsign, XFL, CFL etc)? If you can, do you use that when scanning for conflicts or is it more of a "nice to have" feature?
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I don't know the name of the EUROCONTROL-system, but I actually think it is the Eurocat-system. We can sort the lists with two buttons. One button gives the options Entry, Exit, ABC. The second button gives the options COP, Level and Time.

Selecting EXIT and COP will list all aircraft according to their Exit Coordination Point. Selecting ENTRY and TIME will list all aircraft according to their estimated time of entry into the sector. Etc.

How you use the list is a bit different for everyone and differs per role as well. As EC, I actually didn't look at the list at all. As CC, I (and probably every ATCo) used the list for exit planning.



That's it for this blog. Until next week. Wish me luck. :-)

Quite the week

Hello everyone

As the title should already make clear, I have had quite the week. We didn't have any classroom lectures, except for the briefings, but a full week of sim (5h/day, so 25h this week). Let's just say my mind wasn't really happy when it exploded under such strain... But apart from the bits and pieces flying around everywhere, almost everything is going fine here.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news as well. We had to say goodbye to 2 persons (won't disclose identity by names or gender) of our course in the past few weeks. Strange thing is: it wasn't because of the course itself. Their results were all good to perfect, but one found out (s)he no longer had the motivation to fulfill the training and live the life of an ATCo, while the other had to stop due to medical issues. However, the person with medical issues will be allowed back on training with the next group (starting at the IANS in June).

Luckily, I also have some good news. The 6 of us remaining have now completed Learning Unit 1, in which we just took the role as Executive Controller. In Learning Unit 2, which starts next Monday, we will be switching roles as Executive and Coordinating Controller. Teamwork from now on, which will most likely lead to a noticeable increase in traffic, as we now have an extra pair of eyes on the screens.

To end with, I've received a few questions after my previous blog (one as a comment to my blog, others through Facebook) so I'll answer these now.


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Any chance on some more details of the system? For example I've heard the label can't be moved freely but has 16 diffrent positions (so sometimes it takes 14 or 15 inputs to get it to the position you want!). Would also be great to hear a bit about the scanning loops you're taught, what qualifies as a conflict and how is it shown in the system?
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The system is the same as the Maastricht-system (with some simulator-limitations), so we're getting used to the interface already. Most of it is very intuitive and it's not really that hard to get going on it, but I doubt I can go into real detail on the system (safety issues). I must admit I haven't counted the different positions of the label, but it is correct that it can only be moved counter-clockwise with mouse-clicks on the Radar Position Symbol (RPS), which is sometimes an nuisance if you want to have your labels in an orderly fashion, but you get used to it quite fast...

The scanning loops we're taught is what I abbreviate as DIEEM:
- Detect which aircraft to plan next (usually the next one(s) to contact you)
- Information gathering (what aircraft type, route, flight level, destination, ...)
- Entry conflict search (any other traffic on the same flight level, which will come within 20NM of this traffic in my sector?)
- Exit conflict search (any other traffic on the same flight level within the prescribed minima over the exit point?)
- Make a mental note (I need to do this and that with that aircraft)

There are different kinds of conflict we are detecting.
- In a situation where all aircraft are established on a flight level and maintaining that level, two aircraft at the same flight level that will come within 20NM of each other are considered a conflict during the entry planning. As soon as they've entered the sector, that minimum distance decreases to 10NM. If they come within those 10NM, they should both be put on headings to assure radar separation of at least 5NM.
- If one aircraft is climbing or descending, with an aircraft coming the opposite way, it is considered a conflict if the aircraft moving vertically has not vacated the other aircraft's level in the direction of movement 30NM in front of the other aircraft.
If the aircraft are crossing (for example, flying on headings 90° apart) the distance to have vacated the level is 15NM.
However, as 30NM and 15NM is a big chunk of airspace you're taking, they can both be put on headings to remain at least 5NM radar separated. Once the 5NM radar separation is assured, the vertical separation can be disregarded.

Hope this answers your questions properly. :-)

                                                                                                

The following questions are related to the FEAST-tests, and as they are often coming back, I'll post them here as well.

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1) Is there any way to prepare, I understand that the test itself is hard to prepare for, but what kind of skills are essential?

2) Are the tests extremely demanding?

3) Is it worth using simulators and tests that make you think a lot while doing them?

for example, i have an AT-SAT exam CD with various tasks that are built for ATC Tests. 

4) Are there any other skills I can concentrate on during the build up to the test date?
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1) As far as I was told, there's not really a lot you can prepare. You either have the skills or you don't. Some can be trained, but it takes a while (as in a few years at least).
Some items that are tested on are 3D-visualizing, logical thinking, memory, basic math, English knowledge, ...

2) Don't know really what you mean by "extremely demanding". They need your full attention and some parts are pretty hard, but I think it changes between persons whether or not it's demanding, depending on their individual skills. To person A, test X may have been too difficult, while to person B, test X was a walk in the park.

3) I wouldn't invest in expensive tests etc, if that's what you're asking. As said in item 1, you either have the skills or you don't. You COULD use tests to get accustomed to the style of questions and how they are asked, but in the end, they won't give you a real benefit. At least, I heard of quite a lot of people who have done such tests continuously as a preparation, but failed the FEAST.

4) Stress management maybe. It's an important item while doing the job, but it is definitely a good asset during the FEAST as well to keep cool. They will throw quite a lot at you in a short time span and you have to remain calm to make it to a good end.
That aside, a clear mind and a good night's rest should get you through the tests, if you have what it takes.



Something I hadn't included in the Facebook-reply to this question is the link to the wiki-page about the FEAST-tests, which you can find here.

Hope it answers your questions. :-)
                                                                                                


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I'm really into this job but my pants is full of shit: omg will I be able to learn and study day by day, really hard, and prove that I'm okay, or will fail the first few tests and go home, things like that.

The tests are like a quiz (A, B, C, D), or verbal tests or what?
Do you guys have some free time to do some fun (have a nice meal, go to do some excercise, cinema, etc.) or just learning all the nights?
What about the teachers, are they nice and helpful?
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If you keep everything updated from day one, you shouldn't be in trouble by the way. If you let it slumber for a few days and then try to catch up, it gets harder (which is most probably what caused me failing the first LOP-test), just like in real ATC. If you plan well, you will always be ahead of the traffic and stress will be "low", even with a lot of aircraft under your control. If you fall behind, the stress level increases with the square of the amount of seconds you're running behind, and believe me, the seconds grow rapidly...
Don't start the course thinking you won't be able to. Personally, I didn't find it THAT hard in basic course, but I may have been helped a lot with pre-knowledge already, so it really depends from person to person, I suppose.

As to your actual question:
The kind of tests vary. We have oral boards, which is verbally answering questions, and we have computer-based and paper exams, which can be either multiple choice or written answers.
We'll soon have practical tests/assessments in the sim as well, which are completely different again.

We do have spare time left, so it's not continuously learning, but I sometimes just want/need to do some other things than write a new blog. We all spend our free time on different things. Some use it to get back in touch with people at home, some go working out, others go to the movies, others go for a run, some just play games on consoles or PC etc.

Our instructors are really nice and helpful. They really want us to succeed, which really is a good thing. If you have any questions, you can approach and ask them. I have a feeling they'll do quite a lot, if not everything, in their power to get it explained. :)


Hope it answers your questions. :-)
                                                                                                




So that's it for this blog. As before, feel free to leave anything in the comment box, because that's what it's there for.


Kind regards,
Mathias

I'm back

Hey

As you all know, it's been a long time already. Again. Reason this time: studying.

The IANS has already proven to give me more work than Skyguide (no offence there). As soon as we got here, we were starting the course, with subjects like Human Performance, Law, Navigation, Equipment, ... Also, there was a lot of studying to be done on the LOP-test, as it was a requirement to pass it before we could start in the simulator.

On the first go last week, 6 of 8 passed it and I wasn't among them. With 76%, I was just 4% short of the required 80%, which meant I had another week of studying ahead. The resit-exam, and also the deadline actually, was two days ago as sim was planned to start yesterday. For the resit, 80% wasn't enough anymore. To prove that you knew your stuff, 90% was the requirement to pass it. Fortunately, the extra week gave me the time to catch up on things and that resulted in a resit-score of 93%. The other person who failed the test initially did a tremendous job with 98% on the resit-exam.

And that of course meant we were all allowed in the simulator yesterday and have a go at the controls that are a (near-to) exact replica of the real MASUAC-control stations. Very impressive, I must say. Screens with a resolution of 2000 * 2000 pixels, I'd like to have them for my computer. If only they weren't so bloody expensive. Just one costs about 30.000 euro. Better not throw your mouse into it, when you get frustrated. ;-)

Yesterday, we just used a basic exercise to get used to the interface and the input system. Today, we are already starting to resolve conflict situation by vectoring. It's still a bit slow, as there is a lot more to be done now, than we had to do before (instruct, put it in the system, scan, pre-scan, plan, conflict searching etc), but I'm sure we'll become masters in it, once we get used to the HMI (Human Machine Interface) and the exact correct working methodology.

That's actually just about the basic quick run-through of what's been happening here in the past weeks. I know it's not a lot, but in reality there's not much to tell. I just have class, go home, study a bit, do some homework, relax a bit, go to bed, get up and repeat the same process. Luckily, it might change a bit now, with simulator starting and the days are getting shorter (today, I started at 10 and finish at 2, for example).


As the days are shorter, I might be back faster as well, though I actually think I'll have less to tell then. Most of what we are doing from this point on, will be simulator runs (300 coming up in the next months) and I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to discuss that in this blog. I guess I'll have to ask someone.

Again, if you have comments, suggestions, questions, anything related to the blog/training, leave something in the box below. Maybe I can get this blog alive more by giving (short) answers to questions instead of having to come up with stories of what I'm doing all the time.

Speak to you later.

Quick update

Hey,

It's been too long since I wrote a blog and the reason is just plainly a lack of time. Therefore just a quick update on how things are going.

We've all finished our Basic Course and left with the consent of Skyguide in the meantime and have moved to Luxembourg to do the Rating Course, which we started last week already, at the Institute of Air Navigation Services (IANS) in Luxembourg.
We haven't started sim as yet, but during our stay until July, we are planned to do some 300 simulator runs and by the time we end those, we are expected to be capable of handling somewhere about 60 planes per hour, all in our sector, whereas until now we had about 15 at most during a 40-minute exercise. Quite a change, but luckily, we have a few months to get used to it. :-)

Why haven't I written a blog before? As said before, too much to do. Been studying the pre-course study material EUROCONTROL sent us before we arrived at the IANS, been studying the subjects of which we still had exams in Switzerland on our last day there. My parents even arrived in Switzerland to come pick me up well before I even started my last exam. The irony of leaving a place, I guess. They don't want to let us go easily which, I guess, is a fair attitude in this business.

After moving, I've been busy keeping up with the theoretical subjects and the LOP which we have to know by heart by next week. This includes, but is not limited to, the map of the (fictitious) sector we'll be working on in the sim, the (fictitious) letters of agreement, separation standards, ...


That's about what I can tell you right now, before I go to bed. I might put another blog online soon, maybe going into a bit more detail about our life during the last days in Switzerland (I actually started it already, but it just doesn't finish) and our first in Luxembourg, but that is still to be decided really. Could be I just omit it, but if you really want to know, feel free to leave something in the comment box. The more requests, the more likely you'll get to read and see (photo report) about our visit to the Zurich Zoo.

Good bye for now.

Change of plans

Hey

Here I am again, but it won't be a long blog. Even with another week spent in Switzerland, I don't really have a lot to tell you, even though there's been some things happening.

The most drastic change is that we're already moving out of this apartment end of this week. We're not leaving for Luxembourg just yet, but we found out today that we are being relocated to a hotel room in Dübendorf. The reason behind that is a Maltese group of Ab Initio's starting their basic course here at Skyguide, and apparently, the Maltese ANSP insisted on having their trainees in an apartment right away instead of having to spend the first two weeks in a hotel. This means that Damien, Jennifer, Willem and I will have to move to the Sonnental-hotel in Dübendorf next Friday.

In fact, we were first asked if we could move on Thursday evening, but with the ACD-exam coming up (which we all expect to be quite hard, if it's not the hardest exam we'll have here) on Friday, we didn't really like the planning they had set up for us. But the move itself is still a coin on its side which could fall either way. So far, the new location looks good (who wouldn't want a 4-star-hotel to stay in for 2 weeks and have any expenses reimbursed) but I still have to figure out the shortest/fastest way to Skyguide. So far, it looks like we'll effectively start using our subscriptions to public transport just now.


Besides our relocation right now, we're also thinking about our move to Luxembourg already. Especially with Gregor, an instructor at the IANS who came to Switzerland for a few weeks, we got a lot of information on what life in Luxembourg is actually like, what to expect from the courses etc.
There's been some chatting going on about our stay in the Nittlerhof as well, like how we'll be able to get to the IANS if we all start at different times and such, but I'm sure it will point itself out in time.


To end with, achieved results and upcoming exams. Glad to say I passed LAW and the ACC Simulator-exam (examiner was Gregor, by the way). Of course, there are still some working points, but for this point in training, I'm doing pretty good.
This week, I have the MET and ACD-exam. We had MET today, and I don't think I failed it. Had some fears about specific things in the course, but the exam went very well. ACD could be another matter though. For some reason, I'm not able to get it inside my head and keep it there, even though I've been studying it for weeks already. I just hope the need to learn it now, will somehow help to cram it all in, but I guess we won't find out if it was sufficient until next Friday (or Monday, if we get the results then).

That's it again. Thanks for still reading. :-)

The trip back

Hey,

To give you all a chance to read my previous blog, I'm only writing about the trip back to Zurich now. The flight itself wasn't as eventful as the previous, but New Year's Eve was.

For the first time ever, I didn't celebrate NYE with family. Not my own, at least. As I was leaving from Schiphol the next day, I decided to have my girlfriend over for Christmas and then I would celebrate NYE with her and her family. One thing I feel obliged to say:

THE DUTCH ARE CRAZY WHEN IT COMES TO FIREWORKS !!

Apparently, it's a big tradition there to go outside at midnight and congratulate neighbours, friends etc. As an extra bonus, people all around start aiming their own fireworks to the skies. A tradition, I'm not really accustomed to, I must say. In our family, NYE is mostly indoors and at midnight we can hear some fireworks in the distance, but that's about it.
This time, I couldn't see more than 5 meters in the street at times, because of the smoke. There were fireworks EVERYWHERE !! I even had one accidentally thrown right at me, and I'm pretty convinced I broke Usain Bolt's record right there.

Not just small bangers. A lot of these big boys were going places that night.

I'm not sure anymore when I heard it exactly, as my mind was just blown, but the Dutch combined have bought fireworks with a total value of about 65 million euros. I thought we were still in economic crisis (emphasis on the past tense) but now, that just might be resolved by the Dutch.

The next morning, last night's mood was far gone when you looked outside, even though there were still small fireworks popping and (drunk) people celebrating here and there. The streets were as dirty as can be, filled with used fire-crackers, fireworks-boxes, even burnt Christmas trees. And it was also the day where I had to leave my girlfriend again, most probably for an entire month this time.

It was hard, after having spent about half my holidays with her, to leave her at the security check-in, but the show must go on, I suppose. And even though I nearly shed a tear saying goodbye, these 800-ish km don't mean we aren't connecting anymore.


The flight then. This time, no delays !! Not a single minute actually, which I noticed by coincidentally watching my watch during take-off. Even better, we landed about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
But unfortunately, I didn't get the front-row seat this time, even though I did most just like last time. I did, however, make some pictures during flight and a video during landing.

Leaving behind a sunny Schiphol Airport.

 Being approached by a converging A320-like aircraft.

Small ice crystals appearing on the window during descent, rapidly increasing in size and number.

The descent through the clouds and landing on runway 14 at Zurich Airport (LSZH; ZRH)

Once arrived, I went to the apartment, installed myself and prepared for the coming days. I've been pretty nervous actually. Even though BRT 2 went pretty good, I was convinced I had done really bad on my AN2-exam. Fortunately though, I underestimated my capabilities BY FAR and apparently got a 90% pass-mark. I'm either a lucky guesser or I knew the subject better than I thought.

But somehow, it's becoming a habit with this teacher. Today, we had the LAW-exam, and I wasn't too sure about my result either, but then he said everyone would pass the exam, if they didn't change anything anymore. I, however, was just in the progress of changing things, so here's hoping it gets me a better instead of worse result.

Next exam to come up is Area Control in the simulator. After 8 exercises, we have to prove our skills next Friday. According to the lead instructor, it should be harder to fail than to pass, but there is a certain standard expected of course.

That's about it for now. Talk to you all in my next blog. :)

The trip home

Hey everyone,

I was planning to blog about my trip home as soon as I got there, but seeing my family, girlfriend and friends again just made me forget about that. Therefor, I'm putting it online right now, but first of all I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish you all a very happy new year.

So yeah, the first part is over. In the meantime, I'm back in Switzerland already, after having had 2 weeks of leave. But getting home didn't come without problems, unfortunately.

As you might have noticed, Europe suffered under the snow of the past few weeks and this, of course, had a huge impact on aviation. Throughout Europe, there were several airports that had to be closed because they just couldn't cope with it all. One of those airports was Amsterdam Schiphol which was, as Murphy's Law prescribes, my destination aerodrome. This lead to some fearful hours, checking the internet continuously to see if my flight would be or was already cancelled. At around 13h00, the EUROCONTROL-website said Schiphol was closing until 15h00 but as my flight was scheduled at 20h00, I still had my hopes up.

Unfortunately, about 10 minutes later, I read on the KLM-site that all flights were cancelled. Expecting a huge mass at the airport, I decided to leave earlier than I would have in normal conditions so I arrived there at around 17h00. There I got the final confirmation of my flight being cancelled, so I started queuing for a new ticket in a long line of other people waiting there. A girl and her mother, who were standing right behind me, were actually supposed to be leaving Zurich at 08h00 that morning, but at 17h30 they were still far away from leaving.
During our wait, we all had a lot of time to look around and this made me notice the big and at that time very ironic/sarcastic billboard hanging above the desk where we were hoping to rebook our flights

A huge billboard above the desk.
Translated, it says: When your trip around the world does take a bit longer.

After nearly 5 hours of waiting, I was approached by someone who said he might be able to help me get a new ticket right away. At that time, I was just 3rd in line anymore, but as each person seemed to take some 30 minutes to get another flight, I took the shot. Apparently though, he wasn't joking as not more than 10 minutes later, he gave me a new ticket for the first flight of the next day. This flight was leaving at 06h55, so in the end, my delay would only have been about 11 hours. The women behind me weren't so lucky, as they were still waiting for their new ticket about an hour later and in the end, they were only able to leave Zurich in the evening of the next day.

As it was already 22h30 when I got my new ticket, I decided to stay at the airport for the night and sleep in instead of going to the apartment again. Even though it took me some time to find a comfortable place to sleep, I woke up several times during the night and had to get up at 05h00, it was an experience I really cherish now.

After waking up, I joined a group of people, already trying to check in. The first thing we heard, however, was that this flight was also cancelled and we had to start from the beginning again. Luckily, the flight's cancellation was an auto-cancellation connected to another flight that was cancelled (bit hard to explain, if you don't understand, feel free to ask about it), so at 06h00 we were finally dropping off our luggage and checking in continuously.

As of then, almost everything went pretty smooth and by 06h30, I was sitting at the gate to board KLM1952 instead of the intended KLM1964. Due to the late check-in start, there was another delay of about an hour but it didn't really kill my mood as I was finally going home again. In fact, it wasn't until I got a ticked-off gate attendant (apparently, my hand luggage was too big, even though the check-in guy said it would be fine) that I felt as if I could take on the world. But still, I didn't let that take me down. I boarded happy and I immediately asked the flight attendants if it was allowed to take the cockpit seat, being an ATCo-student.

I wasn't allowed in during start-up, taxi, take-off and climb but when we reached the French-Luxembourg border, I was called in by the flight attendant and got to sit in and follow every move of the airplane until it came to a halt at the gate out a front row seat, right behind both pilots.

I don't know whether it's standard procedure or whether they did it to impress me, but despite an overcast at a mere 600 feet, the autopilot was disconnected well before having the runway in sight and the approach was flown entirely manual.

"KLM50G, cleared to land runway 18C, only vacate via W8 or W10"

The above was our landing clearance, as received by Schiphol Tower, and what a sight it was to see the runway appear out of the clouds and all but two taxiways covered with at least 30 cm of snow, all from the cockpit. Not a bad thing actually, for my first flight in 3 years time, don't you think?

After having taxied the Boeing 737-400 to gate D46, I wished the crew merry Christmas holidays and headed for the train station, to get to Zwolle, where I was finally able to join my girlfriend on a family weekend.

At first, I had expected my trip to take about 5 hours, from leaving my Swiss bedroom to seeing my girlfriend. In the end, it took me just a bit more than 19 hours, including a night at the airport, but to be honest, to me it didn't matter at all. I was finally with the person I love, I met some great people at the airport, had some new experiences and I finally had some leave.

A few more days...

... and then we're off. After about 2 months, we're going home again to celebrate the holidays. I guess this might actually be my last blog before leaving here, as I still have some things to do in a rather short time limit.

But unlike my intro suggests, I'm not that busy thinking about going home (yet). I intentionally try not to, in order to keep focus of what's happening in class. Sometimes it's easier than a moment later, but overall I can't complain.


In my Thursday-blog last week (20150525 note: now deleted, due to lost picture), I put a picture online and I got some questions as to what it means exactly, so here's a quick run-through for people not familiar with ATC:
SVA56 = symbol for aircraft using "Saudia 56" as callsign
MAU712 = same as SVA56, but then for "Air Mauritius 712"
334 and 336 (below the callsign) = their altitudes in hundreds of feet (here 33,400 and 33,600 feet)
AOSTA = a navigational waypoint, to which both aircraft are flying and are estimated to fly over at approximately the same time.
054/9.5 [1] = Direction to fly/distance in nautical miles [designator of which distance and measuring tool used]

Then what does separation have to do with this? In aviation, there are certain minima to apply. Either at least 1000 feet (300 meter) vertically or 5 nautical miles (8 kilometer) horizontally. In this case, the separation is still present horizontally (>5NM) but there's only a 200ft difference between these two aircraft (obviously <1000ft). They are flying towards each other, so soon the 9.5NM they have now will become less than 5NM => loss of separation. This is then seen as an unsafe situation and that's generally not what you want with aircraft buzzing through the sky at 500 knots (approximately 900 km/h), carrying at least a few dozen people on board.


That being said, there were a few things in the past days that were very pleasant. I passed both my AN1 and ADY exam and we have now started a new sort of simulator training, called LSAT (designator of the fictitious airspace we train in) instead of BRG (Basic Radio Groups). In this new sim-training, we're learning more and more how to work without the instructor's guidance during the exercise. Of course, he's still sitting behind us and might whisper things in our ear from time to time, but the general idea is that by the end of the coming 7 lessons, we should be able to work this simulator alone. To get to that point, we now receive written feedback as to what went good or bad during the exercise, instead of a quick verbal word about the performance.
To do the LSAT, we had Gregor (hope I wrote it correctly?) joining us yesterday (maybe today as well) who's an instructor at the IANS in Luxembourg, where we'll be going to after Zurich. He also gave us our EUROCONTROL-badges, of which I might add a picture here later on, as I did with the Skyguide-badge.

Today, it's my turn to start as a controller in the sim and I'm actually quite nervous just thinking about that, though I can't come up with a reason why. All previous runs I had in the sim went super, so I shouldn't really worry, yet I do somehow. Tomorrow and the day after, we have our last 2 exams before the holidays (yes, still two to go, which is also one of the reasons why I try not to think about home too often yet) being BRT 2 and AN2.

Talk to you later, everyone. :)

Another week flew by

Hey,

It's all in the title. Last week literally flew by. I didn't even notice it's been a week. Seemed more like only a couple of days to me. But as you all know, Switzerland isn't in a time capsule, so we must have done something to fill that time.

As mentioned before, I still had 2 exams to learn for while writing last week. Both went well, so I passed with more than enough margin to be on the safe side of the 80%. But that's only minor news of the past days. The big news is of course our new "operational" environment: the simulator.

The Piloting Course took a while, but was very instructive as we have to assume the role of pilot in command of multiple aircraft while others are working at the controller-position. "The better we do, the less trouble they have." is the main slogan actually.
Thursday was the first time we got to do the actual controlling bit. Started of slowly by just identifying aircraft upon entering the airspace, but gradually building up the pace and difficulty. Right now, in lesson 4, we started climbing and descending aircraft.
At first, we were all a bit of anxious, as you can imagine, which was quite noticeable in the air around the simulators we were working at. First of all, it's a completely new environment we find ourselves in all of a sudden. Second, nobody knew the layout of the airspace yet. We were supposed to be given charts etc. as soon as we started, but apparently someone forgot about that, so it was all pretty much last-minute learning. That's one of the reasons why I haven't written yet this week.

At first, it created some hick-ups but now, one week later, we start to get the hang of it and you can feel the air starting to grow a bit less dense, with some more time for chatting and laughter. The fact that we sometimes get complaints about disturbing other persons working in the simulator, might in fact be an indicator we're having too much fun already...

Yesterday, we also had TRM again. Subject of the morning: decision making. Erik was right ... If I had known we would be standing in the corridor for over an hour, I would have chosen to be late instead of on time. But little joke aside, we learned a lot about what types of decision you make, how you make them, what influences them and how they effect your duty as a controller.

That's actually the main news from last week's life here, course-related. In the weekend, 4 of us went ice skating again (we'll probably go for it every week now). Only, this time, we didn't go to Dübendorf but Zürich, to the largest ice skating rink in Europe. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a disappointment on arrival as we noticed that only 1/3 of the rink was available to regular skaters, meaning it wasn't really bigger than any other ice rink, but we had our fun nonetheless.

Today, we have the morning off - we don't have to follow TTX or LAW anymore, as it isn't of importance for MASUAC-students anymore - so we start at 1200Z (13h local) with 2 hours of simulator, then 2 hours of AN2 (last lesson before the exam, I think) and end the day with a video-conference with Maastricht.
Next exams coming up: AN1 (Friday) and ADY (Monday).

See you, everyone.

A new month

Hey everyone,

Gaps are getting bigger between my blogs, and I'm afraid I don't really have a valid reason for that. Only thing I can say is I'm sorry. I often have the time to leave a (small) note, but I just don't start writing.
But on a positive note: I survived the RADAR-visit, without chemical castration as far as I'm aware.

But what happened here in Switzerland in the past week?

Well, I had two exams last week (BRT, NAV) and I was quite afraid for the latter as it just seemed like a lot of hard stuff to learn, as I said in my previous blog. Luckily, when I read the exam questions, there wasn't really much I didn't know. Maybe I just studied that much that the exam became a walk in the park, or the exam was just a lot easier than expected.
Had a good eye on BRT from the start, so not a lot of fear for that one, but still a lot to learn precisely.

Got my results last Thursday, both passed, with my highest score yet: 96 (BRT) and 97% (NAV). *proud*

To make things even better, my girlfriend arrived for another weekend here on that same day. We had a great time in Zurich after school on Friday, and in the weekend we joined the group in going to Liechtenstein's capital village Vaduz.
Even though it was a Saturday, the main shopping street of Vaduz was near to empty, as were all other streets actually. Weird to imagine that village is actually THE center (political, economical, ...) in Liechtenstein. At first, we thought Liechtenstein was just an abandoned country, but we soon found out where they were hanging out. The local McDonalds was PACKED !!

In the afternoon, we decided to walk up to the Royal Castle (Schloss Vaduz) before going home. A nice climb, with improving weather as we went up. A bit dull at the castle itself, as it isn't open to visits, but we had good fun on the way up and down.

Now, a new month is starting in which a lot is about to happen. Of course, we still have exams (6 in total), but from now on, we can also go into the simulator for bringing our theory into practice. FINALLY !!
Today, we have our introductory course to the piloting side of the simulator (from 17h until 21h), and tomorrow we start with BRG. I'm really excited about finally getting some action, instead of just sitting and listening.
Aside school, December is also the month of our Christmas leave, so after 2 months in Switzerland, I can go home again for the holidays. I just hope the prospect of that leave isn't going to interfere too much with paying attention in class and during exams.
And of course, winter's approaching rapidly as well. We had our first snow last week, much like the rest of Europe, as I read and hear. In fact, it's snowing lightly now as well, if you look outside through a magnifying glass.

But now I'm off again. We start at 14h20 today, but I still need to have lunch and do some revising for our exams this week (RTB tomorrow, RAT on Friday).

See you later, most probably somewhere this weekend, though I can't promise anything yet.

Finally, some time

Hey again,

I suppose most of you were already thinking I quit writing this blog. I must admit I feel like a lousy blog-writer actually. My initial intentions were to keep everyone up-to-date at least every two days, even if it was just a short note, but today I realised it has almost been a week since I last wrote one. Time again for some catching up.

I won't go into a very lot of detail here, or I'd make it too lengthy again (which I heard some people dislike), so I'll just say the main activities of last week and today.

As said in my previous blog, I had three exams last week (ACT, RAD and FPL). Glad to say I passed all exams last week, but I can't remember my exact marks anymore. Had some harder times last week - home sickness is unfortunately a part of being away from family - so they weren't as good as could have been. But the most important fact is that I passed all exams nonetheless, I guess. And a memorable note to my girlfriend, for cheering me up and keeping me going, is not at all out of place.

In the weekend, we did two things, instead of the regular one.

On Friday evening, some of us went to see the last Harry Potter-movie. My opinion: if you liked the previous movies, even if it was just a bit, you'll love this one. But you have to keep a few things in mind before watching it.
First of all, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was completely messed up story-wise, so I suggest you read that book before seeing The Deathly Hallows Part I. And the last 2 words of last sentence bring me to the next item.
This is just part I, so it is more a build-up to the big finale (even though it can manage on itself just fine as well). Therefor, don't expect this movie to end as a normal movie ending. The ending is perfect for this movie, but not what you'd expect.
And if you go watching, keep a bit of popcorn for the already famous animation coming near the end of the movie. ;-)

Saturday afternoon, I got myself a new haircut (note to self: haircuts are expensive in Switzerland. Wait until you are out of the country next time, even if it's very necessary !!) and in the evening, three of us went ice skating in Dübendorf. The place was dead, so we bounced pretty early (inside joke present, if you don't understand it), but it was good fun. Bad part of that evening was we had to run to get our bus back home, but we just made it.

Sunday, I dived into my books for my exams this week: BRT (which I had today) and NAV (which I have on Thursday). BRT was not really a problem for me, since most of the course material was something I've been occupying myself with for the past 4 years, but I'm a bit afraid for NAV. I can't get my head around some of those calculator-things. Somehow, it suddenly seems very abstract to me again. I hope I get it right again by Thursday. :-/

Tomorrow, we have an afternoon RAD-visit planned to the RADAR-site in Hollberg (near Zürich, apparently?). Better not stand in front of those bad boys, because according to what Otto said, they can make you infertile for many years in less than 8 micro-seconds. °_°

That was it for today. Auf wiedersehen.

Something a bit different today

Hello everyone,

Today I wanted to give you a bit of a different blog. Skyguide made it possible for us to go visit the airport of Zurich Kloten, which is the main airport in (the Swiss-German part of) Switzerland.

I could just tell you how it was, but since one picture can say more than a thousand words: here they are.

First time I see the A388 (Singapore Airlines).

American Airlines B767 approaching the holding point of runway 16.

There the metal rolls, washing the localizer of runway 34.

Germanwings A319 reversing the thrust on runway 14.

Air Berlin A320 only a few miliseconds before greeting the ground again.

Main gear on ground, activate thrust reversers.

 Swiss Airlines A330 hitting the asphalt of runway 14.

Swiss Airlines A340 showing what "light on wheels" means.

There the beast waits, lurking in the distance until it is called into action.

Air Berlin A320 choosing the way up from runway 28.

Ehr, positive rate, gear up?

United Airlines B767 being pulled away.

There it comes, rushing towards us on runway 16: the Whale.

V1, rotate.

V2.

Positive rate.

Gear up, heading towards sunnier destinations.

That was it for today. Now back to studying for my 3 upcoming exams this week (ACT, RAD and FPL).

See you later.

"One of the few"

"I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place. In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches are proceeding at various points at the present time. The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000 firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place. It involves tides, wind, waves, visibility, both from the air and the sea standpoint, and the combined employment of land, air and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and in contact with conditions which could not and cannot be fully foreseen."

With these words, Winston Churchill informed the House of the initial success of D-Day, on June 6th 1944. Not only is the Second World War one of my other big interests, though mainly because of its aviation-related history, this quote and the one in the title (also by Winston Churcill) both reflect my past two days in some ways. Though I didn't experience combat on a foreign beach, I did have to put up some fight to get to where I am now. With my first big obstacle in the actual training behind me now, I'm proud to say I've reached initial success, much like the men landing on the French coastline more than 66 years ago.

Lots of words to tell I passed and I'm guessing that by now, you already got that message, but as you can imagine, I'm really thrilled to have overcome the first exam. It's been almost 18 months since my last exam, so studying, making an exam and everything that came with it ... It all felt new again to me. As if I had never experienced it before. But now I've tasted it again, and I want more.

Skyguide must have heard my wish, but somehow I can not shake the feeling they've overdone it with giving us 3 exams in a row (4 actually, if you don't take the weekend into account) ... But I'm eager enough to do my best and make it to the end. Not that I wasn't before, I only have more will to actually do it now.

And actually, my exam yesterday was the only real interesting thing I could write about today, as it has also filled my thoughts constantly for the past days. Therefore, I'm ending this blog here now.

I might, however, still write another blog this weekend, about how the rest of these last two days went. Depends a bit on how I'll be able to fill my weekend.

See you around.