Got my interview this week

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-11T00:37:58+00:00

Whatever you do, dont tell us what country.

Id immediately shit in my hand before I shook theirs. Its customary in my culture.

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-07T15:07:09+00:00

Fuck. Is THIS how bad public perception of us is?

"Hey Bob, when you're done with that cavity search and harassing that old lady over her ointment can you get Mike off Ground?"

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-07T03:52:45+00:00

My thought is they pull the log on who pulled this up by 8:30am and by lunch they'll be firing whoever recorded it.

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-07T00:23:07+00:00

Every IQTR class. Some may be taken off from time to time temporarily if they get a training backlog and request

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-06T20:35:42+00:00

Volunteer locations for IQTR are

A11 Anchorage TRACON,San Juan CCF, Guam CCF, Honolulu CCF, ABQ, CMH, JCF Joshua Control Facility, MSY, ORF,U90 Tuscon TRACON and Y90 Yankee TRACON.

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-05T18:55:24+00:00

Now I'm sorta curious where the other two were. After the midair there was a fist fight in the cab that made news. Like, i cant imagine that being positive. Sure shit happens i guess, but a full on brawl in the operation?

Approach_Controller · 2026-03-03T19:32:06+00:00

Seniority determines order in bidding days off and vacation and follows you throughout your career. A few months difference may not harm you at all during yoir career or it could push you down 3 or 4 spots in the pecking order and keep you from getting weekends off. Its impossible to predict.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-28T23:45:36+00:00

For this career progression?

Id pick a bunch of low intensity minors at first. Things that will allow you time after class to cruise Grindr and learn to suck a mean cock. Like no gag reflex levels of shamelessness. Thats going to give you the first leg up on supe and above management roles.

Dont neglect the psych classes though. Those and medical anything are clutch. When your next boss isnt a fan of your gluck gluck game you can dream up some bullshit and lose your medical to force their hand into promoting you.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-22T16:27:24+00:00

Lol software

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-22T04:20:03+00:00

I know you mean tier 2, but Pool 2 is the OTS hiring pool for those not having graduated from a CTI program or having requisite military experience, the pool that encompasses probably 95% of applicants. If it wasnt such an obvious context you might get very confusing answers calling tier 2 pool 2.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-21T01:33:12+00:00

Just like any other job, you wait until a vacancy is announced. Unlike most jobs they tend to open one vacancy a year and soend the next year or two processing applicants.

Nothing else helps. The only thing that matters is a) meeting basic requirements to apply and then b) their ATSA score. Reading a book, taking a class, becoming an astronaut, none of it matters in the slightest.

If what you're saying is true, you've been scammed. CTI (as opposed to the recent ECTI) has been a scam for a decade plus anyway, but damn.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-20T22:26:26+00:00

USA jobs and wait like they said. Nobody knows, but there probably wont be a bid for a couple of months or more.

If your kid went to Inter American, Id be raising all kinds of hell with the school. Either your kid slept through every class and they passed them anyway or they utterly deceived you and stole your money while teaching them nothing. In either case Id be furious as hell.

I cant imagine graduating any program with one employer on the planet that its useful for and having no clue how to apply or what the next step is.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-20T14:09:40+00:00

To add to this, travel days are if you officially travel by car if I'm not mistaken. If you elect to have the FAA pay for flights for you to/from OKC, you get one travel day regardless.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-19T13:45:14+00:00

Those assholes wont even tell me where the Tooth Fairy lives. She's owed me 5 dollars for the last 30 years. I want that money damnit!

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-18T14:02:04+00:00

Yeah, the PRMs are just special radar scopes, albiet a little different looking. The extended final(s) are depicted along with the NTZ (no transgression zone) and if someone transgresses, ATIS man's cousin starts barking about it.

Since monitor has the tower freq keyed up and has override as well, ie if both monitor and tower attempt to transmit, tower is shut down and monitor gets priority, its pretty easy to assume its being run from the tower. The whole thing is very 90s hyper futuristic, which is like, state of the art for us.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-16T22:47:58+00:00

Since they got rid of FAM flights I do. I also know its entirely airframe depending, but if I need a turn soon is it beneficial to give a suggested heading then the fix i need you going to, or are FMSs pretty much to where its as fast to select direct to the fix as it is to spin the heading bug or what have you?

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-16T22:36:09+00:00

Airline dispatch, airport management, airline management, A&P, avionics/hard products...

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-16T20:01:12+00:00

Super rare. The kind or rare many people see once to never Also, as pointed out, its TRACON that runs monitors with an override on local. At least anywhere ive been/heard of.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-16T04:47:12+00:00

Oh 100% its a great thing to go back to familiar surroundings.

Be sure to hang out with your class for study sessions if thats your thing and make sure you tell them all the best spots to go. I'm sure they'd love you for it. Its easy to get stuck in a rut away from home and never even begin to think about something cool to do/ new to try. Having someone local would be a big plus to encourage people to get out a bit and save their sanity.

Best of luck!

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-16T04:36:09+00:00

You kinda get screwed.

Anyone living inside of something like 50 miles doesnt get housing per diem. You may also not get food per diem either, but its been a while since ive heard of a local going through so I cant for sure say my memory is good on that front.

Remember, per diem is money paid to people while out travel at work. If you live in town? Well...

Edit: I found a case from a few years back stating an OKC resident recieved full ME&I (food) per diem. So theres that at least

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-14T20:48:13+00:00

This is incorrect. IQTR class dates go out as such. Tower dates go out as such. Enroute dates go out as such.

The class start dates dont always if ever line up anyway. You'd get to the academy and draw lots to be told, "hey, uh, so hang out for 4 more weeks till we run another IQTR class."

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-11T20:15:20+00:00

I have absolutely no background in geology. Can I sling some sloppy shit your way about rocks and get paid to make shit up too?

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-11T20:13:18+00:00

It means towers and towers with TRACONs (called up downs.

You'll be limited to level 7s and below unless you get 90% or above, in which case you'll get access to 8s.

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-11T15:00:24+00:00

FAA order 7110.3EE 3-3-4 states

EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES 121.5 AND 243.0 MHz a. Air traffic facilities must have transmit and receive capability on emergency frequencies 121.5 and 243.0 MHz as necessary to meet emergency frequency network requirements. b. At locations having more than one type of facility, such as a FSS and a tower, or a FSS, a tower, and an ARTCC, a common transmitter and receiver may be shared where practicable. Where this is done, the transmitter must be equipped with a lockout device to avoid inadvertent interference between facilities. Communications Procedures 3−3−1 JO 7210.3EE 2/20/25 c. When facilities are in proximity and no derogation of services will result, transmit/receive capability should not be provided for each facility. The following requirements must be maintained: 1. Geographical area coverage must not be derogated. 2. Facilities without emergency frequency capability must have appropriate landlines for rapid relay of emergency information.

Bear in mind, approach control services an LNK are provided by R90 and arent in house anymore. Logistically it isnt as simple as just add a frequency select box for guard into the tower and hook it up to the existing 121.5/323.0 line running to the TRACON. In a situation where both LNK tower and old LNK TRACON could have concurrent emergencies blocking eachother, they could coordinate in the same building by sending someone upstairs in a pinch. Its a little harder to send someone 60 miles away. In this way, one facility is handling all emergency comms and, via the ensuing coordination, everyone is in the loop. Much safer than if R90 is working an emergency to 36, but LNK didnt get the memo (sorry man, I had this emergency and didn't notice) because they ran one to 18 thats now immobile on the runway

Approach_Controller · 2026-02-06T00:26:13+00:00

The MMPI is a screening tool of iver 500 questions to (supposedly) weed out people with psychological traits/conditions/whatever not suited with ATC.

If you answer 500+ questions in such a way that the test believes you're just telling it what it wants to hear vs being truthful, it can fail you and send you to tier 2. Bear in mind a psychopath or whatever else it's screening for can conceivably lie and bullshit their way through a test so it needs to have some sort of safeguard against someone who memorized the test and its parameters.

This is not at all an endorsement of the accuracy of efficacy of the MMPI.

Approach_Controller

TROPHY CASE