dbrockman2

I want to thank everyone on this board who gave me all the great info to prepare for my first 121 interview. It went great, and have been scheduled for a Jul 2 class at TSA.

Thank you!

Anyone got any trips to prepare for training?

JoeyMeatballs

Well apparently you didnt take anyones advice Why TSA? Congrats.............. I hear initial TSA initial washout rate is extremely high, study hard

Diver Driver

I have heard this as well, be very careful and study hard!

kansas

Congratulations. Study hard, don't give up, have a little fun with the folks in your class.

rickair7777

Congrats.

Re. training, your previous academic experiences may not have prepared you for the pace of 121 training. The material is not super-hard for most people, but there is a lot of it in a short time so plan on spending many hours studying each night until you get a feel for the standards.

The ol' college technique of knowing 20% of the material, cramming 40% the night before, and throwing a hail-mary on the last 10% needed to score a 70% will not work. Remember you are studying for your oral interview (assuming they do that for FOs) as well the written stuff...best to be over-prepared.

Also be wary of those who drink beer all night, every night. They are probably either clueless CFI's or CA upgrades. The upgrades already know most of it anyway so they don't have to work as hard as you do.

Pay attention in class. Use good study techniques, and make flashcards.

Start learning flows (and maybe profiles) during systems class...those are the things you REALLY must know cold, and the longer you expose yourself to them the easier they will be to perform in the sim.

Probably best not to go home every weekend, but try to get out out at least once a week. Try to exercise regulalry too if you do that normally.


Also, don't be "that guy" the 172 SkyGod who can't keep his mouth shut and annoys the heck out of everyone. The upgrades in your class know people in the training dept...you don't want your reputation to precede you to the sim

flynavyj

Best of luck, i think about anyone on this board would have told you to avoid TSA, especially given the washout rate and the work rules (we're middle of the road, there are some better, some worse) but all i can say is good luck, study hard, study everything they tell you to. Get flows and profiles down, have your memory items down pat, know the notes section of the limitations also, not just the limitations themselves, and you'll be fine for the oral. You'll need your flows and profiles for the sim, but the sim isn't the place to learn them, make sure those things are memorized before your oral as well, as you can guarentee how long you'll have between oral and sim.

Also, before you ask someone in your groundschool this, when i said have your memory items and limitations down pat, i mean verbatim. A lot of guys say "can't i just paraphrase this" the answer "NO" you need to know those forward and backwards, the long ones and the short ones, through and through...if you do, it'll make your oral go nice and easy...if you don't, and you have to do your oral a second time, well, dont say we didn't warn you.

Roll Inverted and Pull

Here`s a tip that worked for me. I would draw out each system on a piece of paper, sort of like a blue print. I continued to do this until I could draw each system completely, every check valve, everything. Just reading about it didn`t do it for me, I had to be able to visulize it all in my mind. Another clue..emergency proceedures...memory items...being able to spout them out while listening to a fire bell ringing is completely different than just saying them in a controlled atmosphere. Really, really get them down cold. Another thing...no one cares about how you did it before, or how the systems worked on your previous aircraft....Good luck to you.

JoeyMeatballs

Well you are were 767 Ca so I have no doubt that you are faaaaar more experienced and knowledgeable than myself, but I think drawing the system out may distract him from learning what is important and may overload him, I dunno just my guess, however I agree 100% that if you can draw it out, it will be much easier to comprehend and understand

rickair7777

I always draw them too. After ten times or so you'll have it cold. You can simply systems that are very complicated if necessary.

JetJock16

Having "Blue Prints" of every system is key and I continue to draw them just to stay sharp. It doesn't distract you from more important items seeing systems knowledge is one of the most important. Have a great grasp of our a/c systems inside and out will save your ass someday. AND I don't mean during an emergency. Having a firm understanding can help assist maintenance control in fixing a minor glitch that's keeping you from getting home or maybe the FAA is jump seating you and some minor problem springs to life. Without a through understanding of systems knowledge (Ops Spec, Wx, Regs, etc) you might make a decision that causes the FAA JSer to question your expertise, not good. You don’t want to spend a few hours after a flight having to explain yourself to the FAA. All the material that they teach you in ground school and sim needs to be treated equally important.

I highly recommend creating a "Blue Print" of every system in a small note book that you can keep with you. Mine not only has systems inside but does and don'ts, Regs, Wx, Ops Specs and there’s even a section for things I've learned on line. It's amazing that these POS's can through at you!

Good luck, study hard and lesson to your instructors.