A lot of threads talk about indoc tests and how hard they are. What is covered during the indoctrination phase, what are the tests like and what makes them so hard???

 

people don't fail indoc, they fail sim training because they spent all of indoc studying for indoc, instead of working on their flows/ call outs and memory items.

 

Not sure what company they'd be hard at, I've never heard that before. But mostly stuff like 121, and company regs. and policy's. So things like alternates, items and passengers that can be carried, documents on board for dispatch, etc. Some companies emphasize it more than others such as spending 2 weeks as opposed to one.

 

Indoc wasnt bad at all, systems was tougher... a lot more studying was needed for that as well as our memory item/limitations test. The written testing isnt too difficult if you study, I think most have issues in the sim most of all as said before.

 

We only had one guy in our class who got less than a 90% on the indoc test at XJT, and he got something like an 86%. It's not hard stuff at all. The best bet actually is to spend the downtime you'll have during basic indoc studying flows and limitations. When you hit systems, you just won't have the time to hit those very hard before FTDs/sims start. You'll be way behind at that point if you don't have those flows down early.

 

How hard is it to learn flows?

 

Its overwhelming at first, what I did was take the copy of the paper cockpit they give you and scan it, blow it up like 10 times bigger so its life size. Then tape them together like puzzle, and stick it on your wall put two chairs in front of it and just keep doing them, Its not bad. go all out too, we put the center console in between the chairs and hang the overhead panel with string you'll feel like you are sitting the plane

 

they are not hard to learn, but people spend too much time studying for Indoc, instead of working on the flows. You need to know them well enough when sim training starts that you can do them as easily as breathing because you are busy stressing about all the other stuff going on like flying the plane/using the autopilot etc..

In other words the flows should come to you readily, without having to pause and think about them. You have to get the muscle memory down by practicing them over and over again. Also you have to learn the specifics, like exactly what light is supposed to come on when press a certain switch etc... This requires studying the systems as you go while learning flows. Hope this info helps. Don't sweat indoc, if you show up to class and pay attention you will pass that stupid class.

 

For the biggest part of my groundschool was spent being awake, and then 1 hour a evening/night, and that is all I done, I felt pretty alright about the whole dam deal
Now I cannot even remember one single event during the week of indoc

 

This worked for me:

1. Make flashcards with the memory items, limitations, and the flows (just the order of the items, nothing too fancy) on them. Don't use someone elses since actually making them will help you learn them. Do this during indoc. Don't waste too much time studying for indoc (i.e. study some, but you don't need to be an expert). I made that mistake for about the first 3 days and then I was like "Wait a minute..."

2. Take very detailed notes during class. I killed about 60 pages in a spiral notebook during systems. Write down as much as you can.

3. After class, read over the notes you just took. Then read the stuff that's being covered the next day so you already have an idea of what's going to be talked about. Review your flashcards. The whole process will take you about 2 hours.

I spent very little time practicing on the paper cockpit. It just didn't do much for me. My sim partner and I used it more to make sure we knew what each button did then actually practicing flows. When it came time for sim, it wasn't really an issue since systems will give you a good layout of the cockpit and your flashcards will tell you what you need to do. By doing the above, I didn't find training all that difficult and it only took up about 2 hours outta my night.