Day 35:

Well, today we PV'd. I ran local on the second run and was quite nervous, even after I sat down and started talking to airplanes. Honestly, it was no problem whatsoever. Our instructors had us run a very similiar problem the day before the PV, and because of that, there weren't any surprises. After the 30 min. run, I was tapped on the shoulder and my PV'er said that he had A through G on the position relieft checklist, I gave him the rundown on traffic and that was it. He shook my hand, said great job and had me sign the evaluation sheet with the only comment being "good job". I am happy that I've run local and I'll run ground tomorrow on the second run.

We should all be done with the PV by noon tomorrow and after that we'll probably have a long lunch till 1:30 then we return to the academy. Our lead instructor has set up a little tour of Will Rogers airport for us and we'll all say our goodbyes after the tour is over.

Tonight we all went out to eat together and I bought a card for our lead instructor and one for our assistant lead instructor. We passed the cards around for everyone to sign and reminisced on how fast the time went by and how we'll fare out in the field. I also bought some golf balls for our asst. lead and a girl in the class bought some flowers for our lead (she's also female).

I'll let you know how the final portion of the PV goes tomorrow.

Day 34:

Today we finished up the last few runs of the butt-kicker and after lunch we started a new problem that is very similiar to the PV. Also, after lunch our lead instructor posted our PV pairings so that we could run the new problem with our partner and work out any issues of coordination.

We will PV over the course of two days. I get to run local on the second run and the following day I'll run ground on the second run. I'm looking forward to getting this over with. I'll post how everything went and give you a general idea of the PV.

Day 33:

Today in TSS we started a problem known as the humiliator. It has 87 ops./hr but the bulk of them seem to come in a 15 minute time span about 10 mins. into the problem. It starts off kinda slow, then it slowly builds to a point where you are constantly talking to the airplanes in order to keep up. It's really a lot of fun. Most instructors don't say much during the problem, they just let you do your thing.

I knew it was going to be a busy problem when my pseudo pilot got my attention right before we started the problem and said, "listen, this is very busy, if you say the correct phraseology and instructions and the computer doesn't take it, I'll fix it. Just keep going...it's VERY busy." I thought to myself, "oh shit, this is gonna be fun."

So, here's the problem, you have lots of IFR inbounds that are lined up 4 to 5 miles apart, you have lots of IFR/VFR departures, and you have tons of touch and goes. Also, a vehicle wants to head out to the VOR. The problem will kick your ass, but it's lots of fun and almost 3 times busier than the PV. So, we'll be well prepared for the sucker.

I'll let you know what problem we practice for the PV and how it all goes. I've only got 3 nights left in Oklahoma. Thank God...

Day 32:

OK, today we had a problem that instructors refer to as "the humbler". There is good reason for this name. Here's the deal (haha). Not only is it a very busy problem (you could say steady traffic), but you lose your DBRITE (radar) and you lose a runway because airport management needs it for some reason or other. Now, you may not think it's that bad, but there are always touch and goes in these TSS problems and the runway that you lose is often used for touch and go traffic. The traffic count on this problem is 73 ops/hr. So, you're doing more than 1 operation per minute and then you lose your runway and DBRITE. Planes are everywhere! It gets so busy that even some instructors have a hard time keeping up.

It gets to the point where your instructor is helping you sort out who is who and by the time that you get that figured out, airport management gives you the runway back. I guess that after going through this problem, our PV will seem boring.

Note: 73 ops./hr is a combination of arrivals and departures. For example, to get an airplane down, you need to give it a pattern entry, a landing clearance, and taxi instructions. So one airplane gets 3-4 transmissions from you. Now, multiply that 73 by 4 and you're doing a lot of talking.

Day 31:

New problem: We had our first night problem. It starts our at dusk (technically night) and moves to complete darkness. The only difference at academy land with nighttime ops. is that you can't position and hold aircraft at intersections for departure. It really doesn't make that big of a difference. Other than the nighttime ops., this problem wasn't really that much busier than previous ones. There were lots of inbound/outbound IFR, lots of inbound/outbound VFR, some touch and goes, one stop and go, and a vehicle that wants to taxi across two of the busiest runways to get to the VOR for maintenance. Honestly, it was an easy problem and served more or less as a confidence builder.

Day 30:

We started a new problem in the TSS. Each of us had to get an eval. on both ground and local positions at some point during the day. The problem wasn't that difficult, however, it had more T/G's than Friday's problem (maybe 4 or so). It also had some vehicle movement, another closed taxiway, and a couple of overflights.

Tomorrow we start a new problem that is supposed to be an ass kicker. I think we're going to have a runway close down. That ought to be interesting.

I've had some people ask about a map of the airport. I'll see what I can do.

Day 29:

Another day and another problem in TSS that was very busy, however, when the ground control and local control work well together, it's a piece of cake. Some highlights from the problem are a closed taxiway, some helo ops., lots and lots of IFR arrivals, lots and lots of VFR departures, poor weather, and some vehicle movement. Also, there are some aircraft that request intersection departures as well as the crossing runway that no one likes to use.

One more thing, I found this video on youtube.com of the tabletop lab at OKC. It was taken by someone in the class that's behind mine. I'm not sure who it was, but I recognize the students and instructors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OlRkjn0xoY

Day 27:

Okay, we're back to using the runways that we're going to be operating when we PV. At first this problem was pretty slow and we told our lead instructor that it wasn't really challenging. She said, no problem, and added a bunch more airplanes. We should have kept our mouths shut.

Day 28:

Again, we're doing problems that have at least one touch and go, sometimes more, some planes are requesting a landing on one of the intersecting runways, and the weather changed from good VFR to marginal VFR (ceiling 2000, vis 3). We had lots and lots of IFR arrivals, but they're very easy to handle since they're already lined up for the ILS by approach. We just clear 'em to land. In addition, airport management decides to close a taxiway briefly and ground has to maneuver planes around the closed area. Also, there is some vehicle movement on the movement area. There are two overflights that request to come through the airspace at 1000'. You simply approve the request, issue traffic if necessary, and give the altimeter. Easy enough.

Day 26:

7 more runs in the TSS. We started a new scenerio halfway through the day that used the same runways as yesterday, except it was a daylight and good VFR. We had about 3 T/G's in the pattern, 4 air carriers on visual approaches, several VFR inbounds, and several IFR depatures. Honestly, it wasn't too hard as long as you can control your pattern. Once you lose control of the pattern or give aircraft instructions that seem logical to you, but crazy to the computer, it'll go downhill fast. The computer can do some wild stuff and if that happens, most of the time your instructor will have the airplane that's going nuts deleted.

Also, on this problem we have evals on both local and ground to track our progress. So far, things haven't been too difficult in the scenerios. However, there are a few problems that have so much traffic, they're designed to put you down the tubes so that by the time you get to your PV, you'll be bored by how little traffic is in it. We haven't gotten to those problems yet...

Day 25:

Today we had 7 runs in the TSS. The first three runs were of the problem that we worked on Friday as our intro, and the last three runs were of a new problem that was a dusk to night scenerio. It was also run on the opposite direction runways from what we're used to. Most everyone in the class at some point gave pattern entry or taxi instructions to the runways we're used to running. Anyway, it had a stop and go, a touch and go, no IFR inbounds, 7 or so IFR departures, about 3 VFR departures and several VFR inbounds.

Also, when it's officially sunset, local has to turn on the runway, taxiway, and other lights. In addition, when night falls at academy airport, we can no longer position and hold from intersections but we can still depart from them.

Day 24:

Today was our intro to TSS which is the last leg of our training before the PV. We were briefed on what to expect with the computer and the voice recognition software. The computer can do strange things and we were told what to expect when certain commands are given. Basically, you have to learn how to work with the computer. It only accepts specific and correct pharseology, that's why it's so important to get the verbage down before heading into the TSS.

After a two hour briefing, we ran some scenerios of a pretty easy problem and the students talked among themselves about the weird crap the computer was doing in different situations. All in all, the computer recognizes voices very well and runs very smoothly, it just has some quirks.

In the TSS we're going to work up to around 90 ops/hr. so we can be more than prepared for the PV which is about 30 ops/hr.

Anyway, in the first TSS problem, we had one touch and go, 4 IFR arrivals, about 6 or so IFR depatures, and maybe 3 or 4 VFR arrivals. There wasn't much to it.

Day 23:

This was the last day of IFR lab work. We ran 8 problems over the course of the day and it was certainly busy enough that there wasn't a single person from my class that didn't have their butt handed to them at one point or other on ground control. There were even instructors who were scrambling to keep up with reporting points and keep the picture. I think the traffic count was 60 ops./hr.

On the other hand, local control wasn't that bad at all. However, if local went down the shitter, ground had planes backed up at the end of the runway and it was hard to tell where they were if you didn't properly keep your strips in order.

IFR labs are certainly an eye opener to how bad weather can create havoc in airport ops.

Day 22:

Today was the first of two days working IFR problems. Here's the deal, you are supposed to run the problem with your fellow classmates who act as pseudo pilots that run a program in tandem with yours. However, the program that the academy has been using to simulate IFR has glitches and other problems, so we moved to the TSS labs and ran problems in there with near zero vis.

So, as local control, you'll use your DBRITE to clear aircraft to land and to maintain/ensure separation of your traffic. When the aircraft have landed you will have them report clear of the runway then hand them off to ground. The reason that they must report clear is because you won't have an ASDE at "academy land" to depend on. After the aircraft reports clear, you can then launch or cross another aircraft.

On ground you're going to use non-radar (again, no ASDE). You will simply give aircraft taxi instructions around the airport as normal, however, you will solicit reporting points from the aircraft so as to ensure separation with other aircraft. Essentially you'll use paper stops most frequently to maintain separation. It's absolutely imperative that you know your airport layout to keep track of where your airplanes are. I'm sure this sounds a bit convoluted, but when you get down here you'll understand.

All of us had a chance to run a problem or two in the EDS labs as well. The EDS labs are a smaller version of the much larger TSS labs that have 5 large-screen TV's (52 inches I think) which simulate a tower cab. The conditions in the EDS labs were VFR, as they will be for the remaineder of the course after the IFR labs conclude tomorrow.

Day 21:

Alright, back from the long weekend and another day closer to being finished in OKC. Today, the 4 students who hadn't taken the CTO test at their CTI school or in the military took the test. Those of us who had our CTO were allowed to hang out, but we couldn't leave the academy grounds.

Before we started our human factors class, some people from human resources came over and showed us a few videos about benefits. We received a ton of paperwork to sort through. I guess we've got 60 days from our conversion day (guess that's the day of the first pay cycle after we graduate from the academy) to decide on a health benefit package and 30 days from then to settle on a life insurance plan other than the one the government provides initially.

Next thing was a class on human factors in which we watched a pretty good video of how a team of controllers handled an emergency. The emergency involved a cherokee whose pilot had a massive heart attack and died and the woman in the right seat had to land the airplane. The controllers sent up a flight instructor who knew the family on board and was able to talk the woman down.

After that we went back into tabletops for one last run of scenerios. Basically, we didn't have any instructors plugged in with us and we were to work as a team. During the middle of the problem, we were to relieve one of our fellow controllers and take over the position. Of couse, the scenerio had some emergencies and radio failures to keep us on our toes. All in all it was a lot of fun since we didn't have a bunch of instructors breathing down our neck.

Day 20:

Today's problem was just as busy as yesterday, however, we didn't have anything special happen with the exception of a few wind sheer alerts. Honestly, by the last day of tabletops, you'll be bored, especially if you're walking around on the floor holding airplanes.

Now that we're finished with tabletops, we'll do two days in the IFR lab next week and by next Friday we'll be in TSS.

We don't have class until next Tuesday because of Columbus day on Monday.

Day 19:

More tabletop fun...Today's lesson had us dealing with LLWAS. Essentially, local and ground are required to advise aircraft on their frequency of low level wind sheer alerts until it's posted on the ATIS. After 20 mins. the alert becomes invalid. The wind sheer alerts really didn't cause too much trouble.

However, the volume of traffic in the problem gave many students who ran local a run for their money. I think the problem had us running at around 60 ops. per hour. For our fifth day of tabletops that seemed very busy, but it wasn't beyond the scope of our abilities.

Tomorrow is the last day in the tabletop lab...Thank goodness.

Day 18:

Today in tabletops we had an emergency. It was a B737 that had hydraulic problems on the approach. It was very easy to work. Basically approach control will call you and give you all of the details needed for you to coordinate with ground. Ground then hits the alarm which notifies the crash shack that an emergency is inbound. The plane lands safely, airport authorities scan the runway for debris and then give it back to local.

We also had a stop and go, a few touch and goes and several military arrivals and departures.

Day 17:

More table tops. We had the usual IFR/VFR traffic, a touch and go, and one NORDO aircraft. Everyone got a chance to use the light gun today to direct the NORDO. Honestly, it wasn't that difficult. You just have to get the other aircraft out of his way since you don't know what runway he's going to land on after he receives the steady green in the air.

Also, while working ground, several aircraft did not read back hold short instructions which are easy to miss when you become busy.

One of the annoying things about our experience in tabletops is that there are several new instructors in the lab. They feel that they need to impart their 25yrs. of ATC experience to you while you're trying to run a position. It can get very annoying.

Three more days of table tops.

Day 16:

Today we ran our second scenerio in the table top lab. We had some IFR/VFR departures and arrivals today intermixed with one cherokee doing touch and goes. Nothing very difficult. However, most students are forgetting some basic things like wake turbulence separation, coordination with flight data regarding military ops., poor pad management, and other little things.

Most students are also working out phraseology issues. Everyone stumbles over getting the verbiage right, even though they know what they want to do with the aircraft, they can't spit it out in time.

Day 15:

Today we ran our first scenerio and all of us got a shot at ground, local, and clearance delivery. In addition to running control positions, each of us had a chance to work on the floor around the table top as the airplanes either in the air or on the ground.

The lab is set up so that each position has an instructor plugged in with them. Depending on what instructor is paired up with you, they're either helpful or not. It's pretty much like it is in the field. Honestly, at the academy they should be helpful, because that's what they're there for.

Anway, the first scenerio had about one operation per minute. There were about an equal amount of departures and arrivals with most of the departures being VFR. There was no pattern work, which made it easier. At any give time, there were no more than 3 aircraft on either frequency (if you ran the problem right) at either control position (ground, local).

Everyone gets a chance to work clearance delivery, however you are never graded on it. You basically learn how to read the clearances correctly, update the ATIS, and enter flight plan info in FDIO.