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Is it possible at all to transfer during my university years?
Aircrew Selection/ACS (Merged)
- Thread starter cda84
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phildabomb said:
Very, very unlikely. Again, if you accept an offer as an ACSO, the career and training people will put you into an ACSO spot and as Zoomie and I have said, 99% of the time you will have to do an operational tour post-wings to be eligible to transfer. I say 99% of the time b/c I'm sure there is that one exception to every rule. But, I wouldn't bank on it.
If you want Pilot so badly, stick to your guns and get your CPL, then reapply. Don't take up an ACSO spot that someone wants on the off chance that you can swap trades after your obligatory time.
I think it's been established that the transfer scenario is unlikely, at least for a few years. That leaves the scenario where you turn down the ACSO offer and re-apply for pilot.
Keep in mind that getting your CPL does not guarantee you'll pass ASC for pilot on the next try. And that offer for ACSO under ROTP will never come back either. Also, we haven't even mentioned the expense of getting the CPL.
Keep in mind that getting your CPL does not guarantee you'll pass ASC for pilot on the next try. And that offer for ACSO under ROTP will never come back either. Also, we haven't even mentioned the expense of getting the CPL.
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Thanks for all of your input everyone. ROTP ACSO is certainly a great opportunity, and the trade itself is unique and could allow me to fly in the civvy world during any free time!
However I have one last question. Through the grapevine I've heard that one is eligible to bypass PFT with a commercial pilot license. Is this true?
However I have one last question. Through the grapevine I've heard that one is eligible to bypass PFT with a commercial pilot license. Is this true?
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Myself and 2 others from our initial group of 7 passed ASC this last week. Two of us passed the AEC exam as well.
ASC was a fantastic experience, overall, even before I knew I'd passed. It's stressful and challenging, but you are exposed to some fantastic CF and civilian professionals, get to meet others with the same passion as you, and are exposed a little to the CF pilot experience. CAPSS is also really cool!
I don't have much insight, I left with pretty well the same understanding of CAPSS that I went in with. The parameters of the tests are not shared with the candidates either before or after. The staff are very tight lipped. This is probably to maintain the integrity of the test and introduce an additional element of stress to CAPSS. The simulators are quite modern and have a console on the inside very comparable to that of a Cessna 172 or any other light, single engine aircraft. They pitch, roll, and yaw, which is somewhat disconcerting on the inside when the sim quickly resets for the next maneuver. I think the most important thing to remember for your CAPSS sessions is to listen carefully to all instructions given by the machine and by the officer and follow them. Manage your stress and don't panic. CAPSS is very sensitive and a light touch is needed on both the yoke and rudders, but they'll remind you of this as you go. Cross-check! There are two flatscreen monitors in the front and left windows that display various readouts and instructions. Your performance will be graphically represented after each maneuver. Learn from your mistakes and work on them, but don't dwell. You've got to manage your stress. I chair-flew the last session (an outline is given in your study guide) the night before, just to straighten it out in my head. It was a big jump from the first 3 sessions to number 4. You are able to take breathers while in CAPSS. Use them to calm yourself and run through the instructions again.
Myself and one other had pilot licences already, but the third guy who passed didn't. There were a couple of benefits: a lighter touch, familiarity with instruments, but there were some detriments too: procedures in CAPSS are different than in a real plane, CAPSS is still more sensitive, overconfidence. You don't need experience to pass, they are clear about that. They fail pilots out regularly too, apparently.
You'll also be given a long test battery that lasts most of a morning. It is a bit grueling and includes tests for both PLT and AEC. Your outcome is used to rank you on the Merit List, but isn't the determining factor as to whether you pass ASC or not, that comes down to CAPSS. Review similar stuff to your CFAT, but expect more stress and tighter time. Most of the test isn't something you can study for directly.
They tell you whether you passed or failed right away, privately, and brief you on what to do next. For us who passed, we got to attend a presentation by the AEC's and do a tour of the IFR and VFR control tower/room. Then we were driven to a hotel in Toronto for our medicals.
The DRDC in Toronto is where the medicals are. There is less stress, because it's not longer up to your skill. The tests are all really neat! I've never seen my heart before, but I got to when they took the echo-cardiogram. All the medical staff are very professional and encouraging. We were told to treat the whole time like a job interview. They were quite clear that they could disqualify us for behavioral reasons as well as medical. While it's not official or overt, there is definitely a bit of psychological evaluation that goes on when you interact with the staff. Just be calm, honest, and let your enthusiasm show through (professionally). The doctor and med tech in charge briefed us at the end and told us whether we were likely to be awarded an Air Factor. While not official yet (a couple consults had to be made and a staff meeting is held to discuss any issues) they already have a good feel for your health. You know right away if you fit the types or not. All three of us passed and should receive our Air Factors soon.
That's all there is too it! Manage your stress, cross-check, be professional, and enjoy it!
Those were my impressions. Nothing new, I don't think, from past posts. Good luck all!
ASC was a fantastic experience, overall, even before I knew I'd passed. It's stressful and challenging, but you are exposed to some fantastic CF and civilian professionals, get to meet others with the same passion as you, and are exposed a little to the CF pilot experience. CAPSS is also really cool!
I don't have much insight, I left with pretty well the same understanding of CAPSS that I went in with. The parameters of the tests are not shared with the candidates either before or after. The staff are very tight lipped. This is probably to maintain the integrity of the test and introduce an additional element of stress to CAPSS. The simulators are quite modern and have a console on the inside very comparable to that of a Cessna 172 or any other light, single engine aircraft. They pitch, roll, and yaw, which is somewhat disconcerting on the inside when the sim quickly resets for the next maneuver. I think the most important thing to remember for your CAPSS sessions is to listen carefully to all instructions given by the machine and by the officer and follow them. Manage your stress and don't panic. CAPSS is very sensitive and a light touch is needed on both the yoke and rudders, but they'll remind you of this as you go. Cross-check! There are two flatscreen monitors in the front and left windows that display various readouts and instructions. Your performance will be graphically represented after each maneuver. Learn from your mistakes and work on them, but don't dwell. You've got to manage your stress. I chair-flew the last session (an outline is given in your study guide) the night before, just to straighten it out in my head. It was a big jump from the first 3 sessions to number 4. You are able to take breathers while in CAPSS. Use them to calm yourself and run through the instructions again.
Myself and one other had pilot licences already, but the third guy who passed didn't. There were a couple of benefits: a lighter touch, familiarity with instruments, but there were some detriments too: procedures in CAPSS are different than in a real plane, CAPSS is still more sensitive, overconfidence. You don't need experience to pass, they are clear about that. They fail pilots out regularly too, apparently.
You'll also be given a long test battery that lasts most of a morning. It is a bit grueling and includes tests for both PLT and AEC. Your outcome is used to rank you on the Merit List, but isn't the determining factor as to whether you pass ASC or not, that comes down to CAPSS. Review similar stuff to your CFAT, but expect more stress and tighter time. Most of the test isn't something you can study for directly.
They tell you whether you passed or failed right away, privately, and brief you on what to do next. For us who passed, we got to attend a presentation by the AEC's and do a tour of the IFR and VFR control tower/room. Then we were driven to a hotel in Toronto for our medicals.
The DRDC in Toronto is where the medicals are. There is less stress, because it's not longer up to your skill. The tests are all really neat! I've never seen my heart before, but I got to when they took the echo-cardiogram. All the medical staff are very professional and encouraging. We were told to treat the whole time like a job interview. They were quite clear that they could disqualify us for behavioral reasons as well as medical. While it's not official or overt, there is definitely a bit of psychological evaluation that goes on when you interact with the staff. Just be calm, honest, and let your enthusiasm show through (professionally). The doctor and med tech in charge briefed us at the end and told us whether we were likely to be awarded an Air Factor. While not official yet (a couple consults had to be made and a staff meeting is held to discuss any issues) they already have a good feel for your health. You know right away if you fit the types or not. All three of us passed and should receive our Air Factors soon.
That's all there is too it! Manage your stress, cross-check, be professional, and enjoy it!
Those were my impressions. Nothing new, I don't think, from past posts. Good luck all!
Granted that everyone has to start somewhere - but its interesting to see how much effort and forethought one puts into ASC - and its only a needle in the haystack of steps required to not only get those wings, but become an operational pilot in the RCAF.
My advice - quit over thinking - conserve your energy - you have a very, very long way to go.
My advice - quit over thinking - conserve your energy - you have a very, very long way to go.
peak_to_prairie,
Congrats on passing ASC! I passed a month ago, and agree it was very stressful. We had 4/7 pass ASC and DRDC. Being a CPL I found the sim to be difficult, but I think having my IFR rating helped greatly though with interpreting the instruments. The computer based testing is tough to prepare for, there really is not any advice to give away other than just be focused.
We all had the same medical briefing as well - all likely to be given air factors, but I personally have not received mine yet. I haven't talked to any of the others but they likely haven't either. A couple of us were pretty close on fitting into the Grob but everyone made it through.
Congrats on passing ASC! I passed a month ago, and agree it was very stressful. We had 4/7 pass ASC and DRDC. Being a CPL I found the sim to be difficult, but I think having my IFR rating helped greatly though with interpreting the instruments. The computer based testing is tough to prepare for, there really is not any advice to give away other than just be focused.
We all had the same medical briefing as well - all likely to be given air factors, but I personally have not received mine yet. I haven't talked to any of the others but they likely haven't either. A couple of us were pretty close on fitting into the Grob but everyone made it through.
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- Points
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crosswind said:
Being a CPL will you be skipping Primary if you're selected? I read the procedures for doing that while in Toronto.
The doctor said things were moving well now on the processing side of the medical. Apparently over the summer people had holidays, conferences, meetings, and other delays. She said that was over now and I would might get it in time for the Nov. 15 selection and it would be mostly up to the mail delivery. If it doesn't work out, I'll wait for April patiently (or the next selection).
I read in October that people were getting "conditional" offers before their Air Factor was assigned. Are they still doing that?
peak_to_prairie said:
From what I've been told I would get the PFT bypass, but nothing is confirmed 100%. At this point I'm only concerned about making it in. Hopefully I will hear some good news about the medical soon. I haven't heard anything about conditional offers recently. They may have only been doing that when they needed to fill BMOQ courses (it seems alot of offers were going out in october before the BMOQ at the end of october).
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- Points
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Was told today I recieved my Air Factor and was Merit Listed on Friday. It's finger crossing time!
E
eggert
Guest
going to ASC next week as well for pilot and AEC...so nervous i really wanna pass and dont no what to expect
E
eggert
Guest
whats easier, the AEC test or the pilot tests?
- Reaction score
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- Points
- 110
eggert said:
Read this thread, read your blue booklet, practice your crosscheck and enjoy the experience in Trenton!
If you are also going to ASC for AEC, you can study for the exam you will have on Monday morning: Grade 10 algebra, solve quick mental equations, maths logic problems, etc. And most of all, have a good rest the night before because the test takes about 4 hours and you will have your first session in the CAPSS right after lunch.
eggert said:
It depends of your skills. I found the AEC test easier because I am very good in math and solving logical problems, but when I was there, I think that 3 out of 14 passed the AEC exam and 4 out of 14 passed the CAPSS. My advice: Do your best in both!
Good luck!
- Reaction score
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- Points
- 110
Noctis said:
Stress will be your worst enemy during the week, so try to relax before and during your sessions. It is very quiet in the CAPSS so take your time and take a big breath between each exercises, listen carefully to each instruction and before pushing the green button to start your flight, visualize the maneuvers you will have to do during the fallowing minutes!
- Reaction score
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Noctis, seriously, relax dude. You have a lot of info that I've provided. Go over it. Take this time now to prepare instead of stressing. If you get through, I'm sure there will be plenty more stressful things to come in later training, with plenty of opportunities to fail out of basic, phase I, phase II, and even phase III. From talking to pilots, many that get in fail later. I don't mean this to be a discouraging message, you know I've given you a lot of stuff to inform you and encourage you to succeed. The point I am making is that we can't allow ourselves to freak out about every single test. There's something to be said about the skill of keeping your cool. It will definitely come in handy during your aircrew selection and I'm sure during your future training, not to mention the service. And remember, the worst case if you don't pass CAPSS is that you can come back to redo it with a lot of new knowledge about CAPSS and about flying, with a much better chance of success. It may help you relax if you keep this in mind.
It's important to manage your expectations too. I went in confident and optimistic, fully expecting to pass. In retrospect, this was not entirely the right attitude to have. Because once you step foot in CAPSS, you get a reality check. The machine challenges you, and your positive expectations get broken, which lets you down and may affect your performance. In my opinion, it is better to go in with the attitude of expecting the test to challenge you, even if you've never failed a thing in your life. This way, you'll be more in line with reality, and be able to focus better and just work hard, instead of letting failed expectations get to you. I hope this makes sense. Instead of just trying to get you pumped, I am trying to give you more reastic advice which hopefully has a better chance to help you succeed.
You will figure out what works for you personally when you go through the tests. Much of advice you get here will probably go out the window and you will do things the way you feel is right. Just remember to review your sessions after, chair-fly your traffic patterns, things like that. Memorize all routines so that you don't have to think on the fly.
It's important to manage your expectations too. I went in confident and optimistic, fully expecting to pass. In retrospect, this was not entirely the right attitude to have. Because once you step foot in CAPSS, you get a reality check. The machine challenges you, and your positive expectations get broken, which lets you down and may affect your performance. In my opinion, it is better to go in with the attitude of expecting the test to challenge you, even if you've never failed a thing in your life. This way, you'll be more in line with reality, and be able to focus better and just work hard, instead of letting failed expectations get to you. I hope this makes sense. Instead of just trying to get you pumped, I am trying to give you more reastic advice which hopefully has a better chance to help you succeed.
You will figure out what works for you personally when you go through the tests. Much of advice you get here will probably go out the window and you will do things the way you feel is right. Just remember to review your sessions after, chair-fly your traffic patterns, things like that. Memorize all routines so that you don't have to think on the fly.
