ATC as a career....why?

Radium Epic Member

less forum whoring, more studying the .65 imo

xDGx Rookie New Mexico

That will never happen

GolfJuliet F*** Terrorism

And why is that?

TimShady Trusted Contributor Amarillo, TX

Overrated.

XRadar Newcomer

I used to have toy airplanes, and I built airports as a veeeery young kid. I probably knew the basics of controlling when I was in kindergarten. Airplanes have always been my passion, and in high school I realized it was the controlling of them rather than the flying that was fun for me. Well, flying is fun too. When I joined the Air Force it was to be a controller, and the first day in the tower lab, when I saw the toy airport... I knew I was in the right place! Oddly enough, I spent most of my time in the radar facilities with some tower ratings too, and I prefer radar. But for me, nothing beats the tower for the sheer fact that you get to see those airplanes! Don't tell anyone, but I would do the job for free.

julietlima Rookie Valdosta, GA

My grandfather was a B17 pilot in WWII...was shot down on his third mission and was a POW in Germany for 8 months(so I have always been obsessed with aviation and WWII). After the war...he married and had three kids..one being my mother. He would always take them to the Hyannis airport on the Cape to watch planes take off and land...so my Mom carried on that tradition here in GA at Moody AFB. We would watch F16s do touch and go's, low approaches...etc...on a dirt road just north of the runways...and I flew commercially a lot as a kid visiting my father in MD and CT...so aviation has always been around me. I absolutely love to fly...and as a kid, flying alone, I always wanted to be in the cockpit flying the damn plane!

I was going to apply to the FAA a couple of years ago to try and be a atc with no experience but changed my mind and thought it would be too difficult to get hired...so I went to college and one semester away from being done with my bachelors in office managment I found out about advanced air traffic control school..right here in my home town..and thought how cool is this? So I applied, passed the physical, hearing test, and background check...and will be the first graduate of the school next month! I am waiting on my check ride in the tower...which should be any day now...as soon as i pass my check ride in the tower and the faa opens up a new cto announcement, i will be applying and will hopefully get picked up quick! I can watch airplanes take off and land all day long...i love it and i love the sound of a jet engine!

JL

TimShady Trusted Contributor Amarillo, TX

What school JL?

Cirrus12 Epic Member So. NH

Aviation has always been something that had to be a big part of my life. As a kid I was always drawn towards anything involving planes. I started flying and got my PPL while in HS. I went on to college in a flight program. Flying is not something I'd want to really do professionally. I learned what CFIs get paid and what pay/life is like as a FO for a small air line. Most of my friends were ATC majors so when it came time to look for a new major I checked out the ATC program. Over time I began spending as much free time as I could in the sim lab.

I don't know about working for free, but money wasn't the big motivator for me. I don't want to work for ever, I'd like to be able to retire and have money and health insurance and be able to enjoy those last years. The retirement benefits are what put it over the top for me.

julietlima Rookie Valdosta, GA

Advanced Air Traffic Control is the school I currently attend. I was getting my bachelors at Valdosta State University.