Mansfield ATCT - MFD

Thorice Newcomer

Does anyone have any knowledge about this tower? I'm looking into trying to get hired here and any and all advice would help. Thanks.

kls1981 Rookie Sandusky, Ohio

I've flown in there many times. It's a huge airport but not very busy at all. The majority of the traffic is GA and Military since they have a guard base with C-130's. They are Class D and I know they have approach control and radar services. All of the controllers are really easy going and from what I hear its easy to get up into the tower for a tour. I've been offered before. Sorry I don't know much about the hiring situation there.

CLEATCT2010 Senior Member Ohio

Not sure about MFD, but the word floating around this site is that nobody in OH is hiring right now. Possibly next Fiscal Year, but it would be best to contact them and take a tour.

prominence Rookie

I have a TOL for CMH, not hiring till next fiscal year at the earliest. DAY is also same situation. Don't know about the other facilities, but rumor and general guestimating and reading the boards is that OH got packed full by PUBNAT4 and probably won't be hiring for awhile. Barely any of those posting on the boards mentioned getting a facility in OH from PUBNAT5/6 threads. May be a better shot to shoot for states surrounding the area like Chicago-area, Indiana, Kentucky, or PA.

otterstrom Trusted Member of NATCA

last i heard MFD approach was combining with a bunch of other ohio approach controls leaving only a pretty boring tower.

Thorice Newcomer

Everyone thanks for the advice.

JosueZQ8 Trusted Member Akron, OH

I've heard this too, from several people at both MFD and CAK. CLE and YNG will be included in the "centralized" TRACON as well.

I've flown in and out of MFD alot during my PPL training, and several times now that I have my license. There's a restaurant on the field, so it's a nice place to fly into and grab some grub. Last time I went, my CTI buddy and I were taxiing over to the restaurant and I asked the controller....

"Hey, we're a couple of Beaver County CTI students, any chance we could get a tour of the tower?"

And he goes..."Hang on, let me check with my Supervisor. Where'd you guys say you were from?"

Me- "Beaver County"

Him-"Oh, that's cool, that's where I went"

So they let us in, and showed us the whole she-bang! Their TRACON room is hilarious, there's only 2 scopes, compared to 4 scopes at CAK, and a good sized room full of scopes and people at CLE. Up in the tower was the funniest thing (for us) though. BOTH the local and ground controllers up there were Beaver County enroute graduates! So we had stories to share/tell since we were both enroute students as well. Pretty shitty deal though, to graduate enroute and get some level 5, 55K/year tower. I'm all about getting my foot in the door, but holy hell! They didn't seem terribly happy about being there either...LOL

sonicapollo Junior Member Ohio

I'm a Dev at MFD now. If anyone has any questions, shoot them my way. I'll answer anything I can/allowed to. I think I may be the only dev there now, but not sure about that. I just started.

MikeATC Retired FAA, NATCA Member Nashville TN

Some may think starting out at a level 5 like MFD might sink, but your chances of fully certifying are much greater than had you gone to a Level 10 or above. Once you become a CPC you can always bid on a busier facility. You'll learn a lot of good basics in a smaller facility which will help you when you move up.

sonicapollo Junior Member Ohio

I think starting out at MFD is perfect for me. I'm really happy to be there. Some day I'll transfer to something larger, but I'm certainly in no rush.