Aurora Tower - ARR

nationwide31 Newcomer

Hi guys, i have been selected for ARR and wanted to know if anyone had any information on this level 5 tower. Anything i should know?
I hear the tower manager is a really nice guy? Are they on a hiring freeze?

Roddy_Piper Resident Knucklehead Vegas baby

just wondering why u would think they are on a hiring freeze if u just got hired there?

strykr Junior Member cardboard box

The manager there did my PEPC interview! he was super nice and we just talked for almost an hour and he only asked me the "required" questions pretty quick up front and we just chatted it up after that. I can't remember his name but I guess since I only heard it twice and that was the first thing of the morning... Good Luck at ARR!

nationwide31 Newcomer

caus ive attended the LA PEPC but no academy date yet

Roddy_Piper Resident Knucklehead Vegas baby

i might be wrong here, but once your selected your in. as long as u can pass all the processing and clearances.

nationwide31 Newcomer

i guess the word freeze is not the right word to use. Facility "hold" would be more applicable.

NAT302 Newcomer Naperville, IL

Congrats on ARR. The manager there is Tom Shannon. I interviewed with him last month at the Aurora Tower... great guy, seems to really care about the people that work for him. Call him up and introduce yourself, and ask him if you can stop by for a tour. Good luck.

psachs Trusted Member Chicago

I'm reviving this thread since I got picked for ARR. I've called Tom and am going to tour the tower next month. He mentioned there are several developmentals there right now. If you're a trainee, what's your experience been like? How much OJT do you usually get in a day/week? Overall impressions? I'm really excited to get started, so really, any info I can soak up and help tide me over until I get an Academy date would be great.

MrWhyte Newcomer

ARR was my first facility (1988). I learned a lot there.

If he has not bailed yet, Scott Zeal was/is the Fac-Rep and he is a stand-up guy.

When I was there, most of the traffic was student training. Especially on the weekends. The corporate stuff was m-f.

Here is some unsolicited advice that will take you far in your career:

Keep your mouth shut, and your eyes and ears open. Show up ready to train every day, even if you don't get any. Be motivated to learn from the old timers. If you act like you know it all (even if you do), it is a big turn off for the veterans. They will not be motiviated to help you if you exhibit that kind of behavior.

Is ARR still a LAWRS facility?

If so, you'll have to take the test.Study for this test!

It is not an FAA test; it was a NOAA/NWS exam that required a 90% to pass.

Lastly,

I miss the local EAA chapter's 'Controller Appreciation Day.'

psachs Trusted Member Chicago

I just spent some time trolling the NCDC's site and using a clunky database to locate weather observation stations. In Illinois it found just nine LAWRS sites, though one of them is Meigs, so I'm not too confident in the database's accuracy. ARR is listed as "COOP COOP-A AB."

The other LAWRS sites in IL, according to this database, are Alton, Cahokia St. Louis, Carbondale, PWK, Danville, Decatur, Springfield Capital, and DPA.