The air is tense

[Kid_X]

Well, I just finished my fourth session in CAPSS here in Trenton, I am now in the CFASC building's lounge waiting for my results, the instructor hopes to give them to me within the next 35 minutes, for now, I wait.  I will update tonight when I arrive home or tommorow after school. (Our group isn't going to Toronto for the medical until later in the year because of Easter.)
                                                                                                                      Sheldon Roy

 

[militarygirl88]

Good luck to you

 

[Zach15]

  Haha that is the most stressful part of the whole week - the 30 mins before finishing the session and getting the little piece of paper..

    I had to keep checking and rechecking the slip to make sure it actually said that I met the standard for pilot ;D

                Good luck to you..

                    -Zach

 

[Deleted member 15361]

Good luck man, I'll be in your shoes in 2 weeks  ;D .
Cheers,
Rob.

 

[inferno]

Goodluck,

I scanned the sheet back and forth about 15 times rappidly before I finally got a hold of myself.. calmed down and read it through once completely. Damned French is all first, and I was in no mood to switch my brain over to French.

 

[Kid_X]

 

[double0three]

Does the sad face indicate things did not go well??

 

[Kid_X]

I apparently did much much better than some of the other applicants who did not meet the standards for pilot (I never crashed it once either) but I did not meet the standards either, they will not tell you why either.  A word of advice, give it your all if you're going for this, because if you want to re-apply, you need your private pilot's license.  Hopefully I can bump this thread a year and 7000$ later with some good news, lol.  See you gentlemen later.

 

[Deleted member 15361]

Damn that sucks man. I go up on sunday for my try but I only have one chance. I have a wife and kid so if I don't pass its on to choice 2 or 3. Man the fail rate at this place is pretty high. Anyway good luck with your ppl should you decide to go for it.
Cheers,
Rob.

 

[inferno]

Kid-X, did you have any sim time before hand? any flight experiance?

I heard  a rumor while i was at ACS that to reapply after failing the first time, you could pull it off with an Amature licence... a PPL is better because it gives you instrument time, but if money is an issue, it might be better to do a boat load of hours on MS Flight Sim, and an Amature licence.

How many in your course passed? Any of them have previous flight experiance?
It's definitely an interesting system, I can't imagine what kinds of stress it is to fail.. with no feedback. It's bad enough passing with no-feedback. We literally all sat around afterwards and talked it over wondering where we could have gone wrong, where we did go wrong, and where we did go right, until one of the guys who passed with us told us to shut up and not question good fortune.

 

[Bograt]

I heard  a rumor while i was at ACS that to reapply after failing the first time, you could pull it off with an Amature licence...

No such thing- you mean a recreational ticket? One needs a PPL.

We literally all sat around afterwards and talked it over wondering where we could have gone wrong, where we did go wrong, and where we did go right, until one of the guys who passed with us told us to shut up and not question good fortune.

Smart kid. ACS is the easiest phase in your training. There is a long road before you, and passing ACS is no guarantee you are getting past the board. Take pride that you made it through one hurdle, but keep in mind there are many many more ahead of you.

 

[inferno]

No such thing- you mean a recreational ticket? One needs a PPL.

That's what I meant. My dads got an amature.. or experimental? aircraft outside our house. I can never keep all the terms straight.
Either way, the Captain and the Major at ACS said that they "thought" that a rec licence would be enough to show an "improved skillset" but I guess they were wrong.

Smart kid. ACS is the easiest phase in your training. There is a long road before you, and passing ACS is no guarantee you are getting past the board. Take pride that you made it through one hurdle, but keep in mind there are many many more ahead of you.

Got my offer 3 weeks ago, signed on the dotted line, and now I only have 9 more years to go.  ;D
I only speak of ACS as the big hurdle.. because for many people it is. The corporal who printed our pass/fail papers said it was a 25/75 pass to fail ratio at ACS. That's a pretty staggering fail rate. Additionally the complete lack of feedback at all stages, even the end is pretty rough. If candidates were not required to get their PPL, and were told instead just to "practice" with no more instruction given, I could easily see many a person not passing over and over again because they would not know where they went wrong.

Alas, that's not how the system works, but when you see a commercial pilot with a couple thousand hours on a Beechcraft sweating it out along side  you, you also know it's definitely no cakewalk for those who know they SHOULD be doing well.

 

[Zach15]

  I couldn't tell you what I did that made me pass ACS, nor if I failed would I of been able to say what I did that made me fail. I guess when it all comes down to it, it really doesnt matter whether we know or not. When your done, you either pass or fail and thats all there is to it. Perhaps it would be nice for people who are going to retake it, but I have a feeling its not an isolated few events that will make or break you, but rather an overall performance in handeling.


  - Zach

 

[Bograt]

The corporal who printed our pass/fail papers said it was a 25/75 pass to fail ratio at ACS. That's a pretty staggering fail rate. Additionally the complete lack of feedback at all stages, even the end is pretty rough.

Alas, that's not how the system works, but when you see a commercial pilot with a couple thousand hours on a Beechcraft sweating it out along side  you, you also know it's definitely no cakewalk for those who know they SHOULD be doing well.

Think for a moment about costs. How much does it cost the Canadian taxpayer to train a CF pilot... about 2.7 million bucks. It is expensive. To minimize costs they want to ensure that candidates have the hands, feet and head that will give them a 65% of making it through MOC training. It is more cost efficient if you present a selection tool that weeds out potential candidates. CAPPS is a photomotor testing device, not a flight simulator. For those that have flying experience know that CAPPS doesn't "fly" like a Cessna or Piper. It isn't supposed to do that.

One of the reasons why no commentary is given to candidates is because they want to ensure the testing is standard- much like the CFAT. Plus there isn't much one can change if the testing device is measuring your hand/eye coordination and not your flying skills.

You will loose guys in Basic- pilots are officers first, and some do not have the leadership skills the CF requires. Then you will loose some through the various stages of training for a variety of reasons- drinking, home issues, medicals, learning curves, accidents etc. That is why 1 in a thousand who walk through a CFRC door to be a pilot make it to get their wings. From CFAT to drugs, to eyes, to ACS, to BOTP to PFT, to BFT to AFT the numbers diminish. But most of the attrition happens at the front end- it is more cost effective.

I know of fellows with no flying experience becoming fighter leads and snowbirds, also I know of an international mirage pilot immigrating to Canada and wash out of multi school.

My advice, stay focused, be very humble, and work hard at everything you do.

 

[Kid_X]

I'm going for my PPL and re-applying in a year. There were 11 people in our group when I was at ASC, 1 was sent home the first day, the rest made it to the end but only 5 out of the 10 remaining made it in as pilot.  Of the 5 that made it in, 4 had previous flight experience.  I have played flight simulator, it's a game, it will not help you at all with CAPSS, you're better off studying your guide.