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Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:37 pm
Posts: 54
Location: Canada
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I have been studying for the FD TC exams and from the various people I have talked w/ in the AV industry, I am told the fail rate of writing these exams is any where from 50-80% depending. When you write your exams, you either know your stuff or you don't. You can expect to know how to read all kinds of charts, graphs and do various sorts of calculations using a flight computer. I was also told that, once hired by an airline, your ground school can take up to a year, depending on the airline and duties of their dispatchers. Also, depending on the airline, you can plan on working any where from 12-24 hour shifts (again, this is from what I have been told). Additionally, I was told that, though the pass mark on TC exams is a min. of 70%, some employers will ask you what your pass mark was and if it isn't at least 80% or higher (depending on the airline), they won't hire you because they want the most top notch and considering how many lives are in the FD hands, that makes sense. Just from the studying I have done to date... definitely having your radio operators license and experience w/ understanding weather/aviation maps and navigation is an asset for both getting hired and writing the TC exams.
Here is the Study Reference Guide from TC for Flight Dispatchers:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/comme ... 3/menu.htm
FD Written Exams:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/Quebec/eng/pilots/ex_dispatcher.htm
FD Position Job Description:
http://www.avjobs.com/careers/detail.asp?RecID=72
Here is an FD-Ops book you can order, done in a Q&A format:
http://www.aviationworld.net/product.as ... 4&c=264421
There is another book from this same company which has information on the weather aspects you need to know, but for some reason I am no longer able to find it online.
This school offers training for flight dispatchers:
http://www.canadianflyers.com/website/C ... aining.htm
Here is an acronym guide from TC which will help w/ 'some' of the acronyms you'll come across in your FD-ops:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/secre ... sary/a.htm
Here is a Nav (navigation) simulation link... I haven't figured it out yet, but it looks cool (move the 'plane', red space and blue space and then watch the readings change to the right):
http://www.visi.com/~mim/nav/
You need to know about VOR, here is a link w/ some information:
http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/vor-nav.htm
Here is another AV acronym glossary:
http://www.canairradio.com/glossary.html
When you are 'studying' and writing exams, your test books, text books etc... are kind of like the bible so you can pass those exams, but in the real world, much of that information you learned becomes more of a 'guideline' you try to follow as closely as possible. Here is an example: in my FD-Ops book, it says when a FD is signing off to land two large aircraft, they must be 4 miles apart. However, I know when I'm sitting on the runway in a Cessy waiting for 'traffic' clear, because our big city airport is so busy... watching those big 747's come down.... no way are they 4 miles apart... maybe 1/2 that. This is where your knowledge of the difference types of turbulence comes in.
You'll need to know about VHF:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range
&
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-directional_beacon
Keep yourself updated on TC Amendments:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/regse ... s/menu.htm
Here is an FD group on FB:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40218786143
The description reads as follows:
"A flight dispatcher is a person responsible for planning and monitoring the progress of a flight. In airline operations, both the pilot in command and the dispatcher are legally responsible for the safety of a flight. A dispatcher has the authority to delay, divert or cancel a flight at any time, and a flight cannot be released without the signature of both the pilot in command and the dispatcher. This improves the safety of the system by providing a form of check and balance. A dispatcher typically must be licensed by the aviation authority of a country. In order to obtain the license, the candidate must demonstrate extensive knowledge in meteorology and aviation, to a level that is comparable to that of an airline transport pilot license."
Air SAR offers a lot of the same knowledge through their free training (Nav, radio Operations etc...)... check out your local CASARA Zone. http://www.casara.ca/
These Two Books are a must have when doing your prep-studying for your FD exams:
.. FLIGHT DISPATCHER GTC CFDGTC - http://www.cyberpilotshop.com/item652.htm
.. FLIGHT DISPATCHER WRITTEN TEST BOOK CFDWTB http://www.cyberpilotshop.com/item653.htm
You can find a full description of both books on the .. website: http://www.acceleratedaviation.com/
Good luck finding these books used; I have yet to ever find any and when I look online for some, all I find is other people wanting to find used copies of the books as well, so chances are, you'll have to buy new should you choose to buy these books.
Another must have book is called, "From the Ground Up". You can buy this book from your local pilot shop for roughly $45 Cnd.
Here is a super basic sample exam (far shorter than what you'll be writing, but just gives you an idea):
http://www.freewebs.com/instruction/sam ... nation.htm
Also, one of the reasons people fail their TC exams is not only do they not know their stuff, but, from what I understanding, the TC exams can be, for some people, very wordy (lots of big proper words) and some times this throws people off. + the answers tend to be very close together, such as: a) FL-200, b)FL-250, c) FL-300 d) none of the above or even closer you might have answers to choose from something like: a) 454, b) 455 c) 456, d) 553... so to get it right, you either know it or you don't and often times the answers are very close when it comes to answering questions which require calculations, charts etc... . S
I can't emphasize enough just how much you need to really know your stuff and considering people's lives are in your hands (flight safety, charting, signing off on planes that go up and come down, weight balance etc...) you really don't want to get it wrong. The AV world tends to frown on in-air fender-benders and so do the passengers and their loves ones  .
Test yourself, daily or have someone you know test you daily on everything you have studied and learned... if you don't use it, you loose it and you'd be surprise how fast you forget information when it isn't regularly being recalled.
So far, this is all I have been able to find out. HTH's. 
Again, this is all information I have learned from talking to this or that person in the industry, asking questions etc... and some times the information I get doesn't always line up w/ other information I had received to date or information down the road, so it is not 'first hand' information as I am not, as of yet, a FD.
I had heard (again, 2nd hand knowledge) that FD in Australia make a bundle: around $100K a year... WOW (not sure if that is AUD or Cnd., but if AUD then it would work out to roughly twice that in Cnd.), so if you are willing to move there you possibly could do very well for yourself.
I have also heard that, 'some', employers do require a basic medical, but I have not, to date, been able to find out any information about it. This would be something to maybe ask airlines or your local TC inspector and any information you find out, please share, as I haven't yet been able to confirm this information or get any other additional details.
Books are written by humans and no human is infallible: I have have some errors of information in the books I have already and I made the necessary corrections in my books after confirmation the information w/ TC or else where, so know your stuff and be up to date. One of the typo errors I found was an they had the acronym and then in brackets they had what the acronym meant... while the information the brackets wasn't completely correct, a word was missing, so now I'm having to re-train my train to 'new' information so when it comes up on the TC exam I get it the question write and don't confuse the answers.
I'm always open to any new information and anyone can feel free to correct anything I have said. Still so much to learn and I can't wait: 
Hope all or some of this information helps. |
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