Training

[Jacques Lauzon]

Hi,
I passed the Entrance exam at the end of January. Since then, I've tried to join FIR Montreal at least 3 times but never had a feedback. I have read in the forum that there's a delay to get trained in Montreal . Is someone can tell me what I should do or expect. 
Also, how long do I have to start my training after passing the exam?

Thank's
Jacques

[Michel Robichaud]

Jacques,

Welcome to the Club. I tried to reach CZUL several times:

- On october 6th, I sent a request via their website at https://www.czul.ca/ ---> No sign of life
- On november 17th, I sent another request on their website ---> No sign of life
- On december 29th, I wrote to William Leblond - CZUL FIR Chief ---> No sign of life again.

I just gave up.

Don't get me wrong, I understand people are busy and that this is a hobby, but at least a sign that my e-mails were received would have been appreciated.

Michel

[Andrew Ogden]

To put it frankly, Montreal (CZUL) is an inactive FIR with no active staff members. You would be better off joining one of the other FIRs until such time as CZUL becomes active again.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Richie Queally]

As far as I know there's stuff going on in the background to liven up Montreal again but until then it's a lost cause

[Jacques Lauzon]

Thank's for the replies.  About my second question, how long do I have to start my training before I loose S1?

[Mark Trumble]

Thank's for the replies.  About my second question, how long do I have to start my training before I loose S1?

Jacques,

There is no time restriction to S1, your training can take as long as you want it to. In regards to starting training in Montreal, let me talk to some people and see what I can arrange for you.

[Travis Chan]

As far as I know there's stuff going on in the background to liven up Montreal again but until then it's a lost cause

I wouldn't say it's a lost cause. At the moment we're trying to make Montreal a viable airspace again with the help of Moncton and Vancouver. We're hoping to get some instructors to get Montreal active again but I do want to warn that we need to move our current students and this may take a while before we can start training new recruits. If you are interested in another FIR you are always free to request a transfer.

[Michel Robichaud]

I do want to warn that we need to move our current students and this may take a while before we can start training new recruits.

Travis,

What do you mean exactly by "move our current students"? You mean training current staff up to C1?

Also, does "this may take a while" means weeks, months or years?

Thanks in advance,

Michel

[Travis Chan]

Travis,

What do you mean exactly by "move our current students"? You mean training current staff up to C1?

Also, does "this may take a while" means weeks, months or years?

Thanks in advance,

Michel

The plan is to train current S3 students that are close to earning a C1 so we can get them to I1 after they meet the necessary requirement to warrant that promotion.

In terms of how long it may take for that to happen I can't put a timetable on it as all students learn at different rates but optimistically we're looking at a few months to train them, have them receive their OTS. Following that there are activity requirements and Rob with William will discuss ideal candidates for Instructors. If I were to make a rough guess I would think this alone could take a few months (again a rough estimate dependent on activity) before we start moving other students along.

One last thing to consider, I'm not sure what the waiting list for CYUL is at the moment so depending on where you are in the queue, this could impact your training start date.

[Richie Queally]

I knew you are working hard to get CZUL up and running again, but when I said it was a lost cause, i was kind of implying that until there was activity there it isn't worth your while to join.

Also, seeing as they're not replying to any emails, I highly doubt they have any proper queue there.

[Michel Robichaud]

Also, seeing as they're not replying to any emails, I highly doubt they have any proper queue there.

Exactly.

BTW, I do not mean to be rude, I just want to understand what is going on. With so many people that want to help CZUL (at least by looking at the many messages on this forum), i'm puzzled as to the real reason behind all this...

Michel.

[Travis Chan]

The difficultly is from an administrative side there’s only the Chief. Yanick has been a huge help with the website but for all other inquiries William is all there is. I’m hoping with new instructors we can grow the base and make CYUL viable again. I know most want a quick solution but we need to address it systematically starting with Instructors.

[Tomas Hansson]

Unless it has already happened, maybe start by dropping the bilingual requirement. That way those that have offered to help out in the past but been rejected will be willing to give it another try!

Members should be able to converse and/or provide air traffic control services in English, the
internationally accepted official language for air traffic control.

[Travis Chan]

This is something that is seriously being considered but I’ve been told there is a waiting list long enough that meet the bilingual requirement.

If there is indeed long waiting list of controllers that meet that requirment in queue and the only restriction is the lack of instructors; I want to give them that opportunity to keep the requirement. If we see continued staffing issues after this the bilingual requiement will be closely examined.

[Michel Robichaud]

Unless it has already happened, maybe start by dropping the bilingual requirement. That way those that have offered to help out in the past but been rejected will be willing to give it another try!

As a french speaking guy from Montréal, I have absolutely no issue with training in English only.

I will tell you a secret: it's easier for me to understand ATC phraseology in english than in french. I even misinterpretated a clearance to join the ILS given to me in french when I began flying on Vatsim.

On the other hand, I can understand that pilots from Quebec that are not fluent in English might refrain from connecting to Vatsim, and miss a lot of fun from our hobby, not even mentioning the fact that ATC services are bilingual in Quebec and we want to be as close to the real thing as we can.

This is certainly not an easy question to solve.

How is this handled elsewhere? Is it English and Spanish in Mexico? English and Japanese in Japan? English and French in France? I have not flown on Vatsim with ATC outside of North America yet...