keepmovingon
Member
Finished up academics for NIFE a little while ago and waiting for flight phase. Nobody asked, but I always found myself looking for info while waiting in A-pool, so I might as well make a "takeaways post" myself.
NIFE 1 is four weeks of classroom-based learning and evaluation. Your class reports on a Friday, they issue iPads and give you a quick brief of what to expect, then you get started the Monday after. You have approximately four days(depending on weekends, sometimes more) between starting the material and being tested on it, so it flies by.
Week 1: Learn Aerodynamics and Engines. Aero Exam on Thursday. Aero was pretty easy. The pub is only like 60 pages and most of the information is intuitive. If you understand the principles and the formulas you should be able to infer a lot of the material. I studied a week ahead(which I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend), and really hit the books hard so I knew every paragraph of the Aero pub by the exam. Still managed to get a question wrong on test day.
Week 2: Engines Exam on Monday. Learn FRR and Navigation. FRR exam Thursday. Engines exam was more difficult than Aero. The material was daunting at first because it's about triple the volume of Aero, but you have more time to study and it requires a less in depth understanding of each concept. You're basically memorizing the pros and cons of different systems. FRR was the easiest material to understand, but the exam was pretty tricky. You have to really read the pub for this and make sure you know the nuances of each rule and regulation they give, if you want a 100. You'll pass if you just know the basics. You get an intro to Nav at the start of this week and a lot of people will panic. They give you the weekend for a reason... use it!
Week 3: Nav Exam on Tuesday, Weather on Friday. Nav was a bloodbath for our class. over 10% of the class failed. Every person who failed was either a person that was regularly struggling with NIFE material, or just not putting in the proper amount of time. I was in the library from 10am-7pm on Saturday and Sunday between my own practice and tutoring others. Everyone else who did well had similar weekend experiences. I'm just an Ensign that's never flown, but if that amount of time commitment is scary for you, you probably have an ill-conceived understanding of what this career is like. Weather was easy. You don't have a lot of time, but the material is quick and the powerpoints match up with the exam. After weather we did some chill briefs on naval history and stuff.
Week 4: This is just wrapping up academics. You have an EPs/Limits quiz on Thursday and a 20 question exam on the ground school material you cover this week. Very low-stress environment because the exams contributing to your course average are complete. This is technically a part of flight phase(NIFE 2). After the exam on Thursday, you go to your flight suit Friday at the O-Club for a mini-graduation, very informal. Really good time.
3 people in my class were attrited, and several people failed at least one exam. Don't start your two-year flight school journey with a failure, you only get three and this is the easiest part of the pipeline.
All-in-all, the past month was honestly some of the best times I've ever had. The material is interesting and manageable if you put in the time, the instructors are phenomenal, and the students are awesome people to work with. Really looking forward to getting in the plane and meeting more people like the ones working and learning at Pcola.
My big advice:
- Study the pubs for Aero and FRR, the powerpoints for Engines and Weather, and practice problems for Nav. Study harder than you ever have for Nav!
- Don't rely on gouge. Pinksheetmafia.com can be helpful for specific types of problems, but gouge is a slippery slope to taking shortcuts in academics. This information is not heavy or complex enough to necessitate trying to predict what is on the exam. Know the lectures and publications inside and out.
- Study a week ahead. You'll be able to study for Engines during Aero and study FRR over the weekend. It helps a great deal.
- Do NOT convince yourself this is too daunting. I went from thinking I wasn't smart enough for Navigation to teaching it to my classmates in two days. You have to understand that they aren't screening your intelligence, they're screening your ability to put in the time. I ended up averaging a 95. The class average is typically around 92, so people generally do well in NIFE. Some people were cranking 100s left and right so this was a wakeup call for the level I'm going to have to be at to be competitive.
- Definitely get a study group of people you want to surround yourself with. Mostly for the social aspect. It may be more efficient to study on your own, but this will encourage you to "drop everything and study" for a month. You can kill two birds with one stone by getting your social release in an academic setting. These groups can also be super helpful if you're a guy or gal that normally lags behind the curve a bit at first.
NIFE 1 is four weeks of classroom-based learning and evaluation. Your class reports on a Friday, they issue iPads and give you a quick brief of what to expect, then you get started the Monday after. You have approximately four days(depending on weekends, sometimes more) between starting the material and being tested on it, so it flies by.
Week 1: Learn Aerodynamics and Engines. Aero Exam on Thursday. Aero was pretty easy. The pub is only like 60 pages and most of the information is intuitive. If you understand the principles and the formulas you should be able to infer a lot of the material. I studied a week ahead(which I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend), and really hit the books hard so I knew every paragraph of the Aero pub by the exam. Still managed to get a question wrong on test day.
Week 2: Engines Exam on Monday. Learn FRR and Navigation. FRR exam Thursday. Engines exam was more difficult than Aero. The material was daunting at first because it's about triple the volume of Aero, but you have more time to study and it requires a less in depth understanding of each concept. You're basically memorizing the pros and cons of different systems. FRR was the easiest material to understand, but the exam was pretty tricky. You have to really read the pub for this and make sure you know the nuances of each rule and regulation they give, if you want a 100. You'll pass if you just know the basics. You get an intro to Nav at the start of this week and a lot of people will panic. They give you the weekend for a reason... use it!
Week 3: Nav Exam on Tuesday, Weather on Friday. Nav was a bloodbath for our class. over 10% of the class failed. Every person who failed was either a person that was regularly struggling with NIFE material, or just not putting in the proper amount of time. I was in the library from 10am-7pm on Saturday and Sunday between my own practice and tutoring others. Everyone else who did well had similar weekend experiences. I'm just an Ensign that's never flown, but if that amount of time commitment is scary for you, you probably have an ill-conceived understanding of what this career is like. Weather was easy. You don't have a lot of time, but the material is quick and the powerpoints match up with the exam. After weather we did some chill briefs on naval history and stuff.
Week 4: This is just wrapping up academics. You have an EPs/Limits quiz on Thursday and a 20 question exam on the ground school material you cover this week. Very low-stress environment because the exams contributing to your course average are complete. This is technically a part of flight phase(NIFE 2). After the exam on Thursday, you go to your flight suit Friday at the O-Club for a mini-graduation, very informal. Really good time.
3 people in my class were attrited, and several people failed at least one exam. Don't start your two-year flight school journey with a failure, you only get three and this is the easiest part of the pipeline.
All-in-all, the past month was honestly some of the best times I've ever had. The material is interesting and manageable if you put in the time, the instructors are phenomenal, and the students are awesome people to work with. Really looking forward to getting in the plane and meeting more people like the ones working and learning at Pcola.
My big advice:
- Study the pubs for Aero and FRR, the powerpoints for Engines and Weather, and practice problems for Nav. Study harder than you ever have for Nav!
- Don't rely on gouge. Pinksheetmafia.com can be helpful for specific types of problems, but gouge is a slippery slope to taking shortcuts in academics. This information is not heavy or complex enough to necessitate trying to predict what is on the exam. Know the lectures and publications inside and out.
- Study a week ahead. You'll be able to study for Engines during Aero and study FRR over the weekend. It helps a great deal.
- Do NOT convince yourself this is too daunting. I went from thinking I wasn't smart enough for Navigation to teaching it to my classmates in two days. You have to understand that they aren't screening your intelligence, they're screening your ability to put in the time. I ended up averaging a 95. The class average is typically around 92, so people generally do well in NIFE. Some people were cranking 100s left and right so this was a wakeup call for the level I'm going to have to be at to be competitive.
- Definitely get a study group of people you want to surround yourself with. Mostly for the social aspect. It may be more efficient to study on your own, but this will encourage you to "drop everything and study" for a month. You can kill two birds with one stone by getting your social release in an academic setting. These groups can also be super helpful if you're a guy or gal that normally lags behind the curve a bit at first.
