Interview at the IAANZ in Christchurch New Zealand

[blindworm2003]

Hi

I have an interview on the 14/07/08 for entry into the Internation Aviation accademy of New Zealand in Christchurch. I was wondering if anyone can help in advising me on what to expect during the interview. I was advised that they would have a sim test and after that a computer based exam. Has anyone been through this? If so your advise would be appreciated. I am new to the world of flying and this has always been my dream job. Any assistance would mean a lot. Thanks ;)

[flightless_bird]

I do not know much about the IAANZ although if their selection is similar to other (international) training organisations then I imagine that the computer based selection will be Pilapt or something similar. Check out the web for more details, you can also purchase a version which will let you practice at home before doing the tests for real on the day.

[blindworm2003]

Thank you i will have a look at Pilapt :ok:

[gadude]

Quote ""I too have wanted to fly all my life though can’t afford it""

You could go and get a job and save???


like many off us have done like myself. :ok:

[gadude]

Wel good on you for your working etics. I like that!! Not taking the piss.:ok:

If the industrie collapses we all be vonruble (how do you spell that??)
Not just the new bies.
people will still need to travel. maybe a little less tough.

I know what you mean tough.

good luck anyway:ok:

[Luke SkyToddler]

My word the canterbury aero club have gotten pretty big for their boots these days

Take a big hint from me before you commit to anything, why dont you get to NZ, rent a car for a couple of weeks and drive around the country assessing the rest of the schools and find one that's right for you. YOU should be the one interviewing THEM about what they've got to offer you and your hard earned cash. Especially with regard to what they can offer you AFTER the training and the hard job of building a couple thousand hours to make yourself employable.

And before you fall for any other flash websites, I'm not talking about their sausage factory mates in Hamilton or Ardmore. Unless of course you actually think that good training consists of being a PPL dressed like a Cathay captain, paying twice as much for the same training you'd get at a decent regional aero club, and getting kicked out the door about 5 seconds after your money's run out :rolleyes:

Just off the top of my head try queenstown, rotorua, tauranga, taupo, nelson, new plymouth, dunedin, i'm sure there's a few other regional cities I've missed, what you should be looking for is lots of open spaces, some kind of instrument approach on the field and most importantly some actual GA employers based on the field for you to network with. And preferably a crusty grumpy old bugger for an instructor instead of a bunch of hotshot teenage C cats.

[50cent]

hey mate:

same as some others that i am not from IAACH, but i can tell you what they want at the interview, and that includes all other big sausage factories.

i agree with previous posts about these schools treat you like a cathay captain since day one, and charge twice as much money just because you start wearing the uniform from the second you step into your shiny tomahawk. so at the end of the day, you feel pretty silly and overdressed.

anyway, if you chose to go with them, its your choice, your dollar.

at these interviews, they are not looking for a cathay captain, they are not looking for a turbo prop first officer, and they are not looking for their future instructor.

may be money is one thing they are all interested in, but at the end of the day, everyone is paying it through, either through the system or pay themselvies.

HOWEVER
they are looking for, and this is very IMPORTANT! they are looking for a guy/girl who really wants to do the course, and have the potential or garantee to finish this over priced course within the time frame they are giving you.

BECAUSE
if you drop out half way through, they wont be able to get all your money (that may depend on the schools, some schools get all your money no matter you drop out at the start of your PPL or the end of your instructors rating).
if you struggle with the course, they will have to relocate the resourses, where pull instructors from flying duties to ground duties, that will mess up the schedual, and also not making any money because all the instructors know, the school only make money from turning the props, ground work is pretty much a freeby.

therefore, if you do go for the interview, show them that you are really keen, really motivated. that includes doing some prep like know what aeroplane they fly, what operations they do, or may be some basic things about aeroplanes (pitch roll yaw)

dont tell them what to do as a student, even you might have a few hours or even gone solo. if they want you to repeat some lessons or subjects you have already done, dont argue, just pull your ass together and do it.
and if you want to get a job with them later on, show a smile and some skin will always help. thats for a girl of course.

hope that helps

50

[Luke SkyToddler]

"willing to be a turboprop first officer and learn the hard way" I was kind of waiting for that!

This is really really fundamentally important to understand 772930, so listen up.

Nothing against IAANZ - in fact I fully admit I haven't flown in NZ since the 90s and I'm a few years uncurrent on anything with propellors - but my beef is a more general one directed at ALL the big schools and what they fail to tell you, is that in the Oz/NZ market even the poxiest right seat of the poxiest little turboprop is many years away from you even AFTER you finish flying school.

You have to come up with a plan that's going to give you the highest chance of getting some kind of hours - ANY hours - when you are a brand new 200 hour CPL. The percentage of people who complete training at a big sausage factory school and then drop out of the race, is much much higher, for the simple reason that the good entry-level GA jobs have all been grabbed by people who bought their training at said GA operation, or at least been busy buying beers for the boss and sweeping his hangar floor while they completed their CPL training elsewhere.

A lot of these big schools bang on and on about their superior quality "airline oriented" training which is all well and good to a point, but all the flash simulators and uniforms and new aircraft and the best and most expensive training in the world won't help you when you have 200 hours, you're 9 months uncurrent from flying and you're on the dole. Especially when you see the guy in shorts and T shirt who trained at the crappy prefabricated hut across the other side of the airfield, and he's all of a sudden filling up his logbook with quality hours.

When you're choosing a school it is so so so important to think beyond the actual training, and go for a place that has an associated commercial operation, whether it's air taxi or charter or ambulance or skydiving or banner towing or bank runs or microlight / recreational PPL instructing, I could go on for ages there's so much flying out there if you think about it, you have to go and train at a place like that, and then make bloody sure that at the completion of your training you'll be the next cab off the rank for some of those hours. Obviously multi engine commercial work is the holy grail but you have to get those first thousand hours by any way shape or form you find them, and then doors will start to open.

I freely admit I didn't follow my own advice when I trained (went to a now-defunct sausage factory school in Ardmore) and I reckon now, with the benefit of hindsight, doing it the way I did and grinding out the hours with my C-cat rating and a few "trial lessons" a week, must have set me back 3 to 4 years before I got my entry level airline job compared to the guys who were out there in the regions ripping into the single-piston charter work as soon as they were qualified.

If you don't believe me then go stick your head into any crew room of any regional airline in oz or nz, and ask the first bunch of pilots you see, how many hours they had when they got their first kerosene burning job, what they did when they first left flying school, and what they recommend as the fastest way to get into their seats.

[hef]

Just remember you will be paying 7 point something % interest on that student loan if you leave NZ.

I have some Aussie mates who decided against training in NZ because after the interest, travel, accomodation, a car, etc etc it just wasn't viable. Also the big one...the 50 hours extra required for an NZ CPL.

I'm not trying to put you off, I would love you to come train in our beautiful country and inject badly needed $$'s into our economy, but think about it :ok:

As for IAANZ, I didn't train there but I did train in the helicopter school about 100 metres down the road about 4 years ago. I had a few lectures there so I got to know a few few people training there. As far as I can tell it was a very good school, I never heard anything negative mentioned about the place. (Mostly) Modern fleet, very nice buildings/ facilities etc, friendly staff/instructors (don't know anything about experience levels though), amazing mountains fairly close by, brilliant cafe serving fuc*ing amazing pies. That's about all I can tell ya.

Good luck :)

[Fidelity]

I fully understand the sausage factory idea vs. the guys who train next door. However to get a student loan I had to go the the 'big shiny' school. If I had the cash I would have gone to cheaper alternatives. Then again: the young pilots who come back from conventions where pilots all over the country meet, it does seem that IAANZ has the the best airplane/instructor student ratio, best weather, best location etc.. etc.. (comparing the big players now) and if I didn't get my wires crossed (because this bit of research was done before I started there: IAANZ is the cheapest of the sausage factories.)

For you internationals: If I had cash and could do it over again I'd go to South Africa where flying is also cheap (I think its JAA there) and you don't have the curse of NZ's CAA, albeit brilliant but local licence -as my interests include going to Europe where you don't need 3000 hours or so to get into small local airlines. - as one thread above said, you'll sit here forever before you see your right hand seat in the smallest turboprop.

[Falling_Penguin]

As an ex customer,

I have read this thread with interest since I completed my PPL there (within the aero club division) in 2001.

LukeSkyToddler makes good points and you should give consideration to these. From my own experience, researching a decent school to train with good facilities and good instruction, I ended up (I took my time, about 6 months fact finding!) at Christchurch. Far from being a sausage factory I found that there was a good spread of experience on hand to teach me well from the beginning. IAANZ benefits from a state of the art set up, lots of briefing rooms, and a large, well equipped fleet. The ethos (in 2001, mind) was good. I would like to think the strong sense of professionalism I encountered back then is still in evidence now. But you must probe further, find out the stories of others who have been there, and yes, finally appraise what LSkyTodd has to say, and make the enquiries at smaller places with links to eg para dropping because I would say he makes the better point of this whole thread.....as in - you finish training, but what then....? This has a massive effect on your future plight.

I am now flying B757, and I still remember with fondness the NZ south island, beautiful crisp winter mornings, heading off to West Melton for circuits! Hope to return some day.

Good luck in your research and keep an open mind.

FP

[spifire]

I trained there a few years ago when its was a much smaller school,it was good then.But now the numbers have increased too much bought down the quality of training.I am sure you would still pass all exams and flight tests, but ther will be alot of frustration along the way.

[Lyden]

Hi, i've passed the interview and really theres no need to worry about it.
i sat up for a couple of nights studying hard out fretting the whole time.
But once i started the test it was a breeze.
Hope you do well mate :) Best of luck
See you in january or april?

[blindworm2003]

Hi sorry for the late response. I have been away from the net for a while now. My interview was fine not as bad as i thought. I had a math test which was quite easy. Why dont you PM me and we can get in touch so i can give you more details on the interview. :ok:

[steve181]

I've lived in Christchurch all my life. I started flying when I was at high school through the Canterbury Aero Club (essentially the same thing as the IAANZ, same facilities/aircraft etc). I worked part time in a supermarket to pay for lessons & during my last year at high school I passed my PPL flight test. I joined the IAANZ (2003/2004ish) & studied there full time the year after high school. I got a “free pass” so to speak into the academy because I already had my PPL so didn’t have to prove anything.

Being a young humble 18/19 year old I felt pretty uncomfortable the whole year I was with the academy. It was pretty over-the-top there with a fancy pilot uniform (flying a Tomahawk lol) & glitzy facilities & people; there was no shortage of arrogant aviator wearing “topguns”, who thought they were the “big man” driving their flash convertible that their old man paid for & walking through the malls in their “pilot’s” uniform all the time, I still cringe thinking about it.

It was an extremely busy year for me even though I had a head start over most going into the IAANZ with my PPL. Around 1/5 or possibly even ¼ dropped out of my intake. I got a student loan (with interest at that time) for my CPL with MEIR & having that hanging over my head was very stressful, the whole course was very tightly packed in & there were tight deadlines, It felt like I was in a straight jacket with no room to move basically.

I studied hard & passed the theory exams & CPL/MEIR flight tests, after that my time was up so I was shuffled out the door which closed behind me & the next group of students arrived to begin the course. I felt like an object (or a number) that had just completed its turn on the factory line.

I felt disillusioned afterwards; after all I had spent $70,000+ in a short amount of time I felt like I had been treated like a number. My experience was the opposite at the Canterbury aero club when I was working towards my PPL, I was physically paying with my earned money (not student loan) so felt like I had complete control & could call all the shots. I would usually just fly on Sundays when all the academy guy’s weren’t there so it was also a quiet & relaxed environment, no rat race vibe.

I had no contacts (no family or friends were in the aviation industry), I felt like I wouldn’t be respected by a pilot employer as a young 19 year old, I had nowhere to go & with a massive student loan with interest I slipped into a depression. I’m not blaming anyone for that situation; flying was something I always wanted to do (& still is) so in my naivety I didn’t foresee the dead end I encountered post flight training.

To cut a long story short I worked full time in a supermarket for several years to get my loan under control, then after that I got a job with Air New Zealand as a baggage handler. I was lucky with my flight instructors, they were excellent & now I see many of them regularly on the ramp at CHC airport. One is a 1st officer for Pacific Blue, 3 fly ATR’S for ANZ, 1 is a 737 FO for ANZ & several other’s fly the beech 1900’s for ANZ.

I’m flying with the ANZFC now to get my license current again, the hire rates are significantly cheaper than the IAANZ (especially so for me being an employee of Air New Zealand). The ANZFC is really laid back & casual as well, the complete opposite of the IAANZ. Once I’m current again I’ll think about where I will go from there.