aptitude tests with British European

[OnCentreLine]

I have been invited to attend the first stage of aptitude tests with British European. I am not sure what to expect and would be very grateful for any information about the two stages of aptitude tests as well as the interview.
Thanks to everyone who might be able to help!

[Final Destination]

Can I ask when you sent off your BE application form.
Thanks FD. ;)

[JT8]

Hmm, I sent my form off a while back, and am pretty confident I'll be called for the first stage :rolleyes: - surprised you've been invited so quickly with the closing date for applications being tomorrow. :confused:.

Try doing a search on Cabair tests or similar for details.

Good luck, JT8

[goat1500]

Look at the advice by www and others on the wannabe archive., there is loads of stuff on those threads. :rolleyes:

Also there are some good books at whsmith. Try there too.

Happy hunting!

[LGL]

OnCentreLine,
You are talking rubbish, you haven't been asked to the next stage at all have you?
Why lie?

[Mutley]

I find myself in a terrible position and I feel absolutely rotten. You are all quite correct in the fact that I haven't been called for the first stage.
My intention was to create curiosity in the thread so that people would be interested in reading and therefore I may get some positive reply.
I want to, here and now, appologise for fibbing and worrying those who have applied and haven't yet received word.
Also, thank you very much for those of you who have pointed me in the right direction.
Again, many appologies and best of luck to those of you who have applied!
Kind regards

[OnCentreLine]

Again forgive me, I used my partners computer and their login name came up without my thinking. The above words are mine and I hope I have put the records straight.
Regards, OnCentreLine

[WAIF-er]

On centre line,

Wouldnt it be funny if you DIDN'T get invited to the aptitude tests!!

[OnCentreLine]

That, you will never know WAIF-er. And for what it's worth, isn't it a shame you seem to have taken offence to my posting. Aaaahh.

Regards, OnCentreLine

[Jetset Willy]

OCL, I attended them last year.
In short, they are maths, maths and more maths.
A lot of trigonometry, 3:4:5 triangles, etc.
All the kind of stuff I learnt at GCSE / A-Level, but have not used and therefore forgotten in the 8 years since leaving school!

There is also an aural exercise where the tutor reads out information, and you have to cross check it against graphs and charts - take-off distances, landing weights, etc.

And finally a mechanical aptitude test, with lots of diagrams of wheels and pullies, etc - i.e. if cog A turns in one direction, cog B in another, what direction will cog C turn? That kind of thing. I found this the easiest, but I found that the people who aced the maths tests struggled on this one.

Hope this helps in some way - sorry I cannot expand further.

[Sagey]

Trigonometry, don't u need a calculator for that or do u answer with eg Sin then the number u worked it out to be? Is the Trig GCSE standard or A level?.

BTW Jetset are u named after a 1980's computer game
:eek: :rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes:

Sagey

[GonvilleBromhead]

Tip: KNOW YOUR CONVERSIONS !

If you need to, sit down and learn them (lbs, kg's, mph, kph, litres, gallons etc etc). There's bwgger all point being great at the arithmetic side if you get to the end of the question and it says "Answer in pounds/kgs/mph etc if you please". The number of times you can hear the word "F..k" at around the same time, quite amusing.

[ 01 November 2001: Message edited by: GonvilleBromhead ]

[WAIF-er]

OnCentreLine,

All I said was "wouldnt it be funny.." How did you conclude that I was offended by your posting? NEVER assume anything in aviation.

All I wondered is why did you have to lie to generate interest in your posting?

Your original apology is accepted!

Regards.

[OnCentreLine]

Thanks Jetset Willy and others for your positive reply......a great help.
Oh dear, WAIF-er, and still you go on.
No, I don't think it "funny" at all as this selection process is very much of interest to me and I want to attend.
As for your comment, "never assume anything in aviation", are you qualified and have you been in aviation long enough to make that statement?
I am reliably informed that should a problem occur whilst for example flying, the flight crew take on board its effects, consult with one another, make their assumption and then act.......
But I think I know what you mean!

Regards, OnCentreLine

[WAIF-er]

Having done tests at BA, OATS (BMi), Airtours, the cabair tests are the only ones I havent done yet.

If its anything like the Air 2K c**k up of last year, I wont even get an invite.

I have only applied to this one because if I dont, I may possibly regret it. However, I personally am unsure of the financial risks of going into a ?sponsorship? at the present moment in time.

I personally know guys who made it onto the Airtours and the BMi sponsorships earlier this year, only to be chopped last month.

No job, No money, No sponsorship!

[skysoarer]

Good luck to all applicants for the British European sponsorship! Should hopefully get 'a' letter, hopefully a positive one, next week I guess.

Having sat Air2k's tests last year at Cabair and getting invited to Phase 3, I am slightly more confident ... slightly ...

Regards;

Sky

[pitotheat]

Guys and Girls,

From someone sitting on the inside of the flight deck looking out, if I was already holding my frozen ATPL then there is nothing to lose with applying to all the companies I could think of but for those seeking sponsorship now please note:

1. There are and will continue to be qualified pilots of all ages and experiences for the next year or so as the industry mops up from the fall out of Sep 11. This, of course, assumes there will be no more major incidents to further dent the industry.

2. If you are young (less than 30ish) try something else for a year or so to let the dust settle. As an employer I would be far more impressed looking at a CV of someone who recognised the situation as it is now and did something else for a while to broaden their horizon and then applied to me when there was a good chance of employment. The courses are difficult enough without the added pressure of whether the sponsorship programme will last the duration of your course.

3. In the worst case what can you do if you are taken on a sponsorship scheme and are dumped part way through? Regardless of the reason think of how a future employer will view a disjointed training profile when you do eventually obtain your licence.

4. If you are contemplating leaving a good job to follow flying as a second career sit tight and save your money.

This will only be a relatively short lived problem, all the factors that gave the industry a positive outlook 2 months ago are still there except confidence which will return. Just look at your timing and see whether you can delay committing yourself to such a massive undertaking and ask yourself do I have to do this now.

I apologise if this sounds patronising, it is written with years of experience and a sound knowledge.

Good luck with what ever you decide.

[hmm nice flaps]

I sat the tests last year, and considering we are all fighting for four places, I really think those that make it will be exceptional. You're going to have to be "**** hot" on maths and mechanical awareness to stand any chance. In this sense it is a sound move on the part of BE to do such a sponorshgip scheme as they are quaranteed a very high calibre student, as only the best are going to get through. Many of us will be wasting precious money in paying to sit these tests, and paying transport cost to Cranfield. Having said that I will sit them again if invited but don't rate my chances! - :( No harm in trying though. Contray to the spirit of pprune I am not going to divulge any information about the nature of the tests as this may give you an advantage. We are up against each other here afterall!

[prob30]

are we talking about Cabair/BE sponsorship or do the above comments hold true for an ATPL holder applying for an FO job at BE?

[Winkiepinkie]

Sorry, but I'm gonna have to disagree with 'hmm, nice flaps'. It just isn't the case that only the super able get through. I hate to say "I have friends in very high places", but I do, one of which being the chief recruitment boss of a major sponsoring airline (not BA). He said that when he got his cadets through Oxford/Cabair, there would always be the very good pilot, the mediocre and the dummy (his words). So I guess if you get through the aptitude tests you’re good at maths/mechanics etc, but it doesn’t guarantee the airline with top-notch pilots. Every system is fallible.

For all those out the who are failing the attitudes with the major airlines, in doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t make a good pilot. On the flip side though, you could make a bloody awful pilot so don’t pooh pooh these test all together.

W.

[hmm nice flaps]

I suppose this is a fair enough comment winkie, but the sponsoring airlines also test for flying aptitude-at BE this comes after the written exams if you make it through the chop- and so after such extensive testing it seems surprising that they should always end up with one dummy. Especially as competion for places is so fierce- in the case of BE four places for God knows how many initial application forms.

Perhaps they should have the flying aptitudes first so as to prevent any super brainy geeks who have no dexterity or co-ordiantion from flooding the next stage (wasn't this often the way at school- the very brainy people were often left wanting on the sports field).

:D

[funkster]

Jetset Willy

You say that there is an oral test about landing distances; takeoff weights etc.. using graphs and charts. How can I revise these sort of questions not having a ppl and only having a few hours experience? What else should I revise to do with technical flying knowledge??

Anyone?