Hi richard1979,
Hope you get a look at this before your phase 2 as I have only just spotted your post this morning! First of all congrats on getting through phase 1; I'm sure you'll agree the balls flying at walls were a bit of a ******!
I failed to get in in the end, finding out a couple of weeks after Phase 2 took place. But, here is the lowdown on what I can remember. When I was at Maastricht for my phase 2 a few months ago I was put in a group with three other guys for the teamwork exercises. The first exercise saw us all sat around a table in a 'discussion' scenario where we were tasked with arranging the order in which a group of aircraft should be sequenced for landing. The a/c were of different sizes and capacities and some had problems of various degrees; they also all had different fuel loads. I approached this by suggesting that we prioritise by risk to aircraft safety, medical emergency considerations etc.
The second exercise involved constructing a flight plan (as a group) based on a flight that needed to be completed between two airports allowing for altitude/speed restrictions and weather conditions. Just be sure to pay attention to all the items of information you are given and remember that there is undoubtedly more than one acceptable solution!
The third exercise was actually quite good fun! We were put into pairs; one person described a technical drawing whilst the other had to reproduce it based entirely on their verbal instructions. I remember mine was some kind of complicated gear train with various connecting mechanisms. I think this basically tests your grasp of English vocabulary and your ability to be concise when delivering information.
Then of course was the interview. There were three guys; one was an ATCO from the UAC, one was an admin guy from HQ and the other was an instructor from the training school in Luxembourg. They basically asked me about my achievements at school and during my life before probing a little on technical details. This was no harder than 'What is a transponder?' As far as the company is concerned I think it is enough to know where their facilities are and what exactly Eurocontrol's role is in airspace management.
Most importantly, there is a kind of quick-fire maths section at the end of the interview. They had a whiteboard in there (which I clocked as I went in, crapping myself!) and handed me a few board markers. Basically it was speed, distance, time stuff but I felt I crumbled a little under the pressure. Make sure you know your simple relationships for calculating how fast an a/c travels in a certain time and how far it goes in that time etc. They also asked me a tricky question which I didn't get:
An a/c takes off and flies due north for an hour, then due east for an hour, then due south for an hour and lands back where it started. How is this possible?
A: It takes off from the South Pole (Think outside the box!)
Hope this has been of some help. Good luck with everything buddy!
dw499 (still looking for a job!)
