I went for Phase 2 Selection at Bournemouth in June 2006, just gonna pass on some words of wisdom:
Getting There
For those of you coming from Scotland, Ryanair run a flight 1355 - 1510 every Thursday and back on Saturday 1535 - 1655 from Glasgow Prestwick(PIK) to Bournemouth(BOH) and if you book 3 weeks in advance(amount of notice you get once booked onto selection) it will cost you £35.94 do not leave it too late as a week in advance this flight shoots up to £114.94. Unfortunately selection lasts just a wee bit too long for you to get back on the Friday. Do not forget your passport as first of all you'll need it for CTC and secondly it's Ryanair's policy to check passports of ALL it's passengers.
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/
The airport has its own train station, and the 80 metre walk from the station to the check in desk is under a covered walkway. Trains run to Glasgow Prestwick from Glasgow every half an hour and the journey takes about 45 minutes. You can use the National Rail website to plan train times:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ Train enquries:
08457 484950
When booking your flight be sure to print off your confirmation email, because when you show this on the train you get half price off your ticket from any train station in Scotland to Prestwick.(You cannot get this discount if you buy your ticket online)
http://www.spt.co.uk/tickets/prestwickairport.html
United Taxis run a service from Bournemouth Airport; when you come out arrivals turn to the left and you'll find the taxi stand. If you do not want to be charged for taking money out at the airport take enough money for the taxi.(Roughly £15 to Carrington House Hotel ont he outskirts of town)
United Taxis: 01202 556677
Accommadation
I phoned Karen Croucher from CTC to organise accommadation as CTC get a discount for using a hotel for a lot of their candidates.
Karen Croucher: 023 8073 7567
She organised a room in the Carrington House Hotel situated on the Bournemouth East Cliff just outside the town centre. It is a 15 min walk to the beach in one direction and 15 min walk to a Walmart Asda/Bournemouth Train Station in the other.
Carrington House Hotel was £45 a night, breakfast included and a £15 taxi ride away from CTC Aviation. The rooms do have an iron for ironing shirts etc. and a hairdrier.
http://www.carringtonhousehotel.co.uk/
The hotel has a free phone to call taxis, (it might be an idea to order one the night before) leave with plenty time in the morning to account for traffic..it took me around 15-20 mins and i'd suggest trying to arrive there for 0930 onwards. Be warned, CTC Aviation is not within walking distance of Bournemouth Airport and not well known to taxi drivers, so i suggest printing off the directions from the CTC website to show the driver.
http://www.ctcaviation.com/wings/directions.htm
(More than one candidate got taken to Bournemouth airport making them late for selection!!)
Selection
There was around 20 candidates there for selection at the same time both Wings ATP candidates and Wings Cadets.
(You do get provided with lunch so there is no need to take any with you)
In the morning you get a very informative presentation, i would take a notebook to take notes as it provides a lot of useful information that you might forget and it could be useful for the interview.
There is then a short break before you get split into two groups; one group has lunch whilst the others start the numeracy test and the PILAPT tests.
Numeracy Test
15 Q's 15mins
Rumour is that the pass mark for the numeracy test is 12/15
The maths is of a medium level and is multiple choice...you are required to do calculations such as add, subtract, multiply and long/short division. The questions are in the form of currency conversion, fuel calculation, ascending&descending timing, square root and squaring maths and ratios.
I bought the Trachtenberg book that someone recommended in an earlier thread and yes it has a few useful ideas but I didn't ultimately find it THAT useful. However, I did find this book useful, Speed Mathematics; Secrets of Lightning Mental Calculation.
ISBN: 0471467316
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...lance&n=266239
It is well set out and clearly illustrates a number of techniques that you might find useful with examples and if you email him(there's an email address near the back of the book) he will send you more example questions. I would suggest you read this book well in advance though and do a LOT of practice the more you do the faster you will become.
PILAPT tests
The PILAPT tests last approximately 1hr 15mins and comprises of 7 tests; yes they are difficult but a goodnight's sleep will prepare you better than anything else. My only regret is that i didn't play more flight sims using a joystick, i found it quite alien to use a joystick. You can see screenshots of all the tests on the PILAPT website:
http://62.3.209.83/pilapt/Header.htm
SUMMARY
Stage 1 - Application Form (No Cost)
Stage 2 - Introduction to the wings scheme (Covers both ATP and CADET paths)
Maths Test (15 in 15 mins)
PILAPT tests (7 tests, they take approx 1h 15m).
Stage 2 costs £164.50 for BOTH ATP and CADETS. (the people that got away without paying were the ATP candidates that applied prior to the application process going online.)
Stage 3 - Group Exercises and Interview. (No Cost)
Stage 4 (ATP) AQC course ( Cost approx 7k I think)
Stage 4 (Cadet) Sim check. (No Cost)
NB:
- CTC DO read pprune forums so if anyone gives away the specifics of the questions they will simply change the questions.
- Remember your passport and your educational certificates!
- Be organised and plan for any setbacks beforehand with travel.
- CTC understand that you will want to know how you have done ASAP and send candidates an email to say whether or not they have made it the same day, if you don't make it they send you further feedback within 3 weeks.
Good luck!