Dlr Tests / First Part
Hello guys,
I have just come back home from Hamburg for the first DLR tests and would like now to share my experience with you if it can be of help.
My Hotel: Motel One, all new and good quality hotel. Impossible to have dinner but you may go at the Ibis restaurant that is at 20 meters from Motel One.
The DLR center is at about 10 to 15 minutes walk on the right from the hotels. Ibis put a passenger coach at your disposal to go. Ask at the reception desk.
The DLR personnel: nice people, very pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. Three people met us early in the morning and we then spent our day with one of them.
Layout of the testing day:
>30 minutes introduction followed by different series of DLR Tests arranged in about one-hour blocks. 10 minutes' break after each one-hour block.
>We were about 35 candidates.
>The screens are of high quality and are highly sensitive to fingers. So, it is not necessary to beat them violently ! (some guys were a bit violent with their screen sometimes)
DLR Tests
(comparison with the Training Software)
ENS: same kind as the one in the training software
VLR: same presentation. Black line in a 10x10 cms box. 25 items
KRN: 10 visual and 10 acoustic. Time is variable depending on the difficulty of the task. Easier calculation but terribly difficult to concentrate for the acoustical exercises because, in my case, I was hearing all instructions coming from my neighbours’ headsets at the same time in addition to mine!!! I reported the problem to the instructor who confirmed me that they are well aware of this problem. Not good for me ! My results will be much lower than those I was used to achieve !
Personality questionnaire: 239 questions in something like 45 minutes. You just have to reply YES or NO to the statements displayed on your screen. Some questions would deserve discussion but of course it is not possible to do so. I would have preferred to be offered the possibility to choose how much I agree or disagree with the statements with the help of a 1 to 5 scale for example.
OWT: Clocks are a bit bigger. Same presentation. Sensibly the speed of
level 3.
SKT: Same presentation except that the “same dots” rule is replaced by a “same number of points” rule. Same principle with the three buttons.
Hearing your nervous colleagues beating their screens with their fingers is quite disturbing at the beginning.
No time limit per exercise. You have to work as fast and as correctly as possible up to the end of the total time. Sensibly the same number of runs as in
Level 3.
RMS: same presentation and speed as in Level 2. Exactly the same voice. No problem for me in this test regarding the headsets' problems as described above.
Aviation knowledge: same questions than those on the forum.
VMC: Some shapes are identical to those in the Training Software, but many are new, shapes are fairly complex and relatively similar and as a result are difficult to keep in your working memory. Begin with “2 Back”, then progressively increase up to “5 Back”. Same speed as level 3. More difficult!!!
ROT: exactly the same voice. Speed starts really slow (Level 1) and then increase a first time to about Level 2 and then a third time to somewhere between Level 2 and 3.
The correct cube have then to be chosen among six possibilities displayed in two rows of three cubes (in that, the display is quite different but doesn’t cause you any trouble except that you have to find where the cube you want is on the screen.)
Command orders of all other candidates emanating from their headsets will resonate in your ears. Quite disturbing if not perfectly concentrated. Not a major concern for me.
CRM questionnaire: something like 95 questions in 39 minutes. You have to reply by choosing how much you agree or disagree with the statement or to decide how much the statement is applicable to you. Other candidate and I found that these questions were not perfectly suited for us because they could be understood in different ways. Some questions are notably concerning your relations with your airline and colleagues and then some are about the ideal airline you would like to work for.
It is nonetheless not a problem to treat them.
MIC: I do recommend you buying the SKYTEST Training Software as the “simulator” at the DLR is very similar to the one in SKYTEST, except for the speed/pitch relationship that is not as reactive with the DLR MIC.
For increasing or decreasing the throttle, in the DLR test, you will have to press the appropriate button several times up to reach the desired speed. Holding your finger on a button will not make the throttle move more than once.
The MIC is the last one of the day. About 45 minutes training followed by a 10 minutes aptitude test.
Lunch break: one hour. Several possibilities in the close vicinity, such as Asian food, supermarket, sandwiches...
On the whole, pleasant day, pleasant people to meet !
Results will follow within the next 2 weeks.
Keep up the good work....
Cheers