Is it normal to be asked questions during a simulator?

[micia]

I am wondering if during an interview and you are doing a simulator on a plane that is new to you, if it is normal to be asked questions during the flight?
ie....taking off or landing and while doing so are asked, "how old are you in months?" or "what is the square root of 125?".
I have not heard of this being done before and wonder if your company makes this a habbit.
I just heard of a guy that this happened to and sorry if it made me laugh to think gads, I would have not been able to answer that age in months question right on the spot.
Poor guy didn't get the job either, but maybe he should not have answered the question in the first place during a sim.
Anyone else have this happen or know their company does this?
If you had it happen, did you get the job?

[flyinghome]

hello micia,

yea sometimes if the sim instructor relizes that the candidate is doing quite well he will throw a couple of questions at her/him to see what kind of capacity the individual hold.
if you are already at max capicity you should just answer i dont know, but they basically use it as a tool to rattle the person in the sim, if they have alot of people to get through it weeds out alot of people who do get rattled by continously thinking about the question and not concentrating on flying the airplane. its a bit ruthless but the best way to get 10 people ou of 25 that are trying for the position

fh

[wobblyprop]

i think they'll be testing to see if you have any spare capacity.

[BitMoreRightRudder]

Before a sim check I was tipped off about the age in months question, so the night before I worked out my age in months, my mother's age in months, my girlfriend's, my sister's and my grandmother's, and memorised them.

Next day, half way through a steep turn;


Instructor: Do you have a girlfriend?

Me: yes (ha ha i'm so clever)

Instructor: How old is she?

Me: 24 (these sim checks are a doddle)

Instructor: Oh right...................................what's the square root of 423?

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[micia]

"Instructor: Oh right...................................what's the square root of 423?"

Yeah, right. ROTFLMAO

Aside from spare capacity, they may want to see where you place your priorities.

Sure is a sorry way to weed people out though, as many really want that job and are nervous for the interview and trying hard to do good in a new sim and then you throw them out like this.
I'm now sorry to hear that this has happened to not only a FO but also a DEC.

Everyone be forewarned.

[Pilot Pete]

Not so sure I agree with the 'sorry way to weed people out' statement. I have experienced this myself during simulator evaluations and it is just a tool to find out what spare capacity (if any) you have and to see how you prioritise tasks when hand flying.

The thing is, if you you were asked a question for real in the aircraft whilst you were working close to capacity, would you try and answer? I personally wouldn't and would say 'STANDBY'. This is exactly what you should do in the sim. Prioritise. I told the guy to standby three times as he asked the same question over about a minute. I never did answer it, but I also never lost any altitude, stayed on the heading which kept my single needle track good and sounded confident and 'in control' all the way through.

I don't know, but I suspect someone who answered the question correctly, but let their flying go to pot would not have had the same result.

So I don't think it is unfair, it's just another 'tool' for the instructor/ examiner to use to judge your skills, just like putting a little bit of crosswind in the sim, or failing an engine for a current type rated pilot etc.

My advice is to be confident in your abilities (but not over confident), learn the profile inside out and backwards so you don't really even need to refer to the SID/STAR/Approach plates, memorise some pitch/power settings for various phases of flight and get some practice in (the lower your hours and the less recent you are, the more the need to get a couple of hours in the sim before any test). The biggest tip of all is to ensure your CRM is good. Many, many instructors are looking just as deeply into you CRM performance in the sim as they are at your stick and rudder skills.

Good luck.

PP

ps Another variation on the theme is to have a 'two crew' sim assessment, where both candidates are in the sim together acting as a crew and the roles swap half way through. The PNF is given a question paper to answer whilst the other guy does the flying. The PNF will only answer questions at a suitable time; if the other guy is not doing that well then there may be no suitable time for the question paper. The guys who start the question paper at gear up and have it finished within 10 minutes may well have failed as they were not monitoring the other guy properly as the PNF should be doing. Priorities.......

[eagerbeaver]

i got asked how old i was in months whilst in a steep turn. fortunately it was not too difficult to work out (i am 25). But the sim instructor kept asking me if i as sure etc. I just said yes ang got on with flying.
My sim partner (a she) got a general chit chat about where she went for her flying training - piece of cake.
Anyhow Pilot Pete is spot on you got to fly the aeroplane first then worry about the other jazz.
If you dont know at the time have a go after the flying is completed just dont get it wrong and mess up.
FYI i did not get the job. ha ha.

[er82]

eagerbeaver.....
would you be implying that the candidate next to you got an 'easy ride' because she was a woman?!?!?!?!?

[micia]

Good post Pilot Pete.

Priorities is the number one answer among the instructors I have heard.

[Little Miss]

I do hope Eagerbeaver wasn@'t suggesting that!

[eagerbeaver]

Why would i suggest that? I explained a situation that i was involved with. Shame on you both for suggesting i am sexist. Although i do believe that being asked to recount a significant life experience is far easier than calculating your age in months.

[Jetavia]

This is where the good old 1-2-3 rule come into consideration..

1. Aviate
2. Navigate
3. Communicate

:ok: