NATS interview process
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True, but at NATS and the college, the decision of whether or not to get an approach ticket as well as an aerodrome ticket isn't your choice.
Instructors may think you're well suited to approach, or there's a big need for people with that ticket for either TC or regional airports - you can express your preference not to go on the approach course, but definitely no guarantees! There's been several people recently who've wanted to go to London airports but ended up on the approach course and are headed elsewhere now...
Instructors may think you're well suited to approach, or there's a big need for people with that ticket for either TC or regional airports - you can express your preference not to go on the approach course, but definitely no guarantees! There's been several people recently who've wanted to go to London airports but ended up on the approach course and are headed elsewhere now...
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Pat42,
You can end up at TC having done Aerodrome and Approach Radar, training on Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City Approach functions, and end up at TC having done Aera training on the TMA sectors.
You can end up at TC having done Aerodrome and Approach Radar, training on Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City Approach functions, and end up at TC having done Aera training on the TMA sectors.
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Stage 1: 30/09/09
Got my stage one this coming wednesday and would just like to say a big thank you to this forum... some of the posts on here have been a fantastic help. I think im pretty well prepared for most aspects of stage one now... just got to brush up on the document and maybe attempt to simplify those cube tests!!!
Slightly off topic now, but my stage one is down at Swanick and was wondering if anybody had any accommodation reccommendations?? i think i should be looking to get somewhere booked asap considering i need it for tuesday night!!!!
Thanks
Slightly off topic now, but my stage one is down at Swanick and was wondering if anybody had any accommodation reccommendations?? i think i should be looking to get somewhere booked asap considering i need it for tuesday night!!!!
Thanks
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Norman House B&B on Swanwick Lane is a 5 minute walk from the centre:
Norman House Bed and Breakfast, Southampton, Hampshire
Norman House Bed and Breakfast, Southampton, Hampshire
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Stage 1 Experience
Well,
Just came from stage 1 at heathrow house and boy, am I so NOT confident! Pat42 hit the nail right on the head when he said questions are not difficult but it's all about the time pressure!
With hindsight, I really underestimated this! The only paper I finished was the ATC motivation (30 questions in 18 minutes).
I was very slow on both the cubes and diagramming. The biggest surprise to me was the SDT questions. I wasn't anticipating any difficulty until I realised I was struggling to divide 2800/6. I can do this in no time anyday but my mind went into panic and I spent over 1 minute answering this simple question!
Anyway, my fate is out of my hands now so will let you know hereafterwards.
For anyone yet to do stage1, my advice is practice until you are very quick - you are going to need it!
Just came from stage 1 at heathrow house and boy, am I so NOT confident! Pat42 hit the nail right on the head when he said questions are not difficult but it's all about the time pressure!
With hindsight, I really underestimated this! The only paper I finished was the ATC motivation (30 questions in 18 minutes).
I was very slow on both the cubes and diagramming. The biggest surprise to me was the SDT questions. I wasn't anticipating any difficulty until I realised I was struggling to divide 2800/6. I can do this in no time anyday but my mind went into panic and I spent over 1 minute answering this simple question!
Anyway, my fate is out of my hands now so will let you know hereafterwards.
For anyone yet to do stage1, my advice is practice until you are very quick - you are going to need it!
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Don't worry yourself too much about it, from what I've picked up around these forums a lot of people don't finish all the tests and don't feel they did great yet still get through. If you answered the bulk (say 75%) of each paper and did it accurately then you're probably still in with a good chance. I'm fairly sure I've read posts by people who didn't think they got more than 50% and still passed, so don't give up hope.
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Also for collision times that are for objects at same speed, half the distance.
For collisions where they are at different speeds add the speeds up.
1 plane at 500mph another at 400mph, 30 miles apart. How long before they collide.
Add their speeds together to make 900mph.
t= 30/900
simplify...
= 3/90hr
and again..
= 1/30 of an hour
= 2mins
For collisions where they are at different speeds add the speeds up.
1 plane at 500mph another at 400mph, 30 miles apart. How long before they collide.
Add their speeds together to make 900mph.
t= 30/900
simplify...
= 3/90hr
and again..
= 1/30 of an hour
= 2mins
Any other examples please?
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Pat42,
Thanks for your comforting words - will keep that in mind.
Fretwanger, congratulations - do you mind me asking what date you sat stage 2?
cottam approach,
Well, may be but in relation to other questions - it was one of the easiest I suppose; a straightforward calculation I would think.
ianb87 - just to give you a feel of some of the SDT questions(below). I have forgotten some exact figures so will replace with variables.
Aircraft cruising at 37000ft starts to descend at 1500ft per minute. It enters the cloud at 20000ft and comes out at 10000ft. If travelling at Xmph, what was the distance travelled in the cloud by the aircraft?
Thanks for your comforting words - will keep that in mind.
Fretwanger, congratulations - do you mind me asking what date you sat stage 2?
cottam approach,
Well, may be but in relation to other questions - it was one of the easiest I suppose; a straightforward calculation I would think.
ianb87 - just to give you a feel of some of the SDT questions(below). I have forgotten some exact figures so will replace with variables.
Aircraft cruising at 37000ft starts to descend at 1500ft per minute. It enters the cloud at 20000ft and comes out at 10000ft. If travelling at Xmph, what was the distance travelled in the cloud by the aircraft?
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EGTI
EGTI,
Example 1,
- aircraft travelling at same speed.
Two aircraft approach each other travelling at 420mph. They are 28 miles apart. How long before they collide?
Solution:
Because both aircraft are at the SAME speed of 420mph, each will travel maximum HALFWAY through the distance before colliding. In this case, they will each travel 14miles max to collide. So the time to collide will be
time = distance/speed
= 14/420 = 2minutes to collide!
Example 2,
- aircraft travelling at different speeds.
For the two aircraft approaching each other with one travelling at 500mph and the other at 400mph at say 30miles apart, one will be travelling faster than the other so will at the least go beyond the halfway distance to collide with the other so the need to calculate both speeds and find the time by using distance/speed.
Using the same calculation, total speed of both aircraft is 900mph (500+400), hence time is 30/900 which also gives 2 minutes!
Hope this helps!
Example 1,
- aircraft travelling at same speed.
Two aircraft approach each other travelling at 420mph. They are 28 miles apart. How long before they collide?
Solution:
Because both aircraft are at the SAME speed of 420mph, each will travel maximum HALFWAY through the distance before colliding. In this case, they will each travel 14miles max to collide. So the time to collide will be
time = distance/speed
= 14/420 = 2minutes to collide!
Example 2,
- aircraft travelling at different speeds.
For the two aircraft approaching each other with one travelling at 500mph and the other at 400mph at say 30miles apart, one will be travelling faster than the other so will at the least go beyond the halfway distance to collide with the other so the need to calculate both speeds and find the time by using distance/speed.
Using the same calculation, total speed of both aircraft is 900mph (500+400), hence time is 30/900 which also gives 2 minutes!
Hope this helps!
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cottam approach,
The reason I feel that way is becaue the question asks to calculate the speed having given you the time and distance - the question is no longer than a single sentence.
With other questions, you have as much as about 5 - 6 sentences with the complexity needing 2 - 3 calculations before arriving at the correct answer.
The reason I feel that way is becaue the question asks to calculate the speed having given you the time and distance - the question is no longer than a single sentence.
With other questions, you have as much as about 5 - 6 sentences with the complexity needing 2 - 3 calculations before arriving at the correct answer.
SKOS, you're right everything I thought I knew went back to basics today and I ended up trying to work some of the s/d/t in my head without using the simple rules. Don't know why??? I just couldn't work out the simplest things that I know I normally can. I just started to reject them in my head. Guess I just can't do them under pressure, which is kinda what's needed of you. The first paper, the motivational one was very straight forward, no problems at all. Threw me when the cube changed from the classic shape to the s shaped one and the last one though! Ha. The diagrammatic sequence was fairly straight forward as well.
Enjoyed today though in the end. Good experience.
Enjoyed today though in the end. Good experience.
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S2 - www.lumosity.com
Got my S2 this coming wed and just wanted to say thanks for all the posts on here about what it consists of.
Also, don't know if this will be helpful at all but it's quite fun, try Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity. You can get a free 7 day trial which is kinda cool and its got some handy little tests. I did S2 last year and none of the tests on there are exactly the same but some of them involve similar concepts so may help just with speed.
Anyone else got their S2 on wednesday?
Also, don't know if this will be helpful at all but it's quite fun, try Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity. You can get a free 7 day trial which is kinda cool and its got some handy little tests. I did S2 last year and none of the tests on there are exactly the same but some of them involve similar concepts so may help just with speed.
Anyone else got their S2 on wednesday?
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DST question difficulty
SKOS,
So the DST questions range from:
* An aircraft travels at 420 mph, how far does it travel in 4 minutes?
to
* Aircraft A is 24 miles from a beacon, has a groundspeed of 360 mph and is at 28000 ft. What rate of descent does the aircraft require to be a 26000ft when it passes the beacon?
Is this the level of complexity or do they get even more complicated toward the end of the paper?
Also is it a 15 minute time limit?
Thanks.
So the DST questions range from:
* An aircraft travels at 420 mph, how far does it travel in 4 minutes?
to
* Aircraft A is 24 miles from a beacon, has a groundspeed of 360 mph and is at 28000 ft. What rate of descent does the aircraft require to be a 26000ft when it passes the beacon?
Is this the level of complexity or do they get even more complicated toward the end of the paper?
Also is it a 15 minute time limit?
Thanks.
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Hey everyone,
I was devastated to hear that I haven't even made it past stage 1.
Quite embarassed frankly but highly frustrated as I love the sound of the job.
Looking back though I am quite sure it was those damn cubes that I messed up on
(although I wish NATS feedback would confirm which test(s) you messed up on)... I don't suppose anyone was clever enough to note down the name of the company that produce the test booklets as perhaps they have a guide or examples booklet too as I badly need to practice for next year (12 months is one hell of a wait!)
Or if anyone knows of any books out there that help with the Spatial Cubes exercise I'd really appreciate suggestions!
Well done and good luck to those who made it to stage Two and beyond...
I'm gonna continuefor a while!
I was devastated to hear that I haven't even made it past stage 1.
Quite embarassed frankly but highly frustrated as I love the sound of the job.Looking back though I am quite sure it was those damn cubes that I messed up on
(although I wish NATS feedback would confirm which test(s) you messed up on)... I don't suppose anyone was clever enough to note down the name of the company that produce the test booklets as perhaps they have a guide or examples booklet too as I badly need to practice for next year (12 months is one hell of a wait!)Or if anyone knows of any books out there that help with the Spatial Cubes exercise I'd really appreciate suggestions!
Well done and good luck to those who made it to stage Two and beyond...
I'm gonna continue
for a while!
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S 1 pass mark
Hello, does any one know the pass mark for stage 1,, is it that you have to get at least 80% or above to get to stage 2 ,,, ... does any one know.... I know the failure rate for stage 1 is 90% ..
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Pat42, I wish you were right! I came out of the stage 1 tests thinking I'd done very well on two tests, fine on one and badly on just one and I still failed...
Amusingly when we went to a toilet break after the spatial cubes, I shouted out loud "THOSE DAMN CUBES" and EVERYONE else joined in saying how they thought they'd messed up too... guess some people must do well though!
I'm guessing that even if you got 75-100% on 3 tests, if you got below 25% on the other, you'd fail? Anyone know about the marking system?
Something I will mention is that as I was answering the personality questionnaire, I answered truthfully and this is how the NATS say we should do it... only then to have the guy next to me say "I've put down strongly disagree or strongly agree for every answer as they will want someone who is decisive even if they don't agree with the opinion!" Is that the correct way to go about it?
Amusingly when we went to a toilet break after the spatial cubes, I shouted out loud "THOSE DAMN CUBES" and EVERYONE else joined in saying how they thought they'd messed up too... guess some people must do well though!
I'm guessing that even if you got 75-100% on 3 tests, if you got below 25% on the other, you'd fail? Anyone know about the marking system?
Something I will mention is that as I was answering the personality questionnaire, I answered truthfully and this is how the NATS say we should do it... only then to have the guy next to me say "I've put down strongly disagree or strongly agree for every answer as they will want someone who is decisive even if they don't agree with the opinion!" Is that the correct way to go about it?