NATS interview process

[KirtjE]

I've got my Stage 2 booked for the 14th December.

It's scheduled for 8:30 until 4pm, is this accurate?!

[dcoliv]

I've got my Stage 2 booked for the 14th December.

It's scheduled for 8:30 until 4pm, is this accurate?!

From what I can remember reading in this thread, Stage 2 lasts about that long, so yes, I think it is accurate. There are many computer tests to do. I don't know anything about the 'NATS computer tests', but when I did FEAST in Portugal, Part 1 lasted about 2 hours, maybe a bit more (3 exercises, 10 minute break, 3 exercises). FEAST-SDM (part 2) is longer: first a tutorial of 1h30m, then a 5 minute practice, finally a 40 minute test.

Good luck!

[rok87]

dcoliv:

Take a taxi. Just ask the receptionist to order you one for the morning (they are very helpful). The ride takes only a couple of minutes and it costs 5 pounds, so its not expensive I dont know about buses though. But it definitely isnt worth walking- you`re bound to get lost or be in such a hurry youŽll arrive there late or tired and all nervous...And you have to cross the motorway... If you really want to walk, then walk the way back

[dcoliv]

Hi rok87,

Thanks, that actually may be the most reasonable choice. 5 pounds for a 2 minute ride is actually expensive, at least in terms of taxi rides here in Portugal. Moreover the taxi driver may not be very pleased to do a 2 minute job lol. In Portugal you would surely hear him or her complain

But you really cannot put a price on arriving early and without stress, so yeah, catching a taxi seems a good choice

EDIT: By the way, I've seen that breakfast at the Premier Inn Fareham is served at TGI Fridays. My tests begin at 9 AM and I'd like to arrive at 8:30 AM. Is TGI Fridays open for breakfast at 8 AM? Thanks.

[KirtjE]

Does anyone have any up-to-date information on the Stage 2 tests at Swanwick?

A lot of the posts on here are either quite dated or not relevant to the Stage 2 assessments.

[Crazy Voyager]

If I remember correctly from earlier in the thread stage 2 is the FEAST package.

A ton of computer test including the SDM (Strip Display Managment) test, it will take the whole day and there's really nothing you can do to prepare except for a good nights sleep and some good luck!

[Spyder35]

Guys,

Currently trying to blast my way through some SDT calcs and am doing roughly 25 in 10 mins just now....is this on course for what you reckon will be required at stage 1?

Also come over this one which I got wrong and not sure how I can be wrong, I'm assuming it's a mistake with the book I have:

Aircraft burns 2100lbs per half hour and can hold 8400lbs in its tank. How many times must it refuel in a 13hr trip? My answer is 7 times.

Thanks

Spyder

[dcoliv]

Aircraft burns 2100lbs per half hour and can hold 8400lbs in its tank. How many times must it refuel in a 13hr trip? My answer is 7 times.

I think the correct answer is 6 because they ask how many times the aircraft must REfuel. So, the first full tank doesn't count.

2100 lbs per 30 minutes means 4200 lbs per hour. If the tank holds 8400 lbs then a tank lasts 2 hours, which means that:

The aircraft leaves with the tank full. This doesn't count.

1. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 2 hours).
2. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 4 hours).
3. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 6 hours).
4. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 8 hours).
5. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 10 hours).
6. 2 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 12 hours).

1 hour later it will reach its destination and it will still have 4200 lbs left in the tank (enough for 1 more hour). So the final answer is 6 times.

I think this question is aimed at testing how focused you are, because it is more of an English comprehension question rather than a math one.

I hope this helps!

[Spyder35]

That would make sense to me, providing that's what they are getting at -I think it's a poor question and the answer they give is 4!!

Thanks

[dcoliv]

That would make sense to me, providing that's what they are getting at -I think it's a poor question and the answer they give is 4!!

Well, that's definitely a wrong answer. The only conceivable scenario I can come up with in order to reach a final answer of 4 is to consider that the aircraft burns 2100 lbs per hour, and not per half hour. This would mean that a full tank lasts 4 hours. Consequently, you would need 4 refuels:

The aircraft leaves with the tank full. This doesn't count.

1. 4 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 4 hours).
2. 4 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 8 hours).
3. 4 hours later, it refuels (total trip time: 12 hours).

At this point, the aircraft is out of fuel and with one hour to go still ahead. So it refuels a 4th and final time, it reaches its destination after 13 hours and 4 refuels, and the tank still holds 8400 lbs - 2100 lbs = 6300 lbs.

So, maybe they asked the question correctly ("per half hour") but then gave the answer as if it were "per hour". Their mistake, not yours.

[NimrodMR2]

Lift?

I've got my Stage 1 at Fareham on Friday 12th November and I'm driving down there the night before. I'm looking for someone to share the petrol costs with, it would be about Ł30 for a return trip. I'm going from Chesterfield in North Derbyshire, so if you would be passing though that way please feel free to drop me a private message.

Also, could anyone recommend a hotel or B&B near Fareham that's clean and reasonably priced? I'll want to get that booked in the next few days.

Many thanks.

[Crazy Voyager]

A new day is here, in one week I'm on the plane to London so therefore revision keeps going on!

Started doing a few fuel calculation tests on the RAF site aswell, they're similar in calculations to the d/s/t test so I thought it would be good to practice some calculations.

By the way, I found this in my bookmarks yesterday, thought it could be intresting for someone:

http://www.pprune.org/4691108-post2164.html

And if anyone knows where to find more diagramming and spatial tests feel free to send me a link, I could use some practice

Back to calculations!

[rok87]

dcoliv:

I didn't say the taxi was cheap, just that it isn't that expensive and therefore worth taking and I would think that the taxi drivers are familiar with this route, because when I took my stage 2, there were two other guys that ordered a taxi for Nats at the same time... If I knew that, we could have shared one
I didn't eat at TGI Fridays, but as far as I remember they were open even before 8 am so no worries there

Hi NimrodMR2:

For stage 2 I stayed at Premier Inn Fareham, which is the closest hotel to the NATS building (well if you're not counting a spa&hotel which costs over 100pounds per night) But for stage 1, when I had a rental car, I stayed in Portsmouth at a place called Inn lodge. Both hotels were nice and reasonably priced. Probably Portsmouth has a lot more choice, but take in account the traffic in the morning, you should allow yourself more than half an hour at least to get to NATS. You wouldn't want to repeat my mistake where I arrived only a minute or two before start

[KirtjE]

NimrodMR2:

I stayed at the De Vere New Place, which was a very nice hotel, and just Ł25 for a single room for the night. I'd definitely recommend it.

[chris87w]

Quote: "It's great to finally know I won't be completly alone pn the big day
I'm going to stay at the premier inn the night before, will you be driving down on the same day?

I've really not been revising the motivation paper at all, I looked it over but I know almost everything in there already (no not the aircraft specs in detail but I know the general idea, B747 for short hauls and an E135 cross the atlantic ) so therefore it hasn't been a priority.

I've been playing a little puzzle game every day ( Set Daily Puzzle ), mostly to get used to sorting shapes and because it might give me some practice in problem solving (it's quite fun aswell ), so I've done that every day for a while now.

Then I've gotten underway with the d/s/t calculations, picked up a paper for the first time yesterday, I'm solving the questions at around 22-23 seconds each now but I want to work that down a lot more. I know I spend a lot of time doing writing now that I don't need to (writing when the speed is 60mph for example). So now that's the major thing I'm trying to smooth out.

Other then that I'm planning to look over the NATS example cubes at least two times before the big day, but since I only have found those three cubes to work with it's not easy to prepare for that part. Perhaps I will make a few cubes of my own though, but we'll see.

So overall, it's going well (I think!) but it's so hard to say. I don't belive there's anyway you can overprepare for this and even I'm feeling confident in my abilities, how ever I'm still certain those test will be everything but easy.

How about yourself? It seems you're focusing a lot on the math right now"

Wow you certainly seem to be doing well! Its taking me an hour to 10 questions at the moment, and thats not even a 100% accuracy rate. My maths has always been my weakest point so im having to spend most of my time on that really, fortunately i have a good memory to not have to worry too much about the document we have been given, though im starting to read that a few times a day and doing the usual bullets points and spider diagrams to get the information to stick in my head....I know my skills fairly well, and im not confident about getting passed this first stage purely on my maths ability but fingers crossed!

Im actually off on holiday for the next week or so from my normal day job as a telecommunications engineer, so i was debating on actually spending the week in a nearer location to the test center but i shall how things go as my plans sort themselves out in the next few days. To be honest, im really going to have to spend the majority of my time studying now and doing maths til im blue in the face to stand a hope in hell.

The main sources of study for the first stage is just the S/D/T stuff and the document right?

Im find this forum a useful source of information and im finding it rewarding already being a part of something that so many people seem to be aiming for! If only all society was like this! World would be a better place eh! Fingers crossed I will be training and working along side you guys in the near future!

[sambatc]

hi guys

could someone help me with interpreting a question??


Well, the data table says 12% of Under 35s (of which there are 425,600) travelled by bus.

and the question is this:

If the number of bus passengers who are under 35 decreased by 0.8% next year, and 11% of this age group travelled by bus, approximately how many commuters would be under 35?



The way I read that, they're saying that bus travel will go down from 12% to 11.2%, then in the next sentence saying it's 11%.

what?!

[chris87w]

Quote:
Now imagine the question is "at 15 mph, how far do you travel in 2 hours 54 minutes?"

In this case, since 54 is not straightforward, you need to find a relation between 54 and the hour, like I've done with the 4 minutes in the other example. In that example, I used 4 = 12 / 3. Now you should use 6 * 9 = 54. As 6 is 1/10 of an hour, 54 minutes is 1/10 * 9 = 9/10 of an hour. So, in 54 minutes, you travel (54 * 9) / 10 = 48.6 miles. Now just add this to the other 30 miles (15 mph * 2 hours) and you get 78.6 miles.

In the end, I just think you need to choose the method which will save you more time.

I hope this helps.
Great post but you've made a slight error here, the good thing is that it is really quite easy to spot if you think about it.
You've said that "in 54 minutes you travel (54 * 9) / 10 = 48.6 miles". But we already know that we were travelling with 15mph, so in less then one hour there's now way we can have travelled more than 15 miles.

The correct answer should be that in 54 minutes you travel 13.5 miles (15 miles per hour, and 54 minutes is 9/10 of an hour. So therefore I substracted 1.5 from 15 and got 13.5).
So final answer is 30+13.5=43.5 miles in 2 hours and 54 minutes (notice this is very close to 45 miles that you would travel in 3 hours, so the answer makes sense).

Guys,

Can I just run my interpretation of this by you to make sure my notes are correct and im revising the right thing...

In 2 hours, travel is 15 x 2 = 30 Miles.
6 Mins = 1/10 of an hour
54 Mins = 9/10 of an hour (9x6 = 54)

15 Miles in an hour (10/10)
Divide 15 by 10 to get 1/10
1/10 is equal to 1.5
Subtract 1.5 from 15 which equals 13.5 Miles
30 + 13.5 = 43.5 Miles
Answer = 43.5 Miles

[dcoliv]

Guys,

Can I just run my interpretation of this by you to make sure my notes are correct and im revising the right thing...

In 2 hours, travel is 15 x 2 = 30 Miles.
6 Mins = 1/10 of an hour
54 Mins = 9/10 of an hour (9x6 = 54)

15 Miles in an hour (10/10)
Divide 15 by 10 to get 1/10
1/10 is equal to 1.5
Subtract 1.5 from 15 which equals 13.5 Miles
30 + 13.5 = 43.5 Miles
Answer = 43.5 Miles

Hi,

That's exactly right

The only thing I do differently is the final calculation involving (15*9)/10. In my mind, I do 15*10 = 150, then 150 - 15 = 135, then 135 / 10 = 13.5. But it is basically the same thing, so nevermind ehehe

[ImpossibleIsNothing]

Stage one

Hi all, new on here. I have NATS stage one coming up soon. Can anyone detail what exactly will happen on the day, I feel like I am prepared but it just still niggles at me, I don't want to have to wait 6 months to re-apply. Also, the dress code says smart/casual, at first I was intending on getting the suit on but I've been told that is not necessary at this stage and that more comfortable attire would be beneficial, is this really the case? I hope so. Thanks for any light anyone can shed, or even if anyone can direct me to any posts that will help..
Thanks

[DJ1425]

at 15 mph, how far do you travel in 2 hours 54 minutes

I do mine 2 hours = 30miles
30 mins is 1/2 of 15 =7.5
24 mins is 4/10 or 2/5 of 15 = 6

43.5 miles

DJ1425