Spatial One
 

I did my stage 1 tests at prestwick this friday just gone. do you need any help with Spatial reasoning, diagramming or numerical questions ? I can still remember almost all the motivation tests questions and most numerical questions. here is my email [email protected] if you need it. just have to wait 15 days for my result.
So i suggest you email me, i can Show you all the questions you need to pass stage 1.

The Dreaded Wait
 

Well, I did stage 2 on Friday 9th April.

Already the wait is killing me. and what's worse is I have no idea how I did...it's really hard to judge! All the tests go so quickly, and even though i know I made a few mistakes I've no idea what the pass mark is or anything!

They decided to use us as guinea pigs and decided to make us be the first group to do the tests on laptops. As a result they had some "technical difficulties" we were all there (9 of us in total I think) from 8am - due to start at 8.15.... they didn't come to get us until near 10.30! Not a good start!

There aim for using laptops is that in future they will be able to hold stage 2 in other locations other than the CTC.

Even though it started really late, it gave us some time to talk to each other anf try to relax! It was a nice group of people! All with very varied backgrounds.

So hello to anyone else who was there on Friday!

And thanks to Nikki for showing us the smoking area to save us 3 smokers having to walk to the perimiter of the carpark every time!

Best of luck to everyone!

Also - when chatting to Nikki whilst having one of many smoke breaks she confirmed that they are relocating the training to the CTC from July next year - so no more Hurn.

Also that all courses for this year are full to capacity!


See, smoking has it's benefits - you get to ask questions like that! :p



(PS: for anyone who was there with me on Friday - I am the Irish girly - there was only two girls there so it shouldn't be that hard to figure it out)

Speed, Time, Distance
 

Hi all,
Just a quick mathematic thing for the ones that already had that controlled:

What speed covers 15miles in 50 minutes? I have to give the answer in mph and...I do not know why but my brain it´s fried already.:ugh::ugh:

Thank you very much for the help!

By the way...if you have any more examples I will really appreciate to post them.

15miles in 50minutes = 3miles in 10mins (divide by 5)
3miles in 10minutes = 18miles in 60mins (multiply by 6)

so 18mph

If you are struggling then practise these lots, you will have to do a lot of them very quickly and all in your head (no calculators) if you are to pass stage 1... and the above example is a fairly simply one.

Thank you very much Pat42!
I guess that the trick is to crack down the number until it fits properly in periods in an hour...
Well, definetly I will keep practising hard!! Very hard I guess...I am taking stage one at the end of this month...
Thanks again for your help

Hi Pat42,
Can you please give me one of the most complicated examples I could find in terms of Speed, Time, Distance and descens and climb rates??

Many thanks

At 8mph. How far do you travel in 45min?

8 miles 60 min
4 miles 30 min
2 miles 15 min = 6 miles 45 minutos (multiplying by 3).

Anyone knows how long can I should spend in each of this calculations to finish on time??

Okay, I think I am going to take a break because I start to freak out...:sad:

You don't really get that long. The key to these is simply practice as many people are a little rusty. The key thing for me is the patterns and translating things into simple patterns. IE, with the 50 mins one, you wanted an hour, divide by 5 and times by 6. Simple maths is the key, don't overcomplicate, just look for the common theme as in simple maths and you'll crack it. With practice you see the same patterns and it becomes fairly simple.

NATS HR
 

Anyone been trying to contact HR recently? I'm trying to ring them for my start date at college and it goes straight to voicemail! :ugh:

Can't wait to start!

k_showme ....
 

hey, i seen your post about how you still had the questions from stage one fresh in the memory...

my email is [email protected] (slightly sad, however had that since i was 13 lol:))

anyway, any questions you have to offer me that you feel that could be beneficial this would be much appreciated :ok:

how do you think you got on with stage one ?

get back to me,

thanks very much

Gaz :ok:

PAT42
 

Hello PAT42. It is very easy. What speed covers 15 miles in 50 min. First you must convert the min into the hour. 50 devided by 60min= 0.83 after that 15devidet by 0.83=18mph.This is a solution.

I am on 2 stage somebody can help me or give any advise?

It wasn´t Pat42 the one that doesn´t know how to do it, she passed that nightmare some while ago.:ok: I have to admit that it´s myself. However...I'm working on it. And yes...I wish I could give you some tips for Stage2...
Good luck with the study!

I just want to politely point out that advertising you can help people with precisely what questions will come up is unlikely to be particularly popular with the recruiters... They have been known to keep an eye on this forum, and it's not that hard to link posts to their authors!

Just a word of caution! :ok:

BaF

energyintake
 

What kind of information do you have about stage 2?
Thanks:ok:

BAF
 

I agree, NATS warn you at Stage 1 about this forum, therefore they will read this and with personal email addresses in the post it wont be too hard to work out who you are. I know some are just trying to help each other out, which is great, but giving that kind of info isnt the best idea.
Personally i would rather know that i passed each stage on my own merits without knowing the questions. Even if you "cheat" to pass stage 1 then you will probably fail stage 2 as you cant do much to prepare or know any answers.

Use a different email and help each other out, who cares if anyone is keeping an eye on here. We help each other out in the job, start as you mean to go on. I'm rubbish at maths but good at my job, prob wouldn't even pass the aptitude tests if i had to start again. (please don't correct my grammar, i know)

Good luck all

Please bear in mind that this information is by no means your actual test questions. But i do strongly believe that it is an invaluable study guide.

I have some more information for spatial reasoning i cannot include here because the graphics won't load on this page. However, if you send email, then i can send you more stuff. So enjoy and see if you find this helpful.

.Tests questions with solutions

(1)
An aircraft departs A and climbs at 1500ft per minute for 10 minutes, it's speed in the climb is 260mph. Once it reaches it's cruise it travels at 400mph for a further 30 minutes before reaching point B. How far is it from point A to point B.

Solution:

Distance covered during the climb is speed x time = 260 x 10/60
(To covert min to hour divide by 60). 4.33 miles.
Distance covered during cruise = speed x time 400/2 (half and hour ) = 200 hundred miles. Now total distance = 200 + 4.33 = 204.33 miles

(2)
An aircraft at 34000ft descend at 1200ft per minute when it reaches 26000ft it goes into cloud and does not reappear again until 11000ft. It's speed is 430mph. How far did it travel in the cloud?

Solution:

26000 – 11000 = 15000 so, cloud is 15000 ft and descend rate = 1200 ft per minute. 15000/1200 = 150/12 minutes spent in the cloud.

So distance in the cloud = 430/60 x 150/12 = 89.58 miles

(given that speed = 430mph.)




(3) Aircraft flying at 540 mph, how far did it travel in 10 minutes ?
solution : (540/60) * 10 ans = 90 miles

(4) Two aircratfs flying towards each other at 280 miles per hour, 28 miles away, at what time did they collide ?

solution: time = distance/speed it then follows that half way will be 14miles divide by 280mph. that will give you (1/20)hours multiply that by 60 to convert it to minutes being that it is a fraction of an hour.


(5)what is the full meaning of the acronym D.M.E
solution : distance measuring equipment.

My favorite question was this one and i can still remember it vividly, it goes like this,

6) Aircraft flying at 285 degrees, was instructed by ATC officer to turn left 30 degrees and then turn right 15, what is it's final position ?
solution: if you are turing left substract . if you turning right add. so substract 15 from 285 your answer will be 270 degrees.

7) how many miles is it from london to brussel ?

8) how many miles from london to glasgow.

9) Who finally instuct a/c to touch down on final approach
options Area controller, approach controller, aerodrome controller ?

10) A plane with a speed of 360 and with a head wind of 60, what is the ground speed?"
Solution: when you encounter head wind, subtract. In this case 360 – 60 = 300

11) An a/c is flying at 540mph at FL320, and starts descending at 800feet per minute. How many miles will it travel before it reaches FL250?

Solution:

FL 320 = 32000 so way FL250 = 25000

Difference of 7000. divide that by 800 = 70/8 minutes.

Distance in miles = 70/8 x 540/60 = 78.75 Miles


12) Aircraft 40 nautical miles away, at 30,000 ft descending at 3000ft per minute and travelling at 240 knots.. can it make it?
Solution : 30000 / 3000 = 10 minutes
240 knots = 240mph therefore ( 240 /60 ) * 10 = 40 miles.
So it can make it only just.
13) A faulty Aircraft at 30,000 ft descending at 3000ft per minute and traveling at 240 knots which airport will you take it ?

A. Airport 35 miles away ?
B Airport 40 miles away ?
C Air port 45 miles away ?

Solution: Hint : the Aircraft will do 40 miles so what do you think ……

14) If a plane is flying at 320km/h, how long would it take to travel 100km?

Solution : time = distance/ speed so, 100/320 = 0.312 * 60 = 18.75 minutes.

Remember: to convert hours to minutes, multiply by 60.

15) If Plane A is 250km ahead of Plane B and is traveling 40km/h slower, how long would it take Plane B to catch up to Plane A?

Solution:

How long would it take Plane B to do 250 km at the rate of 40 km per hour ?

Time = distance / speed = 250/40 = 6.35 hours.

Re: NATS HR
 

Scrotchidson:

I've not communicated with them in a while, but have found before that they rarely answer the phone (always goes to voicemail)... but they will usually get back to you within a day or so if you leave a message or send an email.

Which course are you on?

PAT42
 

Hi Pat,

Haven't been put on a course yet, waiting for them to tell me which course I'm on. I'm guessing Oct/Nov but then I've heard before that all courses this year are booked!

I left a voicemail yesterday and I'll e-mail them today if they don't call me back.

S

Have you finished all your medicals yet? They contacted me with a course allocation within 24hrs of receipt of my medical certificate (which seems to be about the norm). I don't think they will normally be prepared to give you any kind of commital before you get your medical cert though.

PAT42
 

Passed the medical, received an e-mail the next day and they informed me they'll contact me soon with my start date information.....been a couple of weeks! Been trying to call them and nothing! I'll have to e-mail now :ugh:

Scrotchidson
 

I had the same problem. Waited 2 weeks following email "contact you shortly" sent an email to nikki on the thursday, no reply so rang nikki and joe on tuesday, couldn't get through so tried lucy tigwell, she sorted me out there and then for area 225 november

Skill to Sharpen Your mental calculation

Since your are not allowed calculator nor scrap paper for the motivation test and it contains some numerical questions, how do you cope with time ?

Exam Cheat

Knots = miles per hour so you can interpret 40 knots as 40mph.
To convert minutes to hours , divide that number by 60.
To convert hours to minutes multiply that number by 60.
Interpret FL290 as 29000ft.

Descend rate is measured in ft per minute. You usually use descend rate to find time in minutes which need to be divided by 60 to convert it to hour in order to calculate distance if you know your speed limit.

Working in fractions is easier to compute mentally than working in decimals.
e.g (120 ÷18 ) * 36 = 240. Dividing 36 by 18 and multiply 120 by 2 will be faster to compute than if decide to divide 120 by 18 to multiply 36 by 6.66 mentally.
So watch your style or method.

Practice long division and times table especially 6 times because you are likely to divide a number by 60 when converting from minutes to hours.

If you encounter fraction in your test, think of what you want to do with the result if it is not your final answer, you may likely use the result to multiply another number, by bringing that number into the equation could simplify things. E.g

If you sell a packet of 20 smoke for 5.98 US dollars ,how much would you sell 2 smoke ?

Two ways to do this:
If you divide 5.98 by 20 to multiply the result by 2 will take longer to compute mentally than if you divide 5.98 by 10 = 0.598. because 20 divide by 2 is 10.

( 5.98/20 ) * 2 = 0.598

therefore you can buy two smoke for 59.8 cent.

If you want to divide a number by a fraction, is the same as to multiply that number by inverse of the fraction.
e.g
450 ÷ 1.5 is equal to 450 ÷ 3/2, however if you do 450*2/3, you can quickly see that 450/3 is 150 and if you multiply 150 by 2 you get 300.

you can divide 15 by 60 or divide 50 by 60.
so your two option are

(15/60) * 50 or

(15 ) * 50/60 you tend to see more if you cancel out zeros.

so 15 * (5/6)

Hey Gaznut,

my email is [email protected]

Exam Cheat

Knots = miles per hour so you can interpret 40 knots as 40mph.
To convert minutes to hours , divide that number by 60.
To convert hours to minutes multiply that number by 60.
Interpret FL290 as 29000ft.

Descend rate is measured in ft per minute. You usually use descend rate to find time in minutes which need to be divided by 60 to convert it to hour in order to calculate distance if you know your speed limit.

Working in fractions is easier to compute mentally than working in decimals.
e.g (120 ÷18 ) * 36 = 240. Dividing 36 by 18 and multiply 120 by 2 will be faster to compute than if decide to divide 120 by 18 to multiply 36 by 6.66 mentally.
So watch your style or method.

Practice long division and times table especially 6 times because you are likely to divide a number by 60 when converting from minutes to hours.

If you encounter fraction in your test, think of what you want to do with the result if it is not your final answer, you may likely use the result to multiply another number, by bringing that number into the equation could simplify things. E.g

If you sell a packet of 20 smoke for 5.98 US dollars ,how much would you sell 2 smoke ?

Two ways to do this:
If you divide 5.98 by 20 to multiply the result by 2 will take longer to compute mentally than if you divide 5.98 by 10 = 0.598. because 20 divide by 2 is 10.

( 5.98/20 ) * 2 = 0.598

therefore you can buy two smoke for 59.8 cent.

If you want to divide a number by a fraction, is the same as to multiply that number by inverse of the fraction.
e.g
450 ÷ 1.5 is equal to 450 ÷ 3/2, however if you do 450*2/3, you can quickly see that 450/3 is 150 and if you multiply 150 by 2 you get 300.

Area Course
 

Hi all,

Contacted Nikki and I've been put on the Area course which starts in November! Anyone on the same course?

Scott :ok:

HR response
 

i've been trying to get through to HR for over a month now, got turned down atstage 3 and trying to get feedback, received an email saying we'll have feedback in two weeks and thats the last i heard, i keep leaving answerphone messages but no call back yet or response to emails!

Skyslater
 

I failed stage 3 last year and i got feedback from them, but it does take a while. I got the same response about needing to wait 2 weeks - it is becuase the interview notes go off to a third party to be verified, and then they are returned to NATS HR to deal with and file away (i guess) I did have to wait a good few weeks but they did get back to me.
It is definitely worth pursuing, especially if you are going to try again, as the points they give you are very handy. Be sure to have a pen/paper handy when they call back as she will give you lots of info. Or she was kind enough to give me her mobile number and i called her back when i had 15-20mins free to talk properly.
She also let me know that i wasn't "barking up the wrong tree" and it was worth me trying again, which is nice to know !!!
Good luck with it and do make sure you get the info you want.

Oh dear ...
 

[Edit: This message relates to post #5729]

Pilot here (not an ATC wannabe) but I just came across this posting ...

Your Q1 answer is so deeply wrong on so many levels.

For a start - 10 minutes at 260 mph groundspeed gives you 43 miles travelled, not 4.3 miles ... so the answer is 243 miles, not 204.3. That's the easy part to point out.

The "deeply wrong" part is how you could possibly have typed all that in to the computer without so much as a single one of your (presumably) 400 billion plus neurones firing a little "hang on a sec" ...


I mean, look back at your "answer". Your aircraft spends 10 minutes on climb and travels a grand total of 4 miles (i.e. you can still see it from the tower window), but as soon as he levels out at FL150 it's off to 400 mph and covering 200 miles in 0.5 hours (i.e. 6 miles a MINUTE). Doesn't sound right now, DOES IT?!


And somehow all of that just passed you by? Gotta say guys, I see why ATC run these tests. And as a pilot I thank God that they do!


Direct ... Cancel Speed ... Cya.

Some calculation here..
 

Hi all,

I am having a bit of problem trying to sort out the following calcultion:

"You travel 65miles in 2hours and 36minutes, how fast are you going?"

Can anyone please help me to find the answer, and if it can come with a bit of explanation it would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

ok, you cover 65 miles in 156 minutes
so:

156min/65miles=2.4min/mile

this means you cover 1 mile in 2.4 minutes
to get how many miles you cover in an hour you subtract 2.4 from 60

60/2.4=25

so your speed is 25mph


or you can do it this way:

2h 36min = 2.6h

and than you can calculate speed straight from that, which is

65miles/2.6h=25mph

hope this is understandable :)

Energyintake,

The key is the Speed = Distance/Time equation.

In this case it is slightly complicated because you need to be able to express 2 hours 36 minutes as a fraction in terms of hours only (i.e. no minutes). To do this you need to identify 36 as a fraction of 60 minutes. If you get used to numbers which are whole factors of 60 minutes you will find this gets easier: the key numbers are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 & 12. In 60 minutes there are 2 x 30 minute periods, 3 x 20 minute periods, 4 x 15 minute periods, 5 x 12 minute periods, 6 x 10 minute periods, 10 x 6 minute periods, 12 x 5 minute periods... etc. (you could keep going but the numbers become less helpful for standard examples).

In this example we can see that 36 is a multiple of 6 (6x6=36) which corresponds with the factor of 10, so we can describe 36 minutes as 6/10 of a hour.

Having worked this out you can now define your time period purely in terms of a number of hours (no minutes) - 2 hours 36 minutes becomes 2+(6/10) hours or 26/10 hours.

Now you just put this into the equation: Speed = 65/(26/10)
= 650/26
= 25 mph

Thank you very much for your help.
I am okay with the equation, my problem is when I have to work out with numbers and I do not spot the logic that is in them. When you both explained to me, I understood it quickly, I am practising loads of examples and I can solve most of them, but from time to time I get stucked! My background is Socials Science....however, I will keep working hard.
The funny point will come when I start timming myself!!!

Well guys, thanks again. You can not imagine how much you help me.

The key thing is practice. Keep practicing the Math and it will come.

Uuuufssss,
Believe me, I am practising a lot!! a lot!!
I close my eyes and just can see numbers!!! I go to sleep and in my dreams I am doing calculations! And when I am practising with fractions is when I have nightmares!!

Anyway....life is wonderful:p:p:p

Spot the error
 

This is a reply to CKJ message 5741

That was error was there for a purpose. So that you do not believe everything you see. check it out yourself.
Any way, can you help me with this.

(1) A/C flying at 18 miles per hour, hour long did it take to reach 140 miles ?

A. 7 hours and 8 mins

B. 7 hours and 7 mins

C. 7 hours and 48 mins

D. 7 hours and 42 mins

thanks for your help.

My answer : 7 hours 8 Minutes?

My calculation: Speed = Distance / Time

So: 140/18 = 7.77777777777778

Round that up to 7.8

I hope im correct

way of

you're right with equation

7.7 = 7 hours 48 min ;)

Can you show me your calculation please?:ok:

like you said 140/18 = 7.77777777777778

so we have 7hours and 0.8 of an hour, if we round up like you said
since hour has 60 min, you multiply 60*0.8 which is 48min :)