Entropia

Hi everybody, I'm a newbee to the forum.

I'm going into Phase 2 on Friday 16. I'm coming from Italy, and I'll stay by a friend in South Wimbledon, and will rent a car for a couple of days.
Since I'm not used to drive on the right seat (I mean to drive the car), I ask you how long is to drive from Gatwick airport to the selection place? And from South Wimbledon?

Has anybody undergone the Phase 2? What kind of question and answer test, computer test and numeracy test am I undergoing?

Thank you
F.

bjkeates

Gatwick Airport to Bournemouth Airport would probably take you about 2 and a half hours in clear traffic. Unless you plan to leave very early in the morning, I would strongly advise against driving to Bournemouth from London first thing. The traffic will be terrible on the motorways and it doesn't look good if you walk in late. Remember you're supposed to be there for 8:45am.

I recommend you do what a lot of people do - drive down to Christchurch the night before, stay in a Guest House (cheap, very comfortable and the breakfasts are VERY good!) and then drive up to Bournemouth Airport (about 15 minutes drive) in the morning. As well as eliminating the risk of getting stuck in traffic on the motorway, you'll have the added benefit of a good night's sleep which is essential before Phase 2. The computer PILAPT tests require all the concentration you can summon up. You're unlikely to be at your best if you have to get up at 6:00am and then drive over two hours in heavy motorway traffic.

Also, you can get the train from Gatwick Airport down to Christchurch (with one change) and use taxis to get to Bournemouth Airport if that's cheaper than hiring a car for two days.

About the question "has anyone undergone phase 2" - please read through this thread very carefully, particularly the most recent 10-15 pages or so. That question has been asked repeatedly and there is a large amount of useful information on here - all I would be doing by answering this would be repeating what has already been posted.

Best of luck

raviolis

In the past weeks I've read quite a few posts from Italian applicants going for stage 2 and/or 3 selections. I was there myself and failed at stage 3 few months ago so just curious to know how you guys do. Best of luck.
I understand easyJet are opening/have opened a base in Milan so there might be some opportunities there.

Buona fortuna !

Entropia

One more question: you said I need to be there for 8:45, in the CTC webiste it's written 10. Which one is right? Is the selection FIFO?

Thank you
F.

akindofmagic

I have recently gone through, and passed the CTC Wings selection process, doing my phase IV simulator assessment on Thursday 8th June. I ship out to NZ in the next couple of months.

Quite a few people pm'd me after a previous post to ask about Phase III of the process and what it entails. Rather than replying to all of those people individually I thought it was probably easier to post in the main forum, so apologies to all those who didn't receive a personal reply to their message.

The day begins (obscenely early!) with what is termed a "selection briefing". Basically, this is just the group sitting round introducing themselves in the "Hi I'm X and I'm an alcoholic" style. I'm not sure if this part of the proceedings is assessed. Don't be put off by the copious notes that the four assessors will be taking; it's all very informal and most people keep it quite light.

After the selection briefing, you will do the group exercises. You will be split into two groups (probably with 4-5 people in each) and will be taken off to different areas of the building by the assessors (two to each group). I won't give away what the actual exercises are. I will say that it's important to play an effective role in the team. This means that you should not sit back saying nothing and equally you should not talk all the time; listen to what your teammates say, and take it on board. However, do not be afraid to put your point across. Your ideas will be valuable and worth hearing. Don't talk over anyone else, don't interrupt and you will be fine. A couple of final points; listen to the instructions, and try to reach a decision as a group at the end of each exercise. Effective communication is not just important; it is crucial!

One final point on the group exercise: You will have to complete a self assessment questionnaire. Just make sure that you write an honest assessment of how you performed in the exercises. Don't worry if anyone writes more or less than you do; only you know how much you need to say.

After the group exercises, which will probably take around two hours, you will be able to take lunch. You should take the opportunity to talk to the numerous CTC cadets who will be wandering around, and the whole day will be quite informal in this respect. If you have a question you want to ask to any assessor, whether during lunch or the break between the two group exercises, just ask it! The impression I got was that they will be more than happy to talk about any aspect of flying with you.

I found the interview quite good fun. There will be two interviewers: an HR specialist and a very experienced (think 20k+ hours) pilot. The HR will ask more general questions, while the pilot will probably ask technical questions. The best advice that I can give is to substantiate your answers to all of the questions. You can probably guess that you will get the standard questions such as "Why do you want to be a pilot?" and "When have you been an effective member of a team?" These questions are just inviting you to take control of the interview, and say what you want the assessors to hear. Tell them anything you think backs up your credentials; anything you think makes you a more attractive candidate should be mentioned. Give examples to back up your responses; in other words, if you say "I am an effective team player" give them an example of the time when you were a member of a committee, or sports team or whatever. This is all just simple interview technique; if you're unsure on this, there will be plenty of information on this website (use the search function), and there are numerous books on the subject available. Just read around!

The technical questions will depend entirely on your prior experience. However, don't worry about them!! If you have an interest in aviation, you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure than you have some idea about the background of the various partner airlines and CTC itself; people have failed because they have displayed absolutely no knowledge of the industry. Even reading one of the main flight magazines for a few weeks will give you a good basic knowledge of the major comings and goings in this complicated industry.

None of what I have written above should be taken as gospel. I might, of course, have misrepresented or misunderstood what they're looking for at this stage. However, this post shows you how I approached this stage of the process. The best advice I received before doing phase III was to be myself. Don't try and be someone that you're not, because it's very easy to see through a fake.

Good luck to anyone undergoing selection. I am convinced that it will all be worth it!

Jamie

bjkeates

Hmmm, actually I'm not sure. The time you should go by is the one in the e-mail they send you. It was 8:45am when I did it in January, but it may well have changed now. If so, apologies for giving incorrect information.

akindofmagic

cparker

You misunderstood. I passed phase IV on thursday 8th June, so I've been accepted onto the course. I edited my earlier post because re-reading it now, it is ambiguous and may give the wrong impression. Apologies.

Jamie

Maurifly

This is one of them!!

Hi William, thanks, let's hope we're going through!!

Anybody else attempting to phase three on 5 July?

I'm looking for someone available to share a car rent from the airport (Southampton, of course!).

Thanks very much to Jamie (akindofmagic) for the lot of info on phase three!!
That was very, very, very useful!!

MAurifly

jaimz1982

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to ask a q about the maths tests for CTC, the 15 qs. Just wanted to know are they all dressed up in aviation language that some of us who have literally just started their PPL will be completely baffled by, or are they just your average equations or sums.

Can anyone give me an example or any help as Im revising for my phase 2 this friday.

Im also dreading the pilapt stuff aswell.

Thanks very much

James

DANNY M

Hope that everyone that attended phase 3 assessment yesterday have been successful!?

I've just had the e-mail telling me that I passed phase 3, also inviting me to phase 4 next week!

So near, yet so far (I'm sure this has been said a few posts back!) lol


Danny

bjkeates

jaimz - no, no complicated aviation language. The questions are, I would say, about GCSE standard maths. Don't worry too much about that, if you're at all competent with maths you won't have a problem.

Pilapts are hard work - make sure you get a good night's sleep and a good breakfast before them. That is literally the best thing you can do to help you pass them, no matter how much practice you've had (if any.)

dragonfly6

DANNY,

ye it was me who said it! However managed to pass the sim test and am heading out second of august!

trying to complete the moutain of paperwork right now.

davedek

Hello everyone.

With regards to the maths test in stage 2, I know that you can't use a calculator (obviously), but are you given a pencil and paper to work it out? Might seem like a stupid question but I would be very grateful for an answer.

Thank you.

DANNY M

You get a pen provided... you can do any working out on the side of the maths paper they give you.

Thr maths paper is not that hard, its the time limit that puts the pressure on.

davedek

Thank you very much Danny.

Entropia

Hi everyobody, I'm going into phase 3 on 5 July. I think I'm flying inbound Gatwick on 4 July. Anybody wants to share a rental car from LGW to Dibden Manor?

Otherwise, have you got any suggestion on different ways to arrange the transportation (train, bus)?

Regards

NOL

Hi,
Im heading for the Phase 2 in Bournemouth on June 30th and Im looking for someone to share a rental car etc from Gatwick or Heatrow.

Im flying in from Copenhagen on Easy or SAS on June 29th and Im also trying to organize accomodation for the night somewhere around the CTC center.

Drop me a line on [email protected]

Nich

ootve

Jeames

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, but am travelling from Belfast to Bournemouth on 30th June for phase 2 of the assessment. I have already learned a substantial amount from reading this forum, but was wondering firstly if anyone has any further information on stage 2 (especially if you have recently completed it successfully) and secondly does anyone want to meet for a quick get together on the Thursday evening to acquaint ourselves in advance of any group work that may be involved?

Thanks

Justin

bjkeates

What further information are you wanting exactly? I'm always happy to help but so much has been said on this forum that it's difficult to know exactly what information you're after because pretty much everything has been covered over and over again.