CTC Selection
 

Hi everyone,

I am booked for CTC Selection (ATPL Whitetail WINGS) at the end of the month and been doing my preparation for weeks now from practicing mental arithmetic to potential interview questions.

Anyone got any tips for the group exercise and further tips for the interview? I am not too worried for the Numeracy and PILAPT tests.

I would be starting fresh out of high school, however am very passionate and motivated to pursue my training with CTC and have read countless blog posts, watched videos, and even stalked (!) current CTC cadets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance and best wishes,

Why on earth would you go down the non-tagged route? If you're going to drop £100k at CTC, why so significantly limit your chances of getting a job?

CTC are top of the range when it comes to airline placement with their 98%..

If I'd said I applied for an MPL route with an airline, someone else would criticize my choice because MPL limits my options versus ATPL.

I personally chose the ATPL whitetail route because it broadens my options, and I'll take any airline that wants me. An MPL-airline route 20 months later - the airline's reputation and stability could be different??

And I understand that many on these forums slam down people for paying £100,000 to the likes of OAA, CTC and FTE, but these FTOs are also ahead of the game. The very fact that the big airlines out there recognize these organizations and establish partnerships also speaks for itself. What else are people looking for in FTOs that is more crucial than employability?

danbw9,


I have met some guys in The Netherlands they said that CAE is down and CTC is following.Those gyus where promised a job,now unemployed in debt and a lot of stress.So be aware.you sounds too optimistics.BTW goodluck

Selection is fairly easy. Seems like you are well prepared and will do absolutely fine. Just get it across that you are a team player, eager to learn and most importantly make sure you come across as someone easy enough to sit next to for 10 hours a day in a small space(probably the most important thing). One small tip...remember that at the end of any flying school course you leave with a CPL, not an ATPL. The amount of people who think you leave flying school with any kind of ATPL is a bit worrying(that they are about to spend 100k without knowing the basic facts). About job prospects, the good pilots will always get jobs, doesn't really make any difference which flying school you go to. Let's say perhaps it's easier for a lesser pilot to get a job if they go to CTC and pay up, but if you're good, you'll land a job eventually no matter what(no doubt I'll get shot down for saying that, but it's true).

Hi Dan,

White Tail or MPL I think we can all agree you are going to get a lot of criticism!

I think if you are going the white tail route, look up the airlines that place from this scheme and also research the ethos and history of CTC so when you are asked questions you can answer in a way that fits the ethos of CTC Aviation rather than what you think a pilot should be.

I would make sure when you are there to just be yourself, the selection process is designed to identify whether you have the skills that are required to be an airline pilot so theres nothing you can do to "fudge" the results even if you wanted to.

CTC have been doing it for years and I know a number of candidates who have completed the scheme and placed with an airline swiftly after completion. CTC have a fantastic placement percentage (98%) and I would say that while there is always risks with these schemes where you can get to the end and might not get a job or that the hiring market in 18-24 months may be completely different to what it is now, schools like CTC, OAA, FTE (you would think anyway) are going to want you to place with an airline and as long as you study hard and have a positive attitude I am sure you won't run in to any problems, lets face it if you are in a position to accept the risk, then being a pilot at the end of the day isn't a bad repayment!

That said, if successful, think of how you would afford the first few months of repayments if you didn't attain a job immediately, nevertheless Best of luck with selection!

Thank you all for your responses - really appreciate it!

I have continued to prepare examples for the interview from the list of elements in the selection pack (leadership potential, sense of responsibility, high standards etc.), as well as browse CTC on all fronts from their LinkedIn page, facebook page, newsletters, and all the literature I can get my hands on (and collected from open days)! Group exercise seems straightforward and self explanatory..

For the numeracy tests, I have practiced on skytest, PAT and latestpilotjobs all on medium-hard setting. What else can I do to practice for the numeracy test?

Thanks in advance and best wishes to you all!

Having been offered a place by CTC myself, continue doing as you're doing and you shall be fine. I'd advise you look to becoming speedy at conversion over 3 currencies in particular and long division. I seem to recall Question 10 - 15 taking quite a while to answer so you need to be quick at the start.

Thanks gbotley! Will take a look into those - how about square roots and cubed roots, should i just know both types of roots up to 15?

Also, what is the pass percentage for the maths - any idea?

Thanks in advance

danbw9,

Sounds like you're asking questions you already know the answers to. If you've used those sites to prepare then you know what you're up against. I did find that Latest Pilot Jobs on Hard was a little overkill for CTC assessment mind you.. but it gets you thinking quickly that's for sure.

I don't actually know the pass mark. I applied to Virgin and passed at Dibden but didn't make the final shortlist due to Maths so i think Virgin looked at 15/15 as an easy way to take the cream off the top. I got around 12 IIRC.

All the best, but do try to enjoy it. I failed completely first time around and got to CTC standard this year. Just hoping the bank is nice ;)

Hello!

Which is better doing the MPL with QA or doing the ATPL?

Hi,

if it comes to the flight director test at CTC. Do you move the Attitude to the flight director like in the real plane or do you move the flight director to the attitude?

Would be great if someone can give me first hand advise.

Thank you.

Just like the FD on an ILS

You simply use the joystick to maintain the crosshairs in the middle - you do what you need to do. You will get a trial to figure out the movement and the you react to the inputs -

The challenge comes in capacity to calculate, ,maintain the cross hairs as well as recognise the colours and numbers ....... You'll be sweating ;)