Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme

[barney31]

@Holdmetight

You are a sharp cookie aren’t you!;-) But you are correct again. I made another overlook.

9 aircraft flying with PW4056 = B747-400BCF? I am confused because aircraft with PW4056 should be ex-SQ B744, but as far as I know there should only be 3 of such aircraft in the CX cargo fleet (B-HKH, B-HKJ, B-HKS). Am I missing something?

Yes, you are missing something. According to the operators certificates the following registrations have PW4056 beside the above: B-HKX, KAF, KAG, KAH, KAI, and KAE. Making it a total of 9 Acft. Howver, the KAE is not an Converted Freighter(as you have posted).

13 aircraft flying with RB211 = B747-400F. Your first post, though, said there are only 6 of these aircraft. Again, am I missing something?

No, in this is my mistake. I got confused in my own puddle. Sorry.

There are 10 Acft flying with RB211s in stead of 13 as a mentioned. I miss counted. Sorry for the mistake again… Registations are of these 10 are: B-HUU, HUK, HUL, HUO, HUP, HUQ, HUR, HUS, HOU, HOZ

So to conclude for the 747 freighter fleet:
6 X 747-ERF with 4 x PW 4062
reg:B-LIA/LIB/LIC/LID/LIE/LIF
4 X 747-BCF with 4 x RB211-524H/T
reg: B-HUR/HUS/HOU/HOZ
6 X 747-400F with 4 x RB211-524H/T
reg: B-HUH/HUK/HUL/HUO/HUP/HUQ
8 x 747-BCF with 4 x PW4056
reg: B-HKH/HKJ/HKS/HKX/KAF/KAG/KAH/KAI
1 x 747-LD with 4 x PW4056 reg: B-KAE

Bringing it to a total of 25 acft. I got confused with some old numbers I retrieved. My sincere apologies for the confusions and mistakes. I guess am only human

For pax fleet B744, there are 22 aircraft, but there should be 6 that were purchased from SIA - B-HKD, B-HKE, B-HKF, B-HKT, B-HKU, B-HKV. Why has it now become 5, where did the extra one go?

The B-HKD is off the grid and there is no activity for this acft for quite some time. I have no clue why it is not mentioned in the database, but I am pretty sure it has a good reason. I will see what I can digg up… to be continued.


Nevertheless, thanks for the eagle eye!.. again!!

[holdmetight]

barney31

The numbers are now making sense, thanks for clarifying everything!

I'm still wondering, though, what B-KAE is. You mentioned that it is not a BCF and the information you gave has named it as a 747-LD. So what exactly is the difference between a BCF and a -LD?

[barney31]

@Holdmetight

So what exactly is the difference between a BCF and a -LD?

I have not figured this one out yet. Although the KAE has the same operating certificate as an BCF, it seems there is an administrative difference throughout CX between the BCFs and the B-KAE. I reckon you will do fine with calling it an BCF. It might have to do with the manual cargo loading system on the B-KAE as opposed to the auto-system of the other BCFs.

Anyhow, it does not actually matter I guess, because these things are not expected to be known in any interview stage. It contains too much details. Unless, you are boasting about it, these matters will shoot you in the foot. You see how many mistakes I have made already and needed to be corrected, so imagine bringing this discussion up in an interview and getting it wrong.

I merely wanted to give a general factsheet about the fleet. I agree, I should have put more attention in it, in order not to create such detailed postings and hit the "correct-button" in the first place.So that is my lesson for today.

Truly thanks for your sharp comments, Holdmetight.
Peace

[snowleopard]

Interview Location - Reg.

Hi,

I am currently doing ma final year Engg. in India. I will be completing my course sometime in April/May 2011. So what would be the best time to apply ?
And I was also wondering as to what I should give as my preferred interview location. Should I say India or should I give it as Hong Kong, for the advantage that places with fewer applications might be delayed for a longer time whereas if I say Hong Kong, the reply from CX would be quicker ?

[Mike_Kilo_Sierra]

I think giving HK as your first location might help. I've given India and I applied in September '09. The application still shows up as 'in process'.

MKS

[holdmetight]

barney31

Thanks once again for providing us with such insight. As per the reasons you have mentioned, I don't think I will be going into much detail with regards to the Cathay fleet size. But nonetheless such information is good to have and as such I have it all written down for my future reference. All the best to you and hopefully I will get to meet you in person sometime in the future.

[snowleopard]

thanks mks

Hey, thanks for that. ;-) Also what would be the approximate time taken by them to reply, so that I would know when to send my application...???

[r_cy_mak]

Hello everyone,

I posted a question regarding when is Vancouver interview earlier.

My situation was this: I chose Vancouver as the primary location for interview, but I was going to move back to Hong Kong after June 28th. I informed Cathay about my situation and they said they will update my status accordingly.

After the 28th, I have contacted Cathay and confirmed my status in Hong Kong, and they just sent me an invitation to attend an interview in Hong Kong on Augest 10th for stage 1 testing.

I just wanted to share my experience on this post so that if anyone in the same situation I am in would be able to find some help reading this.

[yiga194]

I applied in November 2009 but still have no reply..fingers crossed and waiting patiently..any international applicants' testimonies?

[jetset]

Hi guys

LD is just a BCF on wet lease to AHK.

[barney31]

@jetset

Superthanks for the info, jetset
cheers

[Pandaman]

@Hold Me tight

Hi mate,how's today interview?everything's fine?best of luck with your application...Finger X

Pandaman

[holdmetight]

Pandaman

I didn't perform like I thought I would. Hopefully they won't judge me based on the one or two things that I didn't do so well, though it is a disappointment because I went there thinking I was ready for anything they would throw at me. Apparently that was not the case. We shall see what becomes of this, the recruitment people have said they will get back to me within the coming 2 weeks. Either way today's experience was good - you are never quite as good as you think you are, so it always counts to prepare as much as you possibly can.

Were you at 6/F of the FTC at 0930 this morning?

[holdmetight]

Stage 1 Questions

I did my Stage 1 interview at Cathay City today. Here are the questions I was asked (or at least the ones I remember). I was interviewed by a B777 training captain and a lady from HR. They were both very nice and the atmosphere was quite casual. When I made mistakes with my answers or was unsure about something, they would lead me towards the right answer. Good luck to the two other people I met there, as well as to everyone who did Stage 2 and 3 yesterday and today. Well done!

Personal Questions
1. Why did you choose your degree?
2. Which part of your degree did you enjoy the most?
3. Which part of your degree did you enjoy the least or struggle with the most?
4. Have you applied for the Dragonair cadet program?
5. What would you do if Cathay never accepts you?
6. How did you fund your PPL training?
7. What do you do outside your student/flying life?
8. Why should we hire you?
9. What would your close friends say about you?
10. What role do you usually play when it comes to teamwork?
11. Do you find it easier to be a leader or follower?
12. What licenses do you end up with when you graduate from cadet training?
13. What position in the airline will you be offered when you graduate?
14. What does a Second Officer do?
15. What aircraft do Cathay operate?
16. What are the destinations in Europe that Cathay operates to?
17. What is the new destination to be opened in July?
18. What aircraft are on order?
19. Have you set a time limit for yourself by which you must become a professional pilot?
20. What got you interested in aviation/becoming a pilot?
21. Where did you spend the majority of your life?

Technical Questions
1. Identify the aircraft on the tarmac. How did you come to your answer?
2. Identify the aircraft models on the table. How did you come to your answer?
3. What is the cross-wind limit for your aircraft? What does this mean?
4. If the runway heading is 035, what is the reciprocal heading?
5. If the runway heading is 040 and you have a crosswind of 100/20, what is your crosswind component?
6. What is the typical cruising level of a B777?
7. Assume we are cruising at FL380 and we wish to descend to Kunming (elevation 5000'). The aircraft travels 3nm for every 1000ft of descent, and we wish to leave 15nm before arriving at Kunming for the aircraft to slow down. How far before Kunming is the TOD?
8. Draw a jet engine on the whiteboard and explain how it works.
9. Describe how a B777 slows down after it lands.
10. Coming back to the previous question about descending into Kunming. If we use spoilers and it gives us a 50% decrease on the distance the aircraft travels per 1000ft descent, and it improves aircraft deceleration by 50%. What is the new TOD?
11. What is the first aircraft you will fly if you start cadet training in Adelaide?
12. What does the 115 in the name Grob115 mean?
13. What engine does the B777-300 use? The B777-300ER?
14. Why does an airliner fly at high altitudes?

These are all that I can remember. If I recall anymore I will update this post. Hope these are helpful to those preparing for any upcoming interview!

[Pandaman]

@ HOLdmetight

negative..i wasn't there this morning....but i have been followed this thread for quite a while....i am impressed by your effort...wish you earn your ticket to the adelaide this year!!!Finger X..

pandaman

[Andrew_W]

@holdmetight

Don't worry mate. I did answer some questions wrong in my interviews. As long as you corrected it, that wouldn't cause any problem. I've just gone through the questions and I got most of them during my 3 interviews. Hope to see more Hong Kong guys down in Adelaide.

Good Luck!

[holdmetight]

Thanks guys, will keep everyone updated!

[Octopus88]

Ravens/ Preparing for your Cathay Interview

Hi All,

I'm selling the Advanced Progressive Matrices and 'Preparing for your Cathay Interview' by Captains X,Y, Z. The questions are identical to what features in the CX reasoning test. PM me if you are interested.

Price will include postage.

[Octopus88]

SierraIndia

SierraIndia,

Your PM box is full. It's not accepting any messages.

[VNA Lotus]

@ Holdmetight
What is your experience ? (PPL, CPL, 500 hours .. etc )
Thanks

Guys if you write about a feedback, could you please tell us your experience in the same time ?
If I ask it is just because, technical questions are quite based on it.... so it could give us a reference as well.
Many thanks.

Good luck to all of you