CMS123
 

I'll give it a try...

In the back during T/O and Landing.

During cruise, I think it depends on who you are working with. If you are flying with the captain then he sits on his seat and you sit on the RHS. If you are flying with the relief F/O then you sit on the LHS while he/she sits on the RHS, as the RQ is trained to perform relief command only from the RHS.

Around Asia.

Not sure. My guess is that anything above 8 hours is considered long-haul. The whole issue of flight duty times is quite messy though, as you can see from another thread in the neighbouring Fragrant Harbour forum. Perhaps someone else in the know can answer your question.

interview responses
 

I was recently trained in the art of asking questions as part of my flight instructor rating.
In stage one I couldn't help but respond to poorly formed questions with the direct yes or no answer.
For instance, I was asked "Do you know who the COO is?" I responded Yes. She then asked who is it. I responded with the correct answer.

Do you think it is bad practice or should I have just given her the answer when she asked if I knew? I ended up getting through to the next stage. Throughout the interview I got her about 4 or 5 times. I wonder if it helped me seem more confident or arrogant. What do you guys think?

holdmetight
 

Thank you for your help and the answer.

I got ask about 777-200 on my 1B interview. My answer was medium haul route around asia. Then, the next question was what country. From what I know is every plane goes Taipei.

Correspondence Address
 

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a question about a form I need to fill out for Stage 2. In the form they ask for a Hong Kong Correspondence Address and Hong Kong Contact Telephone Number. I was wondering if the Hong Kong Correspondence Address is supposed to be an address in Hong Kong or an address where I am from that they can mail things from Hong Kong. Secondly, I was wondering how my phone number changes when I am in Hong Kong. I live in the US so my phone number starts with a 3 digit area code then 7 more digits. If I am in Hong Kong is my phone number the same plus the 852? I know this might seem like an unintelligent question, but I really have never had to deal with things like this before.

Thanks in advance!

umppilot
 

I don't think that is the right way to go about it.

IMHO a very important trait for prospective airline pilots is initiative. Where flying safely is directly dependent on good teamwork, why would you want to withhold information because you perceive the question wasn't asked well enough? I believe being proactive and volunteering extra information that could be helpful is a big plus.

Well done on getting to Stage 2 though.

CMS123
 

Really? Even the B747-400?

Aviates 01,

Just put n/a (not applicable) in the HK correspondence address, that way the HR staff will know to respond to your home address instead. The form is probably a leftover from the days when cadet recruitment was for local permanent HK residents, or for candidates that have family members living in HK.

With regards to your your contact number, if you plan to keep using your US sim card whilst you're in HK then you need to do it in the following format:
+1 (USA dialling code, not +852 as this is HK's number) your 3 digit number + 7 digit number.

Good luck with Stage 2!

barney31
 

Thanks for your insight! :D

Updating application?
 

Does anyone know if we can continuously update the application after it has been submitted??
Thanks :)

No you may not update your application once you have submitted it. I have heard, however, that you can contact Cx and advise them of any changes that you feel are important.

Stage 2 & 3 questions
 

Dear all passionated aviator. I was invited for stage 2 interview in HK. I am extremely excited.

I saw many people posted list of interview questions during Stage 1 but seldom saw any questions for Stage 2 and 3. I hope someone who had experience on Stage 2 and 3 interview could share this information here. That will be greatly helpful and appreciated. Many thanks.

That helps...thanks!:ok:

Stage 1 Vancouver
 

Has anyone heard back from Stage 1 interviews in Vancouver last week? Getting anxious to find out!

Cheers!

Got the nod today so any information on stage 2 guys would be greatly appreciated. Going to HK in about 6 weeks!

SW1, congratulations! When is your Stage 2/3?

Anyone else doing Stage 2/3 on 7th/8th September?

I'll be there around that time so might be there the same day HMT.

Stage 2 & 3 Questions
 

eleong,

here are some of the questions asked during Stage 2 and 3 for me, can't remember all of them but most of them are here. Feel free to add onto what I have. Stage 2 and 3 interviews were the same as Stage 1, where there were 2 interviewers, one asking the HR questions, while the other was into the technical portions.

Stage 2

1) Tell us about yourself and how you got involved with aviation.
2) Was it difficult to get into that program?
3) Do you see yourself as a competitive person?
4) With your experience, tell us about a time when you had to deal with a situation that you remember, how did you handle it?
5) Tell us about your education background, and about your up bringing.
6) Where is most of your family? Where is home for you?
7) Can you tell us about the history of Cathay?
8) Where do we fly to in North America?
9) Do you have a partner?
10) Have you considered joining the military? (I told them I tried out for the military, but was rejected)
11) Do you have regrets about not making it into the military?

Then I was passed off to another interviewer for the technical portion

1) if you had a choice at CX, which aircraft would you like to fly?
2) Why do you want to fly the 777?
3) Can you identify which aircraft these are? (presents me with two models)
4) How do you tell them apart?
5) Asides from visual differences, what else is difference about them?
6) What kind of engines do this 777 have? and this A330?
7) How long do you think a flight from NY to HK is?
8) What is the gross weight of the 777?
9) How much fuel do you think we'll need, show me. (Hands me a marker to write down the numbers through my calculations).
10) On top of that burn fuel, what other fuel will we need? (alternate, IFR reserves, contingency +taxi/startup).
11) What countries will we fly through on the way?
12) On a day like today what will we use as an alternate? (Macau)
13) Knowing which alternate, how much fuel will we need for this flight?
14) Tell me about the engines on the 777
15) Can you show me the stages of a typical jet engine, (handed me a marker and asked me to draw it on the white board)
16) Explain to me how each stage works
17) How many compression stages are there? and how much compression will this engine produce?

In addition, the technical interviewer also asked about a few things with regards to what my career intentions were, since I already had a CPL and some experience flying they wanted to know why I don't want to stay in North America. but since I'm from HK with most of my family there, so it was an easy one to answer.

Stage 3

The HR portion was mostly the same as the other stages, but asked a few more questions with regards to my background.

1) Tell us about your current job.
2) How do you like it?
3) If you had a choice would you go for the short course, or long course?
Those were the only two questions that were distinctly different from others
Then again I was passed over to the technical interviewer.

1) How is your meteorology? (Was really a serious question, just an ice breaker for a few laughs)
2) Explain to me what a cold front would look like.
3) What types of weather can we expect? (Cloud formation, icing, etc..)
4) What would a warm front look like then?
5) Explain to me how an aircraft produces lift, what happens when I lower the flaps?
6) Lets take this airplane for example (presents me with a piper seneca model), What is adverse yaw and what causes this?
7) What airplane do I have here? (Points to the 777 model)
8) What is the difference between the -300/-300ER models? (raked wingtips)
9) How do they work?
10) What would you do if you took off in your airplane and had an engine failure?
Then he proceeded to ask about a few other emergencies dealing specifically with that aircraft.
11) What sort of engines does the airplane you have flown have?
12) Tell me about them, explain how they work.
13) How fast is the aircraft you fly?
14) How long would it take to travel 18 miles?
15) If you were flying at 480 knots, how long does it take to travel 18 miles? (use the one in sixty rule)
16) Start from 100 and count down wards, subtracting 7 each time.

And that was it, it ended with them asking whether I had any questions for them. I'm sure it is very tailored differently for each person to take into account the different levels of flying experience. However, I did run into a few questions that I flat out said "I'm not sure/don't know, but what this is what I think might be...".

If you have flight experience, it would help to know the aircraft you have flown, but if not then I think they are looking for how much enthusiasm and preparation you have, either way, a positive, cool and collected attitude will really shine, even if you don't know the answer.

Like many others have said in this thread, know yourself, know them, and be yourself. I had butterflies in my stomach before going into the interviews, and during the interviews they really did a great job breaking the ice so I could relax a bit.

Good luck, and enjoy HK, especially the canteen they have, it is not expensive, very diverse, and super tasty! especially the See Yau Gai Fan (酱油鸡饭）... sooo good!

Thanks a lot Northbound for your feedback.
:)
Northbound, what was your experience, background ? you got quite hard questions sometimes.... lol !

could someone explain the timeline between stage 2 and 3 interviews?

You do your medical at stage 2 right? If so, are you informed of the results that day and then go for stage 3 later?

Also if anyone can give me a breakdown of the medical?

Much appreciated :ok: