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Hi guys, hope you well. Just a favor... You'll see allot of the guys
have given info on their experiences, all I ask, is once you done, if
you could please drop me an email with what you were asked, any
tips, ANYTHING you want to add. I'll copy and paste and keep this
email growing to help the next guys coming through.

January 2015 (SO TT Interview)

Good day All receiving this email.

Just some information for the interview process at Cathay Pacific.

Regarding costs, initially we earn about HK$50000 a month the 1st year, and roughly
HK$55000 in the 2nd year. Having a look at expenses, this is what I personally estimate
the costs to be for living here per month:

Internet 275 (for a 500 megs/s line)

"TV" (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, iTunes apps) 200
Cell phone (no limit on internet, calls and sms's) 120 each
Water, lights, gas 500
Transport 1500 each
Food 5000
Dinner's & entertainment 1000 each
Gym 900 each
Dental & Travel Insurance 150 Both
Rent 20000 - 25000
Tax 1000 (it’s a lot less if you supporting a
partner)

Total +- 40 000 (for you and a partner)

So the 1st year is really tight. A lot easier if the partner can work. Teaching english pays +-
$20000. For my first couple of months in Hong Kong, my wife was not working, and we
managed just fine. We ate, drank and did a couple of tourist things, and there was
enough left over.

Then the questions I got asked in the technical:

This was so so so easy! It's really PPL questions.

1. Whats the list formula?

2. What is rho and S in the equation mean. (Air density and surface area)

3. What kind of weather can you expect before, during and after a warm front? (funny, this
came up again in my verbal interview. I think I got it wrong in the test. It looks like they
ask the things you got wrong in the technical to see if you go home that night and look up
what you don't know.)
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4. Whats the speed of sound if you at M0,8 and the tas is 480kts? (600Ks)

5. ROD change going from 150kts to 120kts on a 3deg app? (ROD on a 3 deg app = 5 X
Ground speed)

6. What happens to your altimeter if the static port gets blocked on a decent. (reads the
same)

7. Whats the end of your 1st segment climb? (gear up)

8. How does a head wind affect Vx and Vy? (the guys actually struggled with this!)

9. You inbound to a VOR on R030, you asked to hold on R180 over the beacon, whats
your sector entry? (Parallel)

10. What type of aircraft do we have on our fleet. (process of elimination makes that easy
i.e. there no A380's or 737's)

11. Who are the main shareholders of Cathay? (Swire, CITIC & Air China)

12. AOA is between what and what? (Chord and free stream airflow)

13. What are the runways at Chek Lap Kok? (07L/25R and 07R/25L)

14. You landing RWY 36, the wind is 045/14. Whats your cross wind component? (7R)

15. Whats the main source of energy from a tropical cyclone? (Latent heat)

16. A rearward C of G gives you? (more range)

17. What is the development stage of a thunderstorm mostly characterised by? (Up-
draghts)

18. What happens to LSS and TAS when climbing at a constant Mach Number? (Both
Decrease)

19. IAS, AOA and flaps stay the same, what happens to lift as altitude increases? (Lift
decreases as the air density decreases in a climb)

20. What happens to your indicated stalling speed as altitude increases? (Increase,
decrease or stay the same?)

21. Going from a hot area to a cold area, your altimeter will? (Over read.)

22. Going from an area with a high pressure, to an area with a low pressure, your altimeter
will (Over read)

23. What do flaps do on the take off? (Reduce the take off run)

24. What directions do Jet-streams flow in the northern hemisphere? (North, south, east,
west?)
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25. What type of weather can you expect when approaching, going through, and past a
warm front?

26. You at 5 DME on a 3 deg glide slope, threshold crossing hight is 50” whats your hight
above the threshold? (1500’)

27. Advection fog forms when? (Warm moist air moves over a cold surface.)

Thats all I can remember. I think there were 30 questions.

The group exercise is fun, just make sure you involved but not over powering. The sheets
are laminated, so before you even start, grab a white board marker so you can underline
key points on your sheet.

Each guy has different information (Requirements) on their sheet. You need to send
someone to space to save the world ASAP, the guy must have X experience, negative
blood type, less than 40 years old, a male American, less than 80kg etc...

Immediately, get someone to get on the white board, list all the requirements, and then 8
columns next to that where you can tick and cross if someone has the requirements. Use
color as well. You need to have someone keeping an eye on the stop watch and calling
15min, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. (brief the guys on this before the lady takes you to the room)

You won't have enough time to get the perfect guy, but pic the best candidate and why.
None of the sheets says if its a male or female, unless if they talk about he or she does
this and that. But the one teaches woman net ball. DON’T assume thats a female. Cant a
guy teach woman net ball?

They psychometrics are a joke. 225 questions. 2 answers for each. Obviously you click
the ones where you trust people and prefer to work in a group. It's really basic.

The sim is probably the make or break. I found it the hardest out of everything, but not
hard in general. The instructors shout and scream at you, even swear like troopers. But
they are purposely trying to put you off to see how you do under pressure. The better you
do, the more the say "what the F are you doing mate! For F sake man! Fly the Fing plane!"
They will put you on your limit that you just want to give up and ask them to stop the sim!
Just relax! If you tense, you going to be pulling that yoke all over the place! Put your arms
on the arm rests, and fly the plane with you wrist and fingers. Gentle, she is very sensitive
and has serious inertia! Roll onto headings 20 degrees before!!!! That got all of us.

(Added: I spoke to Garry, who does the sims, and he was saying that some guys don't
make any notes in the briefing. They just sit there. There’s no way one can remember
what tips and instructions were given 5 hours before their sim ride. So MAKE NOTES! He
also mentioned that the guys don't follow basic instructions that were given in the briefing
or when they told something in the sim.)

Theres no maths test anymore.

You do a light induction with Katrina Evans. She's the HR lady on your interview panel, so
behave. She doesn't tell you this, but she is such a nice lady. So don't think she's nothing
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and play on your phone or anything like that. As she's going through "what it's like in
Cathay" ask things. You can really ask her anything. She wants to see you get interested
and excited. Like the fact that Cathay pays for 90% of your kids school fees.

You do an english test to a guy on the phone in Auz. I struggled to hear him so struggled
to answer him. (Sounds stupid, but I wish I had an ear plug for my open ear as the
phones volume is so soft.)

The medical takes a while, and you go to all different people. The only result that takes a
couple of days is the hair and blood. Otherwise you know immediately about your urine,
x-ray, ecg and all the rest. If you fail (when they let you know after 2weeks), and if it was a
medical reason, they will let you know, and depending on situation, you may explain.
They want to know every medication you have taken in the last while. Even vitamins! So
just make a note. And don't eat bread with poppy seeds. It gives a false positive for some
drug. They took a surprising amount of hair. It needs to be between 1 to 3cm. But the
longer the better.

And then the interview. It is SO SO SO easy! Again, PPL stuff! it's 75% HR. They are SO
so so friendly. Allot of laughing and chatting back and forth. It's really more of a
conversation than an interrogation. I would highly recommend going over some HR
questions just to answer smoothly so it sounds like you have given these things thought
and it's not the first time you have thought of this.

The HR lady has a PDF sheet that you can get off CX website, and she asks you who is
the Chairman and Director of Flight Opps, how many 777’s, A330’s. Little things like that.
She doesn't expect you to know everything, she says that she knows there allot of
numbers to remember. So I just told her the total amount of 777, total 330’s, total 747’s.
She asked how many aircraft on order, and I gave total A350’s and 777’s. She seamed
happy with that. But if you can remember each plane and how many, well thats even
better.

The technical quiz is chill. He looks at your logbook while you doing HR. I basically got
asked why we do a reduced thrust take off, Whats Vmcg, has a 747 got a critical engine?
(I said no, and then he said what if there's x-wind). Then there was a significant weather
chart, and I got asked warm front stuff. I think it's coz I got it wrong in the test the day
before. Then he basically teaches you about what you got wrong. (everyone was taught
something in their interviews. So I think they want to see how you learn and pay
attention.) One of the guys got asked "what is a super critical wing?" (Cigar shape wing,
has very low drag) Also asked why the 777-300ER hasn't got winglets? (It's got racked
wing tips with high tapper on the tip.) A mate was asked "you taxi and break off a wing tip
on a wall. Can you still take off?" Go into the CDL.

Everyone gets asked detailed stuff on their plane. They want to see if you have studied
your plane. They ask engines, the power of your engines, whats your max tyre speed,
what pressure do you pump your tyres to? How much fuel does your plane take.
Everything! KNOW YOUR PLANE!

This is what I got asked in my verbal interview:

1. Tell me about your current job

2. Do you enjoy your job and whats the best / worst part of it.
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3. How long to command in your current job?

4. Before your current job, where were you, what kind of flying was it, and why did
you leave?

5. You were a captain in your previous job, why did you leave and go down back to a
first officer?

6. Are you an instructor and what grade instructor are you?

7. Where did your interest in aviation begin?

8. What did you do after you finished high school?

9. Tell me briefly about your training to ATPL?

10. What was your favourite job, Why?

11. What job did you like the least? Why?

12. Do you know anyone in Cathay and have they helped you? (Rather dont mention
this email, but feel free to use my name.)

13. Why Cathay?

14. Have you applied to any other airlines?

15. Whats your fleet choice in Cathay and why?

16. How do you think you going to deal with long haul flying?

17. What is the role of a Cathay second officer?

18. How many 777-300ER’s we have on order?

19. How many 777-9X’s are on order?

20. How many 777-300ER’s do we currently operate?

21. Who is the Chairman?

22. Who is the Director of Flight Operation?

23. Who are the shareholders in Cathay? And what % shares do they have?

24. What do expect from the flight training in Adelaide? (What training are you going to
be doing there?)

25. Through out your career in Cathay, there are many things one can do on the side
(in the company), would you be interested in doing something extra and if so, what?
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26. From the people that you know in Hong Kong, are they happy and how do you
know you’ll be happy here?

27. Tell us about your hobbies?

28. What else do you like to do and what interests you?

29. How does your family feel about you moving to Hong Kong?

30. Is there anyone you need to consider coming here? A better half?

31. What are you going to do if you don't pass this interview?

32. Notice required to current employer?

Technical Questions:

33. Tell us about the aeroplane that you fly?

34. Do you do derated take off’s in your plane? Tell me about it.

35. Can you do a derated take off on a contaminated runway?

36. If you doing a reduced thrust take off, and you encounter wind shear just after V1,
what are your actions?

37. When would you start the rotation for that condition? Would you rotate at Vr or run
it a little longer?

38. What indications in the flight deck would you get if you encountered wind shear?

39. How does TCAS work?

40. How is a RA presented to you on the flight deck?

41. Does the 1900 have a critical engine? Why?

42. How did your 747 sim ride go yesterday? What would you rate yourself.

43. What was the hardest for you in your sim ride?

44. How would you have done things differently?

45. What happens when you add thrust?

46. What do you trim for?

47. Has a 747 got a critical engine?

48. Whats the definition of Vmcg?

49. Why cant V1 be below Vmcg?

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50. What could aggravate the conditions, if you lost an engine on your take off roll?

51. Whats the weather around a warm front? Before, during and after.

52. What are some of the issues you would deal with, with a warm front passing over
Canada in the winter season?

53. What happens with the winds as a front passes?

Thats about it hey. Its been the best experience EVER! Everyone has been so so so
friendly! I've loved every second of everything! It's really really really not a hard interview! I
really think if you read up on the company, go over basic met and HR stuff, you'll be fine. I
think the most important is the sim. I have attached some documents to this email to
assist with the studying. Some are outdated (like the "Fact Sheet") so please make sure
you have the latest one, specially just before your interview. Keep an eye on the website
for the latest news and press releases.

Best of luck to all... hope to see you on the team soon.

Regards
me

Mate 1’s interview questions:

CX Tech Quiz 30 Questions, 30 minutes.

Multi choice

Examples of some of the questions below, there are several versions of the tech quiz.

What is not an attribute of variable incidence tailplane?

a) cope with changes in CoP
b)reduce trim drag
c)reduces elevator authority
Airflow over wing, the static pressure?
a)increases
b)decreases
c)decreases and increases

Heavy aircraft with same AOB and airspeed as a lighter aircraft has a?
a) greater turning radius
b) smaller
c) the same

What determines aircraft’s actual altitude?

a)temperature of air below the aircraft
b)QFE

What line crosses all meridians at the same angle?

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What does the IRS need to calculate wind?

a)it needs TAS input from ADC
b)it can calculate wind by itself

when a wind veers, it is?

a) turning clockwise
b) turning anticlockwise

Critical angle and lift? The relationship, lift greatest at critical angle

Wing Tip Voticies

Frise Type Ailerons

At FL 350, descending into warmer air what happens to Mach No and IAS

Changes to Landing Distance with Flap down

Balanced Field Length

Critical Angle in relationship with Lift

ELR (lapse Rate)

Stalling angle of attack (not airspeed)

Aspect Ratio

Lateral, normal and longitudinal axis

Headwind effect on RoC

Effect of flaps down on second and third segments during T/O

How does cloud form (convection, orographic etc)

Flying from High Pressure to Low pressure

QFE

Stopway + TORA

Position of CofG behind the mainwheels or in front

Angle of Incidence

2 a/c turning, same radius, one light and one heavy etc

Compare CofG of tailplane to nosewheel aeroplane

High Pressure/Low pressure which has the greater windspeed

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What happens in High Pressure, wind backs or veers

Stall with respect to bank angle and load factor, what happens to speed.

What is the lift Formula?

How is advection fog formed?

What types of clouds and distance does a warm front produce?
16kts in m/s?
If a high pressure is noticed than how would it affect your take-off roll and climb out
performance?
480kts @ 0.8Mach what is the LSS?
Who is the majority shareholder of Cathay?
Aircraft on order?
Cathay RWY directions and how many?
If you are on the glideslope at 5 miles and the ILS is at 50ft elevation what is your
altitude?
XW component at 30degrees from the nose if given wind component and rwy
What is the tropopause height and temperature at the poles in comparison to the
equator?
Stalling speed if you climb, what will your ias and tas do? Increase or decrease?
Main energy source for a Typhoon?
What is the direction of the Jetstream’s in the northern hemisphere?
If you are flying at 5000 with the QNH set to 1000 and fly to an area where the QNH is
1020 without changing your QNH. What will you real altitude be? They give you options of
more than or less than 5000ft
What happens to the pressure over a wing?
Where is COG in relationship to the main gear?
How would you load an aircraft to give it it’s best range?
At FL200 your temp is -22 what is the temp at FL090
What are the ISA conditions? Temp, density
With regards to distance for take-off. What is the stop way and can it be used for rejected
take-off?
How does headwind affect your ROC and Angle of climb?
What happens to your IAS on climb at a contstant MACH.
What is an isothermal layer?
A holding pattern entry. You are on the 030 radial to ITT and you are told to hold south on
the 180 radial. What sector entry would you do?
What is AoA
What is Dew Point
Which way do jetsreams flow (only easterly in southern hemisphere, only westerly in the
northern hemisphere, both easterly and westerly... etc)
Height and temp of the Tropopause traveling from the equator to the poles
Climbing below the tropopause at a constant Mach No. What happens to IAS/TAS
TAF for HKG with a TEMPO and you had to say what type of rain present at ETA
What characteristics define first stage of thunderstorm (updraughts, down, both)
Direction and number of runways at HKG
Lift Formula - identify it, and other questions on what rho and s stand for
What causes induced drag
What happens to drag (induced and parasite) as speed increases
Why is there more lift at higher speeds
What happens to stalling speed with increase in altitude - IAS/TAS
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Effect of wind on Angle and ROC
The glide slope is 3degrees and starts at 50'. What height should you be at 5nm
Static source becomes blocked on descent, what happens to your altimeter
What clouds would you expect approaching a warm front

Set QNH to 1014 for departure, you forget to change it to area qnh of 1020, and
maintain an altitude of 5000' on your altimeter, are you flying above/below/at 5000

What AC are in the fleet and on order

A330-300 - how many engines, medium or long haul, and destinations (4 listed)
How advection fog forms (warm moist air over cool surface, cold over warm ..)
Who has the highest share in Cx (Swire Group, CITIC, Air China?)
ISA conditions
ISA deviation at FL__ given temp at FL__ is this

Mate 2’s Questions:

Why CX?
Tell me about yourself.
Other general chit chat.
Tell us about your wife.
Which fleet.
How many 777 on order.
Where do the 777 fly.
What is the longest leg. Time
Where in north america do we fly. Pax and cargo.
Where in Europe. Pax and cargo. New destinations.
Where in Hong Kong do you want to live.
What is your current duties.
Why did you leave previous job.
If unsuccessful what then?
Tech.
What is the procedures for emergency descent in your aircraft.
Why is there speed limits for landing gear.
What type of engines does your plane have.
Does it have a critical engine?
Why is the port critical.
Explain the thrust line on props.
Does your aircraft have winglets?
Is there types of your a/c that has winglets.
Why does 777 not have winglets.
Tell me about vortex generators.
How do they work.
Does your airplane have TCAS?
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Explain TCAS.
Then he drew a flight profile with times on it and asked if I can work out how much resting
time each pilot will have. 3 crew to Sydney. This was quite weird. Not difficult. I at first try
to make it more difficult than necessary. He laughed and said for some reason everyone
thinks there is a trick but he just wanted to see if you can do some maths with time I
guess.

Jonathan’s Interview:

Morning!

You asked me to write about my experience during the Cathay Pacific Airways:
Advanced Entry - Final Phase selection process.

For the readers background let me clarify what I processes I conducted in

Johannesburg at Initial Selection.

Initial selection included a Technical Examination with typical CPL(A) level type
questions. This was followed by a basic reasoning test. Finally an HR interview
was conducted by Mrs. Mandy Fung with no technical questions. You have my
previous e-mail to distribute covering that. Very generic so far.

I have divided this e-mail into these following chapters;

1) What to Study?
2) Company History
3) How do I get to Cathay City?
4) The interview process

1) The biggest question I was faced during this selection

process was WHAT TO STUDY??...
What was too my much and distracting me from the big picture and what was too
little not covering all the basics. To put this question to bed, one has to accept it all
depends on whom conducts the technical interview aspect of the final interview.
This is purely a luck of the draw for the candidate reading this e-mail. I found that
Handling the Big Jets was too heavy to read for this interview. It covers a great
volume of information but lacks the immediate facts needed to answer the
questions the way they expect one too. Handling the Big Jets builds the theory
conceptually which is great, if you have time to read, reread and really understand
what Mr. Davies has to say. #respect

Ace the Technical Interview Edition 2 (Author note: The illegal downloadable one is
Edition 1 and is riddled with inaccuracies!) was defiantly well worth the buy. This
was my study bible and made sure I could understand and explain each concept in
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the questions posed within. It can be purchased by from Amazon or Kalahari (Now
[Link]) at a respectable price and covers all the gen one is expected be
able to explain. I found that some of the content lacked the detail to explain the
concepts. I found that Wikipedia, Google, and Youtube most useful in furnishing
any further detail I needed. Especially on tropical weather systems. There are great
animations on Youtube which can explain a tropical cyclone much more thoroughly
than reading one or two questions on it. There is limited gen on high speed flight
(Author note: I found the videos published during the 1960’s on high speed flight
most useful and would recommend going through them – elementary stuff, but it
works!)

Know your aircraft technical! I found myself studying CBT to brush up on the
systems but was adequately bored at listening to CBT. If I had to reflect now I
would have studied just my Flight Crew Operations Manual (POH) and my Boeing
737-800 Cockpit Companion. This information if very type specific for the average
GA pilot going for Advanced Entry. The technical questions I was presented with
will be in a lower chapter.

One must realise, whilst it is good to over prepare – all you are doing is studying
for the sake of studying.

2) You need to know Cathay Pacific Airways company

as if you were prepping for a history exam…
There is A LOT of gen on their website, their Wikipedia page and again,
good old Google. The Cathay Fact Sheet is probably one of the most
important reference documents as it contains their fleet numbers, aircraft
orders and any new destinations that have been announced and “who’s
who in the zoo”. The last few items I have just listed all came up in my
interview and is an extremely useful 3 page document. Be warned, it
updates Infrequently (I didn’t see a regular pattern) and one must
continuously check (Once a week and maybe on the day of the
interview) for any updates. Just simply googling the “Cathay new
destinations” gives you a access to lots of detail about why they opened
up that route and when it will be open. Naturally the introduction of the
Airbus A350-900 in February 2015 will result in even more network
expansion (Tel Aviv might bring the middle east to the far east. Their
only competitor would be El Al and they don’t operate on the Sabbath…
should know ;) )

Be conscious of the fact that they don’t expect you to know absolutely
everything, but it would give you the upper hand over other candidates.

3) How do I get to Cathay City?

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If you are reading this and HAVE not yet been offered tickets to Hong Kong from
the respective person in charge – BOOK TICKETS MAYBE TWO OR THREE
DAYS EARLY!!! It might have just been me, but the jet lag really made an impact
on my performance. This was probably because I did not sleep well on the flight
arriving into Hong Kong (A whole season of House of Cards later). Further, go to a
Bidvest Bank today and order HKD 1,000. You can collect it at OR Tambo
international (ID, passport, e-ticket and proof of residency from your bank is
required). This will be more than sufficient for persons staying a day or two ahead
or behind. An Octopus card is invaluable for bus, train and ferry. But not taxi –
Cash only.

Request an VISA entry form from the inflight cabin crew. Have this ready before
exiting the aircraft. You will need it later. Following the immigration and clearing
customs the next task is to find the Regal Hotel. It is quite east to locate! As you
walk through arrivals, turn left and continue straight until you see the only
Starbucks on the ground floor. Behind and to the right of the Starbucks is the
walkway to the Regal Hotel. You will not be able to check in until after 12pm!!!
This is a slight inconvenience, but use this time efficiently. Check in your bags at
the concierge office, walk all the way through Chek Lap Kok and seek out the crew
bus (HAS) which takes you to Cathay City for free. Once you’ve located the bus
terminal (a longish walk from the Regal Hotel) you must find the 30 & 31 Bus
Parking Bay. Usually there is a whole bunch of Cathay staff hanging around there
too, and they are more than helpful to make sure you get on the correct bus. For
practise (and because I had 5 hours to kill) I went on the route and noted the times
(about 10 minutes maximum) to Cathay City.

Cathay City is massive. You will get out at the main entrance and walk inside on
the right there is the reception where you will need your passport to secure your
visitors pass on the day. On the left is the escalator you need to take towards
Flight Training. Go up this escalator and continue straight which will lead you past
a food court. A left turn onto a bridge will take you into the flight training
department, floor 6 (up the elevator) will bring you to the waiting area where you
are usually greeted for your activities. The food court has a nice little sand which
shop there and for about HKD 50.00 you can get yourself a sandwich and a water.

4) The interview…

DAY 0:
After visiting Cathay City and you are able to check in after 12pm,
consider the following. Rest is important. When you arrive in Hong Kong
you will be jet lagged. However, do not sleep the entire afternoon or you
will not sleep that evening. Have a nap for two hours and then go for a
walk or find something to eat at the main terminal. I had met up with the
other 3 gentlemen (all from South Africa) that evening and we had
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supper together. We agreed to meet at 6 am for breakfast before

heading to Cathay City.

DAY 1:
6 am is way too early to meet. You could quite easily get another hour of
sleep if you so wished. However we had breakfast at McDonalds
(Starbucks only opens at 7am) and made our way to the bus. We caught
said bus and arrived very early at Cathay City. They wouldn’t issue us
any passes until 08h30 or something of the likes. There is a lounge you
can sit in and connect to the wifi if you wished.

After getting the visitors pass (remember you need your passport) you
go up to floor 6 at Flight Training. After sitting in the waiting area for a
brief period either Mandy Fung or one of her colleagues will come
collect you. You are taken into a board room which has the most
fantastic view of Chek Lap Kok International Airport. Soak it up!

Group Exercise:
On the table you are presented with pencils, an eraser, scrap paper and
the laminated sheets of the group exercise. There is also a white board.
Mandy explains the purpose of the exercise and that you have 30
minutes to complete it. She strongly suggest you read through the
criteria statement very carefully before engaging in the prioritising who
should do what. Mandy and Amanda each sit behind you and write down
their observations of you.

You have to send an astronaut to an asteroid to collect some chemical

element to be used back on earth. Each of you will get a laminated
piece of paper explaining what this astronauts criteria must include. Your
job is to select a commander to take on this mission. Here is the trick.
Each of you will have a very similar astronaut criteria but each of our
criteria was different! For example, my laminated paper said “the
astronauts blood group could not be RH negative” (whatever that
means)…However, another person’s criteria will say “despite RH
negative blood types, an astronaut can be selected if he has RH
negative blood type if he receives a blood transfusion 48 hours before
the mission”… Took me 5 minutes to figure this out!

There are then 8 possible candidates to go through. Nominate someone

to go onto the board and construct a table. There are 8 rows of
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candidates and then as many possible criteria as you can assimilate

during the 5 minute’s you take to read through your astronaut criteria.
Go through each of the candidates one by one and try and allocate them
points. The biggest thing to remember is that there is NO right or wrong
answer, they are observing how you interact with the other candidates.
Don’t get hung up on the heights, weights if you can’t figure it out I doubt
it bares any weight on the outcome.

We eventually elected Chuck Yeager to lead the mission with literally 5

seconds remaining. It goes very very quickly. Mandy then facilitates a
little debrief and asks each of you a question like, How did you feel,
what could you do better, what was the biggest challenge for you etc
etc.

Psychometric Tests:
I don’t have much gen to give here. There were 225 questions and I
think 45 minutes to answer them. Could have been longer but by now it
is 3am South African time which means my eyes were now dry and
stinging.

Each question has 2 possible choices and you must select the one
which describes you the best. Here is an example.

1) I like to meet new people.

2) I enjoy working in a routine environment.

Don’t think about this too much, just answer exactly how you feel on the day.

Simulator Check:
This was fun for me. I definitely had the upper hand because of my previous
experience at PTC Aviation’s Boeing 737-800 simulator. The jet handling, PFD and
ND was exactly the same. Trimming and power stings were slightly more
pronounced.

You are introduced to a Gary (Australian) And Larry (Canadian). Garry loves red
wine and rugby. He is also the antagonist during simulator check ride. He will flying
with you and pretty much do his level best to through you off at the same time
making you feel like you can’t fly. More on that below.

You are briefed by Larry with Garry adding some 2c coins here and there. They ask
you your experience levels and what background you have. Be short and to the
point. They don’t really care too much. I would say these pensioners don’t really
enjoy the check rides and they want to get on with it. KNOW THE SIMULATOR
 Page 16 of 89
CHECK RIDE PROFILE!!! Despite having said that, the amended a few of the
environmental aspects of the profile. The weather was IMC instead of VMC and
they give you a lot of new pitch attitudes and EPR settings to remember. Bring a
pen and paper. I will include the two pictures I took of the board. The powerpoint
presentation is pretty much a repeat of the document they send you.

You are then each given a chance to do a training flight which lasts approximately
20 minutes each. I will not go through the simulator profile because you probably
have that. They stick to that quite well during the training and assessment flight.

Key points:
∑ Use the arm rests.
∑ TRIM TRIM TRIM!!! With the exception of the steep turn if you think you are in trim, try
again!
∑ KNOW THE EPR SETTINGS – You have four engines now, you don’t have to get EACH of
them on 1.16 EPR. I would usually have 1.16, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17. Once the power settings are
around where you want them. LEAVE THEM!!! You can use both hands on the control column
then!
∑ Do not fixate on the EPR settings. A quick glance.
∑ YOU must know the profile, speeds and headings (073) during the assessment.
∑ Say the standard callouts VERBATIM!!! “Set Thrust”, “Flaps 5, Climb Thrust”, “Go
Around, Flaps 20” are all the ones you MUST nail. Gary is also a bit hard of hearing so be clear
and concise
∑ Flare (very very very very small pitch change ± 2 degrees.) at 40ft, thrust must be idle by
10ft.
∑ Anticipate how high above the ground you are during the flare.

After you land, they ask you to grade yourself on a scale of 1 – 10. I gave myself a 7. All in all,
depending if you have flown heavy-ish aircraft you will be fine. This is where two of the four guys
unfortunately dropped out of selection process. We got the e-mails by the time we got back to
Chek Lap Kok.

If you get an e-mail from Mandy inviting you for day two, you will get a link to book your English
proficiency exam. You must do so straight away and e-mail her with the confirmation of booking.

DAY 2:
Of the two of us, our schedule was slightly different. The first item on my agenda was to do my
English language proficiency test only at 10am. So you can sleep in a bit which is nice.

English language proficiency test:

When you enter Cathay city, go up the escalator on the left and turn right. Walk only a few steps
and on your left is a lounge office with cubicles and a sign which says recruitment office. Walk
towards that and you will see a sign guiding you to the testing booth.

The test includes a welcome video which you listen to first, which explains what and how to do
the test. You are then put through on a hand held phone to an Australian/New Zealand testing
centre. I was put through to a gentlemen by the name of Peter. All you do is have 15 minute
conversation about aviation. Typical questions he asked where; “what do you fly, what kind of
engine does it have, what do you do on a pre-flight, what contaminants could you find in fuel, if
you are in a cruise and your engine begins to rough run, what would you actions be?” He simply
listening to your command of the English language and is nothing to stress about.

Peter puts down the phone and you then have to follow some voice prompts where it asks you to
talk about something for 20 seconds then 40 seconds. The hardest thing in this test was they play
 Page 17 of 89
an audio of ATC communication where you have to identify where a certain aircraft will report next
and what altitude they are at. You just speak into the phone your answers and then its “Goodbye”
and the test is done. Simple.

Interview:
My interview was conducted in the same room as the group exercise. As you sit down they ask
you for your logbook(s) and license. I had an HR assistant manager, Amanda, and a deputy chief
pilot of an Airbus of whom I cannot recall his name.

The interview was divided into an HR aspect conducted by Amanda, and Technical conducted by
the Deputy Chief Pilot.

HR Aspects:

1) Tell us about yourself

2) Why did you decide to become a pilot?
3) Any influences that inspired your career choice?
4) Why Cathay Pacific Airways?
5) Why did you become an instructor?
6) What do you find most rewarding?
7) What did you find most challenging?
8) What grade instructor are you?
9) How long did it take you to upgrade?
10) Tell us about a time you have had to resolve any conflicts
11) What are you present duties?
12) Do you enjoy your work?
13) What is your biggest weakness?
14) What do you think about your present bosses?
15) What do they think about you coming here, do they know?
16) What do your parents say about you moving to Hong Kong?
17) What do you think about living in Hong Kong?
18) What can you expect in terms of lifestyle while living in Hong Kong?
19) Do you know anyone in Cathay Pacific Airways
20) What have they told you about working and living here in Hong Kong?
21) What would your preference of fleet?
22) What do you think about long haul flying?
23) What is our longest route?
24) Name 3 destinations in the middle east
25) New destinations that have been announced?
26) How many Airbus’s A350’s are on order and when do they arrive?
27) Who is the director of flight operations?
28) What have your friends told you about the flight training in Adelaide. How long is it? What do
they fly there?
29) What is your plan B?
30) What did you rate yourself on the check ride yesterday? Why did you give yourself that?

Technical aspects:

I cannot recall the first two questions he asked me, but they were really easy. Here is the rest.
Please note most of the questions where type specific that he asked and so where my answers

1) What indications would you get upon receiving a wind shear warning
2) How does the predictive wind shear warning system work
3) What would your actions be?
 Page 18 of 89
4) How does the TO/GA switches work?
5) What are the equivalent of TO/GA switches on and Airbus?
6) Tell us about GPWS (EGPWS and TAWS) on your aircraft
7) How do you execute the RTO
8) What is the procedure for engine failure after takeoff?
9) What is the typical weather you have in Hong Kong
10) How does a typhoon occur
11) Can you get typhoons in Singapore?
12) What type of weather systems can you expect to experience when flying over Canada?

Pulls out weather SIGMET of the pacific basin

13) What is this chart called?

14) Points to some basic symbols and asks their meaning
i. Tropical Cyclone symbol
ii. EMB ISOL CB symbol on the
SIGMET
1. Why are there so many CB near the equator?
2. What time of the year is this?
iii. Jets streams
1. What causes the jet streams and how strong are these ones?

Pulls out a two pictures of the earth each with a route spanning Hong Kong to New York

15) Which one of the two pictures represent the flight path flying to New York and which one
represents the return leg?
16) This picture also has range circles representing ETOPS sectors and asks what the relevance
of them circles mean

17) Pulls out of a picture of a PBY Catalina (Float plane) and asks what aircraft that is?
18) What is the relevance of the Catalina? (I said it probably to fly trans-pacific – in actual fact it
was the first recorded aircraft to be hijacked!)
Author Note: The guy who interview before me got a picture of a Convair 880 – Cathays first jet
19) What was Cathays first aircraft?
20) What type of engines does it have?

After the interview they say thanks for coming and give them a very firm handshake and that’s
that! Off to the compass!

COMPASS Test
By the time this is all over it was mid-day for me and again the jet lag started to hit me. The
compass test is long and involved. One needs excellent concentration skills. The test is
conducted on a computer and is made up of 6 parts. There is a long set of instructions on what to
do prior to each of the tests, this is followed by a practise test. There is usually a 20 second break
in between each exercise. I cannot remember the exact order but here we go.

1) Hand eye co-ordination exercise – using rudder pedals, and joystick you have to follow a very
temperamental flight director and balance ball.
2) CPL(A) questions – all taken from Boeing material – the reason I say this is that company
that constructs the PTC Aviation Boeing simulator (MPS Holland) has IT engineers that made the
compass test.
3) Spatial awareness exercise – There is an RMI, DI and AH which presents different
information about aircraft orientation – you must identify which aircraft the orientation is presenting.
 Page 19 of 89
4) A memory exercise – information is presented in the form of Altitude (A), Heading (H), Speed
(S) and Radio Frequency (R). You have to recall the numbers after the are presented for what
seemed like 10 seconds and type them in. You cannot use pen and paper.
5) Mental arithmetic – 25 questions on LONG DIVISION AND MULTIPLACTION! 20 minutes!
Make sure you can 4333 by 3334 on paper. You cannot go back and change your answer and you
have to type out the answer – no multiple choice!
6) A reflex exercise – You have to input information into the autopilot display – at the same time
you have to watch out for a master caution which illuminates for 3 seconds. You use the numbers
on the NUM PAD to identify the master caution (its position changes and is relative to the keys 1
through 9 on the NUM PAD). At the same time you have to adjust the altitude using the plus (+)
and minus (-) keys on the NUM PAD. Heading and Speed was adjusted on the UP, DOWN, LEFT
and RIGHT. Think they reverse the orientation to make it slightly complex. After you have imputed
the data you have to press ENTER to complete the data entry.

Medical Examination
Simple but time consuming. Initially a lady takes you for simple eyesight and
hearing exam. You read numbers in a book and have to trace a few lines in
different colours. The whisper test is quite freaky. Dark room and she whispers a
number you then have to say out loud. She measures your weight and height for
BMI and the leads you through all the of the following. You do an X-Ray,
Audiogram, ECG measurement and a physical exam by a doctor (He will cup your
balls! Watch out!). The whole medical is concluded with a simple urine sample,
blood sample (small pin-prick) and cuts of pieces of your hair. Take about 1h30
minutes in total in between all the paper work you have to complete. Have your
passport ready as you will need it for all the consent forms you have to fill out.

By the time this is all completed it is late in the afternoon and you pretty much just
want to go back to the hotel and crash – trick as you have to book out by 12pm or
pay HKD550 to check out later! Luckily I stayed there for another 4 days at a
friend’s house! Highly recommend it!

All in all the whole process was straight forward, I hope this helpful to you and that
your interview is successful! Please let me know how it all goes. If there are any
questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me as per my details below!

For those of you who might want to have that extra bit of an edge... FYI.

[Link]

Kind regards,

Jonathan Collins
+27 (0)76 412 4065
jonathancollins@[Link]

Tech exam questions that were asked. (07-10-2015)

1 If speed is doubled, what happens to CL?

 Page 20 of 89
2 Know where the Jet stream lies in the polar front, warm side or cold side.
What about the air pressure in a Jet stream?
3 Know warm and cold fronts and characteristics.
4 The amount of water a particle of air can hold is dependent on its? (Temp,
Relative Humidity, pressure, dew point.)
5 What gives you less range? (A: A forward C of G)
6 Difference between advection fog and radiation fog.
7 Question on Great Circles. (Are they parallels of latitude? Constant true
headings? Shortest distance between two points? All Of the above?)
8 How does stalling IAS change with C of G, weight and Bank
9 What C of G do you want for best range?
10 How much ROD change would occur with a 10 knot reduction in speed?
11 Hight on glideslope at 6nm on final approach with a Threshold crossing hight
of 50”? (TCH is to put you off. A glide slope runs from runway elevation.)
12 What is the significance of ISO bars spaced closer together? (Strong wind)

David:

Howdy howdy, got myself back home..finally. Thought I'd send a quick message regarding
my actual interview.

80% HR with Katrina, that was very pleasant. Technical was basic as well, --ISA, --what is
needed for typhoon to form, --why do typhoons move the way they do : because of itcz
movements, --where is itcz this time of the year, --vortex generator and what it does, --my
own aircraft engine details as well as fuel quantities and description of the fuel system, --
why is the troposphere higher with lower temps at some places, --how does one identify
tropopause heights on significant weather chart, --engine failure after take off procedures
on my aircraft, shutdown procedures, vyse speed and how it is calculated. That was it for
the tech part of the interview, then we just chatted randomly about living on boats! Katrina
lives on one.

The sim was quite tough. Not too scare you or anything, but it is surely not like anything I
have ever flown. Caravan, 210 and Navajo...270 tons of machine is a lot different.

Knowing the profile is obviously a big thing because they will throw some extras in there
that is not in the profile. I think it is partly because they want to see you learn the profile
they send you and then be able to adapt. Not talking anything serious, they just give you a
speed reduction with the speed brake use and then when to stow it, spool the engines and
then add the epr again. Very easy. What messed me around was going from the ILS to
looking outside. Every time I started making big movements and the over correcting. The
machine is heavy, it takes a while for it to react to your inputs so beware of that. I was not
giving the plane enough time to respond to my inputs which means I just increased my
inputs leading too large bank changes and once that starts, getting it back again is tough!

Keagan:

On the jet stream know about the pressure as-well. They had something complicated
about it I cant quite remember.

Know about Great circles.

 Page 21 of 89

How stalling IAS changes with CofG weight and angle of bank.

How CofG changes your range but word it a bit tricky using nm/ton.

Changes of rate of descent with 10 knot reduction in speed. Height on the glide slope with
distance from THRESHOLD 6nm on final approach threshold crossing height of 50.

Greame:

Howdy guys. Just a quick one from me a few questions I remember from technical.

If speed is doubled what happens to CL.

Know where the jet stream lies in the polar front. Warm side or cold side.

They asked cold fronts.

They amount of water a particle of air can hold is dependent on its? (Temp, relative
humidity, pressure, dew point)

Careful on the fleet question all looks good on one but they throw in a 777 9f order which it
is not .

What gives you less range? Answer a forward cofg.

Differences between advection and radiation fog

Seemed similar to Dale’s one but here and there it seemed as if was opposite to that
paper.

Gerhard:

Ok some extra stuff i wrote down. From the sim profile.

Your v2 speed is 150

Do not use any rudder except on the ground and during asymmetric.

For the take off. Advance the epr to 1.10 to spool up the engines and see you have all of
them active. You don't want a asymmetric take off. Then set the epr to 1.50. I found the
take off really easy. What I didto controll all 4 epr’s together was squeeze the thrust levers
together with your pinky and thumb and add it on with your palm. You get some time to
practice this

REMEMBER TO CALL CLIMB THRUST AT 5 flaps. They seem to be pedantic on this.

In a steep 45 degree turn roll out 20 degrees (15 worked nicely for the 30 degree turn)
before your heading. Approx 8 degrees attitude. + - .03 on epr extra. 1.2 epr worked well
for me. If you see your going miss your heading you can pop in a bit of rudder to catch it
they shouldn’t notice as long as you don't go rudder all in.
 Page 22 of 89
They will ask you to slow down. You use the spoilers. Its simple enough to use. Pull up on
the lever and move it backwards. It only goes to detent in flight and not all the way.

Procedure : your at about 280 they ask you to slow down for the ILS approach.
1. Thrust idle
2. Extend speed brake
3. At 245 kts Speed brake down. Call for flaps 1 immediately. (by the time you stow the
speed brake lever your speed is at 240 which is 10 kts before the flag speed for flaps
1(230kts))
Reaching 230 spool up the engine. And remember your attitude will be about 1 degree
higher and your EPR will be at about 1.17.

The instructor told us in the briefing 210 for flaps 5 but in the sim it was flap 20. the flag
speeds are worked out at v2+20 (f20) v2+40(f10) v2+60(f5) and v2+80(f1)

At anytime if you see you are out of limits just say you are going to do a go around. The
instructor will say fix it or check. If you do it. Remember flaps 20 and gear up on the climb.

In the downwind the guy vectors you ( be careful they only vector you to base the dont tell
you turn to intercept the localizer. The just sit quite and check of you notice it. Also they set
the hdg bug except when you need to intercept so you need to call set heading to rwy.

On the downwind they will give you a engine fire.

Procedure here is: call for engine fire memory items. CHECK the guy. He’s going to try and
catch you by saying engine 3 but his hand is on engine 4 or 2. So make sure. As soon as
he is done call for the QRH (quick reference handbook) and just fly the aircraft. You’ll need
a bit of rudder now. And about .3 extra on the other live epr’s. You then do another
localizer approach when you go visual they freeze the sim and give you all engines back
for the landing.

The landing procedure is:

Aim next to the papi’s
At 30 foot flare (an increase of about 2 degrees on attitude.)
20 foot idle all engines.

On touch down reverse. the reverse has 2 settings

Through the gate and then full reverse. At 70 kts bring it down one setting back to the gate.
Start using your brakes. They are very sensitive.
As soon as you stop close the reverse. They will wait and check that you do that.

Thats about what i remember. Enjoy.

Hi guys. Congratulations on getting a Cathay Pacific interview. Just to give you a

heads up on the things I experienced and some of the tips that helped me.

The big thing to begin with is what to study. I made a list as to what I needed to go
through so that I didn't forget anything.
 Page 23 of 89
- Your current aircraft (speeds, recall items, engines, fuels systems, tire speeds and
pressures) They will definently ask you something. I had to draw my engine as well
as explain the fuel system.
- Cathay Pacific history and facts (All history, first aircraft and routes, first jets,
profits, aircraft, aircraft on order) anything that you can possible think of they might
as. Study Cathay Pacific as if your going to write a history exam.
- Cathay Pacifc aircraft (engines, fuels systems, maximum take off weights,
wingspan) the more you know the better!
- Routes (I recommend getting a world map and going through the routes on the
fact sheet and marking all their destinations. It's a good way to learn. Also take
note of basic geography. In my interview they asked me what country separated
Russia and China.
- Ace the pilot technical (don't use the free download, it's riddled with
inaccuracies. Download the 2nd edition, it's worth it.) Try go through all of it, there
is so much information in there and the more you know the better your chances.
- Meteorology (Cathay is big on met questions. Jet steams, sigmet and significant
weather charts, weather in Hong Kong, weather in Canada, ITCZ, warm and cold
fronts)
- HR questions (try go through possible questions that they will ask, such as why
Cathay pacific, why Hong Kong and so on! The HR is a big thing and it's beneficial
to have some idea of what tote going to say)
- I studied the CATs and CARs and Jeppsson, however I wasn't asked anything
and there doesn't seam to be much questions asked on this. The only thing I got
was ICAO holding speeds and ICAO approach minima.
- Obviously all the info that has been attached to the email is extremely beneficial
and needs to be studied. It will give you a good idea of the type of questions that
will be asked and all that.
- Sim profile (if your able try get into an actual sim it's worth it, especially if you
don't have Jet experience) I went down to PTC aviation in PE and did some
training. It was truly beneficial and I highly recommend it. Learn the profile they
send you as hard as you can. You need to know the EPR settings and attitudes.
They will quiz you on this during the briefing)

Your arrive early morning in Hong Kong the day before your interview. The Regal
Hotel is very nice and is attached to the airport and very easy to find. Try your luck
with an early check in. If not you can store your bags with reception and take a
walk around the airport. I took this time to find the bus to Cathay City so that I
knew exactly where I was gonna be going the following day. There is a crew bus
that leaves every 15min from terminal 2. It's a quick 10min trip! Try not sleep all
afternoon as this will only give you more of a jet lag. Take a 2hr nap and then get a
full night sleep that evening.

The 1st day starts off with a group assessment. It's really fun and gets you into the
swing of things. You and the team need to find the most suitable candidate to
travel into space and your all given CVs to sort through. They give you a time limit
but don't be too stressed about this as they not looking for an answer but they just
wanna see how you work in a team. Obviously don't be over powering or just sit
 Page 24 of 89
there either. They will then ask you what your learnt from this experience and your
strengths.
Just as a heads up, everyone has different requirements on theirs briefing cards!
You are not all reading the same thing!

We then went to the Sim briefing. It's a very thorough brief and ask as much as
you want. Take out some paper and write down notes. Even if you just scribble
things, they like to see you writing what they tell you down. They are gonna give
you a hard time but they do want you to succeed. They will give you a few extra
settings and attitudes to remember but they are easy don't worry.

Next we went to do the technical. I wish I could remember more but if you read
through the emails then you pretty much covered however here is what I can
remember:

- hight of the tropopause and temperatures, as in where is it coldest and hottest.

- Lift formula.
- If the airflow over a wing doubles what happens to the co officiant of lift?
- Transponder settings in an emergency.
- What is the environmental lapse rate?
- Veering and backing
- What is the speed of sounds if your are M0.83 and your Tas is 480? (600kts)
- ICAO holding speeds.
- End of the 3rd segment.
- Effects of flaps on take off roll.
- Balanced field, clear ways and stop way. When can they be used?
- Runways in Hong Kong.
- Type of aircraft they fly and what aircraft are on order.
- Thunderstorms, characteristics of mature stage.
- Typhoons source of energy.
- A cold from. Does the colder air wedge under or over the warmer air ect.
- ROD calculations. Ground speed X 5.
- Height on a glide slope calculations.
- Hydroplaning, types and speeds (9 X the square root of the tyre pressure)
- How does a head wind effect Vx and Vy.

I honestly can't remember the rest of the questions. I wish I could. There are 40
questions and you have 40min to compete the technical.

The sim itself is probably the most stressful experience. You can choose any seat it
doesn't matter. They will shout and swear at your the entire profile as they wanna
see how you work under pressure.
Its the exact profile they send you, there is no surprises expect for the engine
failure. They will give you all engines back for the second ILS don't worry. Just
remember to treat it as a normal sim. Ask for checklist and recall items and all that!
Try include your co pilot as much as possible. Ask for him to set heading bugs and
to call you 20 degrees before your roll out heading in the steep turns. I would
 Page 25 of 89
highly recommend sim training if your haven't got any jet experience as I've said
earlier!

You will receive an email between 1700 and 1830 to tell you whether or not you
were successful! If you are successful you will need to book your English
proficiency test. You should have already signed up. Don't forget your password
and make sure you book at the time your email from Cathay stipulates. Also just be
prepared for the price, 1750 Hong Kong dollars.

Days 2 was the longest for us. We started with a psychometric test, it's very
simple. It's long so move fast. You have 45 min and it's roughly 270 questions. You
only have 2 answers to each question and the majority of the questions are very
easy to spot the most correct answer. Don't over think it.

Your medical is long, take all the medication you have been on and show the
doctor so it's not a surprise when they find it in your blood test. You don't have to
run or do a lung test so no need to pack clothes for such things. They will cut your
hair for a drug test so just a heads up. Also don't be alarmed when the doc
touches your nuts without a glove!

Your English test isn't bad at all. Roughly takes 30min. You will speak to a man
over the phone who will ask you basic things about flying. Absolutely nothing to
stress about.

The interview can go any way from what I've heard. Here's the questions that I was
asked:

Why did u wanna be a pilot!

Explain your training?
They made a comment on me being a young captain...don't know if thats good or
bad!
What did your command upgrade include? He didn't seam too impressed as he
commented that it's more structured in Cathay!
Where do u wanna live in HK.
What do your parents and GF and friends think about HK?
Tell me about some negatives with regards to HK?
How was the sim, what did you rate yourself?
Did u do training for the sim?
What is the county between Russia and China?
Aircraft on order?
How many years to command? "I said 6 years freight and 10 years pax" they
didn't even know the answer but said something like that and might be a little
longer!
Longest flight?
What routes they take for the longest flight and why?
When was the company formed?
What aircraft did they start with?
What were their first jets?
 Page 26 of 89
She then asked if I've heard anything negative about the company and what the
pilots where up too? "I spoke about housing allowances and them being
increased"
What will u do if u not successful here today!

Raked wing tips and blended.

What do wing tips do?
Tell me about the 1900?
What engines does it have?
How does the engine work?
Had to draw it in the board!
Asked question like which is the high pressure and where does bleed air get taken
off! I forgot the answer but he openly said he doesn't know much about the the
aircraft or engine. My advice! If he asks questions just be confident in what u
saying!
What AC do u wanna fly and why?
Tell me about the A330 fuel system, where are it's tanks situated!
Does the A330 have a center tank. I said it did but he made it out like I was wrong.
Why does the 330 have a fuel tank in the horizontal stab.
Do all AC at Cathay have horizontal stab fuel tanks for the same reason?
Why is an aft CoG better?
What problems are Airbus and boeings having with composite materials? (The use
to run the negative through the aluminum and the positive wires secretly now you
can't do that with the composite material...read up on it, it's something to that
effect....I didn't know the answer"
Destinations in Europe and Japan?

He takes out a Segmet chart:

Where is Tokyo?
What is the freezing level on the ground in Beijing?
Why does this area have CaT but no jet stream? "I said orographic lifting but he
added i'm correct but it's because of the Himalayas"
Which direction do jet steams move in the NH and the SH?
Where does the Airbus fly too?

Do you have questions for us?

Katrina is such a nice lady and I had Tim Burns or something like that as my
captain! He was also very nice! Both very friendly and there was a good vibe in the
interview!
I found out the following Thursday that I was successful via email, so don't expect
a phone call if you pass, it's not always the case!

Hope this helps in some way and that you all have a successful interview. Best of
luck and all the best!
 Page 27 of 89
Following from a TT interview in April 2016:

Tech Questions as far as I can remember.

1 Lift Formula
2 You are on R25L. Wind is 220/24. What is your X-wind
3 LSS Formula
4 What happens to your speed during a climb if your pitot tube freezes on T/O
5 What happens after your 3 segment climb
rd

6 How is Vx and Vy affected with a headwind

7 You are inbound to a VOR on R200, you asked to hold on R055 over the beacon, what’s
your sector entry?
8 The types of aircraft on the fleet including firm orders
9 Definition of AOA
10 What are the runways at Chek Lap Kok
11 What happens to Mach number when you climb at a constant IAS
12 Going from Hot to cold what will your altimeter read
13 Going from high pressure to low pressure what will your altimeter read
14 You at 5 DME on a 3 deg glide slope, threshold crossing height is 50” whats your hight
above the threshold?
15 Difference between advection and radiation fog
16 Asked to convert a speed in knots to m/s. I believe just divide the speed in knots by 2
17 Define a great circle
18 What happens to induced drag as speed is increased
19 Who has the highest share in Cathay
20 There was a question on TODA and TORA
21 If a high pressure is noticed than how would it affect your take-off roll and climb out
performance?
22 Temperature in the tropopause
23 ISA conditions
24 Something to do with defining a jet stream. I believe the answer is that the temp is
constant in the core.
25 What do vortex generators do?

The interview
HR
1 What got you into flying?
2 Who do you know at Cathay?
3 Where do you think you will live?
4 How does your family feel about this move?
5 What hobbies to you have?
6 If you don’t make Cathay do you have a plan B?
Fleet Captain
1 Explain how typhoons are formed and why they dissipate over ground.
2 He draws on the board a profile of a flight from take off, cruise and landing. After take
off the captain calls the SO to sit in his seat so the captain can rest. From the time the
SO sits in the cockpit until the time they must all meet up to prepare for decent, how
much rest does each person get? Just divide the time by 3 in your head.
3 I was asked to name the aircraft we could see out the window
4 Explain the fuel system of the aircraft you fly.
5 What do vortex generators do to stall speed?
6 Which of the aircraft we can see out the window have vortex generators?
Regards
Stu.
I attempted the Initial AE selection in Hong Kong, May 2016. First day consisted of a technical
exam and the compass aptitude test. Second day would have been the general interview,
abstract reasoning test and a CPP personality test.

The technical exam is not difficult in terms of topics covered, but you need to really be careful that
you read the multiple choice answer options carefully. You have 4 options for each question, and
35 minutes to complete 40 questions. Just a word of caution here also- we were not asked to
 Page 28 of 89
stop after the allotted 35 minutes, and had to actually go and hand in our answer sheets
ourselves. I'm still not sure if this is a dual test of knowledge and time management or if someone
just wasn't watching the clock...probably best to just time yourself and be honest like we did.

Some of the questions asked in the technical included:

1) what is the lift formula?

2) if airspeed is doubled, by what factor will Clift increase? ( options were by 2, 4 , 0,5 or 0,25)
3) If barometric pressure at an airfield decreases by 2hPa, what will happen to an aircrafts
performance on take off?
4) if a jet used flaps 5 for take off instead of flaps 20 what will be the effect on the take off?
( ground roll vs better climb gradient)
5) you take off with QNH 1014 set and climb to maintain 5000 ft altitude. You then fly into an area
where the QNH is 1020. Will you be lower or higher than 5000 ft?

6) theres a TAF for Taipei with 4500m visibility between 9-13 UTC. Tempo between 15 and 18 UTC
the visibility will drop to 2000m in rain, few clouds at 1500 ft and broken at 4000 ft. Your eta is
given as 1600 UTC.

The question asks what weather you can expect at Taipei at your eta? Options will include two
that are very similar in that they will state:

a) visibility 2000m in rain and ceiling 1500 ft

b) visibility 2000m in rain and ceiling 4000 ft.

See what I mean?? Read carefully!

i) all times are in UTC- no need to convert times

ii) you need to be able to decode TAFs easily

iii) ceiling and its definition relating to few, scattered and broken cloud.

7) you are inbound on radial 220. ATC asks you to hold northeast on radial 050. What will your
sector entry be?

There are also easy questions on their fleet, but they include which engines the 777-300 has and
include both Rolls Royce and GE options. Also included is a question on which aircraft they have
on order ( only correct option is the Dash 8 freighter) as well as who the major shareholder is.

Next came the Compass test, which is what caught me out. It consists of 6 parts and you have 90
minutes to complete it. The 6 parts are: a flight director exercise with a joystick and rudder
pedals. An orientation test of a plan view of aircraft around a beacon, each with a green arrow
superimposed relating to direction of turn. The info you are given is an RMI, and attitude indicator
and a direction indicator. Next is an autopilot re-programming exercise requiring you to reset an
autopilot with all 3 parameters of airspeed, altitude and heading all changing with every new
scenario. While you are doing this, you need to cancel red warning lights at the top of your
screen, using the alphanumeric keypad. Scan scan scan!!

Next is a professional knowledge test, which annoyingly is basically a repeat of the technical you
completed earlier. The only difference is that there are only 3 options for each question, 1 of which
is always completely and obviously wrong and the other two you will need to think about.

Two that I can remember:

1) In a B737, you need to descend from FL370 to FL070. How many nautical miles will you need
to accomplish this?
Options were 50 NM, 75 NM or 100 NM
 Page 29 of 89
2) during the final part of an NDB approach, which is the correct course of action?
Two options that were quite similar were

i) continue to monitor the ident and descend once on the final approach heading

ii) descend once within +/- 5 degrees of the inbound QDM

Next is mental maths...this caught me out! Let me be quite clear: you are NOT allowed to use a
calculator and probably you have not seen a lot of this stuff since primary school ( I certainly
hadn't. ) Some of the questions are easy, but others really are not. You have 20 minutes to
complete 24 questions. You will not have to calculate to any decimals- the correct answers
always work out to a whole number ( they tell you this in the instructions). I can't recall a lot of this
part, but a few that stuck in my mind:

1) 0,79 x 1000? (Easy)

2) in a right angled triangle, the length of the adjacent is 3cm, opposite side is 4cm, what will the
length of the hypotenuse be? ( 5 cm obviously, no calculations required- easy)

3) 347 + 4963 + 249?

4) 40495 / 13?

5) a 3 degree glideslope crosses the threshold at 50 feet. At 6 nm what height will you be above
the runway?

There is also some basic algebra.

You are also asked to convert degrees Celcius to Fahrenheit and given the formula to do it.

The memory part of the compass test unfortunately I didn't get to- I was reading the first question
and ran out of time.

The hindsight-wisdom that I was given regarding this compass test is that it's better to finish it
than get everything exactly right.

From my side: FLY through the parts leading up to the mental maths, because unfortunately there
are tutorials on how to use the controls and breaks that you are given during the test that you
cannot skip and these seem to waste a fair amount of your time.

Also- brush up on mental maths! For the South Africans of my generation...this is particularly
important since you will probably recall that from grade 8, we were no longer allowed to crunch
numbers and had to use our calculators. I have done and passed a UNISA mental maths exam at
university as part of my degree...I can promise you it didn't come anywhere near the time
pressure or difficulty of this one.

Make sure you arrive well rested- you will be pushed hard during the process. Don't
underestimate it. Also ensure that you arrive at Cathay City in plenty of time- we did, but there
was a security stuff up since the flight crew recruiting department had forgotten that we were
coming and that caused a delay in getting us passes.

I cannot recommend enough going to Hong Kong a few days early in order to see it for yourself
and also arrive properly rested. It's in all likelihood going to be different to how you pictured it,
and very different to wherever you're from. Go with an open mind, and see it for yourself before
you form any opinions. It is smelly and crowded, but it is also very safe and very efficient too.

Study materials that I used to prepare besides "the e-mail":

1) Cathay website and fact sheet

2) Wikipedia and YouTube for videos on Hong Kong's history and on Cathay itself.
3) EASA ATPL books ( Met, ATG and Flight Planning in particular)
 Page 30 of 89
4) Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators- you can download it.
5) Handling the Big Jets
6) Fly the Wing

Cheers
James

Okay so here's my thoughts/experience of our AE stage 2 which was on 16-17 June 2016:

Group Exercise:

We got a mission to send someone to space and had to choose between 8 people. Read your
cards carefully! Some of them have missing or extra info on the mission. Then you just work
together to choose who you feel is the best candidate. It doesn't matter who you choose and they
won't tell you if you're correct, but they will ask you to explain your choice and will ask each of
you a different question about the exercise. Obviously they just want to see how well you get
along in a team.

Compass Test:

This consisted of 6 different tests. You get 90 minutes to finish them all so time yourself because I
believe most people ran out of time.

1) You use a joystick, rudder pedals and up and down arrows to follow the flight director, keep the
ball in the middle and keep the speed constant. 3 Tests lasting 1 or 2 minutes each.

2) Spacial awareness where they give you a relative bearing to a station, an AH attitude and a
heading. You then have to pick the correct overhead picture of the aircraft with it's heading,
attitude and relative bearing to the station. You have to try and get as many as you can correct
within 2 minutes. Probably the easiest of the compass test.

3) Multiple choice technical questions. There we're a bit more difficult. Questions like:

When are speedbrakes more effective, on landing or during high speed flight?
What would clear fog in NW Europe the fastest, wind or sun?
How far would a jet fly if it descends from FL370 to FL70, no other info given.

I'm bad at remembering questions unfortunately, but I think there were about 25 questions in this
part.

4) Maths questions. This part has it's own 20 minute limit and most people couldn't complete all
the questions in time so be aware. You also can't return to a question one you clicked next.
Questions like:

20 first class seats and 80 economy class seats, what percentage is first class?
What is 346749 divided by 13?
Pythagoras question.
Fraction question.
Solve for x or y.
A few more percentage questions and time/speed/velocity questions.

5) Short term memory test. Not much to say here. They give you a few numbers to remember and
you have to type them in in. Tests lasts about 1 to 2 minutes.

There was a sixth test as well but I can't remember exactly what it was about.

747-8 Simulator:
 Page 31 of 89
We got an hour briefing and 10 minute practice run each. You take off on 25L. Remember to call
for checklists. Keep your scan going the whole time. You then do a couple of turns and are asked
to slow the aircraft down. If you do not keep an eye on your altitude while slowing down then you
will lose a lot of height, guaranteed. You'll get asked at a stage where the airfield is, just use the
RMI and DME. You'll then turn to intercept the localizer. Use the navigational display to anticipate
when the localizer will come alive otherwise you will turn too late and go through it. Make very
small movements on final approach, ANTICIPATE AND TRIM is probably the most important in the
sim. You will do a go around and turn for a second ILS approach. We didn't get an engine failure,
apparently only the TT guys get engine failures. The sim is, like everyone else says as well,
probably the most difficult part of the whole interview.

You will then get an email before 6pm telling whether you passed day 1 or not. On day 2 you meet
up again and get explained everything about your SO package. There are then 4 more
assessments do do on day 2.

Psychometric Test:

I personally hate these tests and I have no idea how big a part it plays in the interview. You must
answer 225 personality based questions.

Panel Interview:

A HR lady and captain ask you HR and technical questions. It was about 65/35 HR/tech for me.
She asked me about myself, why become a pilot, why Cathay, hobbies, all those normal stuff. She
then asked fleet preference, new routes, aircraft orders, directors... The captain asked me a lot
about my own aircraft like engine, ceiling, speed, CSU, payload... and then questions about
typhoons, coriolis force, glideslope, altimeter under and overread, boeing fuel system... I didn't
find the panel interview that difficult.

English Test:

The most expensive phone call you will ever have to make. We had to pay HKD1770 (Cathay
doesn't cover this part) to speak to someone over a phone just to prove you can speak English. It
doesn't matter if you already have an ICAO level 6, you still have to do this. I don't know why they
can't just have someone listening to you during your panel interview. I probably wouldn't be
ranting about this if we didn't have to pay for it ourselves, but it is just absolutely ridiculous to
expect a candidate to pay that amount of money for a damn English test! Rant off.

Medical Exam:

Almost identical to the big SA class 1 medical with the ECG, except they take urine, blood and
hair for drug testing as well, and there is a nice little surprise for the guys too, so enjoy it...

All in all a very nice experience. I didn't find the overall interview that hard. I expected it to be
harder, although I still gotta hear if I got through so I'm not counting my chickens just yet.
Everyone at Cathay was very friendly. It looks like a nice airline to work for. Good luck to anyone
else going to stage 2!

Dale, THANKS A MILLION for all your help. If you know what to expect and know what to study
then it makes it a lot easier. I really hope to see you guys again in Honkers soon!

Cheers
Nicolaas
 Page 32 of 89
19-01-2017

Hope that you are well.

Things didn't go too well for me. I really stuffed up that sim check.
From the questions that I haven't seen before in the notes:
- Dynamic pressure formula
- The definition of a great circle ( it's not just' the shortest distance between 2 places'. There are
other factors as well
- There was a question on a TAF where there was a TEMPO change on VIs 5000M But they want
to know what 5000 means. Options were: Max 5000m visibility, between 1.5-5000m, 5000-
>10km. etc (when they give you the options you start wondering, well I went with max 5000m)
- Climbing at a constant IAS what happens to TAS. I had 3 of those but all( TAS, EAS. MACH)
mixed up while climbing or descending. (There is a little 'rhyme' for memorising it, which I
couldn't/ still can't remember.

13-01-2017

Hi Dale,

I hope you are well!

Please find my version of questions asked 12-13.01.2017 for the TT course along with the sim
summary I used to study with (if it helps). I tried to remember as many questions as I could!

All in all, it was a challenging two days which was exciting and a wonderful experience! Cathay city
is amazing and the staff I was fortunate enough to meet were great and always had a smile!

The process went as follows:

Day 1:
• Group welcome (4 on course) brief.
• Group assessment (the standard space task).
• Group sim brief by Chris Hancock (write notes and be honest as to what you have done
and would prefer seat wise, it seems as if the info is carried forward)
• I was first up in the sim, I had Captain Collin Couch and Chris Hancock, both were friendly
enough yet did not let on to too much. The sim profile is followed to the T, we used the
747-8 for the check. Standard take off and climb sequence, the position was then frozen on
the downwind for the turns (30 and 45 degrees), the position was unfrozen and there was a
speed reduction from 280 to 220kts. Turned from 300 to 150, then 110 to intercept 07. (as
per profile). Attitude is pertinent, in order for all parameters to correspond.
• Missed approach (I called it at 500ft) due to being slightly unstable but within the
parameters.
• Clean up and position on the down wind at 250kts. I had an engine no. 4 fire, as I was
resetting thrust. I first adjusted thrust, then called the memory recall items. The Captain
retarded the correct thrust lever and pulled the correct fuel shut-off however went for the
no.3 fire bottle. Call negative Captain, incorrect engine, he then rectifies. Positioned onto
the ILS and intercepted the glide slope where the engine was given back to me. Landed
visually on breaking cloud at 500ft.
• Afterwards I went straight into my technical exam (40 questions, 40 minutes). They seem to
be computer generated and the data base seems quite diverse.
• Day 1 complete.
Day 2:

• S/O company brief.

• Interview with Katrina Evans and James Wooton (Deputy Chief Pilot, technical B777 I
think). The interview was around 01:00, relax and smile answer to the best of your ability.
• English language proficiency (1750HK$) you speak to someone in New Zealand on the
phone and answer some computer generated questions, straight forward. Make sure you
can hear them though!
 Page 33 of 89
• Pre-employment screening tests.
• Psychometric tests, 225 questions, 40 mins (Two options to answer).
• Medical assessment and HK medical
What a great experience it was, I was fortunate enough to get through day 1 and now the weigh to
hear about day 2's results.

Dale thank you again for all of the help, I hope what I have written can assist one or two guys.

Regards

Hi Dale,
I hope you are well!
Once again thank you so much for the assistance in prepping for my interview, you really are
assisting the guys greatly so that they may prep as much as possible!
From what I can remember these were the questions I got asked in my one on one interview with
Katrina and J. Wooton:
Katrina:
• What is the longest route Cathay performs? – I gave my answer in distance and rough time.
Explaining why it was an ultra-long haul flight. I explained the general routing regarding Jet
streams as well.
• What countries do you fly over on the route JFK – HK?
• Which country separates China and Russia? Mongolia
• What would I do if I were unsuccessful in the interview process? My answer included re-
applying as I only had my eyes set on Cathay, as I had always wanted to work for an airline
performing intercontinental flights. She queried if I had tried the Middle East (Emirates), I
mentioned that I hadn’t as I much rather preferred the diversity of Hong Kong and the
structure of Cathay vs. Emirates.
• What would be the most negative part about moving to Hong Kong?
• What do you know about Cathay Pacific? Mentioned some general history, how the name
was obtained, the fleet totals, and information about new routes including the Barcelona
route for the A350 and West Wellcamp (the input that Cathay had on the airport and
approach) along with Portland, Manchester etc.
• What would your colleagues say about you?
• If your colleagues or friends at Cathay had to give one thing you needed to work on, what
would it be?
• She asked me country Capitals (those that I can remember included Australia, the
Netherlands and Germany).
• Why would I want to work for Cathay?
• Where did I get a passion for aviation from?
J. Wooton:
• Moving from your current position where you have a lot of responsibility to a second officer,
what changes do you foresee? I gave the answer from the questions mentioning that many
industries included an internship program, I view the second officer position as that of an
internship. This would enable me to perform to the best of my ability and as efficiently as
possible when the opportunity arose for me to upgrade. This was mainly due to the fact that
 Page 34 of 89
I would have had enough time to be trained to the level in which Cathay expected me to
operate and that I would have a good grasp on the Airline and operation.
• What do you understand by the roles that a second officer does? I mentioned that fact that
one of the main roles was to provide in flight relief. I mentioned that I would also be
expected to give input on certain decisions or planning criteria, which I see as a huge
positive as Cathay Captains include the entire flight deck Crew when making penitent
decisions. I mentioned that there were most likely a fair amount of administrative tasks for
the second officer to ensure were complete in the planning phase.
• What would I understand by the term extended operations? I explained the basis of ETOPs
and mentioned EDTO, also that a good majority of large airlines were moving toward the
EDTO methodology, Cathay utilises EDTO.
• Would I feel confident to handle a situation where there was a loss of an engine over the
middle of the Pacific with the closest adequate aerodrome 180 mins away and I was alone
on the flight deck? – I answered that I think I would feel that I would feel confident to initiate
the required actions to the emergency, as I would have been trained to a suitable level by
Cathay. I mentioned that during the planning phase the adequate aerodromes for the route
would have been noted and that they would be listed. The aircraft is certified to comply with
the 180 min requirement as well as the operator who in turn are governed by many
regulatory authorities hence why I would feel confident to begin vital action planning until I
could get more assistance to the flight deck.
• What do I understand by typhoons? I listed the criteria for formation and how they form, he
then mentioned that Hong Kong did from time to time receive typhoons passing through.
What would the risks to us as flight crew be when dealing with a typhoon? – I mentioned
that we should have noted any tropical depression’s status prior to departure, this may
ultimately affect our planning destination. We would like to ensure that we could make our
destination with a minimal risk of having to divert, as ultimately this would cost the
operation. We would need to ensure our fuel was adequate to deal with enroute or
destination weather. We could expect icing, turbulence and wind shear most likely at lower
levels. I mentioned that Hong Kong has a low level wind shear warning system and the
basis on how it operated.
• How would I explain the signs of wind shear and what to look out for to my Crew with the
aircraft that I operate? I mentioned that we do not have any systems to identify wind shear
such as Doppler, however the first means would be avoidance. This would be
accomplished in the planning phase to note what weather we could expect along our route.
Then visually we would look out for any roll cloud, thunderstorms, virga etc. We would then
also watch our airspeed and note any abnormal deviations to our IVSI. This could indicate
the presence of wind shear in close proximity to where we were.
• What are the threats we experience on a daily basis with our operations? I mentioned
weather particularly along the escarpment, he asked how the thunderstorms there form and
I explained it. I explained that often we would be in advisory and uncontrolled airspace, we
utilised TCAS and ensured our GPWS systems were functional.
• What would Cathay’s European destinations be?
• Pulled out a 777 model and asked what model it was, what the maximum fuel capacity was
and the maximum landing weight.
• Asked about why a rearward CoG is preferred for range?
• Asked about a reduced thrust take-off and why they are done? My answer included the
pros and cons and how the pro’s outweigh the cons.
• Asked me to explain the fuel system on the B190?
• Asked if the main purpose of fuel in the B190 was to fuel the engines or if was used for
CoG positions as well? I explained the main function was to fuel the engines, that there
 Page 35 of 89
were only fuel tanks in each wing, that they could not be relied on for increasing rigidity, I
explained that there was a zero fuel weight and the function of it.
• Asked if we would utilise a fuel imbalance to assist in the mass and balance of the aircraft?
I mentioned the limitations and why as well as the differences on the B200 and why.
• Asked about jet streams when planning polar routes and what we as Crew needed to be
aware of?
• Mental Maths calculations in raw data mode, distance of 7NM on ILS of 3°, what altitude
was the aircraft at?
• Asked about the sim check ride?
Tech Exam questions? (That I can remember)
• Cathay current fleet and orders?
• Tropopause height and temperatures changes at the poles and equator?
• Dew point definitions? Wording was a bit different though!
• TAF’s with forecast precipitation at a certain time?
• Thunderstorm development (initial stage being the greatest for up draughts)
• Runways found at VHHH?
• Inbound on a radial (220, I think), inbound courses 090, hold north east of beacon, what
would the entry be? I may be very incorrect on the figures, however they wanted to know
the entry.
• Temperature at FL300 (-29 if I remember correctly), what altitude would correspond with a
temp of -6?
• Swept wing theory.
• Basic aerodynamic theory.
• Stalling theory.
• Lift formula?

28/02/2017
Hi there,
Here are some of the questions I remembered from the tech exam.
1. Fleet of Cathay. Different combinations given
2. Which routes the A330 is used for? Ultra long, medium or short haul?
3. Biggest shareholder of Cathay
4. Crosswind calculation
5. When does the 1st segment end
6. Climbing to 5000ft on 1013 and flies into an area with 1020 without resetting the
altimeter while maintaining 5000ft. Is actual altitude increasing or decreasing?
7. Characteristics of initial stage of a thunderstorm
8. Sector entry into a hold from a given inbound track
9. Convert knots to m/s
10. Height on a 3 degree glide-slope at 5nm
11. Vx and Vy. How are angle of climb and rate of climb affected by a headwind.
Angle increases but rate stays the same
Questions from panel interview:
 Page 36 of 89
1. Destinations in Australia?
2. Capital of Australia?
3. Cathays longest route?
4. Which countries do we overfly from New York to HK if we fly over the north
pole?
5. What does RAIM stand for?
6. Describe how you get into a spin?
7. Describe how you get out of a spin?
8. How do you know which way you are spinning in IMC?
9. If the ball is out to the right which way are you spinning?
Regards
Jonas Lindgren

11-04-2017
Hi Guys,

I finally got time to report back on the interview I had in March 2017. I apologize, I have been
flying non-stop.

So to start with, I was lucky enough to find lodging with a friend on Lantau. This meant that I
could go 3 days early. This really helped as the jet lag is quite severe. It also gave me an
opportunity to explore Cathay Pacific City and get a feel for the company. I would advise, if at all
possible, that you go a day or so early.

The Team Exercise:

Pretty much as described by the other emails: selecting an astronaut for a mission. There was just
a very quick brief on what was expected and they fired away. Communication is of the essence
here so make sure to discuss all aspects of the exercise once everybody has gone through their
document. As every document has bits and pieces of the task at hand be sure to summarise it all
on the white board. Once this is done it is relative easy to select the right candidate by using the
process of elimination.

The Technical Exam:

The questions asked are those in contained in the emails. What I did find strange though was the
fact that the facilitator did not provide us with pens or paper to wright on. Not even when we
requested. I have asked guys from previous selections and they all recall having paper. So I am
not quite sure if this is a new standard or if we were just unlucky. Anyway, I luckily had a pen with
meant after doing a few calculations on my hand, I managed to pull it off. Be aware that there is a
40 minute time limit and all of barely finished in time.
Here are some of the questions that I can remember:

1. Who is the main shareholder of Cathay? Swire Pacific Limited.

2. If you are on radial 030 and instructed to hold on radial 180, what is your sector entry? Sector
1 parallel.

3. If speed reduces from 150 kts to 120 kts, with how much will the ROD change? 150ft.

4. If 6 NM out on the ILS, what is your height? 1800ft.

5. Where does the 2nd segment of climb begin? Wheels retracted.

6. Rumb line theory. Cuts all meridians at the same angle and curved on earth/straight on map.
No HDG change required.
 Page 37 of 89

7. What is the amount of water which a parcel of air can contain dependent on? Temperature.

8. If IAS, AOA and flaps stay the same, what happens to lift as altitude increases? Lift decreases
as the air density decreases in a climb.

9. What happens to your indicated stalling speed as altitude increases? Increase.

10. Going from a hot area to a cold area, your altimeter will? Over read.

12. Going from an area with a high pressure, to an area with a low pressure, your altimeter will.
Over read.

13. What do flaps do on the take off? Reduce the take-off run.

14. What directions do Jet-streams flow in the northern hemisphere? Jetstreams are always
westerly winds (West to East).

The Simulator Session:

The sim briefing was very thorough. The instructor asked each of us what kind of experience we
had. He seemed to be very interested in time on glass and jet (which, unfortunately I don't have!).
He was very friendly though. Also very passionate and excited about the questions being asked.
He also asked who of us had hired a sim elsewhere to prep. He stated that he really
recommended it and that they could "really see the difference". Although I was unaware of this
until that moment, it appears that it really has become the trend to go prep on a sim. It might be
quite an expensive way to prep, as it does not guarantee a pass, but out of personal experience I
can say that there is no way of beating the trend. If that is what the facilitators and instructors
have become accustomed to, then that is what has to be done. So I do strongly advise that you
contemplate how badly you want in with Cathay and if you are absolutely sure, go hire a sim.
This would have made the difference for me.

That being said, know the sim profile through and through and keep in mind that the glass cockpit
might be a bit disorientating if you are used to steam gauges or EFIS.

As I unfortunately did not get past the sim session I cannot give any more information.

As a result I would like to say that, although I fell out, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.
And it was quite an eye-opener. Cathay really seems to look after their employees as well as the
families. I was lucky enough to spend a few extra days there and always felt welcome and
comfortable.

All of the best with your interview and Godspeed!

Regards,
Jan Venter

20-04-2017
Hi everyone, we were 3 guys for the assessment.
Day 1:
Group Exercise:
You each get a mission statement. They are basically the same, with minor differences. I would
suggest one person reads his/her’s mission statement and others just point out differences. Trust
me, the 30 allocated minutes pass by fast!
You are given 8 candidates’ profile; you have to select one for the mission. Use a minute to
assign responsibilities to each and everyone - don't be pushy but show assertiveness.
At the end you are required to debrief on your decision.

Simulator Check:
 Page 38 of 89
The cockpit is impressive, don't be overwhelmed, treat it as a normal aircraft. I was certainly
nowhere close to being perfect. Just show that you are a trainable pilot. No curved balls there.
Larry and Gary are the best people you could have a go at the B747 with! What is briefed is what
exactly comes out. I would say that it is probably of paramount importance that you download a
copy of the 747 PFD and practise your scan on the latter.

Technical exam:
Similar questions as the ones provided in the Interview notes. Learn how to use sine values to
obtain crosswind components. To convert knots to m/s just divide by 0.5.
One question which really caught me out: weather at 600km from a warm front and at 350km. I
just didn't go in such detail during my prep.
I used plane spotters website to get the latest fleet data.
If you want some motivation, go on Flight Aware tracking, it gives you a good idea of the scale of
Cathay Operations, as well as having a good picture of fleet deployment on routes.

Day 2:
HR induction: friendly chat about what to expect in terms of benefits and duties etc.

Panel Interview: straightforward if you prepared thoroughly. Just say you don't know instead of
bullshitting your way around. Most panel interviews are meant for the people to see if they can
spend those long boring hours in the cruise with you! Remember, they are already happy with
your flying and your technical knowledge if you made it to day 2. That said, you should be able
to answer the questions as well.

Medical & English Test to follow.

The entire recruitment were as friendly and as professional as it can get.

You should get a reply within 10 days.

Study hard guys. You can contact me by WhatsApp on +23057818725(Yash). I will be more than
happy to try answer your questions.

20-04-2017
Hi guys,

My interview differences and tips I picked up.

There were only two of us on the days of my interview process. This may have made it a bit easier in the
group exercise or been the reason it was different.

Tips

- They want to EMPLOY YOU!! They would not have asked you to fly over, paid for you and your wife
(If you are married) to come out and see if HK was for you, if they thought they would be wasting
time and resources. This was a huge mind shift for me after speaking to two Captains at Cathay
that family of mine put me in touch with. This was later confirmed by the two Captains who did my
sim check.
- Use names of the people you meet when you say goodbye if you can. It may make you stand out and
shows them you have made an effort to know them.
- The sim check Captains asked Adrian (the other interviewer with more jet time) to help me by giving
me tips after his sim and debrief me. They want to see you can help each other and work as a
team. You are not competitors but team mates. The better you both do the better your chances of
getting in.
- Study all the material given by Dale and the others as much as possible. There was maybe one
question that was different out of 40 questions I was given in my tech exam from what I studied in
this mail.
- Be yourself. Be polite and use the title Captain when speaking to one, unless they say otherwise. It
shows respect and that you understand the authority and responsibility they carry.
 Page 39 of 89
- Try and get to Cathay the day before if you can and know someone who can show you around.
Makes a massive difference and relieves some stress of knowing how to get there.
- Be early.

Group exercise

- The objective was different to previous groups. Our aim was to employ a tourist manager for a resort.
- Instructions are read once. Make notes of important info.
- Follow the guidelines laid out by HR in the brief.
- I was positioned opposite to the other candidate and made the choice to rather move across and sit
next to him. It made the process easier as we could both compare note and read together after
we had each read our own brief first individually.
- IF you are like me and tend to take control, make sure you don’t give instructions to the other
candidates. I rather asked the other candidate if we shouldn’t do this or what does he think about
this or what is his opinion or idea on this.
- Keep talking to the other candidates and ask questions.

Technical exam (40 questions in 45min)

- Just study the notes given. 99% of the questions were in the exam. If you go through the questions in
this email the exam is not too hectic. I still also recommend studying other sources as prep for the
interview though.
- Some questions may be worded slightly differently but same principles apply.
- No calculators allowed. So make sure you have rules of thumb to work things out like converting
knots into meters per second or time calculations like,
(420kts GS takes how long to travel 50nm. Divide GS by 60 = nm/min) or crosswind questions. Just make
sure you know that at 30 degrees to the runway the x-wind value is half the wind speed value and 2/3 of the
45 degree wind value. Double check with simple calculations though.

Sim check (747-400)

- Study the profile and go through it every day! They will ask questions in the brief to see if you know
certain things about the profile. I didn’t do this in the last week as I was trying to make sure I
covered all my interview questions and tech questions but regret that a bit looking back.
- There are no tricks! They are not wanting to catch you out or fail you. Keep it simple and straight
forward. They moaned about a guy in the brief who told them the ILS frequency wasn’t correct,
they don’t want to deal with wise guys.
- If you cannot get into a sim before then maybe look at buying FSX steam edition. It was R107.00. I
am not a FS guy and struggled too much but still think it will help with your scanning if you not
used to glass and will help with the profile a bit. If you want you can buy an iFly 747 package add
on to FSX which will apparently help but I didn’t go for it. Check it out and see if it is right for you?
- I think each check Captain has his own way of doing things. These are not major changes and the
profile and info is the same. It’s just small stuff like when to do what, how they want you to do it
etc. So study the prep advice in these notes but expect some small changes in the briefing before
the sim.
- Make sure you understand that this type of flying is attitude flying. Not performance flying. I have only
flown performance style and it caught me hard here. You don’t worry about your speed if you have
set the right power and attitude. Don’t chase the speed with power but rather let the speed build
or decay once they power is set. This can take a little time as the momentum is massive. I wanted
to keep my hands on the thrust levers all the time even if I wasn’t using it but he wasn’t allowing
me to and also crapped on me if I tried accidentally. Set the power and get both hands on the
yoke. Know when to set what power!
- Trimming is quite a technique. I wasn’t worried before as I trim my aircraft well for survey but the rate
a 747 takes to trim is loooooonnnnnngggg. It took about a second of holding the trim before it
even starts to trim. Keep this in mind!! The yoke also has no Q feel. So that messed my brain up
as well. The forces never get lighter in the control so you can’t use that as a reference for trim.
The trimmer is also silent in the 400. Use the technique the tell you. Give two bursts of about 2sec
each and use as required. Ask them if they don’t tell you but I’m sure they will. They want you
remember!
 Page 40 of 89
- I was told in the brief NOT to trim in the turns. They were extremely adamant on this. Again this may
be one of those small changes.
- As before if you have no time on glass then really try and get something to help you with your scan
and the way things happen. That sky pointer can catch you out if you not used to it.
- When you practice the sim in your head try and do it somewhere where there are plenty of
distractions and noises. This may sound silly but I wish I had. The guy sitting next to me wouldn’t
stop talking, commenting and swearing. It will distract you and you need to be able to cope with it.
Keep your cool and for anything just say correcting …… and make him see that you are learning
from your mistakes and improving them.
- Big mistake!! My FMC display was dimmed all the way down, I thought it was off. Once the Captain
got in he increased the display brightness on his side and so I just said, “oh the brightness is
down.” Then I tried to turn it up on my side and man he blasted me. “Do you know how this
F@*%ing works? What page do you want? Do you F&%#ing need it?” Wasn’t the best way to
start and yes my cage was rattled hard. I am not trying to scare anyone but help you to know,
Don’t do anything other than the brief. They hate wise guys. They don’t want you to fiddle. They
just want to see you fly, make decisions, take appropriate action and in emergencies use good
CRM and RMM principles.
- Seat selection. I was told in the brief by the Captains that if you choose left they expect more of you.
They want to see good CRM, RMM and spare capacity. Spare capacity meaning to see that if you
are about flap 10 speed you say speed checks standing by flap 10. Then calling it when you are
at the right speed.
- The harder you prep, the more realistic your prep and the better idea of how the sim will go will most
likely improve your chances.
- Know that you may feel like the worst pilot ever during this session but improvement is key. I think
most guys struggle in the beginning but if you improve under the pressure and they see you are
learning and teachable you will be fine. They want you!! Work on it and don’t give up if you stuff it
up. Just keep improving.
- Talk as much as you like so they know what you are thinking!
- Take a knock on the chin and make sure each exercise you do is better. I say this a lot but it is
because I felt super crap after my sim. The one guy I saw after his looked worse. You can’t let the
comments and swearing get to you. Focus on the task and give it horns. Many guys have gone
through this and many guys passed the sim but didn’t feel great. I think this is especially true if
you haven’t ever flown a jet or glass before.
- As soon as we met the Captains in the briefing room they told us to loosen our ties and take off our
jackets and get comfy. We weren’t sure if they were joking but again there aren’t tricks here. Take
what the guys say at face value unless it is an obvious joke. There was no sarcasm with them,
just plain insults ;)

Personality test

- Boggles my brain thinking about it. All the statements repeating and combinations makes you feel like
you’re going mad.
- Think of each statement as if you were flying for Cathay in a multi crew cockpit environment. That was
what my brother told me and I think it is good advice. However don’t over think it.
- If you have been yourself throughout the group exercise, various briefings and dealing with people I’m
sure they build an idea of your personality through that as well. This is more proof or scientific.

Interview

- The candidate ahead of me as a 737 cojo with 2000hrs on type. He got all the questions I was
expecting on the 747, fuel systems on his aircraft, IRS questions and various other 737 tech
questions.
- I was asked to draw the drag curve, where to find Vimd on it, where to find best range speed on it and
why the speeds are different.
- I was asked about the INS system and how many there are and how it calculates position using
accelerometers and gyros.
- I was asked about which engine is critical in a x-wind.
- I was asked a speed, distance and time question. Basic maths but I had a brain fart but use the
board.
- HR asked me all the questions as briefed. Nothing hectic.
 Page 41 of 89
- Was straight forward and nothing hectic.
- Be yourself, you have 45min roughly to impress them and make them want to work with you.

English Language Prof

- Listen carefully
- Knowing your aircraft well helped me out a lot here.
- They seem to ask quite detailed questions but don’t think they look at your answers too closely. Just
want to see you can communicate a message across clearly.
- I couldn’t hear the last radio transmission clearly. So I couldn’t tell what was going on really and the
questions were tough to answer as a result and they don’t repeat it. I was told not to worry too
much about it though as 90% was done already.

Medical

- As briefed

Try and enjoy the process it was an amazing experience either way for me whether I get it or not.

April 2017

Hi Guys.

I just wanted to send you through the questions that were asked by Captain Colin Couch in the
Tech and HR interview.

He had an A350 model sitting in the middle of the table and a B777 in close proximity.

He started by asking me about the B190.

What type of engines does it have?

How much fuel can it uplift and how many hours endurance does it have?
What is the service ceiling?
Are we performances limited out of any strips in Senegal?
How do we load our pax, any tricks that we use to keep the C of G as favorable as possible.

Then we came back to fuel focused questions.

How much fuel per hour does the A350 burn.

He then asked what is Cathay's longest flight and how many hours is it?
We then used the example of a 16 hour flight to New York on the B777 burning 3500kg per engine
/ hour how much fuel would we burn to New York. Just a quick mental math question under
pressure.

Asked how many fuel tanks the A350 has? And do we burn the centre tank first or start with the
wing tanks. That moved into a conversation on the aircraft needing the weight in the wings to
prevent too much wing flex. That moved into how the C of G changes with fuel burn and how to
manipulate it to our advantage by using the centre tank first.

How many fuel tanks the B777 has?

Does it have stabilizer tanks?

Why doesn't the B777 have winglets and how the raked wing tips are designed to create less lift
on the tips to create less pressure difference and In turn less lessen the effect of the wing tip
vortices.

Those were all the questions that were out to me by Captain Couch.
 Page 42 of 89
Mandy from HR asked all the expected questions.

Why Cathay Pacific?

What fleet do we have and numbers?
Challenges you expect by moving and getting settled in Hong Kong?
Do you know anyone already working here, what have they said about the company?
Have you heard anything negative about the company?
Which fleet would you have a preference for and why?
There were quite a few but very similar to what has already been shared by the other candidates
so far.

If I think of any others that may have slipped my mind I'll send them through to you.

Thanks again for your willingness to assist me and the two others chaps that you've sent the info
through too and by adding them to the what's app group.

I had a great experience, it was an intense two days and was drained by the end of it all but I
really enjoyed the entire experience.

Hope the roster is looking kind to you this month.

Kind regards,
Kieran

July 2017 (DEFO)

Direct Entry First Officer selection Cathay Pacific – July 2017

I got my assessment date in Hong Kong with 2 months notice. Make sure to fill out all the paperwork correctly, there is
a lot to prepare. Assessment takes 2 days, in order to go to the second day you have to pass day 1.

Day 1.

4 candidates:
1 A320 FO (3500 hrs), failed day 1
1 A330 captain (7200 hrs), failed day 1
1 B737 classic FO (3500 hrs) passed
1 B737NG FO (me ;) 3200 hrs) passed

Early start. Short briefing where you have to give all paperwork that you prepared in advance.

1. Group exercise. No questions allowed, 2 people observing. You have 30 minutes to select the best CV for a special
space mission for NASA. The person to go on this mission has to meet a lot of requirements. All candidates get a sheet
with different requirements. You are allowed to use everything in the room (also the whiteboard, hint!). After the 30
minutes you are asked what you could improve, what your role was, what you did well. They want to see how you work
together, don’t worry about the CV-choice being the correct one!

2. Tech quiz. 50 questions multiple-choice, pass mark is 70%, you have one hour to complete the test, no calculator
allowed. >> This is where your preparation matters! Study all ATPL subjects, especially POF, GNAV, Performance,
Meteo. And study Cathay Pacific facts. Every candidate got different questions, probably a big database. Here are some
questions I remember:
- What is a rhumb line?
- What are the runways of HKG?
- How long does it take for eyes to fully adapt to darkness?
- Static gets blocked in descent, what happens to altimeter reading? (Someone else had this question but with
blocked pitot)
- Temperature is x degrees at FL80, what is the temperature at FL130?
- Cleared for take-off rwy xx, wind xxx/xx; what is the crosswind component?
- You climb to 5000ft with QNH 1018 set, you fly to an area where the pressure is QNH 1012 without changing
on the altimeter pressure setting. What happens to altimeter reading?
- Holding with inbound course XXX, you fly heading XXX to the VOR, what will be the holding entry?
- 40 knots is how many meters per second?
- What is the lift formula?
 Page 43 of 89
- TAF of HKG is displayed; what is the precipitation at 1600Z?
- How many hours does it take to fly from Hong Kong to Bangkok?
- What is Cathays fleet and which types are on order?
- What happens to induced and parasite drag as speed increases?
- A few questions on aft CG and performance.
- Effect tailwind on climb
- Explain the 3rd take-off segment
- Relationship Vx and Vy
- LSS is proportional to?
- Formula dynamic pressure?
- Formula for Machnumber and why does TAS decrease with altitude at constant Mach?
- Biggest shareholder Cathay?
- Thrust generation of the fan in a high-bypass engine?
- Transponder-codes for hijjack, distress and com failure?
- Descent at constant TAS, what happens to IAS and Mach?
- CAT is usually found where and in which airmass at the jet stream?
- What is an isothermal layer?
- What are ISA conditions?
- Temperature and altitude of the tropopause?
- What is the tropopause?
- With [Link] kgs an airplane has a net climb gradient performance of 2,8%. At what weight 2,6%?
- Effect of more flaps on take-off roll?
- Which stage of thunderstorm formation mainly updrafts?
- Actual fuel is xxx kgs, but on loadsheet this is accidentally set to xxx (1000kgs higher). Not spotted by the
crew. What happens now?
- Piston engine volume being held constant.
- A question regarding series/parallel operation of compressor or turbine, can’t remember the exact question and
had no clue for the answer.
- What is the angle of attack?
- Weather when a cold front passes?

3. Simulator B747-400
You get the simulator profile a few weeks before your assessment and you need to study it; it is exactly what you will
get! You can pick either seat. 2 CX captains conduct the sim; one will be the PM, and one operates the simulator. Before
the assessment there is a 1 hour briefing in which the profile gets discussed, what they expect from you, EPR and pitch
settings. Briefing is relaxed, both guys were joking a lot. They told us Cathay likes to see us all pass, as the DEFO’s are
needed, so we are not eachothers competitors. Sim is raw data and no auto throttle and no MAP mode, but the approach
rose. Altitude on MCP is set during the whole session at 10.000 ft, but you will have to maintain 2500 ft as a stop
altitude (so no line to help you). The only speeds they will bug are V2 and Vfly, so no speedbug to help you for
maintaining 250/280 kts. Scan scan ;)!
Climb out, back track localiser, clean up according to flap schedule, ask climb thrust, after take-off checklist, leveloff at
2500 ft, increase speed to 280 knots, atc gives a heading, 30 degrees and 45-degree-steep turns at 280 knots. No
trimming in the steepturn, heavy. Trim though during the rest of the session! No trimwheel on the 747, so silent
trimming. Position freeze; what is your bearing and distance to the field? (DME from the ILS, bearing from the ADF
needle). Vectors for approach, rapid slow down to 220 knots with speedbrake and flaps, raw data ils to minimums, go-
around due no field in sight, only increase to 250 knots for level-off. On downwind engine fire, PM tries to shut down
the wrong engine during memory items, monitor him! What is your plan, checklists, pa’s, atc etc. Vectors for a 3-engine
approach to land, configure in time. Stop on the runway, end of the sim, very short, no unexpected things, all according
to profile.
NB: the Sim instructors asked who had been able to book and fly a 747 simulator before coming to HKG. This was also
asked in the morning during the initial briefing. I had invested in a 2hr sim session one month before the assessment to
prepare, but I was the only one of the candidates. The instructors reacted really surprised that the Airbus guys didnt take
a 747 or 737 sim before showing up, as they knew the sim would be conducted on a 747 sim. The next day again my
simulator preparation was mentioned, it shows motivation and dedication, and it seemed really appreciated. Just a tip.

After the simulator you have to give yourself a grade on your simulator ride that they note down. That’s it for day 1.
They said you get an e-mail between 1700 and 1800 if you passed or not. Nervewrecking afternoon. 17:30 ‘First Officer
Final Interview Day 2 invitation’ :D

Day 2

Only 2 candidates to day 2. NB: very busy day with no pause scheduled, so bring something to drink and some food to
grab in between the different parts.

1. ‘Pre-Employment briefing’ very informal, with the same woman that did the briefing on day 1 and conducted the
group exercise. She is the Assistant Manager Flight Crew Recruitment. In a short time she explains lots on life in Hong
 Page 44 of 89
Kong, the T&C of Cathay, benefits, their expectations, if we have a fleet preferance (recruitment is for the 747 and
A330). After that we both had our own schedule. Mine was:

2. Medical > a few forms to fill in (given on day 1) testing of ears, eyes, hair sample, urine test, blood test, ECG, and
standard testing of the body mobility, balance, weight, length etc.

3. English test, new test ‘CLEAR ICAO assessment’. The night before I had to pay by creditcard 215 euros to subscribe
for this test. You have to speak with an examiner, several scenarios and role play of pilot-atc. Relaxed test. Still
somehow my ELP 6 is now downgraded to 5...Maybe due some nerves for the next part;

4. Interview! Over an hour interview with one lady from HR (personal questions) and the head of training of the Boeing
fleet (tech). They were very friendly. Questions:

HR questions:
- Why did you choose for aviation?
- What did you do when you had no job as a pilot? (as it took me 2,5 years after obtaining my license)
- Do we fly to Holland?
- Why do you want to work for Cathay Pacific?
- How did you get information about Cathay?
- Do you know the amount of years to command? How do you feel about that?
- Do you plan to stay till you retire?
- Besides flying, tell us something else you are really good at.
- Tell us something you want to improve about yourself.
- Which fleet would you like to get? Why?
- What do you think of Hong Kong?
- What do you not like about Hong Kong?
- Did you apply at any other airline?
- Do you know about the current issues within CX? Do you have questions about that?
- What will be the crew on a flight from HKG to New York?
- What will you do if you don’t get hired?
- What would the last few captains you flew with say about you?
- What does your direct family think about you moving to HKG?
- Are you worried for your partner how to get work and a visa as you are not married?
- Do you know anything regarding women flying at Cathay and how they like it here?
- What will be the hardest thing about moving to Hong Kong?
- What will be the hardest joining Cathay?
- How will you react when Second Officers comment that in their opinion you are taking their position?
- Do you know about the seniority schedule in CX?
- What is the notice period in your airline?

Tech questions:
- You see 2 airplane models on the table, which planes are that. (B747-400 and B777)
- Which type of 777? (B777-300ER)
- What engines do they have?
- What engines on the B747 fleet?
- Advantages of 2-spool engine? Advantages of 3-spool engine?
- Why no winglets on the 777ER?
- What do winglets do?
- When is the drag from the wing-tip vortices the greatest? Explain the drag curves?
- Which one flies faster in crz, B747 or B777?
- TAS of a B747?
- What is the flight time from Hong Kong to Singapore?
- What is the route from New York to Hong Kong, is it Atlantic or Polar? What countries would you overfly on the polar
route?
- What are the memory items for airspeed unreliable on your aircraft? Do you keep the flight directors on?
- What is your pitch altitude for the windshear escape manoeuver on your aircraft, what do you do?
- What are the stable approach criteria in your company?
- It is IMC and at 1000ft you are 1,5 dot below GS, you are PM. What do you do?
- You are holding at FL140. What is the timing outbound? What is the speed?
- What is a rate one turn?
- Tell me about an incident or situation?
- How do you calculate the descentpoint? What is your ideal altitude at 40NM from touchdown?
- What is a rhumb line?
 Page 45 of 89
- You track 110 to a VOR, the holding is 270 inbound. Draw it if you like, tell me the holding entry and initial heading
you turn to when overflying the fix?
- What are good things and habits that you learned from the captains you flew with? What would you do as well as a
captain?
- Do you aspire to be a training captain? Why?
- Do you think you are on the same fleet your whole career in CX or can you change as well?

- Do you have questions for us?

End of the interview, a very positive atmosphere.

5. Personality test on the computer. 3 different tests with lots of statements and you have to inidcate how applicable they
are for you. ‘I like to give presentations’ ‘Work atmosphere should be humorous’ ‘I work very hard’ etc.

That’s it, I went to say goodbye to the recruitment team and then went to the hospital at the airport for the final step of
the medical:

6. Chest X-ray.

It takes about 2 weeks to get the final result of the assessment, start date and fleet also determined later. Cathay respects
your notice period.

EASA license holders start the training in Hong Kong, before the Type Rating starting with HK CAD exams Air Law (2
exams) and Performance (Cathay gives you study material to prepare before arriving in Hong Kong).
Non-Easa Holders go first 1 week to Adelaide for the EASA exams Aircraft Performance, and EASA Human
Performance and Limitation, HK Air Law and HK Flight Rules and Procedures, thereafter the same exams as above in
Hong Kong.

August 2017 (SO Interview)

Thanks again for running this group, massive help!! Just been through the interview
process – August 2017. Everything was pretty much as expected, it seems they
have changed the technical a little bit.. It’s now 50 questions in 60 minutes. The
content seems the same as the previous ones but one or two new questions. The
questions are asked in such a way that you have to read them a couple of times.

Need 2.6% climb gradient, currently have 2.8% at 110000KG. What will the new
MTOW to have 2.6%? Use ratio or something to find it.
Diesel engine without a turbocharger is a function of? Airflow, airflow and fuel flow,
fuel flow?
Compression ratio of a piston engine is?
Drag formula, shareholders, fleet, routes, fog formation, something about variation
and deviation, great circle definition.

The interview itself started with HR – by far the most comfortable hr interview I’ve
ever been in. It was done like a conversation rather than an interrogation,
discussed company history, fleet, orders and about living in HK, strengths,
weaknesses and all that. Then moved over to technical, started with current type,
some memory items and other general things, fuel system, something brief about
ME, MR, LRC type thing, wasn’t in depth but know the difference. Then asked fuel
system on the 747, winglets and a couple of things about hazards in flight,
especially this time of the year in HK. What system is in place at HK airport to help
with detection of these hazards and how does it work . Maths question on the
board about rest in flight and that was pretty much it.
 Page 46 of 89
I reckon the sim check is the most difficult part of the interview – sim prep is
essential, even if you smash out hours of flight sim on the pc, know that profile.
They ask you questions during the brief and wait for you to answer and if you
haven’t learnt the profile, will prob determine how they treat you in the sim. Ours
was in the 747-400, same as profile but they added speed reduction with speed
brake (keep your hand on the lever, it’s not for long) and there is a reason there is
asymmetric flight in the profile. Double check when running the memory items for
fire/failure in flight as he tried to pull the wrong fuel cut off – just say negative,
that’s not the one and he will do the correct one. They said they have the best
visuals at night so we had night, IMC. Doesn’t make it more difficult or anything
but if you do prep, do some at night so there’s nothing new.

They even said to us like mentioned earlier in this email: It is not a competition
between you and the guys you interview with. They genuinely do want to hire
everyone they invite over.

That’s pretty much all I can remember but if I think of anything I’ve forgotten I’ll
shoot an update through.

Cheers!!

20-10-2017 (DEFO)

Thanks once again for your help. Here's my experience...

Welcome Brief – (0830 – 0845)

Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area 6th Floor, Flight Training Centre

You will be collected from the waiting area for the Welcome Brief. It is important to submit
all documents required by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department at this brief.
Employment cannot be offered if you fail to meet the requirements of the Hong Kong Civil
Aviation Department.

Group Exercise – (0845 – 0930)

Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area

This is an interactive exercise undertaken with other candidates, observed by at least two
assessors. Katrina Evans and Amy Cheung sat in. In this exercise make sure you all have
the same information. Invariably you won't have. There's also another facts sheet in and
shuffled within the other laminated sheets of info. Deconstruct everything before starting
the assessment. Use the with board markers to draw on the laminated paper sheets
available and discuss the potential candidate to be chosen for the mission. Test pilot with
military and Nasa experience, blood transfusion is possible and female test pilot unlikely
to be a good fit and potential mission leader in this case due to hormonal imbalances etc.
It's just once again a CRM tool and to see if you can communicate well and clear enough.
Don't try be a hero not be the ghost in the shell. You know what to do...

Simulator Briefing (0930 - 1030) and Assessment – (1100 - 1200)

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Please report to 1st Floor, Flight Training Centre

The simulator check will be carried out in the B777-300ER Simulator and will be conducted
with an Assessor and an Instructor. Prior to the simulator assessment, you will be briefed
on the profile to be flown. We had two very decent older gentlemen, Larry and Rick. It's
just like they say in the brief. No funny business. I've heard some guys want to pull the
wrong engine etc. I guarded think live engine so there was no such opportunity for the
manning pilot to catch me out. His name is Colin. Also very decent chap. He'll also ask for
experience beforehand and size you up a bit. For me the engine out attitude wasn't
enough so I had to improvise on the thrust turn and configuration at around again the
15dme point. Don't lose altitude in that turn onto final approach. Somehow it catches
everyone out. Configure and don't turn too slowly onto the localizer. There's no limit on the
angle of bank. They still recommend 25°AoB You'll be clear of cloud at around 400'agl.
Land with smaller correction than on what you're used to. The B777-300ER sim is a bit
sensitive.

Tech Quiz – (1200 - 1300)

Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area

The technical quiz consists of 40 questions.

Propeller and Breyton cycle theory.

Engine compression.
What is clearance volume in reciprocating engine.
Kilometres or kts to feet per second.
Lapse rates. DALR, SALR etc. Move a block of air...
Troposphere, Tropopause altitudes.
What drives the fan/N1 on a triple spool engine.
Jetstreams: Core, Height, Polar, Direction, etc

Should you be successful during the above mentioned assessments, you will be
required to attend the Day 2 assessment.
The result will be emailed to you after 1830 on Day 1.
Personality Test - (0800 - 0845)
Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area 6th Floor, Flight Training Centre

This is a personality test. You are required to finish all questions in 45 minutes. It's all just
standard psychometrics. Whichever type of assessment you pull.
FCR Briefing – (0845 - 0930)
Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area 6th Floor, Flight Training Centre
The briefing comprises the Conditions of Service and related topics, such as
accommodation, allowances and medical cover.
Interview – (0930 - 1030)
Report to the Flight Crew Recruitment waiting area 6th Floor, Flight Training Centre

You will be collected from the waiting area by an interviewer. Normally there will be two
interviewers, a general and a technical interviewer. Please ensure that you have all your
log books, licences, valid aviation medical certificate and passport with you. James
Wooton and Mandy Fung sat in on my interview. HR questions are standard from Mandy's
side, quite fair and open ended.
 Page 48 of 89

Tell us about yourself.

Career Etc.
Any other interviews here in HK? Where?
Interviews elsewhere. Why? Did you get the job. Why do you want to leave current
employer?
Have you made mistakes before. What did you learn from them. Incident?

Technical part...
How was your sim? Did it go well? Enjoyed flying the B777? Did you prep for it
beforehand?
What do you know about the B747? - 8? Differences to the - 4? Engines?
Does it have FBW?
What is FBW?
Your own base is...What's your biggest challenge there?
Tell me about your aircraft fuel system.
Fuel policy. Cost index.
Optimum flight levels. EFB/FMC/Manuals?
What's a scalloping ILS? Why?
Do you know any of the cargo routes?
New company routes?
I see you have RNP-AR certification. Tell me about it. What are requirements?
The B748 is GLS capable. Know anything about it?
Thank you for coming. Enjoy HK.

ICAO Language Proficiency Test - (1045 - 1130)

Report to the CX City, Recruitment Centre, Rome Room, 1st Floor, Central
Tower (beside the souvenir shop)

This assessment will be at the Candidates own expense (a Fee of HKD1920)

The HKCAD ICAO ELT is an interactive assessment conducted by an Aviation Language

Specialist, you will need to bring the original identification document that you used to
register for the test. Please see attached information regarding registration and
payment. This is a very interactive and practical language proficiency test!!! Call the
EICAS. Respond. Pronunciation is everything. Take notes. NB!!! Listen carefully and
remember the abnormalities. QAM/Wx read and repeated from ATIS and info from
NOTAM. Do a NITS briefing. DODAR etc.

Medical Assessment - (1420 - 1520) &Pre-Employment Laboratory Test(1130 – 1230)

Report to the Aviation Medicine Office, 2nd Floor, Central Tower

Remember to bring the completed medical forms and to submit them at your
medical appointment. Blood tests can be done at any time prior to your scheduled
appointment and note that you are NOT required to fast before your medical or blood test.
The Aviation Medicine Office is open from 0845-1230 and 1400-1700 (weekdays). Prior to
departing the Medicine Office, kindly contact the nurse on duty to ensure that you have
completed all the required medical testing.
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Medical Imaging Examination - Chest X-ray (After the medical assessment in CX
city)
As part of medical assessment, you are required to undergo a Chest X-Ray examination at
the Raffles Clinic in Hong Kong International Airport and the full address as follow:

Address:
Raffles-CLK Airport Landside Medical Centre
CLK Airport Passenger Terminal Building
Level 6, Room 6T- 009.
Tel no: 2261 2626

Please present this email at the reception desk. You may call the clinic to make an
appointment for the X-Ray examination.
The Raffles X-Ray session is open from 09:15-1300 and 1400-17:45 (weekdays).

Please ensure that you have completed all the required Day 2 assessments.
Hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Hynro

29-11-2017 (TT Interview)

CX Interview Notes- TT November 2017.

Day 1 Process:
1) Group Exercise (45 Minutes, 30 minutes for the actual exercise)
2) Simulator Briefing (Capt. Richard Burchell).
3) Technical Exam: computer based, 50 questions in 60 minutes.
4) Simulator: B777-300ER (Capt. Mike Evans and Capt. Richard Burchell).

1) Group Exercise: (6th Floor Boardroom- Recruitment Office)

a) Assessor and Observer.
b) Timer is running from the moment your briefing starts- be careful!
c) All of you will have slightly different requirements.
d) There is no correct answer, the focal point is the process of getting to an answer, not
which answer is arrived at.
e) Time yourselves independently, get someone to call out the time remaining.
f) Be proactive- don’t sit back with big eyes and wait for someone else to take the lead.
Get straight on the white board and into constructing a table of requirements.
 Page 50 of 89

2) Simulator Briefing and the Sim ride itself:

We were guinea- pigged as some of the first SO candidates to be evaluated in the 777, as
opposed to in the Jumbo as has been the case in the past. The recruitment department will
clarify which variant of the 777 will be used a week before you come to Hong Kong (it’s a little
ambiguous from the Sim Profile as to whether you will be using EPR in the -300 or N1 in the
-300ER, and the speeds are slightly different, but this is clarified for you per email a week
before Day 1)
For the -300ER sim: ZFW= 210 T, Fuel = 40 T (frozen) for an all up weight of 250 T.
a) There are no last minute Ref speed changes from what is sent to you in the profile, to
arriving for Day 1 in Hong Kong.
b) Trim for speed, not attitude.
c) Small, smooth but deliberate control inputs- the aircraft is more sensitive in roll than in
pitch.
d) 55% N1 stable, advance the thrust levers towards 85% N1- “Set Thrust”. During rotation,
count to 6 to get from level to 12.5° nose up for correct rate of rotation. The tail will
stick at 8° nose up due to it going into ground effect, be careful not to pull too hard at
this point.
e) Turns: 30 ° AOB almost no back pressure is required, very little rudder. 45° AOB requires
some back pressure and a whisper of rudder, increase thrust and DO NOT TRIM since the
speed is already correct at entry. During reversals from one steep turn to the next, she
will snap over like a Mirage, be careful- this caught me out.

Deceleration for ILS:

a) Thrust Levers idle, Speed Brake up. Be aggressive, make big changes earlier that can
be corrected later. She has significant inertia, but the good news is that the 777 is
much easier to slow down than I thought.
b) 20 knots before Flap Up speed, speed brake down, 10 knots before Flap Up speed-
“Flap 1” etc… Let the aeroplane do the work for you!
c) Be aware that the speed requested by the assessors will be below one of the
minimum speeds for your current configuration, watch out…
It is imperative to:
a) Nail the attitudes given in the profile, and the Standard Calls. You cannot ‘feel’ what is
going on with an aircraft of this size and weight.
b) Understand the Flap Minimum Speeds on the PFD airspeed tape. Please watch Dale’s
video on the group for clarity, but make sure you understand before Sim.
c) Understand that the aircraft can either go down, or slow down. But not both
simultaneously. So if you find yourself above 180 knots at glide slope intercept, you won’t
be able to select flap 30. Don’t panic however, close the thrust levers to near idle
aggressively, and hold
+1, 5° Pitch, and allow the energy to bleed. Once below 180 knots, “Flap 30”, trickle the
thrust back on to about 60% N1 for Vref + 5. I was almost caught out by this, but managed
to save it and be stable by 1600 ft.
 Page 51 of 89
d) There is a 1000 ft Stable gate on the ILS- communicate with the assessor if you wish to go
around (It won’t be held against you as it shows superior judgement.).
Surprises…
a) No calls will be made from the Assessors of: Positive Climb; Loc/ Glide Slope alive;
approaching a selected altitude or speed; approaching DA. This is really NOT made clear
in the profile sent to you weeks in advance.
b) On rotation there is quite a marked hesitation at 8° as mentioned, due to the tail going
into ground effect. Don’t over-rotate.
c) The Loc CDI scale on the PFD is twice as sensitive as on the Nav Display. So when it
indicates a full scale deflection on the Localiser, you are actually only at half scale.
Expectations from the Assessors:
a) Speak clearly and slowly when under pressure.
b) Use the LC Locator NDB as a heads-up for the Localiser coming alive. At about 15° to the
runway, be ready since 10° at 15nm = 2.5 nm. Your turn radius at 210 knots is just over
1.2 NM.
c) Make calls on your own, e.g. Loc Alive, Glide Slope alive etc. This is great for Situational
Awareness.
d) If you make a mistake, call it out and fix it. Be proactive, don’t make excuses- you’re
wasting time.
e) Don’t give up! Grab her by the horns and be firm when needed, don’t let her bully you.
f) Be sure to make notes and ask questions during the sim briefing.
Engine Fire/ Failure on Downwind (2nd approach):
a) Call it and ask for the Master Warning to be cancelled.
b) Bump up operating engine’s thrust a fair bit.
c) Ask for Memory Items, and MONITOR THROUGHOUT. Mine started with the Assessor
initially going for the correct thrust lever, but then reaching for the wrong fuel switch.
I’m sure that this is to see whether you’re actually watching what is going on or whether
you just relax when the correct initial action is taken. Be careful.
d) Wings level, and rudder into the live engine. Trimming is briefed as optional, and not
really necessary.
e) You will be asked to intercept the Localiser again and configure on one engine. But at
half scale on the glide slope the sim will be frozen and the dead engine will be relit and
given back to you. A single engine ILS is only required for the DEFO candidates.
Landing:
a) Don’t over control once visual.
b) Flare at 30 feet
c) Thrust Idle by 20 feet.
d) Check forward ever so slightly to stop the float. My landing was beyond the TDZ, but they
were still happy.

Before Sim:
 Page 52 of 89
a) You will be briefed on the Simulator safety procedures.
b) How to adjust your seat and rudder pedals
c) The use of the thrust levers, speed brakes and reverse thrust. You will get to play with all
of these and get to fiddle a fair bit before the Sim starts.
d) No attempts were made at any stage of the sim to yell at me or try to intimidate me, it
was all extremely pleasant.
After Sim:
You will be asked to rate your performance on a scale of 1-10. At even 6 out of 10, my rating
came up again in the interview…”Why were you so hard on yourself in Sim?”
I don’t know what to make of this, and I can only suppose that it’s better to rate yourself lower
than they think your sim session went to show humility?

*It seemed to be greatly appreciated by the Assessors that…

a) I asked both of them individually if they were ready for Take- off immediately before
departure. (Don’t forget about the guy behind you!)
b) If either Assessor had anything to add/ say, that I looked whoever was speaking squarely in the
eyes, and turned around in my seat if necessary to do so. (Don’t forget about the guy behind
you!)
c) The correct use of NDB/ ADF terminology during the S.A. exercise. They were so shocked that
I had to repeat what I had just said.

3) Technical Exam ( 6th Floor, Recruitment Office)

This was a computer based assessment. 50 Questions in 60 minutes- no calculators allowed or

necessary. They are multiple choice type questions, with 4 options per question.
Many were the standard technical exam type questions, as mentioned previously in this email
thread by other guys.
Some stand-outs:
a) LDA=3000m, wet runway with a jet. What is the landing distance that will have to be
planned for?
b) On a 3° glide slope, 50’ HAT, at 7 NM, how high should you be?
c) Inbound R050 to hold in a left hand pattern (inbound R200), what should your sector
entry be?
d) What is the Drag Formula?
e) Rho and S in the lift formula?
f) Main form of energy in a Tropical Revolving Storm?
g) CX Aircraft types? ( Easy and obvious as the distractors are A340, A380 and B738)
h) Runway 06, wind is 090/14, what is the cross wind component?
i) Convert 40 knots wind speed into metres per second? (divide by 2)
 Page 53 of 89
j) Constant Mach# in climb/ descent, what happens to LSS, RAS, TAS?
k) 300°C, Deviation 2°E, Magnetic Variation 4°E. With 12° left drift, what is the True Track
being made good? (Remember CdMvT, Dev/Var East, Magnetic Least etc.)
l) How does a headwind affect Vx/Vy?
m) What characterises the mature stage of a thunderstorm?
n) Primary use of Spoilers?
o) Mach Crit definition
p) Balanced Field definition
q) Local Hong Kong climate type definition ( again made quite obvious)
r) Runway Directions at Hong Kong.
s) Altimeter setting questions- climb to 5000 ft. with Q1014 set. Fly into an area where QNH
is now 1011, but the altimeter setting is not changed. Is the aircraft now higher/ lower/
still at 5000 ft.?

Day 1 General Notes from me

a) Be on time, leave the Regal at least 1 hour before your appointment time at Cathay
City, more if you’re unsure of where to go. (The DC-3 on display basically faces the
Flight Training Building where your Day 1 assessments will take place). Aim to be at
Security 30 minutes prior to your assessment time.
b) Wear a suit and tie or equivalent if you’re a lady. My co-candidates were an FAA ATPL
E190/170 pilot and HK permanent resident who had been flying Embraers in the US,
as well as an Argentinean Citation VII Pilot. Neither wore suits, and only one had a tie
on. Whereas I am a B190/C208 pilot from Africa, no prior jet experience, but I wore a
full suit and tie. I regret to say that I am the only one of the three of us to have made
it through Day 1.
I would urge you not to underestimate the element of the “old school” still present at
Cathay. Further to this, many of the HR ladies who you will meet are married to CX
pilots and some were even pilots themselves in their past careers. I am reliably
informed that they do not appreciate the presence of what appears to be a chancer,
given how hard their own husbands have worked to get where they are. Wear a suit
and tie!
c) Have all requested documents ready, signed and segregated into their respective files
before you arrive so that they can be handed over directly and efficiently.
d) Introduce yourself to absolutely anyone that you meet, smile and make eye contact.
Be polite and courteous, and give the impression of approachability, which is
important in that part of the world. (Guys, remember to stand up when a lady enters-
they really seem to appreciate this, as in major brownie points!)
e) Day 1 result email will come by about 16:30 in the afternoon. Book your English test
immediately.

Day 2 Process:
 Page 54 of 89
1) Personality Test
2) Cathay HR Briefing
3) Panel Interview
4) English Test
5) Medical Examination:

i) Lab tests (CX City)

ii) Flight Physical (CX City)
iii) Chest X-Rays ( Raffles Clinic, HK Airport Terminal)
I personally found Day 2 to be far more onerous and longer than Day 1.
You will need to be checked out of the Regal by 12:00, and unfortunately you’re unlikely to be
back at the airport before 16:00. You can either pay to secure a late check out, or you can leave
your bags with the hotel Concierge (on the right just as you enter the hotel) and check out at
7:00 AM when you leave for CX City the second day, for no charge. I did this as they needed my
room, and I had no issues whatsoever. The Concierge was most helpful, and my bags were fine.

1) Personality Test: (6th Floor, Recruitment Office)

There are three sections, 45 minutes.
a) The first two sections consist of allocating six green balls between three statements. You
could give all six balls to only one statement, three and three with none going to the last
statement, or you could allocate two, two and two between all three. Quite bizarre.
b) The third section consists of a series of statements presented to you individually, and a
sliding scale. The extreme left of the sliding scale reads “Applies more to others than
to me”. Mid-scale reads “Applies equally to others and to me”. The extreme right of
the scale reads “Applies more to me than to others”.
c) You cannot prep or study for this test, and so I would recommend moving through it
quickly and answering honestly with the first thing that comes to mind, since there is
nothing you can do about the outcome of this test in any case. (I have been told to avoid
neutral/ non-committal answers, but I can’t confirm this.)

2) CX HR Briefing:

a) Really pleasant and friendly, I was taken for coffee by one of the HR Ladies.
b) She gave some pointers on what CX expects from you, as well as salaries and benefits,
and where to live/ where NOT to live. (Being on time came up, as a subtle hint…)

3) Panel Interview: ( 6th Floor Recruitment Office Boardroom)

 Page 55 of 89
a) This was conducted by a lady called Katrina Evans, and a rather serious Jumbo Captain
whose name I unfortunately didn’t catch, regrettably.
b) The tone throughout the interview was friendly and pleasant, and I was asked to sit with
my back to the window- so there were no attempts made to see if they could distract
me.
c) There was definitely a subtle undertone of good cop/ bad cop being played by the two
interviewers, but things never once got rude or condescending in the least. I was never
asked why I think I didn’t make it before in a prior assessment at CX. In fact I would go so
far as to say that the interview and entire process puts a certain “airline” in South Africa
to absolute shame. There was no comparison in experience whatsoever. Pure class.

So what was I asked?

a) Where do I want to live in HK?

b) Am I aware of the Union’s activities and what’s being written about Cathay in the
newspapers? My opinions?
c) Which fleet would I like? Why?
d) Why Cathay?
e) What was I planning to do if unsuccessful?
f) What routes are starting next year? (They laughed at me and told me not to worry
that I couldn’t remember what order they would start in…)
g) What countries are each of the new destination cities in?
h) On a flight from JFK back to Hong Kong, what countries are over flown?

On the technical side:

a) How are fire- fighting categories determined?
b) What is the length of my current aircraft?
c) What sort and type of engines do they have?
d) TCAS questions- when exactly do we get TA’s and RA’s? What are your memory
items associated?
e) How much do I know about Airbuses?
f) Does the A330 have a fuel tank in its tail?
g) What is it called? What is it called on a Boeing?
h) Why does it have one in the tail- what is its function in flight?
i) What purpose does a safely aft C of G serve in an airliner?
j) So why don’t the A350 and B777 have Stab Tanks then?
k) What are those wing fences on the A330 for? ( He means winglets, deliberately
vague)
l) Why doesn’t the 777-300ER have them? What are they called on the B747-8F?
 Page 56 of 89
m) How many B747’s are in the fleet?
n) What is the relationship between V1 and Vmcg?
o) Does your 1900 have a critical engine? Which engine is the critical engine on a jet?
Interview Notes:
a) This interview did not at any stage come across as an exercise in intimidation or
condescension. However, I was invited to remove my jacket if I wished upon walking in.
Having had a bad experience previously with this at another company, I kept it on since
I’m still unsure of whether this is a trap or not. They didn’t seem to have a problem with
me keeping it on.
b) I took two colour, A4 laminated photos of the aircraft I fly, since they are both unusual in
Hong Kong. This was openly greatly appreciated. However here I must issue another word
of caution… until the HR brief 15 minutes before, I had no idea that many of the HR
ladies were pilots themselves once, or still fly currently (Katrina included). Be very
careful in this regard to avoid making any comments that could be construed as
condescension towards a non-flyer.
c) I was asked twice by both Katrina and the 747 Captain whether I would join the Union
and what my opinions of the HKAOA are. Be careful not to contradict yourself, and have
an answer prepped.

4) English Test: ( CX City ground floor, near the Souvenir Shop)

This is very easy and straightforward, no surprises. If English is not your mother tongue, but
you’re able to speak and understand it, then this test will present no particular problems for
you.

5) Medical Examinations: (Medical Centre, 2nd Floor, CX City)

The medical exams are done in three parts.
a) Lab Tests
i) Urine test for drugs as well as for the presence of the usual blood, sugar and protein.
The result is instant for both tests.

ii) Full blood tests for HIV, Haemoglobin and more drugs. For those afraid of
needles, the doctors are very good- I barely knew I had been stuck. You
won’t be left at the mercy of some fumbling twit on his first day.

iii) Hair sample. This is for drug testing on a molecular level, and gets
couriered away to the States for analysis. The doctor who saw me said that
this test can tell the difference between raw drugs such as the sort that
are abused, and refined substances that are more likely to have been
prescribed. There is nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide, I should
think.

b) Flight Physical: No surprises, and no different to South Africa, apart from a fairly
awkward moment between yourself and the Quack if you’re male…but nothing to worry
about. The pre-employment medical is exactly the same as the HKCAD Initial Class 1.
 Page 57 of 89

c) Chest X-Ray: This is done at Raffles Clinic in the HK Airport Terminal. You do not require
an appointment, as they are expecting you and simply fit you in when they have a gap.
When I went for my assessment though, the only thing is that you cannot do the chest X-
ray until Medical have given you the all-clear. So unfortunately you can’t do this at the
end of Day 1 when you have a spare afternoon.

The Clinic is easy to find. From where the CX City bus drops you off at the end of the day,
walk to the left and take the lift right next to the ‘Pret-a-Manger’ coffee shop, to the 6th
Floor Medical Centre. It is down the corridor and to the right.

Study Materials that I used:

1) Ace the Technical Pilot Interview (2nd Edition)

2) Handling the Big Jets. Great for in-depth technical answers to various problems, but
don’t get bogged down.
3) ATPL Theory Material- focusing mainly on Aerodynamics, Meteorology, and ATG (Jet
engines in particular, winglets, swept wings).
4) The AFM’s of my own aircraft. Study these in depth – their lengths, wingspans, fuel
capacities and approved types, tyre pressures… some guys have been known to be
asked to draw a diagram of their aircraft’s engine on the white board, or explain their
aircraft’s fuel system. Although I wasn’t asked about mine, if you have had an
emergency in your aircraft, I reckon it’s a good idea to be able to explain and
elaborate on the technical aspects of what went wrong in yours, in detail. (I had
smoke in the cabin in a 1900).
5) The contents of the emails that have previously been contributed through this group-
I cannot tell you how much they’ve helped me!
6) Wikipedia- the history of CX, who Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow were, their first
aircraft types, Miss Macao, their initial routes, their first jet and what engines it had,
what year the first Jumbo came in etc… and some basic technical info on each of the
types that they currently operate.
7) CX Website and the Fact Sheet in particular, but be careful to review this daily in the
week before you arrive in Hong Kong, as it changed twice before my Assessment Days.
8) I wasn’t asked, but I made sure to check the Cathay share price every morning in the
lead up to my Assessments. Just Google it, can’t hurt to have an idea.

The way I studied was to use Ace the Tech as a source of questions that I would then go and use
ATPL notes, Handling the Big Jets ( and let’s not lie….good old Google) to answer. I focused
primarily on aerodynamics and meteorology. This is a slow and tedious process, but well worth it
in thoroughness. Use this email chain to narrow down the technical and HR questions you’re
likely to be asked, and know those very well. There are certain questions that you will notice
keep on and on popping up.
Good luck guys and girls! I’m on fdr512@[Link] if you have any queries on anything that I can
help with at all.
James.
 Page 58 of 89

February 2018 (SO interview)

Hello all, FEB 2018

Thanks again for running the group. It is so valuable the information and I would like to bring this
forward for you.

Day 1
Stayed at the Headland Hotel in CX city, so super easy to walk to the recruitment centre. Have a
nice breakfast downstairs at the lions club, Opens at 0600 cost 98HKD, all you can eat buffet
breakfast. Have a nice strong breakfast before going to the interview as you will need the energy. I
recommend dress well when coming in and out of the Headland if you are just wandering around
( no flip flops and ugly shirts tank tops, etc) lots of pilots coming in and out of Headland on
layovers, so you will never know who you will meet in the elevator. ( just be tidy)

Group Exercise.
As discussed in previous in the past experiences, nothing has changed. Just don’t be over powering
and don’t be a ghost. Doesn’t matter which astronaut or resort manger you pick. Out come is not
important, is how you get to the outcome. Use time wisely, be respectful. Use all resources
available, They will give you a good brief anyways. There is lots of different information on the
cards, so try your best and have fun with it

Tech exam
I included some questions I have remembered, but you will see that it is all the same trends of
questions. I would recommend you study the area and not memorize the questions. RTFQ2 ( read
the F question twice) as some of the questions can be confusing and answers. 1 hour for 50
questions for me was more than enough, I was able to go back about 3 times and go over anything I
missed or was not sure about.

Rhumb line
LSS
Compression ratio
Wing thickness
Swept wing stall
Toda
Isa
Hold entry 030 180
Free turbine engine
Qnh high to low
Blocked pitot IAS
CoG rear forward
Runway hkg
Taf hkg
Flight time hkg jfk
MN ias tas
Tropopause temp
Temperature decrease with altitude
climb segment 1st
Warm front weather
 Page 59 of 89
Datum w and b
drag with speed
Induce drag
Great circle
Hkg - paris time
Pallet 80x80 capacity? Max weight allowed?
Cog aft and fuel milage( read carefully) less milage or more milage with rear or forward
COG
Jet-stream side warm or cold
Control diesel engine
Flaps increase or decease roll
What is stop-way
Mach number what is
What is Roger

Study all Questions in this previous threads and you will be fine. There was about 1 or 2 questions I
didn’t know.

Simulator
You will be giving a thorough briefing before hand about what is expected and what to do . KNOW
THE PROFILE , these guys have done literally hundreds of theses sims assessments and they can
tell in the first 5 minute if you are cut out or have studied. ( we had 5 sim assessments that day)
I recommend you study the profile and nail the attitudes and and power settings. The 777 is a beast
and heavy to fly. Rent a SIM, it wont be the same as when you do in the SIM but it will give you an
idea. SCAN is most important.

They are not looking for Top Gun, it will be great if you are ., but they are looking for someone that
they can TRAIN and sit those boring 16 hours with. That being said, your flying skills needs to be
at a standard, I recommend if you are using autopilot in your current job, hand fly as much as you
can. A good attitude is not gonna cut it if you cant fly for shit.

Again there is nothing new about the SIM profile except speed brakes and they will brief you about
it. Know the call outs and profile like the back of your hand, you will not be able to fly, scan, and
be thinking about what to call out.

No call out by assessors, you will need to call everything. Gears, flaps, loc, GS. Study the shit out
of the sim profile , rent a sim if you can, ( flight simulator is good for scan but wont give you the
aircraft feel) coming from a small airplane the 777 is huge. You can choose L or R seat, they will
ask if anyone practiced sim, glass time,
Day 2, Long day….

You will be given instructions the evening of for your itinerary of next day , book the English test
online, with credit card. You will need one. Its 1950 HKD or something.

Chest X ray in morning. (instructions will be provided where and how)

Personality Test- 45 mins, nothing to study here, just making sure your not a psycho get it done and
carry on
 Page 60 of 89
English Test- straight forward, if you can speak and understand English you will be fine. If English
is not your first language, listen carefully, and speak clearly and slowly.

Try to listen on youtube aviation ATCs and people with different accents, ( I think it was Chinese,
British, Irish,) the English test is all aviation related, and you will need to describe things in airport
situations .

I got level 6

Tech/HR Interview
HR and 777 Captain,
Very nice and make you feel at ease, they know you are nervous,

Standard HR, tell me about yourself, why CX, strength weakness, if you can answer all of the HR
questions in the previous thread you will be fine.
Why leave your company, where else apply, what about hong kong, why hong kong, why not
home, where will you live, have you checked prices, which airplane you want to fly, why.
Being SO, from PIC how will you deal with it,

More of a conversation really.

Tech,
What is jet stream,
Difference Boeing, airbus
Engine on 777 what does it mean
Aircraft on order
Windsher
Swept wing
Jet engines
Prop engine
Critical engine
What Is challenges in your company, how do you deal with it
Flying over north pole
To north America fly how
Newest destinations, which airplane, on order, how many,
Typhoon, how what to do

For my tech to be honest I thought it was quite general and straight forward, some of the things I
dint know and got wrong, but again like I said I am not sure if they are looking for someone that
knows everything, need someone that is willing to learn,.

Study ATPL level subjects, know about HKG, they are looking for someone that wants to live in
HKG, and can deal with the pollution and expensive prices of rent.

For the Tech they can ask you anything and everything really. So study everything.
All of the previous threads has gone through everything I was asked, so I will not mention again.
 Page 61 of 89
Be yourself, be positive, smile. If you prepare enough you will be confident and it will show in the
interview.

Medical

Long and straight forward , urine, full body check ECG, audio, blah blah, initial CAD cat 1,
standard ops.

FCR briefing, tell you about CX and what to expect and benefits.

Done and go have a beer or 2.

9 April – Day 1 (SO 6 week Interview)

Group Exercise:
Our group consisted of 4 people, after a welcome brief from Amy Cheung we jumped right into
the group exercise. As previously mentioned, the case study is exactly the same. Be aware that
there are approx. 8 candidates for the mission, so if here are only 4 people in this group
exercise, every person will have to consider more than one candidate. Every laminated
information sheet can contain different requirements so make sure they are compared in the
group. Just ensure that you are a constructive part of the exercise, listen carefully to other
people’s input and have a logical way of selecting a candidate. There is no perfect candidate.

Sim Brief:
We then moved onto the simulator briefing conducted by a very experienced instructor. We
were all made to feel very comfortable. A great deal of valuable information is shared, make
notes. A few questions were asked by the instructor to have an idea of how well you know the
profile, know every attitude/speed/power setting of the entire profile.

Tech Exam:
47 questions CPL/ATPL type questions:
Lift Formula
Transport wander
Circadian rhythms
TORR, TORA theory
Purpose of wheel plugs
Does CG affect specific fuel consumption?
Dynamic P formula
Radiation fog vs advection fog
Piston compression theory
Pitot blocked in a descent, what happens to IAS?
HK climate
RWY’s at VHHH
Weather experienced as warm front approaches?
Flying to area of lower pressure, actual altitude increases/decreases?
Temp calculation using standard lapse rate?
Calculating local speed of sound
Theory of rhumb line or great circle track
 Page 62 of 89

April 10th Day 2

Personality Test
The personality test consisted of 3 sections, be honest in the answering but also consider a
company point of view in terms of teamwork, safety etc. There is no specific time limit but we
were asked to complete it within 45min.
Interview

The interview started with the HR lady asking me to talk about myself,
Where did my passion for aviation start?
What was my relationship with my previous company?
Any aspects that they could improve on?
What were challenges that I experienced in my previous company?
How did I find my ATP upgrade?
Where do CX operate to in North America?
New routes?
What is my preference of fleet?
How many 777-300ER are operated at the moment?
How many aircraft are on order?

Technical interview was conducted by a female captain on the 777 fleet>

Explain critical engine?

Does the 777 have a critical engine?
Describe all forces contributing to the yaw of a single engine piston engine aircraft on T/O?
What type of flaps are fitted to the aircraft you fly?
How are the flaps on the 777 operated?
Explain the difference between the 2-spool and 3-spool turbofan engines?
What are the advantages of the 3-spool engines?
What engines are fitted to the 777-300ER
What wing tip devices are used on the aircraft that I fly, which ones can be found on the 777?
What do you understand of a Bump Thrust setting?
When is an assumed Temp used?
Explain the routes between HK and NYC?
What are Jet streams?
Which alternates do we use around the N Pole?
Aircraft A F070 and aircraft B altitude 6000’ on QNH 972”, which aircraft is higher?

Language proficiency

The CLEAR ICAO assessment has to be booked the previous night after receiving the email that
you have advanced to the second day(all the details are provided by recruitment).The
assessment is then conducted by a lady in the recruitment centre, for English speaking people it
should be quite straight forward. The first of 3 sections consists of a scenario of a 737 parked on
an apron where start has to be requested, taxi instructions read back etc. In the taxi you get an
indication on a monitor in front of you of a transponder failure, you then have to make contact
with GRD freq and communicate accordingly. The next section then covers issues once airborne,
normal communication is required.

On the following website a description of the assessment is included>

[Link]/clear
 Page 63 of 89

Medical
The medical consists of two parts,

Laboratory tests > Blood test/urine test/hair sample which is sent to the US for testing, please
make it very clear if you have taken any medication recently

Physical examination > before the doctor starts the physical examination a nurse completes
resting ECG and normal tests on the eyes and ears. A normal medical examination is then
conducted

Interview April 2018 (SO)

Firstly a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed! The information contained in these
PDF’s are absolute gold.

I had a great experience visiting Cathay Pacific city, everyone really is as friendly as described and
they do come across as wanting to help you do the best you can or to get the best performance from
you. However they won’t drop their standards, my group began with 3 and 2 were eliminated.

Don’t arrive not wearing a suite with all your documents prepared, if you have questions regarding the
docs ask them before via email or phone, it makes you look far less professional fumbling around with
papers in front of recruitment personnel.

All my questions in the technical test were the same as those listed in this email. Changes to what I’d
seen:

You are at 6 miles, what should your altitude be?

Options were: 1850 or 1750 or 2050
I chose 1850, I’m not sure if they are taking into account 50’ foot TCH

There was a question on apparent wander: which direction will apparent wander affect your DI in the
southern hemisphere options: clockwise, anticlockwise, no effect at the equator, no effect at the poles

The same question but asking transport wander

A question regarding REM sleep, unfortunately I can't remember the exact question but the options
were 9hrs, 12hrs, 24hrs

The rest of the 47 were what I had seen here

The only change to sim from what was sent was that the power should be 55-57% for the cruise, I
went to Comair and did a session on the 737 NG which really helped make me feel at ease. If you
don’t have access to a sim make sure you get hold of PDMG (I think) 777-300ER, if you practice the
profile on here you should be fine, it’s about flying the attitudes and thrust settings youve been sent,
know every single one and the aircraft will do what you want it to.
 Page 64 of 89
Panel interview was very enjoyable:

List as many new destinations as possible and what countries those destinations are in
What direction do you fly initially when taking off from JFK - HK its NE
If you fly from HK to Canada which is the faster route going or coming back the answer is due to the
jet stream
He then asked where is the jet stream strongest and what altitude does it sit at
Asked what I knew about the 777
Asked which aircraft were on order, don’t forget to check the annual report or new fact sheet. There
are 5x777-300 on order which are second hand and not listed everywhere

Those are all the questions that stand out, this email will put you in an unbelievably good position.

I wish you all the best for your interview!

Interview April (SO)

Day 1
1) Welcome Briefing
2) Group Exercise

Your interview selection group can be any number of people. Ours was four, but I have heard of lone candidates
having to do this exercise with one of the HR Ladies.
We had to select an astronaut to send to a meteorite. Each person will get a long page of info requirements AND
there will probably be another/more page/s in the centre of the table.
All of the pages look similar, but have different requirements! You then have a stack of around 10 CVs to go
through to select a candidate.
You WILL run out of time.

4) Simulator Briefing
Two very senior sim instructors, walk you through entire sim profile, chance to answer any questions you may
have or ask for tips. They will explain that in the sim they will not help you with things like calling as
approaching heading, no "Positive Rate" call etc. Speed bug will only be set for target speed in climb of 170, or
Vref+5 of 155. Altitude bug will be left at 2500ft. No steep turns or engine failures. Garry Ogg was our pilot
monitoring, Andy A was our sim assessor.

3) Technical Quiz
42 online multiple choice questions, CAA style, no calculators allowed, you will just have a pen and blank
paper.
Generally CPL/ATPL questions from all subjects plus more general question types. Some that I remember:
- How do you tell ATC you are abandoning a take off?
- Definition of Rhumb line
- An aircraft with a take off weight of 110 000kg has a climb gradient of 2.8%. Assuming TOW is inversely
proportional to the sine of the climb angle, what is the MTOW to achieve a 2.6% climb gradient?
- Definition of ISA (incl what altitude temp stops decreasing at 1.98deg/1000ft)
- Which temp sector does the polar jetstream lie?
- On a gyro, when is transport wander nil?
- Where is the temperature of the tropopause higher? Poles/Equator
- What part of the inner ear is responsible for the perception of sound?
 Page 65 of 89
- Flight times for different legs. I got asked HK to Melbourne, someone else got to Singapore.
- Is lift force predominately caused by a high pressure under the wing, or suction on top of wing?

4) Aptitude Test
I suggest purchasing the Latestpilotjobs prep package that lets you practice all of the exact aptitude tests you
will get.

5) Simulator Assessment
I flew the sim from the left seat. Definite good cop/bad cop feel from the instructors. Garry will try and stress
you out throughout the sim. As soon as the sim is done he is really friendly again.
I found the 777 very sensitive, more so than the 737 sim I flew before.
Up to you if you want to keep your hand on the thrust levers up to V1, I did. Thereafter Garry will beat your
hands off of them if you fly with one hand on in any other stage. He wants small power changes, to assess the
change (57% seemed to be the golden N1 for maintaining most speeds) and then take your hand off of the Thrust
levers and flying with both hands on yoke. Don't forget to call for after take off and before landing checklists.
Know the profile as well as possible. I forgot the "Climb Thrust" call on the go around, so eventually Garry was
prompting by saying "this thing is performing damn well, wonder why that could be".
You can tie "Before landing checklist" to the call for selction of flaps 30. He said you don't have to worry about
waiting for them to cycle to position for the assessment.

A few hours later you will receive your email. All 4 of us made it to day 2, you will then book and pay for your
English language proficiency.

Day 2

1) Online Psychometric Exam (Job Suitability Screening)

2) FCR Briefing
- Discussion about benefits at Cathay, where you can live, etc

3) Medical assessment
- incl blood, urine, and hair samples
- You will also go to the airport clinic at the end of the day to do chest Xrays

4) Interview

My interview was done by Carol De La Harpe, and a 777 Captain named Sue. Interview had a very relaxed feel.

HR Qs:
- Tell us about yourself, your current job, what you fly, what routes.
- Why Cathay?
- How will you handle being an SO for 5 years? (Told us that they legally can't keep us as SOs for longer than 5)
- Name 5 CX destinations in Europe
- What are your thoughts on the industrial action?

Technical Qs:
- Asked about an incident I had
- Advantages/Disadvantages of a T tail arrangement
- P factor questions
- Which engine is critical on current aircraft? Explain why
- Do jets have a critical engine?
- Pointed out an A350 model and asked what engines it had, what was different about the engines compared to a
GE, advantages disadvantages of Double vs Triple spool, how does the GE make up for not having Triple
(apparently lighter composite fan blades).
- What is Mcrit, how do we increase it for commercial jets, wing sweep theory.
 Page 66 of 89
- Which jetstream would you use HK to NYC?
- Would you fly same route home?
- Considerations on a polar route
- What countries do you fly over from NYC to HK?
- What is Bump Thrust on the 777 and when is it used? (Increases hot and high performance, used out of Joburg)
- How do typhoons form?
- An aircraft is at FL070, another 6000ft QNH 982. What is the separation and which is higher?

5) English Language Proficiency

Done in person. RT phraseology and general discussion

April 2018 (SO Interview)

Here is all the info from my interview experience. Hope this helps.

Day 1

Started with handing in the paperwork then moved on to the group exercise. There were
only two of us in the group and we managed to come up with an answer with over a
minute to spare and we were both happy. Our scenario was the one to find a manager for
a resort.

Next was the sim briefing which just covered the profile they sent. The brief was given by
Andy Atkinson who was the sim instructor, and Gary Ogg who is the sim assessor. They
also ask your experience and make you feel quite comfortable. My partner was in the sim
first and I had the tech exam.

Questions from the tech exam:

There were 47 questions in total and didn’t find the time an issue. Each question had 4
answer options. I tried to remember as many as I could, but didn’t remember all the
answers they gave. I wrote down what I did remember. Some questions were worded
strangely and a few had tricks to them where answers were similar (The ISA and Mach/
TAS questions come to mind).

An aircraft requires 3000m to stop. If the runway is wet, how much runway do you require
to land?

With an increase in speed, what happens to (i) parasite drag and (ii) induced drag.
(i) increases and (ii) decreases
(i) decreases and (ii) decreases ….. etc.

Fuel mileage (fuel per nm)

increases with forward CG
is not affected by CG
decreases with forward CG

Co-ordinates of Hong Kong Int.

Runways at Hong Kong Int.

 Page 67 of 89
Which stage of a TS is characterised by up draughts?
cumulus phase
mature stage
dissipating stage

On radial 220 and told to hold NE on radial 55, what is the sector entry?
parallel (i)
teardrop (ii)
direct (iii)
Where does a swept wing aircraft stall?
wing tip, causing a nose up tendency
wing tip, causing a nose down tendency

Free turbine engine

Turbofan is connected to which turbine section?

most forward
most rearwards

How is the thickness of a wing measured?

meters
% chord

Flying S&L, what would happen to CL if V is doubled?

x 4.0
x 0.25
x 0.5
x 2.0

What is the main source of energy for a TRS.

If a high pressure is noticed, what happens to take off ground roll and initial climb
performance
Cabin altitude increases (a/c flying level) what happens to pressure differential?
increases
decreases
(I got this question twice)

Take off with a QNH of 1014 and fly to an area where QNH 1020 at 5000ft. What would
your true altitude be?
5000ft
above 5000ft
below 5000ft

Jet stream direction

Only westerly
east and west in NH
No jetsam in SH

Advection fog formation

dry air over a warm surface
dry air over a cold surface
 Page 68 of 89
moist air over cold surface
moist air over warm surface

Inlet and compression section pressure are 20kg and 220kg respectively. What is the
bypass ratio
11
1.1
10
12

On a 3 degree glide slope at 6nm, what should your height be?

1750ft
1850ft

How does an increase in speed increase lift on an aircraft.

reduces static pressure above the wing, increasing the pressure differential
increases airflow below the wing creating a greater downward force

Wing tip vortices

air above the wing flows towards the root and air below flows towards the tip
is eliminated by vortex generators

Great circle

Drag formula

Taking off with a tailwind compared with no wind, what happens to AOC and ROC
AOC decreases and ROC is unaffected
Both AOC and ROC decreases ….ect.

Where does the 3rd climb segment start

when flap is retracted
start of acceleration
when V2 is achieved

A turbine and a piston engine both have intake, compression, ignition and exhaust. With a
piston engine (i) cycle is continuous and (ii) measured at a constant volume
(i) correct (ii) incorrect
(i) correct (ii) correct
(i) incorrect (ii) correct
(i) incorrect (ii) incorrect
Stopway

40kts is how many m/s?

An aircraft flying at 180kts should have what ROD?

800ft/min
900ft/min

Temperature of tropopause
Greater over poles than equator
greater over equator than poles
 Page 69 of 89
highest over mid latitudes

ISA conditions
15 degrees decreasing at 1.98 to 33000ft
1013.25 with temp decreasing at 1.98 to 36000ft

The 0 degree isotherm is @ FL50. What FL will you get a temperature of -6 degrees?
FL80
FL100

A pitot tube gets blocked by ice during a descent, what will the ASI be doing?
decreasing
increasing
constant

Descending at constant MACH, what happens to TAS?

decreases due to pressure increasing
decreases due to altitude decreasing

What determines the amount of water vapour a parcel of air can hold?
temperature
dew point
unstable atmosphere

Taf: VHHH 1524 9999 SHRA BKN020 TEMPO 1624 +SHRA OVC010 ….. What weather
can you expect at your destination at 1730Z?
continuous moderate rain
heavy rain
moderate snow

Cold front in summer

cumulus cloud type
stratus cloud type
temperature increase

With regard to HP and LP systems

isobars spaced loser together result in stronger wind
surface wind flows perpendicular to isobars

Transponder codes

Local speed of sound

proportional to square root of absolute temperature
inversely proportional to TAS
inversely proportional to absolute temperature

You are on runway 25 with wind 220/24. What is the crosswind component?

If flap increases (up to optimum) what happens?

 Page 70 of 89
After the tech exam I had my simulator assessment. Jumped straight in the sim (I sat right
seat) and Andy showed me where everything was and how to adjust my seat. We went
through the power settings and he showed me where they sat on the N1 gauge. They are
very sensitive and I was a bit to quick at first. Small changes really mean SMALL changes
to the power. We also discussed trimming and how important it is. Gary then jumped into
the seat next to me for the assessment. Take off went alright and I rotated nice and
slowly, things happen quick but not that quick so you can take your time with cleaning up
and flying the aircraft. Make sure you scan sufficiently. They mentioned in the brief that
you are likely to reach your altitude before you reach your speed but it was the opposite
for me. The rest was fine, Gary picked up on things to moan at you about and kept at it to
try make you uncomfortable, so you can try ignore him but remember they are looking for
teachability so its advisable to listen to the advice he gives you, even if it is said
sarcastically.

The last thing for day 1 was the aptitude tests which were pretty easy if you knew what to
expect. The Latest pilot jobs website is a great tool for these. The only time issue I had
was within the maths sections where I didn’t get to answer 2 questions.

And that was day 1 complete. I received the email inviting me to day 2 at 15:30 which
was earlier than I expected.

Day 2

Both of us in the group made it to day 2 and we started off with the psychometrics/job
suitability. Straight forward and no prep available or required. We were then given a
briefing by Katrina Evans about life in Hong Kong and what it is like working for Cathay.
She explains how important it is for candidates to like Hong Kong as they are potentially
spending the next 40 years here. She told us who we would each be interviewing with in
the briefing. The other guy was interviewing next with Katrina and Evan Summerfields and
I was after him with Carol de la Harpe and Evan, a captain on the Airbus fleet.

After the briefing I had the English proficiency test with a lovely lady named Dorris. This
was the first test where you were not allowed to take your bag or any belongings into the
room. There are 3 sections to the test and all the information about them are on the
website, once you have paid the day before. If you haven’t read it, Dorris gives you 5
minutes before to read it. The first section has 2 scenarios where you are the pilot of an
aircraft and have to communicate with ATC. The first gives you taxi instructions, where
you have a failure on the taxiway and then on the runway. The second scenario is while in
the air, you have an emergency and have to brief the cabin crew.
The second section is a 5 minute audio clip where you have to monitor what is happening
and then report back. There are various aircraft flying around in communication with ATC
and you have to report all the non routine events that happen. The last section Dorris
shows you a picture of a scenario (from what I know there are different pictures for
different candidates). I got shown a picture of an aircraft parked at a gate with fire fighters
around and was asked what I saw in the picture. Then Dorris asks you questions about
the scenario like what I thought happened, etc. All my questions were aircraft and fire
related. Quite tricky as you are put on the spot with all of the sections and they say they
are just testing your language but because you have to think quickly there are some “ums
and ahs" which I tried not to do as much as I could. Dorris records everything and does
not give you a result afterwards.
 Page 71 of 89
I then had my interview. Carol was a very nice South African lady who did her best to
make you feel comfortable. They ask for your logbook, licence and passport. I had put all
my other paperwork with extra copies in a file and gave them that too. They look through
everything while asking you questions. The very first question I got was why I had 2
passports and which did I use to travel. I also got asked how many days I could stay in
Hong Kong with each as a visitor. Some other questions from Carol were just questions
about gaps in my employment, what was I doing during those periods, how I paid for my
flying licence as I started straight from school and she asked about the accident I was
involved in. Form there Evan jumped in and asked me some technical questions about
the C210 fuel system (an aircraft I haven’t flown in a while and not my most recent or
most flown aircraft). He asked about vortex generators (which I believe was an answer I
got wrong in the technical exam the day before), new destinations Cathay is flying to and
the countries they are in. Carol and Evan both asked questions after each other so it was
difficult to say where the HR ended and the tech started and how many questions of
each.
Carol asked what destinations Cathay fly to in the US and what aircraft are used. She also
asked about hobbies, what would I do in Hong Kong in my off time and what makes me
really mad.

Evan asked about what fleet my partner is flying and when I said the 777, he said “ok fine,
then I won’t ask you any questions on that.” I was then asked aircraft was just delivered
and what is the differences between the A350-900 and A350-1000. He asked about the
engines on each and the fuselage, and we then discussed the carbon fibre used. He
asked how you would know if the carbon fibre is damaged. He asked about critical
engines on a twin aircraft after saying I had no experience on twins, I corrected him and
said I was an instructor on twins and he flipped through my file again obviously missing
this information. He asked about the ITCZ and its movements as well as the conditions
required for the formation of a typhoon (including the depth of warm ocean required). Why
is it called a typhoon here and a tropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere? What
happens to fuel burn when flying in a typhoon? After I answered some of his questions,
he would draw them on the whiteboard and explain to me what I had just said which was
a bit odd but I smiled and nodded along. His maths question was a time problem
involving a flight to Sydney with 3 crew and how much rest would each crew member get.
I did it on the board as to not make any mistakes and simplified the maths to show my
workings. I got the correct answer but Evan said it was a complicated way of working it
out so don’t know if working it out in my head would have been better. The last question
was a scenario, where Evan was the captain and I smelled alcohol on his breath, what
would I do?

After that I gave the blood, urine and hair samples to a lovely doctor Michael. I had 45
minutes to wait before the medical assessment so I went to grab a bite to eat. I was back
at the waiting room 20 minutes later with all my forms filled out ready for the doctor. I met
up with the other guy and we waited together for quite a while so we got to know each
other outside of the interview which was nice. I saw a nurse Becky who did the eye tests,
measured weight and height, did the audio test and the ECG. Then it was back to the
waiting room for the doctor. I eventually saw Dr. Chan before having to rush off to the
airport for the chest x-ray. We had 30 minutes before the clinic closed for the day but
managed to make it and get it done. Was a very long and tiring day and I was glad to be
home afterwards. Should find out the outcome about 9 days after the 2nd day.

Kind Regards
 Page 72 of 89
24 & 25 April 2018 SO interview.

Hi everyone.

Just got back home and also just wanted to give my feedback with regards to the
interview process.

Day 1:

There were 5 of us in total.

Group exercise - exactly as the previous ones. You are given a scenario where you
have to pick a commander for a space mission. Important here was that we
realized that not each of has had the exact same requirements so it’s important to
talk and communicate with each other all the time. Be part of the group and give
your inputs. Important is that there is no right or wrong answer - you just need to
pick the most suitable candidate and then stick to your decision and be prepared
to justify your choice as well.

Computer technical quiz - there were 47 questions and 60 min to complete it.
Questions was pretty much the same as in this mail. I had almost identical
questions.

Here is all the info from my interview experience. Hope this helps

An aircraft requires 3000m to stop. If the runway is wet, how much runway do you
require to land?

With an increase in speed, what happens to (i) parasite drag and (ii) induced drag.
(i) increases and (ii) decreases
(i) decreases and (ii) decreases ….. etc.

Fuel mileage (fuel per nm)

increases with forward CG
is not affected by CG
decreases with forward CG

Co-ordinates of Hong Kong Int.

Runways at Hong Kong Int.

Which stage of a TS is characterized by up draughts?

cumulus phase
mature stage
dissipating stage

On radial 220 and told to hold NE on radial 55, what is the sector entry?
parallel (i)
 Page 73 of 89
teardrop (ii)
direct (iii)
Where does a swept wing aircraft stall?
wing tip, causing a nose up tendency
wing tip, causing a nose down tendency

Free turbine engine

Turbofan is connected to which turbine section?

most forward
most rearwards

How is the thickness of a wing measured?

meters
% chord

Flying S&L, what would happen to CL if V is doubled?

x 4.0
x 0.25
x 0.5
x 2.0

What is the main source of energy for a TRS.

If a high pressure is noticed, what happens to take off ground roll and initial climb
performance
Cabin altitude increases (a/c flying level) what happens to pressure differential?
increases
decreases
(I got this question twice)

Take off with a QNH of 1014 and fly to an area where QNH 1020 at 5000ft. What
would your true altitude be?
5000ft
above 5000ft
below 5000ft

Jet stream direction

Only westerly
east and west in NH
No jetsam in SH

Advection fog formation

dry air over a warm surface
dry air over a cold surface
moist air over cold surface
moist air over warm surface
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Inlet and compression section pressure are 20kg and 220kg respectively. What is
the bypass ratio
11
1.1
10
12

On a 3 degree glide slope at 6nm, what should your height be?

1750ft
1850ft

How does an increase in speed increase lift on an aircraft.

reduces static pressure above the wing, increasing the pressure differential
increases airflow below the wing creating a greater downward force

Wing tip vortices

air above the wing flows towards the root and air below flows towards the tip
is eliminated by vortex generators

Great circle

Drag formula

Taking off with a tailwind compared with no wind, what happens to AOC and ROC
AOC decreases and ROC is unaffected
Both AOC and ROC decreases ….ect.

Where does the 3rd climb segment start

when flap is retracted
start of acceleration
when V2 is achieved

A turbine and a piston engine both have intake, compression, ignition and exhaust.
With a piston engine (i) cycle is continuous and (ii) measured at a constant volume
(i) correct (ii) incorrect
(i) correct (ii) correct
(i) incorrect (ii) correct
(i) incorrect (ii) incorrect
Stopway

40kts is how many m/s?

An aircraft flying at 180kts should have what ROD?

800ft/min
900ft/min

Temperature of tropopause
Greater over poles than equator
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greater over equator than poles
highest over mid latitudes

ISA conditions
15 degrees decreasing at 1.98 to 33000ft
1013.25 with temp decreasing at 1.98 to 36000ft

The 0 degree isotherm is @ FL50. What FL will you get a temperature of -6

degrees?
FL80
FL100

A pitot tube gets blocked by ice during a descent, what will the ASI be doing?
decreasing
increasing
constant

Descending at constant MACH, what happens to TAS?

decreases due to pressure increasing
decreases due to altitude decreasing

What determines the amount of water vapour a parcel of air can hold?
temperature
dew point
unstable atmosphere

Taf: VHHH 1524 9999 SHRA BKN020 TEMPO 1624 +SHRA OVC010 ….. What
weather can you expect at your destination at 1730Z?
continuous moderate rain
heavy rain
moderate snow

Cold front in summer

cumulus cloud type
stratus cloud type
temperature increase

With regard to HP and LP systems

isobars spaced loser together result in stronger wind
surface wind flows perpendicular to isobars

Transponder codes

Local speed of sound

proportional to square root of absolute temperature
inversely proportional to TAS
inversely proportional to absolute temperature
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You are on runway 25 with wind 220/24. What is the crosswind component?

If flap increases (up to optimum) what happens?

Sim Check - the sim check is exactly as the profile. Here and there minor
differences in power settings, but its important that you nail the profile. Listen to
their advice and suggestions and make notes during the sim briefing. The sim was
quite sensitive and took a bit for me to get used to. I was over correcting a lot so
important to keep in mind its very sensitive.

Day 2:

Only two of us made it through to day two.

This was a very long and exhausting day. So make sure you get a lot of rest.

Started of with the job suitability screening. Its something that you cannot prepare
for and just answer honestly.

I then had the interview. They were super friendly and not at all intimidating or
anything. A very professional, but relaxed atmosphere. I was interviewed by Mandy
(HR) and Sue (777 Captain)

HR - this was general HR stuff.

- Tell us about yourself
- Why CX
- Why did you want to become a pilot
- Asked a few questions about a rating I did almost a year ago
- Asked why I was not flying for three years and only kept the license current
- why I decided to not renew a contract and freelance instead
- What i would do if I was not successful
- Aircraft on order and how many and when they are scheduled to receive them
- New destinations and which aircraft would fly there
- What fleet I would like to be on

Technical:
Asked quite a bit of questions on the current aircraft I fly.
- Dihedral wing and why
- T-tail why and the disadvantages of it
- explain the engine on current aircraft
- what is the RPM of the power turbine
- what is the reason for the reduction gearbox
- engine on the 350’s and 777ER
- thrust of the engines as mentioned above
- differences between RR and GE engines
- swept wing why and how does it work
- what is a jet’s limiting speed and why
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- what is MCRIT
- what happens at MCRIT
- what is compressibility
- What is V1
- what is VR
- What is VMCG
- what is the relationship between V1 and VMCG
- what is a wet V1 and when would you use it and why
- critical engine on my current aircraft and why
- critical engine on a twin jet and with a crosswind and why
- how does a typhoon form and whats needed for it to form
- whats the difference between a typhoon, hurricane and a tropical revolving storm
- which way round does a Low pressure system rotate in the northern hemisphere
and the Southern Hemisphere
- mental calculation with two different aircraft and two different pressure settings
and which one is higher and by how much

And that was it. It was about an hour. And I would say it was 50/50 with regards to
HR and Technical.

After the interview it was the ELP. Really easy as well and straightforward exactly
as explained in the mail you will receive regarding the test.

After that it was the medical. It was really thorough. They check everything.

Waiting now for the feedback and hope to have it this week. Good luck to
everyone who has an upcoming interview. If you have any questions - feel free to
ask at any time.

Keep well.

25 & 26 April 2018 SO Interview

Here is my feedback with regards to the CX SO TT assessment process:

April 2018

Day 1: appointment 8:30 at the recruitment centre hall. We was only 3 that day and we started
with the assessment process briefing. They gave us a revised planning for day 1 where they
swapped the job suitability test from day 2 to day 1.

Right after, we had the group exercise assessed by Amy and an Australian lady from recruitment.
Same as usual, we had to find a commander for a space mission. Like I said to the guys before
the beginning of the group exercise, they are not really interested about the selected candidate
but definitely how you are going to select him, if you read correctly the requirements and apply
them: basically work on this test like a flight crew would do. TEAM WORK! Don't try to be the
best, you will be the least!

Then we had the sim briefing with Gary and Berry and I was the first to go. 2 others went to do
the tech quiz and job suitability test. Nice guys, they took time to answer all my questions
before the sim assessment start. They REALLY appreciated that I did a sim before with Air France
Academy on 777ER and I trained the CX profile. Gary sat left seat and started playing a kind of
game during the sim, commenting on every one of my mistakes, shouting sometime, not doing
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any call like "positive climb", no speed bug change... It was just to add little pressure and see
how you behave on your own. I took it with humor and I think it works. Be prepared to fly a 300T
airplane more sensitive than a Cessna 152!!! All corrections, yoke or throttles must be light like
within millimeters. 57% N1 is the magic number to keep this aircraft level during the downwind.
TRIM, TRIM TRIM! But every imputes not less than 1 full second or more. If you just “click” on
the trim, you won't change anything and you will continue to fight... shortly, the 777 will win!
Forget your feet, even remove them from the rudders as soon as you are airborne till
touchdown. And remember one thing! I'm a training captain and examiner, and when I test a
pilot, I want to see improvement, potential to get the type rating and the line training with no
extra training or time. You do an error, comment on it. You are not holding your parameters
correctly, tell them how you will (even try) to correct it. You forgot something, say it even long
time after… They already noticed all you errors, imprecisions and forgetfulness before you did!
But if you comment, you show your assessors that at least you are aware of it and you try your
best to make it better. For example, what I did during this test: I intentionally forgot to call the
after T/O check after the first T/O but I told them in base leg, he answered “done” and I called
it normally after the Go Around. Then I was over controlling the sim during the first ILS, but I
intentionally made it worse. I was able to show them a far better ILS in the second attempt. But
most important, I showed them I was listening to their advices.

After I did my tech quiz (all exact questions hereunder) and the job suitability test, a set of 3
questionnaire about personality, work behavior… to see if you are not an Air France pilot,
striking every 3 months and over proud of himself or if you are not a Germanwings pilot going to
push your aircraft toward a mountain after your girlfriend dumped you!

I finished around 1:30pm and by 3:30pm I received my invitation for day 2.

Day 2: appointment 8:30. Just 2 of us made it. We had an introduction about CX, conditions,
benefits, living in HK, bla bla bla...

Then I had my interview. Very basic questions:

Tell us more about yourself? Why did you apply to CX? Are you aware of the seniority schedule
and how long it takes to captain seat? New destinations in Europe? What fleet would you choose?
What is this airplane (pointed)? It was a 777ER. What engines? What navigation system? How INS
works? Why there is 3 INS? What is GNSS? You fly at 420Kt and you have 50NM to cover, how long
does it take?

It was supposed to last an hour but after 40mn I was done.

Then I had the medical tests during the all afternoon. Attention! Except if you enjoy taking a
long walk through a very very very long corridor as you are already short of time for your Xray…
Medical centre is at terminal 1 level 6 via the elevator near aisle A and not aisle K like on the
instructions ;)

TECH QUIZZ:

What approximate ROD is required in order to maintain a 3° glide-path at a GS of 180Kt?

800 FT/mn
900 Ft/mn
600 Ft/mn
700 Ft/mn
Which of the following statement is correct?
If a clearway or a stopway is used, the lift off point must be attainable at least at the end of the
permanent runway surface
A stopway means an area beyond the take-off runway, able to support the aeroplane during an
aborted take-off
An under run is an area beyond the runway end which can be used for an aborted take-off
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A clearway is an area beyond the runway which can be used for an aborted take-off

An aircraft depart HK with local QNH of 1014 set on altimeter. It climbs to 5000ft then flies into
an area where the QNH is 1010. The altimeter is not adjusted but the pilot continue to fly the
aircraft so the altimeter indicates 5000ft. The aircraft actual altitude is?
Lower than 5000ft
6000ft
Higher than 5000ft
Still 5000ft

The drag formula is:

D= CD 2 p V2 S
D= CD 1/2 p V S
D= CD 1/2 1/p V2 S
D= CD 1/2 p V2 S

Refer to the TAF for Taipei airport: RCTP 021100Z 0212/0318 26005KT 3500 HZ FEW015 TEMPO
0220/0305 0500 FG VV002 BECMG 0307/0309 02017KT 4500 RA SCT010 BKN018 BKN 035 TEMPO
0314/0318 2000RA SCT005 BKN008 BKN030
With an ETA of 031600 UTC what weather conditions can be expected?
Visibility 3500M in Haze, Clouds 1-2 OKTAS at 1500 feet
Visibility 3500M in Haze, Clouds 1-2 OKTAS at 1500 feet, temporarily deteriorating to 2000M in
rain and cloud 3-4 OKTAS at 500 feet
Visibility 4500M in Rain, Clouds 1-2OKTAS at 1000 feet
Visibility 4500M in Rain, Clours 3-4 OKTAS at 1000 feet, temporarily deteriorating to 2000M in
rain and cloud 3-4 OKTAS at 500 feet.

Which of the circumstances most favor the development of the radiation fog?
Moist air over land during a clear night with little wind
Warm moist air at the windward side of a mountain
Maritime tropical air flowing over cold sea
Advection of very cold air over much warmer sea
ROGER means:
permission for the proposed action granted
Check and confirm with originator
I have received all of your last transmission
I understand your message and will comply with it

HK international airport has the following runway orientation:

Runway 07 and Runway 25
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Runway 09L/27R and Runway 09R/27L
Runway 13 and runway 31
Runway 07L/25R and Runway 07R/25L

A flight from HK to New York would take approximately:

11 hours
14 hours
16 hours
19 hours

Which of the following conditions cause the altimeter to indicate a higher altitude than that
actually flown?
Air temperature higher than standard
Atmospheric pressure higher than standard
Pressure altitude the same as indicated altitude
Air temperature lower than standard

An aeroplane is descending at a constant Mach number from FL350. What is the effect on the
true airspeed?
It decreases as pressure increases
It decreases as altitude decreases
It remains constant
It increases as temperature increases

In mass and balance calculations, which of the following describes the datum:
It is the most forward position of the centre of gravity
It is the distance from the centre of gravity to the point through which the weight of the
component acts
It is the most aft position of the centre of gravity
It is the point on the aircraft designated by the manufacturer from which all centre of gravity
measurements and calculations are made

The angle of attack (aerodynamic angle of incidence) of an aerofoil is the angle between the:
Bottom surface and the chord line
Bottom surface and the horizontal
Chord line and the relative undisturbed airflow
Bottom surface and the relative airflow

During certification of a light twin jet aircraft, a distance is measured of 1747m from break
release to a point equidistant between VLOF and 35ft. A further distance is measured od 1950m
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from breaks release point to a point equidistant between VLOF and 35ft, having simulated an
engine failure at V1. The distance specified as being the aircraft’s TORR would be:
1747m
2243m
1950m
2009m

With a pitot probe blocked due to ice build up, the airspeed indicator will indicate in descent a:
Decreasing speed
Constant speed
Increasing speed
Fluctuating speed

On an ILS with a 3° glide slope at 5.0NM from the threshold (assuming a glide slope height of
50FT above the threshold) the approximate height of an aircraft is:
1500 FT AAL
1450 FT AAL
1400 FT AAL
1550 FT AAL

Which of the following correctly lists special purpose codes that are to be used in conjunction
with SSR?
Distress 7700, hijacking 7600, Com failure 7500
Distress 7700, hilacking 7500, Com failure 7600
...

What type of cloud will you meet flying towards a warm front?
At some 500km from front, group of CB, later at some 250km thickening AS
At some 800km CS, later AS, and at some 300km NS untill the front
Extensive areas of fog, At some 100km from front NS begin
At some 500km AS, later CS and at some 80km before the front CB

Where, as a general rule, is the core of the polar front jet stream to be found?
In the warm air mass
In the cold air mass
Just above the warm-air tropopause
Just below the cold -air tropopause

Which statement about wing tip vortices is correct?

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The flow direction at the upper and under side of the wing, both deviate in wingtip direction
The wingtip vortices and the induced drag decrease with increasing angle of attack
The flow direction at the upper side of the wing has a component in wing root direction, the
flow at the underside of the wing in wingtip direction
Tip vortices can be diminished by vortex generators

What is the main energy source of a tropical revolving storm?

Cold air advancing from temperate latitudes
Latent heat released from condensing water vapor
The equatorial jet stream
Temperature difference between equatorial low pressure trough and subtropical high pressure
belt

Going from equator to north pole, the altitude of the tropopause:

Decreases and its temperature increases
Increases and its temperature increases
Increases and its temperature decreases
Decreases and its temperature decreases

The speed of sound:

Is independent upon the true airspeed and the Mach number of the aircraft
Is inversely proportional to the absolute temperature
Is proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature of the air
Is directly proportional to the true airspeed of the aircraft

During take-off, the third segment begins:

When landing gear is fully retracted
When acceleration to flap retraction speed is started
When acceleration starts from VLOF to V2
When flap retraction is completed

The time an eye need to adapt fully to the dark is about:

10mn
7mn
30mn
10s

Dynamic pressure is given by:

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The kinetic energy formula P1V1=P2V²
The kinetic energy formula ½ density x V2
The static energy formula P1V1=P2V2
The static energy formula ½ density x V2

What is the correct way for the pilot to acknowledge that ATIS information Golf has been
received:
Information Golf
Weather Golf received
Received Golf
We have ATIS Golf

The temperature at FL80 is +6°C. What will the temperature be at FL130 if std laps rate applied?
+2°C
-4°C
-6°C
0°C

You have been cleared to join a left turn holding pattern with an inbound track of 200°. If your
magnetic track on entry is 050°, what kind of entry is required?
Direct entry (sector 3)
Parallel entry (sector 1)
Teardrop entry (sector 2)
Hold entry impossible
Which statement is correct regarding the international standard atmosphere?
At MSL, temp is 15°C and a decrease of 1,5°C per 1000ft until 36,000ft
At MSL, temp is 15°C and a decrease of 1,98°C per 1000fr until 33,000ft
At MSL, temp is 13°C and pressure is 1015hPa
At MSL pressure is 1013,25hPa and the decrease of temp is 1,98°C per 1000ft until 36,000ft

If other factors are unchanged, the fuel mileage (nautical miles per Kg) is:
Independent from the centre of gravity position
Lower with a forward centre of gravity position
Lower with an aft centre of gravity position
Higher with a forward centre of gravity position

Compared to nil wind conditions, which of the following effects will be noticed when climbing
into a tailwind?
Both rate and angle of climb will increase
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Angle of climb will increase and rate of climb will decrease
Angle of climb will decrease and rate of climb will remain unaltered
Both rate and angle of climb will decrease

In what way do (1) induced drag and (2) parasite drag alter with increasing speed?
(1) decreases and (2) decreases
(1) increases and (2) decreases
(1) decreases and (2) increases
(1) increases and (2) increases

What is the approximate speed of a 20kt wind, expressed in m/sec?

5 m/sec
10 m/sec
40 m/sec
15 m/sec

The mechanism to change the propeller blade angle of a smell piston engine aeroplane is
operated:
hydraulically by hydraulic fluid
hydraulically by engine oil
by aerodynamic forces
manually by the pilot

Dew point is defined as:

The temperature below which the change of the state in a given volume of air will result in the
absorption of latent heat
The temperature to which moist air must be cooled to become saturated at a given pressure
The lowest temperature at which evaporation will occur for a given pressure
The lowest temperature to which air must be cooled in order to reduce the relative humidity

A great circle is:

A straight line joining two points on all charts
A line that defines the shortest distance between two points on the surface of earth.
A line on the surface of the earth which crosses meridians at a constant angle
Always a great circle on all charts

What causes surface winds to flow across the isobars at an angle rather than parallel to the
isobars?
Grater density of the air at the surface
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Greater atmospheric pressure at the surface
Surface friction
Coriolis forces

An increase in atmospheric pressure has, among other, the following consequences on take off
perfo:
A reduced take off distance and degraded initial climb perfo
A reduced take off distance and improved initial climb perfo
An increased take off distance and degraded initial climb perfo
An increased take off distance and improved initial climb perfo

Departing runway 25L, the tower reported wind is 220° magnetic at 24kt. What is the crosswind
component?
8kt
12kt
15kt
18kt

The reason for fitting thermal plugs to aeroplanes wheels is that they:
Prevent heat transfer from the brake discs to the tyres
Prevent tyre burst after excessive brake application
Prevent the brakes from overheating
Release air from the tyre in the event of overpressure due to over inflation

Ergonomics are associated with:

Communications
Cognition
The human/workplace interface
Information processing

The lift force, acting on an aerofoil:

Is mainly caused by overpressure at the underside of the aerofoil
Is maximum at an angle of attack of 2 degrees
Is mainly caused by the suction on the upper side of the aerofoil
Increases, proportional to the angle of attack until 40 degrees

As altitude increases, the stalling speed occurs:

At a higher true airspeed but the same indicated airspeed
At a higher true airspeed and a higher indicated airspeed
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At the same true airspeed but a lower indicated airspeed
At the same true airspeed and the same indicated airspeed

All the best for you and hope to see you in a CX cockpit one day…
By this time if you have any question, don't hesitate…

SO Interview June 2018

Day 1

Start off with a group exercise. I recommend chatting to the other guys you're
interviewing with beforehand and learning names so that you can communicate
well in the exercise. There were only three of us, we were given the task of
choosing someone to send to space. We were given 30 minutes to choose. First
five minutes they recommend you spend reading over the briefing. I recommend
writing on a separate piece of paper all of the requirements that you have,
including points of interest in the brief (an example being that one of our briefs said
the pilot cannot be older than 40). There will likely be one spare brief in amongst
the candidates profiles. Make sure that you read this brief too to include its
different requirements. We wrapped it up with a few minutes to spare and then
presented and were asked questions on a few of our decisions. After which they
asked us individually some basic questions: in retrospect would we change
anything about how we chose and allocated our time, what weaknesses do we
think that we portrayed in the exercise, etc.

After this we were escorted through to the simulator briefing with Gary and Larry.
Having studied the profile beforehand, I found it a bit long winded, but they have
some good points so make sure to listen and take notes on the differences in
attitudes and power settings that they outline. Sidenote, if you arrive a few days
before the interview, see if you can find a 777 captain and get them to take you out
to the sim to get a feel for the thing. We were told we'd be flying the 777-300er but
the sim took place on the 777-300. Nothing to worry about, just minor changes in
the profile. Final approach course was still set on the old 073 degrees. Fly and
focus on your attitudes and you should be fine. Gary talks a lot throughout the
exercise, don't let him distract you.

I did the sim first then the written test. Some questions that I remember:

HKI coordinates
Polar Jet stream
HKI Runways
Magnetos in a piston engine run off of what (battery, winding coil, etc)
Drag formula
Blocked static port, altimeter reading in a descent
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CL vs Speed in straight & level (if speed doubles, what happens to CL)
Changes in QNH (flying from 1014 to 1020 at 5000ft)
CofG position, what happens to cost index
Factors affecting the stall
Rate of descent required for 180kts groundspeed
Height above the runway at 5 miles on a 3 degree glideslope (50ft glideslope
height)
Conversion of Knots to m/s (wind)
Crosswind/headwind amount, taking off rwy 07, wind 100/18
Entering a hold from r30 inbound r180
Flying from hot to cold
Tropical storm energy comes from?
Decoding a TAF
Advection fog vs Radiation fog
Thunderstorm stage characterised by updraughts
3000m wet runway. Distance aircraft must stop in
Induced drag and parasite drag
Free turbine engine
Triple spool, which section is connected to the fan?
Main factor contributing to lift (suction above the wing)
Rumb Line
Taking off with a headwind, what happens to angle and rate of climb
Where does the third segment begin
Layer between the troposphere and the stratosphere
ISA questions (-28 at FL140, temp at FL090?)
Mach vs IAS in the climb (constant IAS, what happens to Mach)
TAS for best range and endurance vs altitude (does TAS increase, decrease, etc)
Transponder Codes
Local Speed of Sound (proportional to absolute temp)
Flap increase to optimum, what happens to ground run?

Day 2:

Much more relaxed feel. You start off with the job suitability screening test. Nothing
to practice for or worry about here, just answer the questions honestly.

After that I went in for the interview. They made me feel very comfortable and
explained that it was more of a learning and getting to know each other exercise. It
was mostly HR questions in the beginning:
- Tell us about yourself
- What do you think about Hong Kong
- Any accidents or incidents you've had
- What do you think the role of an SO entails
- How will your family feel about you getting the job/moving
- Which fleet would you prefer and why
- Destinations of that fleet
Then the fleet captain asked a few technical questions. He looked through my
logbook and focused on a few aspects. Make sure you know your stuff. I havr
 Page 88 of 89
rnav/rnp approaches on my license and he asked several questions about that.
Also included stall angles for sea level and at altitude.
Interview seemed to go by quite quickly.

After this I went for the English proficiency test. Pretty straightforward too, you'll be
given a practice exercise on day 1 when you sign up for the test so you'll know
what to expect.

Finally it was the medical then all done.

They let me know one week exactly after that I was accepted.

Thanks for the help, made all the difference!

SO Interview June 2018

Hi there

Just before my sim check, one of the training captains noted that my P2X weren't
accepted for the FO experience that CX needs for DEFO, so I elected to carry on
with the SO selection. This necessitated an impromptu meeting with HR at the end
of Day 1!
here's my experience and advice:

- I got in to HKG two days early and stayed at a friends place for the first night in
order to acclimatise and get over the jetlag as much as possible. He is a pilot for
CX so offered to take me in to see Cathay City the day before so that I can get a
sense of the place and not be too overwhelmed on Day 1 which really helped!
- Tip: make sure you look neat and presentable at all times from boarding the
plane till you leave. Especially around the hotel. I found the crew lounge on the
23rd floor to be a wonderful place to relax of you have some time. Take the
elevator to 22/F then take the stairs up to the crew lounge. There's coffee and a
microwave and a great view of the airport!
- Day 1. Straightforward as per the itinerary.
Hand in all your docs, making sure everything is filled accurately.
Group exercise to send someone on space mission, 30 mins. Turn over all the
papers when Timer starts and make sure all the CVs are distributed. One was
hidden from us. Teamwork is key. Play your part.
Sim briefing. Gary and Larry are very helpful. Ask questions and take notes. I felt
my briefing (FO) was a bit jumbled (not in sequence). Not sure if that was
deliberate, anyways, try to keep track and jot down any new info. Esp power
settings and attitudes.
Tech exam. All questions I had already seen by working through Dale's collection
of 3 years worth of feedback!! 47 questions, 60 mins, can be done in 30min...
giving you some precious time to go over your sim notes.
Sim check. They want to know if you've practised the Cathay profile in another sim
and how many hours. They keep a record of this info. So it's a strong suggestion
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that candidates hire a sim and practise. I did about 2.5 hours in a 738 sim. It
helped since I've been flying Airbus only for the last 4 years. Trim system in the
777 is actually quite easy and effortless. Set the pitch, hold the attitude, speed will
stabilise then "blip" the trimmer for a second. Hands off. During the speed
reduction part, just give the trim a blip every 5 knots or so.

Day 2: Work suitability tests takes time to complete. Just answer honestly and get
it done.
The interview was very pleasant. Conducted by HR's Mandy Fung and a 777
Captain, Daphne.
HR questions:
1. Tell us about yourself. I spent a long time on prepping this one so I could talk
lots and eat up some time. Basically I answered why I started flying, how I started
flying, where I flew and what important lessons I learnt at each flying role over the
years. Included a few short incidents and how I dealt with it.
2. Why CX?
3. If not successful, what will be your plan B?
TECH questions.
1. Tell me about the A330/340 trim tank system. What are the Xwind limitations for
landing/takeoff. Wet/dry.
2. Scenario and procedures questions. Eng fail after take off. Wind shear on
approach and take off. Considerations in a strong headwind landing in Taiwan.
Encountering Volcanic ash procedures.
Loss of reliable airspeed indications procedures.
3. Mental arithmetic. Flying in china metric flight levels. ATC says maintain
FL10100m. What is the FL in feet on the FCU?
She was pretty thorough with her line of questions so don't hesitate to ask for a
pen and paper to write and buy some time to think.

After that the medical exams and x-ray.

Follow the 6P's and you'll be great! BEING PREPARED IS 90% of the challenge.
Going through dale's entire folder will put you in a great position to pass the
selection.