J Cole
Well-Known Member
I gave the following gouge to someone in a PM. I thought it may be helpful to make it publicly available.
First, I can say that the gouges on willflyforfood are spot on. I was one of three applicants to show up when the interview began at about 0800. As you can see from my profile, I've been a CFI for 3 years. My fellow applicants were a Nigerian who had nationalized with CFI/Twin Otter experience and a former Comair pilot. I don't know what the exact problem was, but the Comair pilot was sent home very early due to paperwork problems. The interview was broken into two parts: an FTD ride and a technical/HR interview.
I volunteered to hop on the FTD first. The device itself is a Frasca Baron with 180 degree wrap around visuals and a G1000. Like any Frasca FTD it is very sensitive, especially on the rudders. If you keep your feet on the rudders, use a very light touch, and you'd be fine to just keep your feet on the floor after takeoff. You are not expected to know how to work a G1000 and the approaches are all flown with raw data (no GPS/loading the approach). They also take away the moving map. Almost all my hours are in a G1000 and we have an twin G1000 FTD, so I was pretty comfortable with the scan and sensitivity, but you may benefit from a little practice in a G1000 FTD if you can get it. Oh, the FTD also has a flight director - you will fly one approach with it and one without. Eagle will email you a study packet with profiles and callouts - know this perfectly. The actual flight was as follows: a hold, the ILS 36L KDFW, and VOR/DME 13 KDFW (they clearly change which approaches they do each time - but expect a precision and a non-precision). The approaches were done via radar vectors. I did all the duties of the pilot flying, except that I also worked the radios. The interviewer will sit in the right seat and perform the pilot monitoring duties. Give him the controls while you figure out the hold entry and while you brief the approaches. At one point "ATC" had me fly 180 knots before an approach (faster than flap/gear extension speeds) so I had to make sure to request 160 knots before joining the FAC. I think I busted altitude once and nearly messed up the hold entry, but overall felt pretty good about the simulator ride.
Next up was the technical/HR interview. It began with questions from the study packet and then moved into IFR stuff. The captain interviewing me had me decode a METAR and a TAF and included questions like "could we fly this approach with this weather?" and "what will the weather be like when we arrive?" We then went through a KDFW airport diagram, a DP, a low enroute charts, an arrival, and an approach plate (ILS 36L I think). The airport diagram included questions about which frequency I would call from where as well as identifying which ALS a runway had. The DP had questions about initial altitude/heading and frequencies. The low enroute chart had questions on MEAs, MOCAs, MORAs, victor airways, GPS waypoints, and airspace. The arrival had questions about crossing restrictions and how exactly I would fly it. The approach included questions about when we could continue the approach if the weather got worse, where the FAF was, approach minimums, and briefing the approach. I was also asked about crew rest times and when filing an alternate is required. I know I'm missing some of the technical stuff - it's been almost two months. Next was a scenario based question - mine was something like "you're flying in cruise with a very senior captain and you notice he is slumped over. You try and shake him awake but he doesn't respond - what do you do?" Finally, I was asked the standard line up of HR questions: tell me about a time you..., tell me about how you demonstrate leadership in your current position?, why should eagle hire you? etc.
Since there were just two of us, we were both finished by lunch. They provided us with a meal voucher and sent us to the cafeteria. After lunch, someone came to the holding tank and asked my companion to grab his stuff and come with him - didn't see him again (his sim ride went poorly). I was given a "pre-offer" after this.
I prepared using interview gouges, writing out my own answers to the HR questions, flying our school's FTD, and reading/studying the "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot" book. The book was indispensable. Make sure your paperwork is perfect.
Feel free to ask any questions below!
First, I can say that the gouges on willflyforfood are spot on. I was one of three applicants to show up when the interview began at about 0800. As you can see from my profile, I've been a CFI for 3 years. My fellow applicants were a Nigerian who had nationalized with CFI/Twin Otter experience and a former Comair pilot. I don't know what the exact problem was, but the Comair pilot was sent home very early due to paperwork problems. The interview was broken into two parts: an FTD ride and a technical/HR interview.
I volunteered to hop on the FTD first. The device itself is a Frasca Baron with 180 degree wrap around visuals and a G1000. Like any Frasca FTD it is very sensitive, especially on the rudders. If you keep your feet on the rudders, use a very light touch, and you'd be fine to just keep your feet on the floor after takeoff. You are not expected to know how to work a G1000 and the approaches are all flown with raw data (no GPS/loading the approach). They also take away the moving map. Almost all my hours are in a G1000 and we have an twin G1000 FTD, so I was pretty comfortable with the scan and sensitivity, but you may benefit from a little practice in a G1000 FTD if you can get it. Oh, the FTD also has a flight director - you will fly one approach with it and one without. Eagle will email you a study packet with profiles and callouts - know this perfectly. The actual flight was as follows: a hold, the ILS 36L KDFW, and VOR/DME 13 KDFW (they clearly change which approaches they do each time - but expect a precision and a non-precision). The approaches were done via radar vectors. I did all the duties of the pilot flying, except that I also worked the radios. The interviewer will sit in the right seat and perform the pilot monitoring duties. Give him the controls while you figure out the hold entry and while you brief the approaches. At one point "ATC" had me fly 180 knots before an approach (faster than flap/gear extension speeds) so I had to make sure to request 160 knots before joining the FAC. I think I busted altitude once and nearly messed up the hold entry, but overall felt pretty good about the simulator ride.
Next up was the technical/HR interview. It began with questions from the study packet and then moved into IFR stuff. The captain interviewing me had me decode a METAR and a TAF and included questions like "could we fly this approach with this weather?" and "what will the weather be like when we arrive?" We then went through a KDFW airport diagram, a DP, a low enroute charts, an arrival, and an approach plate (ILS 36L I think). The airport diagram included questions about which frequency I would call from where as well as identifying which ALS a runway had. The DP had questions about initial altitude/heading and frequencies. The low enroute chart had questions on MEAs, MOCAs, MORAs, victor airways, GPS waypoints, and airspace. The arrival had questions about crossing restrictions and how exactly I would fly it. The approach included questions about when we could continue the approach if the weather got worse, where the FAF was, approach minimums, and briefing the approach. I was also asked about crew rest times and when filing an alternate is required. I know I'm missing some of the technical stuff - it's been almost two months. Next was a scenario based question - mine was something like "you're flying in cruise with a very senior captain and you notice he is slumped over. You try and shake him awake but he doesn't respond - what do you do?" Finally, I was asked the standard line up of HR questions: tell me about a time you..., tell me about how you demonstrate leadership in your current position?, why should eagle hire you? etc.
Since there were just two of us, we were both finished by lunch. They provided us with a meal voucher and sent us to the cafeteria. After lunch, someone came to the holding tank and asked my companion to grab his stuff and come with him - didn't see him again (his sim ride went poorly). I was given a "pre-offer" after this.
I prepared using interview gouges, writing out my own answers to the HR questions, flying our school's FTD, and reading/studying the "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot" book. The book was indispensable. Make sure your paperwork is perfect.
Feel free to ask any questions below!
