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OAA Skills Assessment

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Ben435 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 06 Sep 2012 at 3:56pm
Hey,

I am going to Oxford Aviation Academy for the Skills Assessment next Tuesday and Wednesday.

I was just wondering if anyone has attended the assessment before, I am wondering what format/content the physics exam will have.

I know it is GCSE standard, so for example is there specific formula I should know of by heart such as speed = distance/time.

Thanks
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SkyFly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkyFly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Sep 2012 at 5:18pm
I'm sure you have seen this already, but just in case!

http://ask.oxfordaviation.net/viewforum.php?f=44

Good luck!
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Ben435 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ben435 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Sep 2012 at 7:10pm
Hey SkyFly,

Yea I have read that, but thanks anyway!

I am looking for an example question really.

Thanks
Ben435
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VulcanB2 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VulcanB2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Sep 2012 at 1:42am
Don't learn a specific answer to a question, know everything you can so the question becomes irrelevant!

Let's see...... you'll need to know how to calculate distance, time and speed. You will need to know basic trig (sine, cosine, tangent and their inverse). You understand density, and how it is affected by temperature? You know that as you climb the atmosphere becomes less dense?

You know what "lapse rate" means? You know what ISA is? JSA? Hint: ISA = International Standard Atmosphere. JSA = Jet Standard Atmosphere.

You know where the troposphere is? Stratosphere? You know what the tropopause is? You know the different characteristics of each?

Do you know what IAS and TAS are? Do you know the difference?

Do you know the differences between IAS, CAS, EAS, TAS? I'll let you figure that out.

You know what Mach number is, and why it varies only with temperature?

You know the difference between pressure altitude and density altitude, and how to compute it? Hint: it kills many pilots every year because they royally screw this up. KNOW IT INSIDE OUT.

That should be a good start as to the physics/mathematics you will need (if you research it properly).

PS: May I suggest you seriously re-consider doing this at this time. BMI just got bought out by BA (actually, BA's parent company International Airlines Group - IAG), and there are going to be a ton of redundancies. There are so many experienced, type-rated guys out of work now that newbies to the industry don't stand a hope in hell of getting a job with an airline for the foreseeable future. Unless you simply want to get a CPL to fly Air Taxi or take fare-paying photographers on survey flights (unlikely given your choice of venue), you can forget finding airline flying work after you complete. Also consider you will be up to your neck in debt (I figure about £80,000 plus interest), unless you're lucky to already have that kind of cash.

Be extremely aware that the training companies will promise you the earth in terms of work. Reality is that work is not there, unless you don't go to the airlines but instead fly for a smaller company doing something completely different in terms of flying (though no less enjoyable; probably more so!). Forget jet transport until you have a couple of thousand hours (unless you already know someone who can get you in somewhere), and cargo starts at 3500 hours MULTI-CREW JET experience.

I strongly suggest you get another job now, get a PPL and do some flying for yourself. As you get more money, do a multi-engine/instrument rating, and then progress to a CPL and find some work instructing (if you can). Build hours the old way until you can break into the market. This zero to ATPL has always been problematic; even more so now the market is flooded with high-time experienced pilots, applying for the same jobs as you; you don't stand a chance.

Regardless - understand that the starting salaries are so low you'd earn more in McDonalds. Given the current economic climate, I wouldn't want to be borrowing a ton of money - it is looking likely that interest rates will go up significantly in the next 6 - 12 months.

Sorry for being blunt, but the training companies paint an unrealistic rosy picture of the industry. It's not like that in reality.

Best regards,
Vulcan.
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Slopey View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Slopey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Sep 2012 at 2:41am
I'm not going to regurgitate the reasons not to go integrated currently, but see Tom's recent thread about ATPL for an interesting PPrune link.

Quote I am wondering what format/content the physics exam will have.


It'll likely be something like this:

Q1) If a plane flies at 200 knots and takes off at 1pm, what time will it be after it has flown 200 nautical miles?

Q2) Do you have £100,000?

Sorted :)

(DO NOT believe the hype - there is no pilot shortage, despite what they tell you).
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767nutter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 767nutter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2012 at 6:08pm
Over the course of the two days i did;

Sim time; In the 737 sim the screen is blank, i had to fly using just the instruments, at the same time one of the examiners was asking me questions that i had to answer as quickly as possible while still flying the course i was given
ie, if a plane burns 54,000 litres of fuel in a 12 hour flight and the plane has 3 engines, what is the average engine fuel consumption per hour per engine

Also they covered the throttles and engine instruments and simulated a "dead" engine, i then had to work out by just using the Artificial Horizon what engine was "dead". The sim test took about 30 minutes all together

Maths, Physics, Orientation, Eye-Hand coordination and Personality tests, self explanatory.

Group tests; With the 5 other people i was there with, we all had to work as a team to overcome certain situations, this lasted 7 hours on the second day, after which we all had individual interviews.

I was offered a position on the integrated course but after a long hard think and talk through with my family and partner, we decided it was best not to go ahead at that time. Even now wouldn't work. Really think about it.

here's a eye-hand coordination test, very addictive, you have to try and get past 18 seconds, best so far on the 4th attempt was 18.686 Smile

http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

TIP: my 1st attempt only lasted 0.399 seconds, because it starts off faster than you might think Smile


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Slopey View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Slopey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 2:13am
Quote I was offered a position on the integrated course but after a long hard think and talk through with my family and partner, we decided it was best not to go ahead at that time. Even now wouldn't work. Really think about it.


And that's the real test.

The previous tests are irrelevant really in the big scheme of things.
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Ben435 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ben435 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 9:09am
Thanks, for the personal experiences.

My family keep saying "If you don't do it now you may never do it!".

I have recently graduated from Keele University with a First Class Honours Degree in Computer Science. If the job scene is that scarce I will find a job in that industry to start the loan repayments whilst searching for an airline position.

Thanks
Ben435
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SkyFly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkyFly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 4:28pm
Good on you
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Slopey View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Slopey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 9:17pm
Quote My family keep saying "If you don't do it now you may never do it!".


Is it their £100k???
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767nutter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 767nutter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 9:41pm
Originally posted by Ben435 Ben435 wrote:



My family keep saying "If you don't do it now you may never do it!".

Ben435


that's what i kept saying to myself, but my partner and family were not in dreamland like me, they had their serious thinking caps on ( plus it helped my mother-in-law was an accountant ), i was offered it on a plate yet i decided not to go ahead for good reason, it wasn't like i had suddenly hated the idea of flying, far from it.

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Ben435 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ben435 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2012 at 9:54pm
No it isn't my mum and dads 100K however they are standing guarantor and my grandparents are funding a certain percentage of that.

As I have previously mentioned the IT sector is constantly looking for people with my degree. If an airline position was not forth coming a job in the IT sector would cover the loan. I could earn more money with my degree than starting as an airline pilot.

Lets continue this debate once I know if I have passed, wish me luck for tomorrow and Wednesday!

Thanks
Ben435

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Slopey View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Slopey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2012 at 8:07am
Quote however they are standing guarantor


It *is* their 100k. Be advised that the insolvency rules have changed recently in England, and you can no longer just write off training debt as you could previously.

Good plan with the IT degree - you do realise you'll earn more just working in IT than in the RHS of a jet, without the 100k loan to pay back, and on a contract which is more than 6 months long?

If have an IT degree, and are decent (I encounter many IT graduates who aren't!), working in the field and training modular will save you maybe £60k, and let you get to the CPL/ME/IR/MCC with no debt - just saying... But then you have the hold pool to contend with, so better make some contacts along the way.

(Note that you'll need £1000 pcm to pay off £100k, and about £2-3k p.a. to keep your Class1, CPL/MR/IR current, so you'll need £15k a year while you search for a job just to keep your repayments/tickets. Most graduate programmer jobs (certainly the ones I employ) start around 20-25k, before tax. So that's 17-22k after tax. Can you live on 2-7k p.a.?

And then realise that a RHS jet job, pays about the same - so you'll still be living on around 7k p.a. for the first 2-3 years, *if* you're not on a temp brookfield contract...

or you could bring home 22k p.a. and fly for fun, or do it modular)


Anyways good luck with the test!
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Ben435 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ben435 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 8:48am
I PASSED!

6 attended 2 passed!

Thanks
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SkyFly View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkyFly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 8:58am
Well done!!! Enjoyed it?
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Ben435 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ben435 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Sep 2012 at 4:18pm
Yes, the simulator test was the best part - I suppose that goes without saying!

Also the group exercises were good.

Thanks
Ben435
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VulcanB2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Sep 2012 at 6:19pm
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5567094/

I would very strongly advise AGAINST doing the course!!!

In the face of this, it is complete and utter madness.

The airline industry, for pilots at least, is screwed for at least the next decade. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we are currently witnessing a major and permanent reduction in pilot numbers. To run one A380 even short-haul, would be cheaper than 7 x 737 loads of passengers, with 1/8th the crew costs, if operated at max capacity of 800 seats. For the airlines, with ever rising fuel prices, this is a no-brainer. It also solves the airport capacity problem for aircraft. Bigger aircraft and less of them. The green fraternity would also approve - less emissions. Win, win and win.... except for those wanting to work in the industry. Oh - did I mention salaries would collapse due to demand? It's already happening.

Best regards,
Vulcan.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TK1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2015 at 3:01pm
Guys im looking for every forum and i need urgent help for compass test especially orientation part.

-i did good score in compass but i got failed in orientation part so i need to re-take again cos of orientation.If you have any suggestion,material or web-site for the orientation part share with me please.

-Regards,
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Slopey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2015 at 12:36pm
So bumping a 2.5 year old topic on a flight sim forum is going to help?  Unlikely.

Post in the training forums on Pprune - you'll have more success there.
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TK1 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TK1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2015 at 1:29pm
I also posted other forums as well,i was also searching and i saw this topic which seems very useful for me,i just need some help its up to people help me or not.
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