bretthullrampage
Well-Known Member
I THINK the 6 -200's they are looking at are coming from Mesa. But like most things I could be completely wrong.
Piedmont
- Thread starter Wings86
- Start date
I THINK the 6 -200's they are looking at are coming from Mesa. But like most things I could be completely wrong.
sixoneseven
Well-Known Member
Piedmont has no routes out west and, I doubt they ever will. We do ground handling out west, thats it. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if SkyWest picked up the routes out west. I mean, they operate our routes out of LGA now anyways.
ASpilot2be
Qbicle seat warmer
Skywest already did take some Mesa flying out of PHX.
BTpilot
Living the...dream?
Hey have you heard anything about the slot swap at LGA? I'm ready to stop flying out of there... We (ZW) are supposed to bulk up DCA.. How bout you guys?
HVYMETALDRVR
Well-Known Member
nvm perhaps I said too much 
flyingbynight
Well-Known Member
Anyone from jetcareers interviewing on the 7th?
rockman2343@aol.com
Well-Known Member
Jim_Raynor
New Member
I'm interviewing on the 7th. See you there!
flyingbynight
Well-Known Member
You staying at the quality inn?? We should meet up for dinner
Jim_Raynor
New Member
pm sent
Jim_Raynor
New Member
I interviewed at Piedmont yesterday, September the 7th. Overall a great experience. The other gouges out there, especially the one at mypilotcareer.com, are 99% accurate, but I wanted to add a few observations. I stayed at the quality inn airport rather than the hotel they recommended and split the room with a fellow JCer. You can't beat $15.00 each for the night. 6:30 shuttle takes you right to the training center and breakfast is provided (at the hotel). Signed in and was directed to the cafeteria where I met with the other interviewees, 6 of us in all. All had CFI, 4 were actively instructing, one unemployed, and one flying 135 (that was me - I'm at Cape Air). Hours ranged from 500 to 3000. Bob Trout came in around 7:15, introduced himself, and took us upstairs to a classroom. Super nice guy, but he doesn't beat around the bush. We walked in, were seated, and he handed us the test and walked out. 45 minutes for the 50 minute test and as he says, it's a "single pilot operation."
Here's the deal: there isn't a single piece of knowledge on this test that you won't (or shouldn't) know, but the way it is worded and the answer choices made it pretty confusing; I would even say hard. As you finish the test you go back downstairs to the cafeteria to wait. When the last guy came down he had been told we should all go back up at 8:15 (it was about 7:50 at this point). You're ushered back into the classroom and Bob calls everyone out into the hall one at time to be told their score. Out of the 6 of us, 4 didn't get the required 80%, and got sent home. This includes the fellow JCer I roomed and studied with the night before, who I know knew his stuff. The remaining candidate and I then got a fully involved company presentation from Bob that included company history, personnel, bases, routes, equipment, and hiring projections. They're planning to reacquire 6 planes from Mesa for a total of 50, and run classes in October, November, and December for attrition and the new planes. About 30 minutes in all. While I appreciated the information, the whole time I was thinking: "why are we getting this info now, when we have 2/3 of the interview left to complete?" It made it a little hard to concentrate.
About 8:45 we were sent back to the cafeteria to sit until 9:15 when we would get the sim brief. Bob gave us the brief, and explained that he's not a pilot and we would have plenty of time to address our questions to the sim interviewer. We were then ushered through the bowels of the training center to a lounge to wait on the sim and HR. And we sat, and sat, and sat. A little after 10:00 a guy poked his head in and explained he would be with us shortly for the sim. At 10:30 Bob came back and took the other candidate for his HR interview. I waited for another 20 minutes before being pulled for the sim. Steve does the eval and is super nice. Sim was 100% as briefed in other gouges. You don't have to do anything except fly the plane. Steve sets power, gear, flaps, radios, heading bug, CDI, flight director and makes all your callouts. It's cake.
Finally I got to the HR portion. This was conducted by Bob and Doug, the Chief Pilot. Really really laid back. What got you into aviation, what's your background, why Piedmont? The other candidate got a few easy tech questions, but they told me: "we see you're pretty experienced, so we don't need to do tech!" Then asked if I had any questions, and it was over. Maybe 10 minutes max of HR. Was told I'll get a phone call from Bob tomorrow. Everyone was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and I really hope I get the job. Good luck to all other interviewees!
As soon as I got done I wrote down every written test question I could remember. I managed to recall 47 (hey, I'm only human here). As other gouges state, I think they have a bank that they mix and match to keep it fresh, but this was my experience. Answers are all me and not guaranteed, but I would love to hear opinions on any that you think I missed. I got 45 of 50 right, but they won't tell you which ones you missed or let you see the test once you're done.
First, the straightforward questions:
Flying from a lower to higher MEA, when must you start your climb? At the start of the segment with the higher MEA, unless a Minimum Crossing Altitude is specified.
At what temperatures is lightning most likely to strike? -5C to +5C
What is the most hazardous form of precipitation? Freezing rain
Convert 12C to F 53.6 was not an answer choice, but 54 was.
You are traveling at 295 knots how many miles per minute? Again they round; the closest answer choice is 5.
On a three degree glidepath at 130 knots what is your descent rate? I used 5x groundspeed and got 650 fpm, which was an answer choice.
What does an inverter do? Converts DC to AC power.
What does a rectifier do? Converts AC to DC power.
Steady red light while airborne? Circle and give way to other traffic.
Under Part 121 when must the aircraft emergency lights be armed? taxi takeoff landing
How far out to contact CTAF at uncontrolled field? 10 miles.
Holding speed at 7000? 230
How many flight hours can a part 121 crewmember log in 24 hours? 8
Which condition would initially cause the indicated airspeed and pitch to increase and the sink rate to decrease? Sudden increase in a head wind component
You are in a Category B aircraft but are flying 5 knots above category B for the approach what mins should you use? Category C mins
Where to find takeoff mins? Back of Jepp airport chart
How long is this TAF valid? 22 hours. I'm not familiar with the 22 hour TAF, but the one on the test was valid from 0420 to 0518, so 22 hours was the only answer choice that fit.
According to this TAF, is an alternate required? Yes ceiling is forecast at BKN008
What are some characteristics of an airplane loaded with the CG at the aft limit? Lowest stall speed, highest cruise speed, least stability
You are on X radial and instructed to hold on X, what holding entry do you use?
Founder? Richard Henson
VP flight ops? Michael Scrobola
How far to avoid thunderstorm? 20 miles
How far down the runway are the aim point markings? 1000 feet
Where do red and white runway centerline lights start? 3000 feet of runway remaining.
IFR lost comms what altitude and route do you fly? Route: Assigned, Vectored, Expected, Filed. Altitude: highest of MEA, Expected, Assigned.
Takeoff mins Dash 8? 1sm
Takeoff alternate distance? 1 hour normal cruising speed with one engine inop
When is an alternate required? 123 rule. (I was thinking all three of these would be whatever the ops specs say, but that wasn't an answer choice.)
There were several questions that referred to low enroute and approach plates. The answers all came right off the charts.
Low enroute chart what center would you contact southbound on V143 south of GSO? Atlanta center
Where to change VOR between GSO and ROA on V103? 28nm from GSO there is a COP
At INGON intersection can you receive DAN (Danville VOR)? No. DAN is a low volume VOR, so only guaranteed out to 40 miles, and INGON int is at least 44 miles away.
Pcl freq? Read off the plate 120.7
Is Ithaca tower open 24 hours? No
Max holding speed on missed approach VOR 14 Ithaca? 200 kts. The plate instructs you to hold at 3200, and there is no special speed listed.
On missed approach holding entry you should time one minute outbound from station True or False? (for the life of me I can't remember which approach this was) False it is a DME hold.
Circling mins category B with Elmira altimeter? (can't remember this approach either) Just read off the plate
Finally, a large number of the questions were either worded wrong or vague to the point that I'm not sure what the correct answer was. I've put my best guesses on here, but I'd love to hear what the JC community thinks on these:
Salisbury VOR 5 approach. You are on the 330 radial SBY VOR at 5 DME and ATC issues the following clearance: Piedmont 123 proceed direct SBY cleared for the VOR 5 approach maintain 3000 until established. Can ATC legally give you this clearance? I don't see why they couldn't, but some of the others argued that since you were not on a published portion this was an illegal clearance. Opinions?
When cleared for the visual approach what must you have in sight? The airport, preceding aircraft, or either? I answered that you have to have the airport in sight. If there is an exception about following only the preceding aircraft, I'm not sure where that is listed.
Crew bases? Each answer choice has three cities and each includes at least one crew base. The correct answer has crew bases only, except that it includes LGA which closed August 31.
Which is the first indication of a stall? Buffeting, horn, stick shaker, or all of the above? My thinking is that any indication counts, so all of the above, but I don't know which one they were looking for.
Glide slope goes out what do you do? Advise ATC and request the localizer approach, descend to MDA, or fly to the missed approach point and execute the missed approach? We had a fair amount of discussion about this one. They don't actually ask what is the correct thing to do - only what would you do. I put to advise ATC since there has been a loss of navigational capability, but I'm open to suggestions here.
Glide slope is out what type NOTAM? Local, distant, or FDC? The correct answer now would be D, since they got rid of the L notams, but since L is listed as an answer choice that might have been the one they were looking for.
How much fuel is required for IFR reserve under 121? Enough to fly to the airport of intended landing, fly to the alternate, fly for 45 minutes or enough to fly to the airport of intended landing, make a landing, fly to the most distant alternate, and then fly for 45 minutes? There were 2 other choices that were obviously wrong so I concentrated on these two. Opinions differed - the first choice sounds correct, but the second choice sounds a little more correct with the "most distant" alternate, however I don't remember anything about being required to carry fuel to land. I chose option 1.
What weather conditions will require the ILS critical area in use? 1000 overcast 3 miles vis or 800 overcast 2 miles vis? I said the lower vis, but don't recall a published minimum weather for ILS critical area.
Over Danville airport find the MSA? This is how the question is worded, which is confusing because MSA only comes off of approach plates, and the diagram they refer you to is a low enroute. One of the answer choices is 4400, which is the grid MORA value, so I think this is what they are looking for.
At what altitude would indicated altitude and true altitude be the same? 5000, 8000, 10000, 18000? I think they meant to ask at what altitude indicated and pressure altitude would be the same, which would be 18000. True altitude should be the same as indicated any time the altimeter is set correctly at standard temperature.
What is a characteristic of an LDA? Never aligned with runway, never has a glideslope, used when flight tests determine that localizer minimum clearance is not available? I chose never aligned with runway. I didn't like it because in general, I shy away from multiple choice answers that include the word never, but I know there are some LDAs that include a glideslope, and the long answer sounded too complicated to be right. Does anyone know of an LDA that is aligned with the runway?
The sim was as follows:
Elite desktop PCATD
King Air 200
Allentown, PA
OVC008, wind calm, no turbulence
Takeoff ABE runway 6
RH 4000
gear up positive rate
Flaps up 1000
Climb power 1500
Level off cruise power
Left to 270
Direct ETX VOR
Cleared ILS 6
Maintain 4000 until established
At ETX direct JISTO
Descend 3000
Descent power
Power for 200 kts
Enter hold at JITSO
Direct or teardrop entry
Established in hold
At JISTO descend 2400
FD approach mode
1.5 dots low gear down
Approach power
Approach flaps
Gs intercept at SHAGY
Follow ILS
1000 above, 500 above, minimums
Land
Thanks to everyone who helped me prepare, and special thanks to my roommate - I know you knew your stuff and it sucks you got sent home. Good luck at your Skywest interview. Good luck to anyone considering Piedmont, I'm already going nuts waiting for the call!
Here's the deal: there isn't a single piece of knowledge on this test that you won't (or shouldn't) know, but the way it is worded and the answer choices made it pretty confusing; I would even say hard. As you finish the test you go back downstairs to the cafeteria to wait. When the last guy came down he had been told we should all go back up at 8:15 (it was about 7:50 at this point). You're ushered back into the classroom and Bob calls everyone out into the hall one at time to be told their score. Out of the 6 of us, 4 didn't get the required 80%, and got sent home. This includes the fellow JCer I roomed and studied with the night before, who I know knew his stuff. The remaining candidate and I then got a fully involved company presentation from Bob that included company history, personnel, bases, routes, equipment, and hiring projections. They're planning to reacquire 6 planes from Mesa for a total of 50, and run classes in October, November, and December for attrition and the new planes. About 30 minutes in all. While I appreciated the information, the whole time I was thinking: "why are we getting this info now, when we have 2/3 of the interview left to complete?" It made it a little hard to concentrate.
About 8:45 we were sent back to the cafeteria to sit until 9:15 when we would get the sim brief. Bob gave us the brief, and explained that he's not a pilot and we would have plenty of time to address our questions to the sim interviewer. We were then ushered through the bowels of the training center to a lounge to wait on the sim and HR. And we sat, and sat, and sat. A little after 10:00 a guy poked his head in and explained he would be with us shortly for the sim. At 10:30 Bob came back and took the other candidate for his HR interview. I waited for another 20 minutes before being pulled for the sim. Steve does the eval and is super nice. Sim was 100% as briefed in other gouges. You don't have to do anything except fly the plane. Steve sets power, gear, flaps, radios, heading bug, CDI, flight director and makes all your callouts. It's cake.
Finally I got to the HR portion. This was conducted by Bob and Doug, the Chief Pilot. Really really laid back. What got you into aviation, what's your background, why Piedmont? The other candidate got a few easy tech questions, but they told me: "we see you're pretty experienced, so we don't need to do tech!" Then asked if I had any questions, and it was over. Maybe 10 minutes max of HR. Was told I'll get a phone call from Bob tomorrow. Everyone was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and I really hope I get the job. Good luck to all other interviewees!
As soon as I got done I wrote down every written test question I could remember. I managed to recall 47 (hey, I'm only human here). As other gouges state, I think they have a bank that they mix and match to keep it fresh, but this was my experience. Answers are all me and not guaranteed, but I would love to hear opinions on any that you think I missed. I got 45 of 50 right, but they won't tell you which ones you missed or let you see the test once you're done.
First, the straightforward questions:
Flying from a lower to higher MEA, when must you start your climb? At the start of the segment with the higher MEA, unless a Minimum Crossing Altitude is specified.
At what temperatures is lightning most likely to strike? -5C to +5C
What is the most hazardous form of precipitation? Freezing rain
Convert 12C to F 53.6 was not an answer choice, but 54 was.
You are traveling at 295 knots how many miles per minute? Again they round; the closest answer choice is 5.
On a three degree glidepath at 130 knots what is your descent rate? I used 5x groundspeed and got 650 fpm, which was an answer choice.
What does an inverter do? Converts DC to AC power.
What does a rectifier do? Converts AC to DC power.
Steady red light while airborne? Circle and give way to other traffic.
Under Part 121 when must the aircraft emergency lights be armed? taxi takeoff landing
How far out to contact CTAF at uncontrolled field? 10 miles.
Holding speed at 7000? 230
How many flight hours can a part 121 crewmember log in 24 hours? 8
Which condition would initially cause the indicated airspeed and pitch to increase and the sink rate to decrease? Sudden increase in a head wind component
You are in a Category B aircraft but are flying 5 knots above category B for the approach what mins should you use? Category C mins
Where to find takeoff mins? Back of Jepp airport chart
How long is this TAF valid? 22 hours. I'm not familiar with the 22 hour TAF, but the one on the test was valid from 0420 to 0518, so 22 hours was the only answer choice that fit.
According to this TAF, is an alternate required? Yes ceiling is forecast at BKN008
What are some characteristics of an airplane loaded with the CG at the aft limit? Lowest stall speed, highest cruise speed, least stability
You are on X radial and instructed to hold on X, what holding entry do you use?
Founder? Richard Henson
VP flight ops? Michael Scrobola
How far to avoid thunderstorm? 20 miles
How far down the runway are the aim point markings? 1000 feet
Where do red and white runway centerline lights start? 3000 feet of runway remaining.
IFR lost comms what altitude and route do you fly? Route: Assigned, Vectored, Expected, Filed. Altitude: highest of MEA, Expected, Assigned.
Takeoff mins Dash 8? 1sm
Takeoff alternate distance? 1 hour normal cruising speed with one engine inop
When is an alternate required? 123 rule. (I was thinking all three of these would be whatever the ops specs say, but that wasn't an answer choice.)
There were several questions that referred to low enroute and approach plates. The answers all came right off the charts.
Low enroute chart what center would you contact southbound on V143 south of GSO? Atlanta center
Where to change VOR between GSO and ROA on V103? 28nm from GSO there is a COP
At INGON intersection can you receive DAN (Danville VOR)? No. DAN is a low volume VOR, so only guaranteed out to 40 miles, and INGON int is at least 44 miles away.
Pcl freq? Read off the plate 120.7
Is Ithaca tower open 24 hours? No
Max holding speed on missed approach VOR 14 Ithaca? 200 kts. The plate instructs you to hold at 3200, and there is no special speed listed.
On missed approach holding entry you should time one minute outbound from station True or False? (for the life of me I can't remember which approach this was) False it is a DME hold.
Circling mins category B with Elmira altimeter? (can't remember this approach either) Just read off the plate
Finally, a large number of the questions were either worded wrong or vague to the point that I'm not sure what the correct answer was. I've put my best guesses on here, but I'd love to hear what the JC community thinks on these:
Salisbury VOR 5 approach. You are on the 330 radial SBY VOR at 5 DME and ATC issues the following clearance: Piedmont 123 proceed direct SBY cleared for the VOR 5 approach maintain 3000 until established. Can ATC legally give you this clearance? I don't see why they couldn't, but some of the others argued that since you were not on a published portion this was an illegal clearance. Opinions?
When cleared for the visual approach what must you have in sight? The airport, preceding aircraft, or either? I answered that you have to have the airport in sight. If there is an exception about following only the preceding aircraft, I'm not sure where that is listed.
Crew bases? Each answer choice has three cities and each includes at least one crew base. The correct answer has crew bases only, except that it includes LGA which closed August 31.
Which is the first indication of a stall? Buffeting, horn, stick shaker, or all of the above? My thinking is that any indication counts, so all of the above, but I don't know which one they were looking for.
Glide slope goes out what do you do? Advise ATC and request the localizer approach, descend to MDA, or fly to the missed approach point and execute the missed approach? We had a fair amount of discussion about this one. They don't actually ask what is the correct thing to do - only what would you do. I put to advise ATC since there has been a loss of navigational capability, but I'm open to suggestions here.
Glide slope is out what type NOTAM? Local, distant, or FDC? The correct answer now would be D, since they got rid of the L notams, but since L is listed as an answer choice that might have been the one they were looking for.
How much fuel is required for IFR reserve under 121? Enough to fly to the airport of intended landing, fly to the alternate, fly for 45 minutes or enough to fly to the airport of intended landing, make a landing, fly to the most distant alternate, and then fly for 45 minutes? There were 2 other choices that were obviously wrong so I concentrated on these two. Opinions differed - the first choice sounds correct, but the second choice sounds a little more correct with the "most distant" alternate, however I don't remember anything about being required to carry fuel to land. I chose option 1.
What weather conditions will require the ILS critical area in use? 1000 overcast 3 miles vis or 800 overcast 2 miles vis? I said the lower vis, but don't recall a published minimum weather for ILS critical area.
Over Danville airport find the MSA? This is how the question is worded, which is confusing because MSA only comes off of approach plates, and the diagram they refer you to is a low enroute. One of the answer choices is 4400, which is the grid MORA value, so I think this is what they are looking for.
At what altitude would indicated altitude and true altitude be the same? 5000, 8000, 10000, 18000? I think they meant to ask at what altitude indicated and pressure altitude would be the same, which would be 18000. True altitude should be the same as indicated any time the altimeter is set correctly at standard temperature.
What is a characteristic of an LDA? Never aligned with runway, never has a glideslope, used when flight tests determine that localizer minimum clearance is not available? I chose never aligned with runway. I didn't like it because in general, I shy away from multiple choice answers that include the word never, but I know there are some LDAs that include a glideslope, and the long answer sounded too complicated to be right. Does anyone know of an LDA that is aligned with the runway?
The sim was as follows:
Elite desktop PCATD
King Air 200
Allentown, PA
OVC008, wind calm, no turbulence
Takeoff ABE runway 6
RH 4000
gear up positive rate
Flaps up 1000
Climb power 1500
Level off cruise power
Left to 270
Direct ETX VOR
Cleared ILS 6
Maintain 4000 until established
At ETX direct JISTO
Descend 3000
Descent power
Power for 200 kts
Enter hold at JITSO
Direct or teardrop entry
Established in hold
At JISTO descend 2400
FD approach mode
1.5 dots low gear down
Approach power
Approach flaps
Gs intercept at SHAGY
Follow ILS
1000 above, 500 above, minimums
Land
Thanks to everyone who helped me prepare, and special thanks to my roommate - I know you knew your stuff and it sucks you got sent home. Good luck at your Skywest interview. Good luck to anyone considering Piedmont, I'm already going nuts waiting for the call!
Jim_Raynor
New Member
Got the call this morning. I got the job! October 11th groundschool in CLT. Anyone else who's going to be in the class feel free to PM or get in touch!
bc2209
Well-Known Member
Good job, congrats
On the stall question they were looking for horn. Your written was a little diffrent from the one I had on the 30th. Our Interviews were also conducted a little diffrent. After Bob sent us to the classroom for the test, everyone for some reason stayed in the classroom after finishing, so I figured I would if they did. Out of the seven of us only one went to the cafeteria. After the test was over the presention started and a few minutes in we relized that we were missing the one that went to the cafeteria, so Bob went to retrieve him and then we resumed the presentation. After the presentation was over they sent six of us to the sim lounge to wait and the one that failed the written remained in the classroom, we never saw him again. They never did tell us our test scores. John conducted our sim evaluation, sim was just as you described it. Then we set in the sim lounge and were called one by one to do HR with Bob, after we finished we were free to go. Was called three days later and offered the job. So I will be in your training class in October.
See ya then.
See ya then.
Jim_Raynor
New Member
It's funny you should say that about the written. I'm usually a quick test taker, and this time was no different. I finished first of the group by about 10 minutes, but once I put my test at the front of the room and walked out the door, I started second guessing myself, thinking "did he really tell us to go all the way back to the cafeteria?" The last thing I wanted to do was walk out and leave an interview that was going well and have them think I had just quit. So I ended up standing just outside the door in the hall shuffling my feet and getting eyeballed by the people who were supposed to be there until the next guy finished and confirmed that yes, we were instructed to go back to the cafeteria. Instruction following FAIL! I'm glad Bob Trout didn't see that.
And congrats on your interview. I'll see you in Charlotte!
And congrats on your interview. I'll see you in Charlotte!
Hi guys,
I ve been a jc member for years just have a new nickname. my old nickname was Danny_pr... anyways, Just wondering if any members has new info on piedmont about QOL , updated interviews experiences, upgrades.
I received an invitation for interview and want to know if the previous experiens posted here (september) is the same or any new one.
Anything will really be appreciated!
I ve been a jc member for years just have a new nickname. my old nickname was Danny_pr... anyways, Just wondering if any members has new info on piedmont about QOL , updated interviews experiences, upgrades.
I received an invitation for interview and want to know if the previous experiens posted here (september) is the same or any new one.
Anything will really be appreciated!
