Originally Posted by NZAV8R
How many milli-seconds did they give you to answer that?
If I got asked something like that during an interview I think I'd be itching to check it with the E6-B my wristwatch bezel; though I'm do wonder how well that would go over.
Would that be a major faux pas?
It would be ideal to be able to instantly crunch the numbers during an interview; but we all know how grueling those can be. If, for example you are nearing the end of the interview and you get asked that type of question (which is one that you could normally answer unaided) and you realize that you are starting to get brain fade, would it not be better to utilize the E6-B on your wristwatch and be sure of your answer, rather than not and so give only an approximate, or worse and give an incorrect answer?
If anyone has advice about handling this sort of scenario during an interview (ie. if it's ok/not ok to reference an E6-B) I'm all ears for it.
I don't think the interviewer is really looking for the correct answer rather he is looking for any answer and the way you handle it. (Correct is better) If you immediately looked to your wrist watch and gave him the correct answer, it would say about you that you are precise, accurate, correct and thorough. However it would also say you may be inexperienced unable to see the forest through the trees, and unable to think on your feet without a crutch. Perhaps the best answer would be to quickly know that you are going about 4 miles a min so it would take about 10 to 12 minutes.
If I were interviewing I would rather hire the guy who just knows it takes about 10 minutes rather than the guy who gets flustered, refers to his E6-b watch and "calculates" the answer.
A similar question often asked (in the old days) was: Say you need to dump 12000 pounds of fuel. Your aircraft can dump 100 gals a min. How long would it take? Now you could go to your E6-b and figure the density of the fuel for the tank temperature and figure the weight of a gallon. Then you could divide the 12000 pounds by your weight calculation and come up with an answer. I would rather just figure about 6 pounds per gal times 100 gals per hour divided in to 12000 = about 20 mins. Who would you rather hire?
BTW a really experienced 727 Capt. would just say, "I'd get the flight engr. to figure that out!"