Originally Posted by wrxpilot

It's hard to say how they choose people to do the sim. I fly a Citation (part 91) and was within 6 months of my FSI type and am current. I was chosen to fly the sim before I had even talked to anybody. I was actually kind of surprised, as I didn't think I would be selected since I was so current on jet equipment.

Like you, I was a little nervous since I only fly glass (even our standby on the CJ3 is glass). Fortunately everything came back quickly and I did pretty well. They brief you thoroughly, and give you some time to get used to the sensitivity of the sim. You will most likely receive an approach you've never seen or heard of on the gouge.

Almost everybody in my group did the sim (including prior 121), so I think it really comes down to how much time the interviewers have. If they can, they seem to run almost everybody through it. If not, then perhaps there's some criteria used to choose people for it. Either way, I'd assume you'll be in it. Interestingly, the one guy in our group who spent a bunch of money on sim prep busted on the sim.

As far as the system you need to draw/explain, it seems to be up to the interviewer. They're just looking for basic knowledge... For a fuel system, be able to draw a basic schematic and know how many fuel pumps are in the system. They're not looking for specific fuel pressures or anything. I was asked to draw a schematic of a turbine engine and explain the components. Again, they were just looking for fairly basic knowledge that anybody with turbine experience should know.

I think the Skywest interview team does a great job of keeping the interview away from a scripted act that is easily defined by online gouge. They want to know you as a person, and I think it's a good thing. I actually had quite a pleasant experience and liked everybody I met. It was quite different from some of the other airline interviews I've had. Every place has its problems, but I'm looking forward to working there from what I saw.