Pilot Aptitude- Got what it takes?

[350Z]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on the forum after some (hours and hours) browsing so please be kind.

Ok so here I am on a Friday night, at home, thinking I don't want to waste money on beer when much more fun can be had in the sky...Incidentally I had my first flight experience today in the form of a trial lesson at Cranfield! Wow, never had so much fun!! I thought I'd be scared or nervous of flying but all was fine and I really enjoyed it! Managed to get a good feeling of the controls, I think my hand eye coordination is above average so my stick and rudder control was pretty good. (in my opinion of course!)

The future plan and long term goal is to attend OAA and an gain an fATPL...I have my class 1 medical booked for Wednesday so hopefully that will go through fine then it's decision time!

Long story short; I've just turned 24, i'm a uni grad with a 2.1 (BA) and I have a couple of job offers available to me at the moment. I recently decided that office life was not for me so went for Inspection roles- one in construction and the other for the Health and Safety Executive as a trainee Inspector (had to attend a full day assessment for this one) Starting wages are both mid twenties and as you can imaging the HSE job has great benefits and security.

Now, before I turn these down I obviously want to be sure I have the required aptitude to become a pilot! I can't fit in a GAPAN or OAA skills assessment before the decision has to be made and my main concern is my weakness regarding maths! Obviously I can do most of the basics but I wouldn't say I find mental arithmetic comes easily- I found the tests on the HSE assessment day quite challenging- Numerical Reasoning ones from SHL (similar to those used by banks). This is definitely an area that I can improve on although it is still a concern.

I guess a good question to ask would be how much rapid mental arithmetic is required during flying? or is most of it skills based- the ability to coordinate hands/feet and eyes effectively and scan the instruments etc.

I think I know where my heart is and my heads almost there, I am just a little concerned that I will be passing up on a good job opportunity when I may fail the pilot aptitude tests! :confused:

Any thoughts or opinions gratefully received, thanks!

[flyinho]

Hi 350Z,

I'm 31 years old and currently 23 hours into my PPL and loving every minute of it. I've decided to go modular towards my fATPL as money is an issue. My maths isn't the strongest but my instructor tells me I'm well above average skill level and have a natural aptitude for flying. The way I see it is that one can learn maths and physics but having the feel for flying in the first place will ultimately make one a better pilot.
Going modular means I can work and learn at the same time. You do have a tricky decision to make re:work and I would be tempted to say to you that maybe you should consider modular route to start with and take up one of your job offers for the time being so you have some security. Depends how much cash you've got to throw around ultimately!
Good luck in whatever you decide:ok:

[Bandit650]

To be frank you are making a big deal out of nothing, I used to worry about these things before soon realising that flying is not about mental arithmetic or supreme hand/eye co-ordination (unless you fancy flying the Red Bull Air Race for a living of course). It is about dedication, perserverence, ability to study effectively, discipline/attitude, mental awareness and workload management.

Studying for your ATPL groundschool and doing your IR will certainly test your resolve for being a professional pilot...

If you are already into your PPL and you're not falling behind the syllabus you have sufficient inherent physical/mental ability to be a pilot. If you are aiming for an airline position, bear in mind airlines look for team players and effectively "flight managers" to crew their flight decks.....

[350Z]

Thanks flyinho, i think you're right and that it may just be the case I will have to work hard to improve my mental arithmetic. To be honest I think if I took one of the jobs I would be at a serious risk of getting stuck there and ultimately not pursuing the dream. I'm fortunate in that I can raise the funds to go the Integrated route and I think this will be best for me...I guess life isn't a rehersal and the best thing is to go for it and work as hard a possible to achieve your goal!

Bandit, i appreciate your frank comments and think commitment and a lot of hard work is definitely going to be required! I would imagine the studying to be pretty hardcore but I'm used to that, thanks to uni, so fingers crossed I'll cope fine.

I think my decision is virtually made, best put together a 'thanks but no thanks' reply for those job offers lol...some will think I'm crazy but nevermind!! :cool:

Cheers for the comments guys.

[oli4]

just annother idea....
why don't you accept one of your job offers and take the aptitude at oaa while working. the courses are fullly booked up untill about july anyway so its probably best to work in the meantime, saving money and passing time. this makes it less of a risk.
that way you've got a good job, you can take the tests to see if you can get in,if you do get in, then book yourself on a course and hand in your notice to your job.
i took the assesment a couple of weeks ago and passed. i spent a lot of time revising maths and physics. my advice is do your times tables in your head while driving around or just doing other things, revise percentages. but really stick to the simple stuff.
good luck
Oli

[350Z]

Cheers Oli, that's not a bad idea actually! Although i think the start date for the HSE job (best opportunity) is mid April....i guess i could accept then see how I get on with the assessment. I would feel pretty bad joining then leaving 3 months later though...It's one of those 2 yr training, 4 yrs till qualified type jobs with pay going up to circa £40k end of y4 so i'm not sure.

Thanks for the revision advice, i've got a long motorway journey this afternoon so will be able to get in lots of practice lol.:)

[preduk]

If your thinking about doing the selection at OAT, Cabair have an online test which gives you an insight into the sort of questions you can expect.

Go to - http://www.cabair.com/integrated/mathematics_paper/Mathematics.htm

[Stable Ish]

a friend of mine who recently did a selection bought a nintendo ds with the two brain-training games. they were surprisingly good at improving mental maths among other things. if you know a kid with one you can nick, the games are reasonably priced

[rossjermy]

The Maths and Physics required for the course are not immense and the maths and physics test papers I sat on my aptitude test were pretty simple although saying that that is just a test to see if you have ths skills in the first place. i have just started doing my ATPL thoery distnace learning due to lack of money and have to say that especially in thr flight planning module your maths needs to be pretty sharp. Converting from decimals into hours ans minutes quickly can be confusing especially with multiple choice answers designed to throw you. I suggest you go to Cabair for their aptitude test because its pretty easy to get on and only takes half a day and they let you know immediately if you have passed

[rossjermy]

Although cabair do give you an example of their aptitude test questions online the maths and physics thought processes are much more advanced on the course than that of the online questions. I have a degree in Physics and i find the odd thing confusing to start with. If you think you will struggle a little with maths do a residential course because the tutors will be able to help you straight away

[planecrazy.eu]

I will second what some one else said...

Take a job, get some cash, and study part time the exams, and when you reach the stage to take the CPL and IR tests you could quit, having made some money, or keep going part time and make some more...

As for aptitude, stressing about it makes it worse, i did better in my first one than my second one, by a fair. The test are to see if you can cope with the different aspects of becoming a professional pilot, they are not designed to trick you in anyway.

Maths is similar to what a 15/16 year old does at a C level at the most, the tests are basic, a little physics in the one i did. However, there is a trick, only answer if you know the answer, if you dont know it, dont attempt it at all, i was told this by an interviewer some time back.

There is nothing hard in the ATPL Exams, its more to do with the fact the ammount you have to learn in such a short space, its all multi choice, and to be honest, I have a Mech Eng degree and no technical questions caught me out at all, so not sure why they did for the other poster with a physics degree.

I might get slated for this, but its like taking a DVLA exam, study from a book, and turn up and sit a multi choice exam, people might say its different, but i can see how.

Strong x-wind landings, windshear, inflight emergencies, now thats the harder/skilled part about flying in my book.