G'day Milt,
What was involved in the testing when you went through? It's not my place to make a conclusive judgement, because no matter what it's got to be a difficult job assessing every applicable aspect of every candidate to ensure they have what it takes for every phase of training and further service. For example, someone mentioned to me that while FSP can determine how well you learn basic aircraft manoeuvres, many people get to instrument flying and just can't handle it. But really, what more can you do about that, short of spending another few thousand $$'s and a lot more time getting EVERY candidate into real IF at maximum workload?
...At this point the best they can do is assess your motivation toward overcoming any obstacle put in your path. I'll second what Coran said about flying hours showing motivation. It really is something the OSB is looking for. The guys with minimal to no hours, especially the older ones, said they had a good grilling about it at the Board. But if you have a good reason for it (eg. sick and dying mother to take care of, 3rd world poverty, etc), you may be alright.
Regarding coordination specifically, there was only one coordination test I did at the Recruiting Centre. This is the one we're not allowed to talk about, but I think I can say it wasn't particularly comprehensive. (Although sufficiently confusing!) I've heard they may have introduced more coordination tests now. Anyone care to comment?
Milt, was the Flight Screening Program up and running when you went through? By that stage they're taking a pretty close look at us. I mean if you get through 10 flights and 2 sim rides without the ex-fighter/airline/etc BAe instructors not noticing your lack in coordination....then good job! Also what I appreciated was something called the "round table", where the instructors and Board members would meet to discuss the flying of the candidate. Who knows what sorts of jokes fly around the round table, but it's good to know that there's communication all round, as there can always be a degree of subjectiveness in the scoring of individual instructors.
Unfortunately I don't think I can give my actual results without having to explain how we were scored, and then the ADFPSA may be a tad displeased with me having disclosed that information. But I can say that the instructors were reasonably pleased with my "hands and feet", and bar some hard landings in the past
, coordination has never been an issue with me.
While I'm not the biggest fan of the initial stages of recruiting, I must say that by the time you reach the FSP/OSB, the ADFPSA are putting a lot of effort into assessing you for the job. They keep mentioning a little something called "reasonable risk to the taxpayer" throughout. So they really seem to have their mind on the goal. And I have heard that the pass/fail rate on Pilots course is improving.
But if I may say one more thing about the process. I think it's quite a pity that a shortlist must be made for FSP/OSB beginning day one of assessment. It's pass/fail for every single test. At FSP/OSB, they make it clear that they are assessing the entire package of the candidate. Meaning if you're not the best flyer (but still not too hopeless), you may make up for it in other areas. And if you're a top gun, you'd have to be - I quote - "bl**dy brainless" not to be recommended by the Board. If you've read my posts from the start, you'll see that I've had to overcome some obstacles in my recruitment process, meaning I've tripped up on the many steps, and been prematurely told I was unsuitable. Fortunately for me there were always 2nd chances and I had the grace of time to re-try as I went through university.
Others haven't had 2nd chances. While the ADFPSA may have assessed their entire package to be a reasonable balance, the initial stages of recruiting haven't looked at them in that way, and scrapped them all too soon. I know it's hard, and expensive, to look at each new candidate as closely as they do in FSP, but I think that if they had that reasonable outlook, we would find more of the right people in FSP, hence saving money at that stage. Not saying the wrong people get to FSP, but I AM saying that a lot of people with great potential, and perhaps greater motivation, get passed up too soon, while sometimes someone who's simply got the ticks in the boxes finds himself in a CT-4.