Phew! Just finished reading all 121 pages of this thread, warts and all. It has been very informative and a fresh source of motivation and encouragement.
I am currently at the business end of the application process, having passed the YOU session, Pilot Aptitude Testing and the Assessment Day. I am thankful to say that my experiences with DFR thus far have been very good, having managed to avoid any of the nightmarish experiences recounted in this thread.
A little about me: I am in my mid twenties, and have recently finished a five year double degree.. Although I have wanted to fly from a much earlier time, due to several personal reasons I did not solidify my decision to join the ADF until about halfway through my degree, although I resolved to finish my degree before applying.
I have done about 8 hours of powered flight, although due to constraints on money my recency is lacking. I am contemplating a Red Baron flight if i get offered a FSP place.
I applied in November last year and sat the YOU Session in December. I sat the Pilot Aptitude testing in January. Information regarding the content of these two tests are largely contained in this thread and are for the most part accurate. I don’t think I did especially well at the speed maths, and at the lunchtime break I was sure that I had failed. The coordination testing was extremely tiring for me, mainly because I was so intent on doing my best that every muscle was tensed for the whole duration of the tests (Probably something I should work on for FSP); however I managed to pass.
I had my assessment day in February. Both the psych and defence interviews took less that twenty minutes and I was recommended by my interviewer. I did get questioned on my motivation and was asked why I completed a largely irrelevant degree instead of applying sooner, however the late application did not appear to be a major concern. One thing that did throw me was I was asked to stand and deliver a one minute speech on a topic I admittedly forgot to study in detail. Usually I have no problem with public speaking, however lacking any knowledge on the topic and having only the interviewer to focus on, rather that a group, I was thrown (especially when the interviewer keep making strange facial expressions).
The last two months have been spent trying to clear up medical issues raised by defence. The most problematic being a small glitch in the hearing of one ear. Hopefully I will have the specialists report in the next two weeks clearing me of any restrictions. From there I assume a waiver will have to be applied for as I will be Aviation hearing class 2.
I am hopeful that I can get everything sorted and make one of the DEO FSP courses in May, although this may be optimistic.
Just a question to anyone reading this thread that may be in the know. How many rounds of RAAF offers are there during the year, when are they and what are the cut off dates for FSP courses that feed into them.
At this stage I am optimistic about my chances, although after reading this thread and talking to several pilots at various levels within the RAAF, I am in no way complacent, both about the competitiveness of the FSP and the amount of work involved if I am successful.
I just want to get up to Tamworth and test my mettle!
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