Aspiring pilots - please do not give up until you have read this post!
I am a GAPAN member myself and fully endorse the efforts of the Guild in helping those interested in joining what may still be regarded as a profession.Regular visitors of this web site may question the validity of this status ; but one must be optimistic!
I do not not seek to undermine the objectives of those who administer these tests as they have first-hand experience of the disappointment suffered by those who longed for a career in flying but despite their best efforts fail to gain a professional licence, or who qualify only to struggle thereafter with recurrent checks. The tests are valid and efficacious BUT , do heed this all important CAVEAT.
Firstly in general terms ,despite claims to the contrary, performance on these types of tests will usually improve with practice and experience, just as pilot performance improves as a result of those influences.Would you expect it to be any different?
I did my primary training with the RAF on a University Air Squadron. Members were selected on the basis of searching interviews without the use of the aptitude tests the RAF normally employs and for the very good reason that the service wanted to recruit a broad spectrum of volunteer reserves who would be of future benefit. Many would discontinue civilian career aspirations and join up full time, others would leave the squadron to enter every other area of life but remain favourably disposed to the armed services. As a result I witnessed the efforts of individuals of greatly varying degrees of aptitude undergoing flying training.
Some students could plan a three leg navigation exercise in thirty minutes, others like myself would sweat for a whole morning.It may seem unbelievable but I can remember a number of us struggling to come to terms with the fact that whilst an ASI might read 100 kts the groundspeed could be different!Many of us could not even add up our mess bills at lunch reliably, but for other students Einsteins basic theory of relativity was, ...well, just basic.
Anyway the crunch came at the end of the course when the much feared,( but actually kind and fair) Central Flying School came to undertake the required "Standardisation " flights with the student pilots, -an assessment.
The results were very interesting. Of course those who embarked on the course with good aptitude generally performed well -the odd guy messed up due to nerves or bad luck
What about those " underwater basket weavers" who ought to have stuck to "reading weeks" and essays on "Towards a feminist poetics- did Jane Austen or George Elliot contribute more to the emergence of the woman novelist?"
A few fared badly, though none crashed! Most though ,after having plugged away and grappled with a task initially alien to their psyche, had modified their brains to cope and achieved gradings of average , high average or above average.
So for those of you who were disappointed with your so called aptitude profile please follow this advice. Go to your bookseller or library and obtain everything available on these types of test, even ones only mildly related.Take advantage of the advent of computer games and enhance your coordination skills , expand your mental capacity under pressure of time.
Allow yourself several months for the gains to show .Now try the aptitude tests again, if the results are disappointing and you know you have given it your best shot then maybe your brain is orientated in a way not disposed to aviation - look for a field that suits you better.However,dont arrive at the conclusion that you are not cut out for flying too hastily.
[ 25 October 2001: Message edited by: partagas ]
[ 25 October 2001: Message edited by: partagas ]