Just want to say something to all the guys out there who have been told by RN/RAF BA etc that, because they have failed the aptitude testing, they will not make pilots.
This is absolute nonsense. I have taken these tests twice and passed twice, so I'm not an embittered candidate, but I was already an instructor when I went to Cranwell and was absolutley disgusted to hear, during the pre and post test briefings, the flight officer explain that if you failed you were "genetically not ment to be a pilot". Of course, there are some peple of whom this is true, but only a few. Generally, very insensitive and inaccurate information from an institution I, for the most part, greatly respect.
For those of you that have failed (and passed), bear in mind that these tests simply provide an INDICATOR of how "trainable" you are. They can only measure your natural abilities (to an extent)and provide absolutely no indication of how much detirmination or "effective" intelligence you possess. I have flight instructed for two major airlines and can tell you these are vital to success in flight training.
This is not to advise that you disregard these tests entirely. If you decide you are still committed to flying, procede with caution. There are some people that do find flight training very challengeing and, for these people, it is fair to say that they are unlikely to be successful as PROFESSIONAL pilots, as it may take them many hours to fly to the required standards.
In modern airlines you are required to pick up the knowledge and skills to fly a modern jet, fast or big in a relatively short amount of time. For example, American Eagle gives their candidates just 9 sim sessions to learn to fly the jet, which is not long if you have been flying a 172 for a thousand hours or so. You've got five times the the speed and much greater complexity.
For those to whom it is apparent that they are not cut out for proffesional flying, there is still an entire field of highly enjoyable recreational flying.
To reitterate- a fail on these test absolutely does not mean that you will never be able to fly.