Got the Aptitude?

[Gillespie]

Hi,

Many wise folk have told me that before taking the huge financial burden of professional flight training
I should have my aptitude tested by GAPAN to ensure I can get a job at the end of it.

Fair enough,

I attended the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre in RAF Cranwell and sat their Aptitudes (needless to say I didn’t get in). I passed the pilot Aptitude with a score of ‘high’.

Is the GAPAN testing the same thing or is it worth me getting them to test it as well?

Ps. I failed the navigator Aptitude, will this reflect on anything in the future?

[scroggs]

The GAPAN aptitude tests are closely related to the RAF ones, though I believe the interpretation is weighted to make the results more appropriate to the civilian environment. The advantage of the GAPAN test is that is comes with a comprehensive debrief and, I understand, written confirmation that can be shown to an employer if necessary.

However, a GAPAN aptitude test is of less value to an employer than it is to you. After all, you are the one proposing to spend many thousands of pounds on ATPL training; if you are given a LOW result by GAPAN, you may think it wise to invest that money in an alternative career! On the other hand, by the time you get to an interview, you have a great deal of training history which will say much more about you than the aptitude test can.

As for the navigator tests, they are optimised towards the main use of 'navigators' (not called that these days), which is as operators of complex weapons and surveillance systems in the F3 and GR4 Tornado, the Nimrod Mr2 and R1, and the Canberra PR9. The traditional navigation role is these days restricted largely to the VC10 and the C130K (yes, I know there's a 'real' nav in the Nimrod and the E3!), and the skills required are a pale shadow of what they used to be thanks to modern navigation equipment. So no, I doubt a fail in the nav aptitudes will be terribly relevant.

Scroggs