You get to see your file at the end of FSP which has all your individual flight scores and your overall flying stanine, which is out of 9. The only thing you don't find out is your board score.:=

cj,

given that stanine 9's have not been recommended I would think it is the board score that is more relevant and more likely to make you competitive for selection.

Stanines vs board scores...

I believe it is combination of the two that determines selection. In other words, if you're a bit of a muppet (but trainable) airborne, but a star at the board, you might get through over gods gift to aviation who can't string a coherent sentence together or lead his or her way out of a paper bag.:ok:

I'm sure Capt SD has some more advice...:8

That's pretty well it in a nutshell. However you only get one go so give everything your best shot. Getting stressed out about stanine scores and board scores will achieve nothing. You're either recommended or not.

Pilot age
 

Mad Keen,

dont be discouraged by your age mate. I kicked of the selection process at the age of 30 and im currently awaiting my flightscreen date after receiveing a r2 recommendation.

The defence interveiwer told me that they like someone with "life experience" when applying for the DEO role.

But it will definately help if you have been in a leadership role at your age.

So give it your best shot mate.

As for the base tour, and in particular Amberely, they dont allow you to tour the base until you have been recommended after your assesment day. The reason being the sheer volume of people that get through the testing phase, but are unsuccesful at the assesment day.

Having said that though, if you can establish your own contact inside amberely, its likely they can take your for a tour.

i managed to establish a good contact inside Richmond and found myself inside the c130h simulator flying over sydney harbour!!!

Good luck with all the testing..

From what I have heard, these days the Army upper age limit for aircrew is 42 and they are quite willing to accept applicants from that age bracket. The RAAF and Navy are not so generous. . . but then again I'd rather be back down at tree top height with the doors off, than dropping a JDAM from flight levels... :ok:

Orthotics
 

Hey Ed,

I wear foam inserts purely for comfort. However when i was younger i did wear them, and orthotics as I experienced ankle troubles which have since resolved.

I was wearing the inserts when I had my Assesment day medical and the doctor told me that it was her understanding that you cannot wear any sort of insert for the first six weeks of training (ADFA) however after that it was permisable. Don't quote me on this, but none the less it was what i was told.

Cheers

Nick

G'day

Ed: Out of curiosity, what's the name of the condition that keeps you reliant on orthotics?

By the way, can anyone vouch for the validity of this? The content's convincing, but the website doesn't look too professional. And $275 is quite a bit when you're sixteen. :p

I've never seen this before, looks interesting (though useless at my stage).

I have the stance that if you really want it, you should spare no expense when it comes to your RAAF application so if its good I wouldn't hesitate. Alot of the info it offers are easily accessable for anyone though, but maybe if you're at the aptitude test stage it might be worth it. As for 'how to pass FSP', there really is no magic word, or if there is nobody has told me! Funny about the CF-188 picture though, on that note if you watch SBS's "Real Top Guns" you'll see that the background for the DVD menu is clearly a US Navy Super Hornet...:ugh:

Hmmm...seems no dodgier than the Wings website. It's just surprising not a single persons mentioned it before. At least people can vouch for Wings and there's preview chapters. It's also a lot pricier than Wings. Those testimonials on the left look legit too :rolleyes:

God bless meat pies and video games.:cool:

I'm on for assesment day this wednesday coming, I've done plenty of research on the RAAF and ADF in general and my case manager seems fairly confident I won't have any problems, but I've a few questions to ask for those that have already finished their assesment day.

1. How long would a typical assesment day take? (keeping in mind that I've already passed my spec. testing).

2. Would I be asked service specific questions for all my preferences? (eg. RAAF-Pilot 1st, RAN-Pilot 2nd, RAAF- ACO 3rd).

On another note. Yeah, I used to wear orthotics as well when I was younger. I had them in my hiking boots at timbertop (a school I went to) mainly for comfort and to stop getting blisters. DFR still wanted a report on it from the doc I got them from. But I'm pretty sure from what I've heard that you'd be fine as long as you don't have flat feet or are heavily reliant on the orthotics.

Cheers,

AlexanderB,

My assessment day started at 0830 and finished at 1700. They say aviation is hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror, but I think they were actually talking about the recruitment process :ok:

Jokes aside, thats how long mine took (eight and a half hours!). I was also asked Navy and Army questions even though RAAF was my first preference. These were things like, "what is the new Navy/Army helicopter?" and "Where and how long is initial training for Army?" and so on. Not all interviewers are the same, some won't ask much more than "what is the aircraft on that poster on the wall?" but I've heard others will really dig deep. Spare no effort and you'll give yourself every chance of success.

mhale, You do not need straight A's to become a Pilot in the ADF nor do you need Physics.

Like it says on the Defencejobs.gov.au website. you only need to pass Advance English, Mathematics 2 Unit and Three (3) other Academic Subjects (Which one has to be some type of Science, Chemistry, Physics or Biology if a Grade C was not passed in year 10)

I have spoke to many Pilots including, PC-9/A, Hawk 127, F/A-18, Blackhawks and Seahawks. They have all said the same thing. Just obtain the minimum education requirements ^^. Other things they said are.

*Show leadership potential (School Captain, Manager or Captain of a sport team)
*Show an interest in Aviation (Obtaining a Pilots licence, AAFC, Some flight hours, Aeronautics)
*At your assessment day, know everything a big must!
*Learn to do Algebra in your head and learn how to do mathematics quick in your head.
*The rest basically just show them why they should spend up to 3 million dollars on you, short answer BLOW THEM AWAY!!

G'day :)

mhale71: Heh, I wouldn't say anyone's guaranteed success, even if I pass all my classes and the testing, I'm still in a hard place regarding the medical. Here's to hoping -3.5's within the pre-op limit for Laser.. And if it isn't, you can bet your house on who's going to appeal.

Ironically, I was just typing up a resume for a hopeful first job, so I might have some way of paying for flying lessons at the Royal Aeroclub. I've taken Aviation as an additional subject to my six at school, and as a result, scored a free 45 minute trial-introductory flight; I'm hoping to try and negotiate a "Pay-as-you-go" option for flying lessons there. $3000 seems like quite a bit to pay up-front. :P

As for the Defence Pilot books, I'll contemplate buying them when the local Maccers decides to take a second look at my CV. :P

Dilmah G, never pay for flying lessons up front. Most schools should allow a pay per lesson option and if not, don't bother. You shouldn't have to pay up front. Take your free trial but don't be sweet talked into anything.

It'll be at the front of my mind OFN, and if the Aeroclub don't like the idea, I believe there's two other schools down at Jandakot I can have a talk to.

By the way, does anyone have experience with how the docs take to bad eyes in younger (ADFA) applicants? e.g. Those under 20, and thus under the minimum age for Laser surgery, if this is anything to go by. And secondly, how touchy are the docs on foot issues? I have a bit of an obscure one that looks weird, but doesn't impair by ability at all.

I'm perfectly aware of the fact I haven't done any testing yet, and getting to the specialist medical isn't guaranteed, but if there are any med issues that could put an end to my first attempt, I'd rather iron them out before strolling into the local DFR.

Mhale, Yes if you do Physics it is extreamly diserable. If you do not do Physics and you will be competing against other who have, you really have to do some special to out-class them.
I would love to do Physics, but I don't have good enough grades unforuntatly. After year 12 I am going to have to go to tafe and do Advance mathematics, Advance English and Physics etc to build up my ATAR.

Hey guys,
I have my assessment day coming up very soon and am keen to get some advice from current RAAF pilots. I live in Brisbane and would love to get a tour of Amberley if possible. I have contacted the base a couple of times but am getting the run around - apparently I need to have my tests times booked, etc...

Are there an pilots from Amberley who would be open to have a chat about the recruitment process, etc...

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks again and good luck to everyone.

Tony,

You do not know anything about what you are talking about!

95% in the external exam will equate to a 95 raw exam mark. A 95 raw exam mark will be then be moderated to a 98+ examination mark.
A 98+ examination mark will scale up, contrary to what you said.
Also, a 95 examination mark will most probably get you close to a state ranking (bearing in mind that the cut off for a band 6 last year was 83 raw).

On top of that, you have a 95% internal mark, which equates to 95. If we assume you come first in your cohort, this will then be the same as your external examination mark, which in this case is 98+. These two scores, aligned internal and moderated external are then added together and divided by two.

So we're looking at a 98+ HSC mark. If you're going to argue to the contrary of a 98+ HSC mark scaling up, then you are completely out of your mind.

So please don't talk about something you know little about!

K.thnx.bai!

On a related note, I believe this post would dispel any notion about Physics being absolutely essential for selection.
Grr. I'm regretting not swapping out of physics when I had the chance now.