Gday stoneley,

We're in a similar boat it seems! I've just handed all my medical results off to DFR to have my medical status determined and awaiting a response before my file is sent to PSA.

My understanding is that PSA select candidates from the top of the list of recommended applicants to fill each individual course, where a candidates rank is determined by a number of criteria (of which flight motivation is one) and qualitative comments by your defence interviewer. Flight experience indicates motivation so it is probably desirable to have this (but doesn't necessarily infer any advantage at FSP or during training), however motivation can also be expressed in other ways so it is not the be-all and end-all. Your name will remain in the pool for 12 months or until your rank falls within range of selection and you are sent a letter of acceptance to FSP.

Your enlistment coordinator should be able to confirm your competitiveness in relation to other candidates and where you sit on the list (I'm pretty sure anyway), short of this I've heard of people calling PSA directly to find out.

Hope this helped!

Cheers,

VS

Hey Stoneley,

I have also had my file sent to PSA recently. As VS said, the time taken for them to send you a letter of invitation depends on how high they rank you.

My enlistment coordinator said that I would probably hear from the PSA before she did, so I suggest you call the RAAF switchboard on 1300 333 362 and ask them to connect you to PSA where you can ask them how your file is doing.

Hopefully see you and VS at Tamworth soon!

Stoneley,

VS has summarised it very nicely. There's probably not much you can do now but wait and hope that you become competitive to be invited to the FSP.

Don't waste your time though. Start preparing for the Officer Selection Board. Procrastination is never rewarded in this game and as I say, "You make your own luck" through hard work, a determined approach and detailed preparation.

WW

Hi guys,

I'm also currently in a similar situation to a few of you. Just passed my assessment day for RAAF pilot and engineer- and now been reccommended for the Flight Screening Board and also OSB for engineer. I'm currently in yr 12 and want to got ADFA. I haven't had any flight experience though - is that really going to be an issue?
If anyone's got any tips for either, they'd be greatly appreciated :)
Also if anyone knows to get in contact with a RAAF pilot or aersopace engineer, or if there are any on this thread willing to talk to me that'd be great :)

Hi ATP,

You'll find the answer to flight experience in my previous post directed to stonely44. As for tips, I recommend reading through this thread in its entirety. I understand it is a long thread, but it is filled with tips, advice and experiences from people who have taught on FSP and BFTS, as well as people who have been through the process and been both successful and unsuccessful.

I see you're from NSW... did you get a chance to go to Avalon for the airshow last weekend? It would have been a perfect opportunity to have a chat to a few pilots as well as engineers with the trade exhibition on, and (if memory serves correctly) a lot of engineers are based at Point Cook. If not, I'm sure there a few people on these forums who would be willing to point you in the right direction :)

Cheers

VS

April flight screening
 

Anyone got onto the 28th april FSP?

I'm assuming you did? Out of interest how long ago did PSA receive your file?

Thanks Very Sneaky, I live on the south coast which is quite a fair way from Avalon and Point Cook. My nearest Air Force base is in Williamtown which is 4hrs away :/ Yeah i've had a bit of a read of the thread and the info's all really great but also from a few years ago, i was just trying to get advice from those who have really recently gone through the process (wasn't sure if anything has changed much or not). Trying to get in touch with people is hard for me, being where i am, which is why i'm trying this thread

Hey ATP9, give Williamtown a call and ask to arrange a base visit, they will tell you to organise it through your enlistment coordinator. Ask then for the email to send the application to and make a note of the name of the person you speak to. That way you can give this information to your enlistment coordinator without them turning around and saying that they dont have a contact at the base. You should be able to get a visit organised pretty easily, and get a chance to talk to some pilots.

Thanks heaps, i'll give that a try. Also does anyone know what the extra medical tests for pilot entails??
Again - big thanks to you guys for helping me out here

As in post FSP? If i recall correctly they do a dental check and a blood test.. I have a feeling I'm forgetting something though.

Hi Guys,

I'm interested in joining the RAAF and will apply within the month. What would my chances of applying for pilot be? I'm 32 and I don't have a degree. Is this a requirement? Or is there a way you can prove you skill and dedication to the job without such qualification?

Regards

No, as in before FSP (I think). They told me on my assesment day that they did all the tests they could and I was class 3M which as good as I could be, but that I had extra tests I had to do for pilot at a later stage...

Quite sure there is a rather intensive eye check in there too! It's interesting how this doesn't occur before flight screening. I guess it must cost DF a bit.

Ps thanks for the great replies.

Thanks guys. yeah i contacted my DFR and the lady said they do the tests post Flight Screening because of the cost.

Hi Resolute,

This is taken straight from pilot career info on the DFR website:
"...preferred maximum age on entry to ADFA is 24.5 years so that candidates will not be more than 27.5 years of age on commencement of pilot training. Applicants older than 27.5 years of age may be considered for selection if they demonstrate significant potential for Air Force Pilot training."

I would assume you would have to score exceptionally well at the YOU session and really impress at Assessment to even be considered for flight screening. In terms of showing dedication to the job I’m sure they would want to know current/previous employment and flight motivation (i.e have you done any flying). It's likely that DFR staff would discourage your application due to your age, however nothing’s impossible if you want it badly enough. Keep in mind the IMPS for RAAF pilots is 13.5 years, so you’ll be over 45 years of age before you can even leave.

I wouldn't say don't fly rotary wing, however remember you will have to do about 220 hours of fixed wing training before you start on rotary wing in the ADF system.
Get yourself about 15 hours on fixed wing. It's also a helluva lot cheaper than paying for helicopter time!

Hey guys,

I am currently going through the process of becoming an ADF pilot, and and last week i got the call to attend Flight screening on the 11th of May. I was wondering if anyone can give me some good tips on how to fully prepare for not only Flight screening board but also the Officer selection board? i am a bit lost at the moment and any help would be much appreciated, Cheers.

Mate i am on the 11th of may one, so i might see you there

Hey jonesb101,

If you haven't done so already, go back and read this entire thread (maybe from here back, some of the earlier stuff might be a bit outdated). There's an enormous amount of helpful information in here about everything to do with the whole process. If you've got any specific questions feel free to message me and I'll see if I can help.

Jonesb101,

Rule #1 - Get motivated. Read the thread in it's entirety. There are no easy answers or easy roads to becoming a pilot with defence.
Rule #2 - See rule #1

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!

\End of Essay

M0ridin,

"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."

In my humble understanding, the system works as such:

The FSP courses don't necessarily feed into a particular pilot's course.
The folks at PSA constantly assess applicants throughout the year and those who are successful feed into a block of other successful applicants. When the time comes, the best applicants in the block are selected to fill the course. Army and Navy are fed from the same block.

In terms of RAAF offers, surely the recruitment people can answer that question?

I have been out of the defence flying game for some time now but I can tell you that you are in for a wonderful experience. The training is the best you'll get, the operational flying is something you can't get anywhere else and will set you up for alternative flying careers as you age.......we all get old.

Hope the hearing test goes well with you and good luck.

Looks like we may be in almost identical boats mate! All the best with the ear testing; I'm currently awaiting a decision from DFR as well... I was told I'd receive a verdict in 8-10 business days... 5 weeks and a follow up phone call later and I still haven't received one haha; hopefully you don't have to wait as long as I have!

RE: this. According to my enlistment coordinator there there are two intakes for RAAF enlistment per year; one in January and one in May. If you aren't accepted to the first you are obviously eligible for the second as you remain in the post-FSP pool for 12 months.. I'm not sure about the other services though. I don't know of any specific cut off dates for any specific intake, but the impression I got was that if there was one it would be very close to the selection date, as my case manager was trying to get me onto an april course for may selection

FSP
 

Pilot Selection Agency Flight Screening Program Schedule - Royal Australian Air Force
Hey guys, this is a link to the flight screening program posted by the RAAF - As far as i'm aware, the DEO/ADFA RAAF candidates are assessed with the other force candidates as well

FSB Induction?
 

Hello everyone, I have just finished reading through this thread and I would just like to thank everyone for the wealth of information that is on here, it has been so very helpful; however, I do have one question that I could not find the answer too. I am heading down to Tamworth for flight screening in May, and in the letter I was sent an e-mail which told me, among other things, that I would be receiving a "Flying Induction Brief" upon my arrival. Can anyone who has recently been through FSB tell me what this is? Also, would it be helpful to learn the flight manual/specifications of the CT4-B before the course?

Thank you all very much

bowers123

B123,

In the absence of others posts I'll add my 2c, but it's old gouge.

I believe the flying induction brief will cover the basics to get you started on how operations at Tamworth work, from receiving the mass brief, to jumping in the aircraft, through to debriefing. They'll most likely cover the basics first to get you started, say, medium level turning, stalls, and circuits, then in later briefs will build you up to aeros and spinning.

I wouldn't bother with learning the flight manual, save that for BFTS if you get there. Flight screening is about showing your potential to learn, not quizzing you on the aqua planing speeds of the CT4. You'd be better off getting your head into current news and operations in the world and rehearsing your punch lines on why you want to be an ADF pilot.

Again, all old gouge, and course may have changed by now. Good luck!

Hi all,

Had my YOU session last Thursday. In my mind I wasn't completely confident of my Maths (been out of school for about 14 years now), had a nice surprise and scored highly enough to apply for SSO Pilot.

Originally from the UK, had to get equivalency of quals done. Year 11 is the score so will have to sit Year 12 to be able to continue my application.

No big deal, this is what I want to do in life, I will damn sure make it happen, do what I need to do to get there. Already have the course lined up at CIT in Bruce to get it done in approx 1 year. Bit of a downer at first, but hey, I get to up skill my qualifications leading to my potential military flying career. Win Win for me I think.

I second the above comments. You'll be given all the material you require and you'll be given ample time to study it. There is zero points for knowing more, and it could well be more trouble than you think it's worth. Getting a hold of documents like that could very easily raise some integrity questions that you just don't want. If you were supposed to have it, it would be given to you, but also to everyone else. If you have something that others don't have, regardless of whether or not it'd help you, you're opening a can of worms best left closed.

If you go back through to around page 111 or so, you'll see "Markoshark" was carrying on about people having access to material prior to Flight Screening. His arguments were completely unfounded and ill informed, but you will see the opinions of the wise old heads that relate to this sort of stuff.

You are much better off preparing for the final phase of testing by being across current affairs and getting what ever life skills and experience you can. This is your one shot - having your head in the books when you don't need to is not the answer. Make yourself as competitive as you can, but competitive in the right way. Knowing the CT4 Flight Manual for Flight Screening is akin to knowing how to solve a Rubik's cube in less than 30 seconds - great party trick, s*** for everything else.

Well done mate, and keep at it! Maintain that attitude and don't take no for an answer. Good luck for the remainder of your testing.

Cheers,

SR71

Dear All,

Thank you all so much for providing your input that has allowed so many readers to build up their knowledge regarding the ADF selection process. Despite that there are 122 pages worth of posts I would just like to make sure that the picture I have painted for myself regarding the DFR is accurate. Furthermore I have a few questions relating to my personal situation of which I have not been able to find many examples off on the internet and would just like to seek some input/advice from individuals whom have recently been or are currently in the selection process or of coarse are in the RAAF themselves. My ambition is to join up with the ADF as a direct entry officer with the pilot position being my number 1 preference. Thank you in advance for your time.

I sat the general YOU session on the 21st of March 2013. The session went really well, a lot of the information provided on the internet was accurate regarding preparation for the general aptitude testing and also the mathematical testing. I did not finish both tests as I had about 70 of the 75 questions complete on the general aptitude test and around 3 or 4 questions on the maths test where I had absolutely no clue what the answer was. After all the testing was complete I had a brief talk with the medical examiner regarding my medical questionnaire and a brief colour perception test, all passed without a fuss however I still need to get my BMI down but it’s proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought. I am 193cm tall and have a BMI of 31.2, I understand full well that you have to have a BMI of 29.9 and below 105KG to qualify for a pilot role however my years playing rugby and rowing have given me a bit of a bigger frame then most but I will do my best to get her down. After the brief medical examination I was called into the office with the careers counsellor. He provided me with a single A4 sheet of paper with a listing of all the jobs I had qualified for based on the initial aptitude tests. Luckily a lot was available so of course I immediately decided upon following the path of Pilot in the ADF (RAAF preferably).

I have a second YOU session scheduled for the 19th of April 2013 for the “advanced assessment” I believe it’s called. I understand that there will be more general aptitude questions, memory, mathematical, physics, hand eye co-ordination and accuracy testing, however I just wanted to know if the general aptitude and maths test this time round will be of the same standard as the first one or higher? I just want to make sure that on top of the preparation already done I am not missing anything major. I have a few other questions regarding my real life experience but I feel that is more applicable for the Assessment Day and Office Selection Board so I will address those accordingly if I were to progress of course (fingers crossed!). Basically my question boils down to have any of you done the “advanced assessment” for the YOU session lately and what was your experience therein? I am just about to head out to a RAAF information session at DFR so looking to soak up some more knowledge there.

Thank you kindly in advance for reading what would be a lengthy post but seeing as I have read 122 pages worth of posts this is small fry in comparison to some J. Looking forward to hearing from you with your responses.

Kind Regards,

Frag

The BMI thing has long been a vexed issue, as an unfit skinny person can breeze through where a well-muscled footy player can struggle. I know of one bloke in particular who played schoolboy rugby union for Australia who had to do all kinds of silly things, like dehydrate himself, to jump through the hoops.

One thing to keep in mind if you're trying to get your weight down is to avoid faddy diets etc, because you might find it plays havoc with your blood cholesterol etc. A balanced low kilojoule approach and aerobic fat burning exercise would probably be the go.

You may just have to pretend to be a supermodel for a while and eat a lettuce leaf a day! Good luck.

I would also like to send out my thanks to the many contributors of this thread which provided me excellent reading material for the past 3 stages (YOU session, additional testing and finally assessment day).

After having my assessment day around 5 weeks ago, and then my medical reports sent one week after, this week I finally got cleared medical 3M (which I assume is changed to a 1 once you pass the dentist and eye checks after Flight Screening etc).

I now get to endure the 'fun' period of time waiting for PSA to ring me to organise a flight screening course :)

Be aware now all those pursuing RAAF pilot it just got a lot more competitive. BFTS itself for RAAFies is now basically a 6 month FSP. The need for jet pilots means now that if your RAAF and successfully pass BFTS, you're placed once again in a pool for 2FTS and only the top will get a spot at Pearce. Those not selected - tough luck amigos, JBAC or ACO are for you.

Oh wow. That's a massive change. I'm not sure I see how this increases the recruitment of 'jet' caliber pilots... I'd have thought having the wider range of selection would've been more desirable.

Is this applicable for pilots who elect to go down a jet 'stream', or is it applicable to all pilots? Just wondering how it affects pilots aiming to fly aircraft in other roles i.e. air lift or bizjets

I guess its designed to filter out the weaker trainees, ones who look like they might scrape the grade for multi-engine streaming but would probably not make it for fast jet.

Off on a tangent; anyone have an idea how long you are likely to wait for specialist medical checks after FSP these days? Assuming you pass.....

We can't all be super-fit racing ferrets such as yourself mate!:E

This policy is applicable to all RAAF pilots. The fast jet world is hurting for numbers. The non-FJ units are over-stocked with pilots. The reasons why are another argument altogether.
It's basically supply and demand. It's their train set, so they recruit and man as they see fit. Personally I reckon there's better ways to go about it, but apparently the opinion of a 28+ years pilot doesn't count for much. :mad:

I guess one way around it is to say you want to go FJ, fail the course and get posted to where you want to go anyway!. One word of advice though, don't tell them you want to fly "bizjets" (I assume you mean VIP). The RAAF wants combat aviators, not airline pilots.

Thanks for the clarification CSD, that's helpful. I am personally aiming for fast jets, but I was curious about the other roles and I know it would be relevant for others on here so I asked the question. I guess it's just another hurdle in a string of many to jump over... if that's what it takes then bring it on :ok: