any tips or iq books you guys recommend for the flight testing passed the intitial iq tests today so going back in a another month for next round of testing. The lady there told me it was amths and on some instruments etc didnt really go that much into it :/

Yeah I had an engine cut out on the CAP-10 during a certain manoeuvre - I'm sure those that have been there can guess which one it was. Only happened to me on the one aircraft though. Apart from that, damaged the tailwheel on my final flight because I flared too soon and dropped her onto the runway pretty hard. A guy on another course at the time also had a problem where he accidentally knocked the fuel valve closed which shut the engine down.

I doubt those were the pressing issue though (surely this is tame in comparison to an operational type or the PC9?), plus it was a very enjoyable aircraft to fly!

Yes Mudrat, I also had the engine cut out during that same manoeuvre, although it just added to the fun of flying it :P Also had some close calls then the park brake had decided to undo itself. Although I don't think this should be any reason to stop using it, the cap-10 was easily the best bit of FSP. No better feeling than pulling 5.5g's through a loop in such a light aircraft, looking up at the paddocks above u, or knowing that the person in the ct-4 waiting for you to taxi past cant stop laughing at you while your zig-zagging along :P

ADF Aircrew Aptitude Testing
 

@Green_pilot_79
First piece of advice: Improve your written communication skills ! Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation would be a tremendous starting point. :ugh: (What is it with young people and their distinct lack of English skills these days !?). No one is perfect, but at least make an effort !

Secondly: Enrol in PATS (Melbourne) and/or purchase the 'ARCO' publication: "Military Flight Aptitude Tests" (Highly recommended !).

You will sit a series of aircrew psychometric exam's - all varying in degrees of complexity & expected outcomes. Most candidates' fail at either the 'Instrument Appreciation', or Mental Deduced Reckoning (Mental Mathematics) examinations.

HINT: Learn how to work out 'rates of change' (Speed/Distance/Time etc) problems very quickly - in your head ! Forget the complex stuff you were taught in the Yr 11/12 Mathematics syllabus (unless you're applying for ADFA of course).
You will need to go back to basics and be able to work out how to multiply & divide large numbers in a short period of time. Orders of Operations and decimal place movement after an operation would be well worth understanding !

Basically: know your stuff and don't leave any element of your brain back at the 'ranch' ! It is a very challenging day for most Candidates'. Don't rest on your laurels.

Ooops:eek:
Shall I tell him, or shall someone else?

I think on the Cap10 after 5g's, you're starting to overstress the airframe, but not certain on that one.

4g's is what you're required to do on FSP. ;)

From memory, 6g was the limit... or was it 7?

Instructors also need to be wary of students attempting to throttle back and closing the mixture instead :D

Jim broke the CAP10

I just got the call up for Flight Screening on the 22nd of January!!

Any other DEO candidates coming up then?

Good luck to everyone going through all of this process - it can be long and enduring but well worth it!!

cheers

revised_estimate clearly works for/owns PATS :hmm:

1000 bucks to "learn" how to do an IQ test and mental D.R. is the biggest waste of money I've ever heard of. And mentioning grammar and punctuation when clearly you aren't too good at either was lol-worthy. But good luck to you! Obviously many suckers out there and you must be doing well.

Here's a tip: If you think your mental D.R. needs some improvement, then practise! When driving long-ish distances, calculate in your head speed/distance/time calculations; Practise some quick mental calculations e.g counting back from 200 in 7's; On Saturday night when withdrawing from the ATM, see how many $4.60 schooners you could buy for your $70.

There's probably 500 different I.Q. tests available online. Do a few and see how and why each correct answer is so. Learn to figure out the patterns.

YOU day testing is FREE and can be done again and again. Pilot Spec. testing is FREE and can be done again. Clearly some people have too much money for this PATS thing.

Once you've been recommended to FSP, spend your $1000 on some actual flying. This is the best way to get extra experience which will be more fun and invaluable come the OSB. They'll probably be more impressed by this than the attendance at a weekend pilot testing program for suckers.

edit: Just saw it was approx. $3000 for the weekend course :rolleyes:
Any Venture Capitalists present wanting to help me set up a similar "school?"

CSD-Why let the truth get in the way of a good story:ok:
I think it is the sudden unload after the g that would be more exciting, as I seem to remember a certain ex buccannana pilot finding out.:O

Nice aircraft, although I did hear a 'real' aerobatic pilot call it the "Crap 10" a bit harsh...

Sounds like someone pulled 1.5g's too much! That solves the mystery of the no longer safe CAP-10s :D

I noticed that some screeners were fond of taking it through the grass too, I can't understand why they wouldn't just stick to the taxiway ;)

Haha yes im guilty, I did pull 1.5 g's too much.... in my assesment :O My assessor did find it pretty amusing, and reminded me of the 5.8-6.0G stress limit on the wings oops.

Good advice to spend some money on flying.

I would suggest though that you do it prior to your file going to PSA. Its a competitive process to get an FSP slot and all your details make up your score. If you send in flying hours after your dossier arrives its not going to look as good as having hours in your dossier when it arrrives.

Maybe slightly off topic but I was wondering about this today.

Would some of you guys be keen to share what you wrote on your application form where it said something along the lines of "I want to join the ADF because..."? I'm just curious as to whether people went all out and wrote an essay or something concise.

I can't remember exactly now but mine could be summed up as "I want to fly the F/A-18 Hornet, serve my country and meet some of the best people". I was more formal and elaborated a bit but it wasn't more than 3 or 4 sentences. My thinking was they get thousands to read, they don't want to read another page long response.

What about you guys?

Hey guys,

My file is in the process of being sent to psa. It has been like that for a few weeks now and she doesn't seem any closer to sending it off. Does anyone know if this is normal? And how long is the average time before being called to go to PSA?

Also, I was told that they aren't doing any flight screenings until March, but people in this forum are booked in prior to that. I am so confused. Can anyone help?

Thanks heaps!
Cait

Cait,

I think from memory mine was +4 weeks between assessment day and receiving a letter saying my file has arrived at PSA. Not sure of the average time but you learn to be patient with DFR, they deal with a lot of people.

I am doing flight screening (DEO) in January, Maybe they aren't doing ADFA FSP courses until March, if you are applying for ADFA that could be it.

Good Luck

I'm going DEO too, so maybe she was just confused :O.

Thanks heaps! I'll try to be patient ;). Good luck at PSA!

From what I've been told by DFR, the first block of FSP's every year are reserved for DE candidates, as the ADFA crew are still at school. Next year, school holidays don't begin until Easter (as per usual) but Easter isn't until Anzac day, so I'm thinking the first four months will be DE after DE...correct me if I'm wrong.

to the sky gods!
 

First time poster, long time reader. I would just like to say a big thankyou to everyone who has ever posted in this thread! It has been enormously helpful, and unbelievably insightful, motivating and interesting. It is extremely encouraging to see that in a very competitive field, everyone can offer so much helpful information and can be so supportive of one another.

Apolagies if i've missed a post, but does anyone have any suggestions and/or criticism on reading and studying the United States appitute tests? There seems to be a large divide in the difficulty of tests between the Australia and the states, I assume this is because the air force is so much more competitive in the United States(courtesy of Tom Cruise in "Top Gun")?