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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)

vbts13

Well-Known Member
I personally was getting around 50 on both the throttle and joystick. Ended up getting 7,7,8 on the ASTB. But honestly I don’t feel that the simulator helped much, unless you have a joystick to practice with. Doing the simulator with the computer mouse wasn’t very comparable to the real test in my opinion.
 

skb832

Member
I personally was getting around 50 on both the throttle and joystick. Ended up getting 7,7,8 on the ASTB. But honestly I don’t feel that the simulator helped much, unless you have a joystick to practice with. Doing the simulator with the computer mouse wasn’t very comparable to the real test in my opinion.

For sure. I have taken the test once and feel the same. I went all out and bought a joystick to practice for this next one.
 

sethwhiskey

New Member
Okay hopefully I'm posting this correctly forgive me as I'm new to actually interacting with the forum instead of just reading random posts. The goal is to become a naval aviator. The only thing that's been holding me back for some time now is this damn test. Particularly anything to do with mathematics and numbers.

Thus, I seek guidance in learning..well..math... it's a bleak situation.

I was a horrible math student in high school who had zero interest in it. Moreover I studied humanities in college (political theory, moral philosophy and history) so my math obligation was practically zero. I was going to become an attorney but bailed on the idea after college. As a result, I became a pilot--go figure.

My advantages: I am a CFI,CFII Commercial Multi Pilot who can fly taildraggers and soon float planes. I have about 500TT and am actively accruing 50'ish hours a month. So a lot of the stuff on the aviation portions should be pretty easy for me. I'm a stick and rudder guy who knows how to fly small GA airplanes well. Back to the math (sigh).

I can do basic arithmetic.. and the basic math skills required for flying/teaching GA airplanes--Truthfully the scope of my skills do not go far beyond that. I would get owned on are you smarter than a fifth grader (if that's still a show).

This is just an enlogated way of me asking.. how the hell do I teach myself? Where do I start? I see all the math related things I'm supposed to study but if I have no understanding of any of it to begin with then...just mercy kill me.

Should I start with like pre algebra math? and just continue to go through online schools until I get through algebra 2? I won't have the ability to use inductive reasoning as an aid for solving problems (as of now). I see a lot of "brush up on these concepts" there is no brushing up for me lol.I need to be formally trained and just flat out be well prepared. I am fully willing and able to get a tutor who won't stare at me when they realize how bad the situation is.

This is by far my largest area of concern and 90% of what is holding me back. The mechanical section I feel like I can learn well from studying. It seems more intuitive than the formal math section.

If there are any similar posts addressing this then please point them in my direction. I am extremely motivated to do this--my old man flew tomcats back in the day and was no Albert Einstein. He became one of the best combat pilots on planet earth and was a sub 3.0 GPA guy.. so I know it can be done with grit and determination.

All the best and Fly Navy
 
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Anyone have advice on setting up the throttle part of the sim using joytokey and a hotas? I have it setup to repeat 30 inputs per second but it seems slow tracking the target. Thanks.
 

ththai

New Member
I'm about to take the test in 2 months. Do they provide you with formulas in the math portion? or you'll have to memorize them before hand?
 

kookylukey

Well-Known Member
Okay hopefully I'm posting this correctly forgive me as I'm new to actually interacting with the forum instead of just reading random posts. The goal is to become a naval aviator. The only thing that's been holding me back for some time now is this damn test. Particularly anything to do with mathematics and numbers.

Thus, I seek guidance in learning..well..math... it's a bleak situation.

I was a horrible math student in high school who had zero interest in it. Moreover I studied humanities in college (political theory, moral philosophy and history) so my math obligation was practically zero. I was going to become an attorney but bailed on the idea after college. As a result, I became a pilot--go figure.

My advantages: I am a CFI,CFII Commercial Multi Pilot who can fly taildraggers and soon float planes. I have about 500TT and am actively accruing 50'ish hours a month. So a lot of the stuff on the aviation portions should be pretty easy for me. I'm a stick and rudder guy who knows how to fly small GA airplanes well. Back to the math (sigh).

I can do basic arithmetic.. and the basic math skills required for flying/teaching GA airplanes--Truthfully the scope of my skills do not go far beyond that. I would get owned on are you smarter than a fifth grader (if that's still a show).

This is just an enlogated way of me asking.. how the hell do I teach myself? Where do I start? I see all the math related things I'm supposed to study but if I have no understanding of any of it to begin with then...just mercy kill me.

Should I start with like pre algebra math? and just continue to go through online schools until I get through algebra 2? I won't have the ability to use inductive reasoning as an aid for solving problems (as of now). I see a lot of "brush up on these concepts" there is no brushing up for me lol.I need to be formally trained and just flat out be well prepared. I am fully willing and able to get a tutor who won't stare at me when they realize how bad the situation is.

This is by far my largest area of concern and 90% of what is holding me back. The mechanical section I feel like I can learn well from studying. It seems more intuitive than the formal math section.

If there are any similar posts addressing this then please point them in my direction. I am extremely motivated to do this--my old man flew tomcats back in the day and was no Albert Einstein. He became one of the best combat pilots on planet earth and was a sub 3.0 GPA guy.. so I know it can be done with grit and determination.

All the best and Fly Navy
I would pick up an ASVAB book and learn the math there then start on the gouge here. If you still need more, pick up a GMAT book and do the math in there. The ASVAB math is much easier and should be a good building block for the ASTB. Starting with pre-algebra to algebra 2 might be okay, but the ASVAB is for people with high school degrees so I don't see why anyone couldn't handle just going straight to that. If you don't understand something just google it and there will be a khan academy video on it.

Also the pilot stuff isn't as applicable to the ASTB as it is for the AFOQT. You'll be fine on the stuff where it asks you what a aileron is, but that isn't that big of a part of the test. You still need to focus on the UAV and tracking the super fast plane with the stick/throttle
 

LGuapo

Active Member
Just wanted to share my experience taking the test for the first time. I scored a 52, 5,4,5 which is certainly not great, and I will be taking it again (which is rough since I currently live in another country and I traveled home to take this test). These scores were honestly lower than I expected they would be, and that's pretty disappointing. I studied for months and used all the material in Kyle's drive.

I felt like I struggled the most on the Math section and the simulator portion. The online simulator that was posted here was useful for knowing the different elements I would face ahead of time, but since I don't have a joystick to practice with, the time I spent practicing was essentially useless. A mouse and a joystick are completely different things to your brain and I was absolutely hopeless on this section.

I have always struggled with Math and so I spent most of my study hours with those practice tests. It might have helped give me a bump but I feel like I encountered a lot of things that I wasn't prepared for and found myself guessing on a handful of questions. If you're anything like me it's probably a good idea to start with the basics again and build yourself up to the material on the practice tests.

I am just amazed hearing that some of you who studied for like 20 total hours are scoring 8s on this thing. I consider myself a pretty fast learner and a fairly intelligent person, but I feel like my months of preparation barely even moved the needle. I fully expect to score better next time simply because I am a hands-on learner who needs to experience things to progress, and I definitely feel like a certain type of learner has an advantage with the way this test is built, and that is simply not me. Just gotta work harder and adapt, nothing good in this world comes easy. Good luck y'all.
 
Anyone have advice on setting up the throttle part of the sim using joytokey and a hotas? I have it setup to repeat 30 inputs per second but it seems slow tracking the target. Thanks.
Not sure if you ever figured this out. I just set up mine and had the same problem. I found that turning off Auto Repeat and just linking the movement to the w and s key works as expected.
 
Not sure if you ever figured this out. I just set up mine and had the same problem. I found that turning off Auto Repeat and just linking the movement to the w and s key works as expected.
For some reason that isn't working for me. When I move the throttle forward when it's setup that way, it just registers as if the W key was pressed 1 time and not being held down. Am I setting that up properly?
 

NewComb

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to share my experience taking the test for the first time. I scored a 52, 5,4,5 which is certainly not great, and I will be taking it again (which is rough since I currently live in another country and I traveled home to take this test). These scores were honestly lower than I expected they would be, and that's pretty disappointing. I studied for months and used all the material in Kyle's drive.

I felt like I struggled the most on the Math section and the simulator portion. The online simulator that was posted here was useful for knowing the different elements I would face ahead of time, but since I don't have a joystick to practice with, the time I spent practicing was essentially useless. A mouse and a joystick are completely different things to your brain and I was absolutely hopeless on this section.

I have always struggled with Math and so I spent most of my study hours with those practice tests. It might have helped give me a bump but I feel like I encountered a lot of things that I wasn't prepared for and found myself guessing on a handful of questions. If you're anything like me it's probably a good idea to start with the basics again and build yourself up to the material on the practice tests.

I am just amazed hearing that some of you who studied for like 20 total hours are scoring 8s on this thing. I consider myself a pretty fast learner and a fairly intelligent person, but I feel like my months of preparation barely even moved the needle. I fully expect to score better next time simply because I am a hands-on learner who needs to experience things to progress, and I definitely feel like a certain type of learner has an advantage with the way this test is built, and that is simply not me. Just gotta work harder and adapt, nothing good in this world comes easy. Good luck y'all.

I scored basically the same on my first attempt with some similar issues. Do some practice tests, memorize the emergency procedures, and honestly just don't stress over it as much as possible. I prepared very little for the second attempt and improved across the board. The questions I received on the OAR the second time around were basically the same concepts for me personally, some repeated questions even. Good luck.
 

BusterScruggs

New Member
Asking again because I can't get an answer from anyone lol - does anyone know if the Marine Corps still offers the one-point waiver on your third attempt? I mentioned it to my OSO after scoring 55 6/5/6 on my last attempt and he told me he would check but that he had never heard of such a waiver. The last person on this forum to mention getting one was years ago which makes me skeptical if it still exists.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Asking again because I can't get an answer from anyone lol - does anyone know if the Marine Corps still offers the one-point waiver on your third attempt? I mentioned it to my OSO after scoring 55 6/5/6 on my last attempt and he told me he would check but that he had never heard of such a waiver. The last person on this forum to mention getting one was years ago which makes me skeptical if it still exists.

I have never heard of such a thing, and I think the post you are thinking of was from a guy who heard of a guy or something like that.

Edit: I found the info, MARADMIM 064/11 it says after third attempt they can grant a 1 point waiver, but that must be the only waiver a person needs and I could not find anything where a person talked about actually getting the waiver. They person in question on this site ended up retaking and not needing a waiver.
 
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