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Math skills for pilots?

Driver

Driver

New Member
Hey, so I'm new to this site and the military in general. I really want to go the Marine Officer route, and I hope to eventually be a helicopter pilot (me and the entire rest of the world it seems). Now, I'm wondering how much math skills are used in this MOS? I only got a 560 or 580 on math skills on my SAT, and I'm a little bit worried. Haven't taken a math class since freshman year of college, and I only got a C. I did well on the Verbal part, for comparison, with a 730, but I'm really concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep up with everyone. Math is literally the one thing that kills me.
 
P

Pags

N/A
pilot
Here's some sample helo math problems:
-at 120 knots (nautical miles per hour) how far does a helo go in one hour? Half hour? 15min? Every minute?
-a helo burns 10lbs of gas a mile. How much gas does it burn it 100 miles?
-you had 19 rockets and shot 7. How many do you have left?
-how many beers are in a 12 pack?

Splitting up a dinner check for a big table is harder math than you'll ever do flying, don't sweat it.
 
D

djj34

Member
pilot
I think the hardest math I did today was "Oh shoot, fire light. Ok well I'm 5 miles away. Half of that distance multiplied by 1000, add 3300 = altitude where I need to be right now." That and knowing at 2 miles a minute gave me 2.5 minutes to arrive over the airfield. A lot of the stuff you see in API is there to see if you understand the concepts. I don't remember doing an actual math problem there, and all the math I've encountered so far is very basic. You just gotta get used to doing it quickly in your head. That earlier problem is literally verbalized as "Half DME + Key" (you'll figure it out later) and is solved in about 5 seconds after some practice. I'm no math guy either. You should be good as long as you don't let it intimidate you.
 
HeyJoe

HeyJoe

Fly Navy! ...or USMC
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Pags said:
Here's some sample helo math problems:
-at 120 knots (nautical miles per hour) how far does a helo go in one hour? Half hour? 15min? Every minute?
-a helo burns 10lbs of gas a mile. How much gas does it burn it 100 miles?
-you had 19 rockets and shot 7. How many do you have left?
-how many beers are in a 12 pack?

Splitting up a dinner check for a big table is harder math than you'll ever do flying, don't sweat it.
Click to expand...

Pags pretty much nailed it!
 
Criminal

Criminal

God's personal hacky sack
pilot
Almost failed both low level math classes in college. I'm doing just fine. ... I do forget my abc's sometimes too
 
Driver

Driver

New Member
Criminal said:
Almost failed both low level math classes in college. I'm doing just fine. ... I do forget my abc's sometimes too
Click to expand...
Sweet haha (not that I'm laughing at your almost failed classes but still...) Hey, btw, what is it like being a pilot? I've been reading up on it all and the Super Huey looks awesome, what do you guys fly? Or help to fly. I have a ton of questions and this site answers some but not all.
 
Driver

Driver

New Member
azguy said:
You must not understand the marine "culture." That's a rockstar SAT math score by their standards. YUT.

Most marines can do more pull-ups than their SAT math score!
Click to expand...
Not gonna lie I'm surprised I even got a 500-something for math. So I'm sure I would fit in with that.
 
CAMike

CAMike

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Geez. You 1310's keep math things so simple.

Depending how Mom and Dad run the ship, the Radian Rule can be a real PITA at times. I've been on a real world Cain Mutiny ship (USS Lang reserves circa 1987) as well as happy ships. Every SWO's experience is different. The SWO Destiny is such a mathematical crap shoot and it really shouldn't be. Then again, the mathematical calculations submitted in certain 8 O'Clock reports are sometimes pretty entertaining. I miss the entertainment value of the Navy (occasionally) and fondly remember our mentally affected XO. It was hard to keep a straight face while the XO was screaming at you about minuscule BS while he simultaneously had his index finger about an inch up his nose. OK -I don't really miss that part of the Navy.

Just do your fuels and don't run out of gas.
 
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