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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)
- Thread starter edato
- Start date
Charlie Looked
Member
I prepared a full Math Guide using ASTB and AFOQT exercises, for those struggling in need of a good source, the main reason was to have all the books practice tests in the same document, took me more than a week to prepare it and Im having positive feedback for the moment. Hopefully it comes handy.
MTLiving
Well-Known Member
Great gouge thank you!
Hello All.
First let me start by saying thank you for all the helpful posts that I found previously.
I took the ASTB test a few days prior to posting and I would like to share with future test takers my experience.
I have no prior military experience but plenty of people in my life have served or are currently serving, some of whom are aviators.
My advice:
I researched as much as I possibly could because let me tell you, you can never study too much.
I used Barron's ( which was personally the best for me), Military Flight Aptitude Test (multiple versions)
then I searched the internet for any resource including flash cards,study guides etc and complied ALL the information into
a study guide that worked for my learning style. I organized the subjects and the concepts and studied smaller portions over a two month period of time.
OAR:
It is similar to the ASVAB or SAT except with higher thinking questions.
Remember basic concepts, remember formulas, a few were provided but time expiration comes up quickly!
Focus on the question, make educated guesses.
Aviation Portion (ANIT)
The history and terms were easy enough, improvement with studying.
The compass: (NATFI)
Practice, the more you do the easier it is.
Coming from someone who had never seen this before and received 100% on this portion.
Take the time before the test and utilize the practice portion.
I think the idea of drawing a compass rose was helpful but again time is a factor, it is difficult to look at the first screen for direction,
second screen for the tents and down at the compass rose in a timely manner.
Simulation (PBM)
One word multi-tasking.!
They break them up for you to obtain a grasp but then they are all combined.
Hearing: love the advice given here. Close your eyes. They speak into both ears. Click buttons per instructions.
Left Hand Throttle: Up and Down, Follow the Plane
Right Hand Joystick: All around the screen to follow. Remember toward you is up, away from you is down.
Emergency Situations: Left and Right Hand Activities and the headphones tell you which Emergency Situation
to solve by what the practice tells you to do.
Use your practice time. Develop a Strategy.
Good Luck.
First let me start by saying thank you for all the helpful posts that I found previously.
I took the ASTB test a few days prior to posting and I would like to share with future test takers my experience.
I have no prior military experience but plenty of people in my life have served or are currently serving, some of whom are aviators.
My advice:
I researched as much as I possibly could because let me tell you, you can never study too much.
I used Barron's ( which was personally the best for me), Military Flight Aptitude Test (multiple versions)
then I searched the internet for any resource including flash cards,study guides etc and complied ALL the information into
a study guide that worked for my learning style. I organized the subjects and the concepts and studied smaller portions over a two month period of time.
OAR:
It is similar to the ASVAB or SAT except with higher thinking questions.
Remember basic concepts, remember formulas, a few were provided but time expiration comes up quickly!
Focus on the question, make educated guesses.
Aviation Portion (ANIT)
The history and terms were easy enough, improvement with studying.
The compass: (NATFI)
Practice, the more you do the easier it is.
Coming from someone who had never seen this before and received 100% on this portion.
Take the time before the test and utilize the practice portion.
I think the idea of drawing a compass rose was helpful but again time is a factor, it is difficult to look at the first screen for direction,
second screen for the tents and down at the compass rose in a timely manner.
Simulation (PBM)
One word multi-tasking.!
They break them up for you to obtain a grasp but then they are all combined.
Hearing: love the advice given here. Close your eyes. They speak into both ears. Click buttons per instructions.
Left Hand Throttle: Up and Down, Follow the Plane
Right Hand Joystick: All around the screen to follow. Remember toward you is up, away from you is down.
Emergency Situations: Left and Right Hand Activities and the headphones tell you which Emergency Situation
to solve by what the practice tells you to do.
Use your practice time. Develop a Strategy.
Good Luck.
UltraViolet
New Member
It definitely has come in handy. I think there's an error. #42 for the Geometry section.
popeye123
Active Member
hey man could you provide us that study guide you used for the aviation knowledge?
Dangle
I have 1 and a half the balls of a regular man
Finished the test a few days ago and thought I would try to post some questions I remember, and hopefully get some feedback from anyone out there.
Some questions/topics I remember:
Math
My scores
71 8/6/8
Not sure what to make of my scores, since I felt horrible leaving the test. After seeing the OAR score I felt good but a bit confused, since I felt like I guessed on quite a few questions. I was hoping for a much better Pilot score since 6 is not very strong, and I'm not sure why its so much lower compared to all the other scores. I've heard pretty much everyone feels like they did poorly on the joystick portion, so I tried not to feel too bad and felt like I didn't completely blow it. I feel like the Trait Assesment section and the BIRV portion possibly hurt me. I feel like honestly the test indicated that I may not have the "personality" of a pilot since although I was answering the questions honestly, I felt like I may not have exactly what the Navy is looking for personality wise.
As far as how to approach the rest of my application process, I would love any advice/input from anyone out there. I do NOT have perfect vision, so my original plan was to hopefully get a really good score on the whole test, get the LASIK, then apply for both Pilot and NFO. Now that my test essentially indicates that I would not be a strong pilot candidate, it really makes me feel uncomfortable gambling on the LASIK, knowing the cost and the wait associated with it. Not sure if they would still accept me as a Pilot, or if I put Pilot first and NFO second, they would just skip over the Pilot and select me as an NFO (If I am even selected at all).
Some questions/topics I remember:
Math
- Identifying which number is a "perfect" number, I think someone also mentioned perfect numbers previously in the thread
- Logarithms
- Questions regarding work done painting a room in a certain amount of time, similar to previously mentioned problems
- Driving/mph/time required questions also previously mentioned and in prep books
- Water in a nuclear powerplant question, also mentioned previously here
- Something along the lines of "A pot of water is boiling on the stove, and the temperature of the burner is increased, what happens to the temp of the water?"
- Pulleys, Work, Force, ect. I had answers presented in Newtons which I should've been prepared for
- Some question regarding what plane was converted to a tanker during operation iraqi freedom, was previously mentioned here
- What plane was the first to escort bombers deep into enemy territory (fairly certain it was a P-51 mustang)
- Something like what is the island called on a aircraft carrier?
- Who does the commander of an air squadron report to? the options were a bunch of various acronyms
- what is a CVBG (large carrier battle group)
- Something asking about what is the purpose and what is the name of the flaps that come out of the deck of an aircraft carrier that sit directly behind the jet engines when the jets take off from the carrier. Not at all sure about this one
- Use the compass trick and PRACTICE before going to the test, since i got flustered and forgot the trick, and spend a lot of time panicking trying to practice
- Nothing really to say here, but I actually think this one may have had a decent impact on my score
- Lots of information previously mentioned, this may have had a negative impact on my score as well
My scores
71 8/6/8
Not sure what to make of my scores, since I felt horrible leaving the test. After seeing the OAR score I felt good but a bit confused, since I felt like I guessed on quite a few questions. I was hoping for a much better Pilot score since 6 is not very strong, and I'm not sure why its so much lower compared to all the other scores. I've heard pretty much everyone feels like they did poorly on the joystick portion, so I tried not to feel too bad and felt like I didn't completely blow it. I feel like the Trait Assesment section and the BIRV portion possibly hurt me. I feel like honestly the test indicated that I may not have the "personality" of a pilot since although I was answering the questions honestly, I felt like I may not have exactly what the Navy is looking for personality wise.
As far as how to approach the rest of my application process, I would love any advice/input from anyone out there. I do NOT have perfect vision, so my original plan was to hopefully get a really good score on the whole test, get the LASIK, then apply for both Pilot and NFO. Now that my test essentially indicates that I would not be a strong pilot candidate, it really makes me feel uncomfortable gambling on the LASIK, knowing the cost and the wait associated with it. Not sure if they would still accept me as a Pilot, or if I put Pilot first and NFO second, they would just skip over the Pilot and select me as an NFO (If I am even selected at all).
There are minimum eye sight requirements for pilot. If you dont have near perfect vision then you will most likely need eye surgery (PRK or LASIK). I myself have horrible vision and plan on getting PRK. How I see it, technology is getting better, complications are getting more rare (still a possibility) but being a pilot is what ive always wanted so the cost to me is nothing compared to the chance of being able to compete to live my dream. But your first step is to figure out if you meet the pre-screening eyesight requirements. http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/arwg/Documents/WaiverGuide/01_Physical_Standards.pdf
Print out pages 18 - 20 and bring them to your eye doctor, they will be able to go through each one with you for SNA and SNFO and figure out if you are even in the running before trying to get eye surgery.
If you meet ALL prescreening requirements then you'll be good to go for the surgery, just have to wait the 6-month and pray you come out at least 20/20 and get granted a waiver (which is common to get).
As far as them skipping over you, just get what you need submitted to get into OCS. Worry about job selections later, it all depends on the current needs whether they need pilots or NFOs. Having high scores definitely helps with what you want but first priority is figuring out if you meet the requirements. But right now, dont worry about it, do what you can the best you can to make yourself competitive.
PS.
Do your research with eye surgeons. I have talked to 6 so far and have yet to find one I like and trust. I have met some surgeons who unfortunately have tried to sell me the "better (translation: more expensive) option" when I didnt need it. Get several consultations from various doctors. That is why I recommend going to a normal eye doctor for the pre-screening as they will not try to "sell you" on something and will give you a no B.S. assessment. Also look into PRK, the recovery time is longer but it has been the surgery of choice for years in the Department of the Navy. Lasik was just recently approved I believe. Explore all your options. Good Luck! I am going through the same process with my eyes right now with you.
Good stuff, but now NAMI actually prefers LASIK. From the waiver guide:
"Wavefront-guided LASIK (“Custom LASIK”) is preferred in aviation personnel, as custom treatment may increase visual acuity and final vision outcomes, but in no way is required for a waiver recommendation, as not all patients are candidates for custom treatments. LASIK may reduce the risk of significant haze symptoms, which can occur after PRK. LASIK also reduces the operational down-time before a waiver application may be submitted for designated aviation personnel. The final decision of performing PRK or LASIK is made by the operating ophthalmologist with the patient’s informed consent."
Make sure to ask about both. I went in planning on PRK, but my surgeon (who had done tens of thousands of surgeries) recommended LASIK because the recovery time is much shorter with less risk of hazing/scarring. The day after surgery I was seeing a soft 20/15, and I just had my one year checkup yesterday and I was a hard 20/15 and even able to make out about half of the letters on the 20/10 line. Other than some minor dry eye I have no complaints at all.
Still the best thing you can do is talk to your surgeon, and get a second opinion if necessary.
Yea I just read that. I was just suggesting to ask about PRK since not everyone may be a candidate for LASIK. I'm kind of interested though what NAMI means when they say "custom" LASIK
It means they do a scan before the surgery to "map" your corneas and adjust the laser accordingly. It's become pretty standard the past few years, it's a little more expensive but my surgeon highly recommended it as it allows them to more accurately use the laser.
jadams24
New Member
Just took the test for a second time and went from 4-4-4 to 7-7-8!!! I really did not do much different the second time around...in fact, both times I just cram-studied practice questions the day before - mostly math questions because the types that are asked on the ASTB are all very predictable and follow select formats. You would think there wouldn't be multiple questions that cover the same concept, but this is not true...I had a handful of questions that all were VERY similar (this could help or hurt you, depending on what you prepared for). For the AVIT section on my second attempt, I honestly thought I did horrible (not the type of person to say "I failed" and then receive a "B"...when I say I failed I mean legitimate below 60%...#engineering).
The following are the main reasons that I attribute the significant increase in my score to:
1.) I was significantly faster at the UAV section...used the compass rose trick (PM if you're not familiar with it) both times, but this time averaged about 1.5 seconds per identification.
2.) I was much better with timing for the first three sections (math, reading, and mechanical comprehension). The first time, I got way too hung up on some math questions. I did not finish before time expired on either attempt (I find it very difficult submitting an answer I am not 100% confident in); however, I can definitely say I was faster on math and mechanical comprehension specifically.
3.) On the first attempt, because of a snowball effect of feeling like I was already performing poorly, I believe that I completed the Performance Based Measures subtest (using the throttle and stick) lackadaisically. On the second attempt, I felt like I was on a roll, with the exception of the aviation and nautical info subtest - which apparently didn't damage my overall scores too much - because of this, I felt much more calm and confident going into the stressful simulations.
To anybody that has yet to take the ASTB, I highly recommend scrolling through this entire thread as well as many others on this website just to get a better idea of what you're up against. I'd also like to thank everybody for all of the helpful info!
I feel SO relieved and proud of this score, but I am hoping to receive some feedback of what you guys think - whether or not I should take a third time, or sit on this score. Any stories of people in the same boat would be much appreciated!
For reference, I am a mechanical engineering (Tier 1) MIDN in Villanova University's NROTC unit, with a 2.85 GPA...If that GPA was a bit higher, I would feel a lot more comfortable with these scores, but if you think that the combination of my GPA and ASTB score are competitive enough to become a pilot - let me know! I have a feeling I could do even better on the ASTB (considering I felt like I did terrible on the AVIT section), but I don't want to risk receiving a lower score if there's no insight that I will definitely do better.
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
The following are the main reasons that I attribute the significant increase in my score to:
1.) I was significantly faster at the UAV section...used the compass rose trick (PM if you're not familiar with it) both times, but this time averaged about 1.5 seconds per identification.
2.) I was much better with timing for the first three sections (math, reading, and mechanical comprehension). The first time, I got way too hung up on some math questions. I did not finish before time expired on either attempt (I find it very difficult submitting an answer I am not 100% confident in); however, I can definitely say I was faster on math and mechanical comprehension specifically.
3.) On the first attempt, because of a snowball effect of feeling like I was already performing poorly, I believe that I completed the Performance Based Measures subtest (using the throttle and stick) lackadaisically. On the second attempt, I felt like I was on a roll, with the exception of the aviation and nautical info subtest - which apparently didn't damage my overall scores too much - because of this, I felt much more calm and confident going into the stressful simulations.
To anybody that has yet to take the ASTB, I highly recommend scrolling through this entire thread as well as many others on this website just to get a better idea of what you're up against. I'd also like to thank everybody for all of the helpful info!
I feel SO relieved and proud of this score, but I am hoping to receive some feedback of what you guys think - whether or not I should take a third time, or sit on this score. Any stories of people in the same boat would be much appreciated!
For reference, I am a mechanical engineering (Tier 1) MIDN in Villanova University's NROTC unit, with a 2.85 GPA...If that GPA was a bit higher, I would feel a lot more comfortable with these scores, but if you think that the combination of my GPA and ASTB score are competitive enough to become a pilot - let me know! I have a feeling I could do even better on the ASTB (considering I felt like I did terrible on the AVIT section), but I don't want to risk receiving a lower score if there's no insight that I will definitely do better.
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
popeye123
Active Member
I've been browsing through the past few pages and found some gouges that people had difficulties, I've came up with some answers to them but i'm not sure if they're correct, could anyone help confirm if my answers to them were right?
1. What is name for airflow around a cylinder
=Coanada effect ?
2. and what aircraft served as a bomber escort in WWII
=p-38? or p-47? or p51 mustang?
3. Which aircraft first escorted bombers into enemy territory?
=P-38 Lightning? <- i think its correct
4. Which aircraft first escorted bombers DEEP into enemy territory?
=p-51 mustang? <- i think it's correct
5. What aircraft was a high performance piston driven fighter?)
=hawker sea fury or grumman f8f?
6. They asked me what another name for a rudder on the ship was
=Steering Oar?
7. also there was a question asking what an aircraft was that was fitted with a tanker during OP Iraqi Freedom
Someone said it was an A-6 converted to KA-6D however this was for OP Desert Storm (1st gulf war)
did they use the same thing for OP Iraqi Freedom?
8. who does an aircraft wing commander report to?
wing commander is a rank in the UK however in the USAF i think it's equivalence is to a LT Col (O-5), therefore he reports to a colonel right? but on Wikipedia says the air force it's usually a colonel/brigadier general leading the air squadron...therefore he reports to major general (O-8)?
just to clarify with everyone, these answers MAY or MAY NOT be correct, so don't assume it's right, help double check it lol
1. What is name for airflow around a cylinder
=Coanada effect ?
2. and what aircraft served as a bomber escort in WWII
=p-38? or p-47? or p51 mustang?
3. Which aircraft first escorted bombers into enemy territory?
=P-38 Lightning? <- i think its correct
4. Which aircraft first escorted bombers DEEP into enemy territory?
=p-51 mustang? <- i think it's correct
5. What aircraft was a high performance piston driven fighter?)
=hawker sea fury or grumman f8f?
6. They asked me what another name for a rudder on the ship was
=Steering Oar?
7. also there was a question asking what an aircraft was that was fitted with a tanker during OP Iraqi Freedom
Someone said it was an A-6 converted to KA-6D however this was for OP Desert Storm (1st gulf war)
did they use the same thing for OP Iraqi Freedom?
8. who does an aircraft wing commander report to?
wing commander is a rank in the UK however in the USAF i think it's equivalence is to a LT Col (O-5), therefore he reports to a colonel right? but on Wikipedia says the air force it's usually a colonel/brigadier general leading the air squadron...therefore he reports to major general (O-8)?
just to clarify with everyone, these answers MAY or MAY NOT be correct, so don't assume it's right, help double check it lol
Last edited:
The A-6 was retired in 1997, so during OEF/OIF tanking support was provided by S-3 Vikings.