• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

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

Hey everyone, I had a question about the stick and throttle portion of the ASTB. I’ve been seeing a lot of people talk about practicing on certain setups, but I don’t really have the money to buy a whole new PC or anything like that.





I do have a stick and throttle that I use with Microsoft Flight Simulator, so I’ve been trying to practice with that. I’m just not sure how similar it is to what’s actually on the test.

I’m a former enlisted who got out to finish my degree and hopefully commission as a pilot, so this test really matters to me. I’ll be taking the ASTB on March 31st. I took the OAR about a year ago and didn’t do well, so I’ve been putting a lot more focus into preparing this time around.

For those who have taken it, is practicing on MSFS with a basic setup enough? How difficult is the stick and throttle portion compared to that, and how much does it actually affect your PFAR score?

Also, since I took the OAR a year ago once already, and did not do well. do I still have three total attempts at the ASTB, or does that count as one?

Any advice would really help, I appreciate it.
 
Kimoabonika said:
Hey everyone, I had a question about the stick and throttle portion of the ASTB. I’ve been seeing a lot of people talk about practicing on certain setups, but I don’t really have the money to buy a whole new PC or anything like that.





I do have a stick and throttle that I use with Microsoft Flight Simulator, so I’ve been trying to practice with that. I’m just not sure how similar it is to what’s actually on the test.

I’m a former enlisted who got out to finish my degree and hopefully commission as a pilot, so this test really matters to me. I’ll be taking the ASTB on March 31st. I took the OAR about a year ago and didn’t do well, so I’ve been putting a lot more focus into preparing this time around.

For those who have taken it, is practicing on MSFS with a basic setup enough? How difficult is the stick and throttle portion compared to that, and how much does it actually affect your PFAR score?

Also, since I took the OAR a year ago once already, and did not do well. do I still have three total attempts at the ASTB, or does that count as one?

Any advice would really help, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
I would say using a flight sim does pretty much nothing for you on the PBM other than being familiar with the controls. The stick and throttle section is more like an arcade game. You just track the targets the best you can. Maybe practice flying your sim while doing a dichotic listening test to practice the multitasking aspect. That’s what typically gets people in trouble.
 
Last edited:
Kimoabonika said:
Hey everyone, I had a question about the stick and throttle portion of the ASTB. I’ve been seeing a lot of people talk about practicing on certain setups, but I don’t really have the money to buy a whole new PC or anything like that.





I do have a stick and throttle that I use with Microsoft Flight Simulator, so I’ve been trying to practice with that. I’m just not sure how similar it is to what’s actually on the test.

I’m a former enlisted who got out to finish my degree and hopefully commission as a pilot, so this test really matters to me. I’ll be taking the ASTB on March 31st. I took the OAR about a year ago and didn’t do well, so I’ve been putting a lot more focus into preparing this time around.

For those who have taken it, is practicing on MSFS with a basic setup enough? How difficult is the stick and throttle portion compared to that, and how much does it actually affect your PFAR score?

Also, since I took the OAR a year ago once already, and did not do well. do I still have three total attempts at the ASTB, or does that count as one?

Any advice would really help, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Personally I think the best thing you can do to prepare for the PBM is play inverted video games and perfect UAV and Terrain ID
 
spalclark3 said:
Personally I think the best thing you can do to prepare for the PBM is play inverted video games and perfect UAV and Terrain ID
Click to expand...
100% agree. I did a ton of practice on the UAV and Terrain ID on the ASTB Prep App. I didn’t miss a single UAV and don’t think I missed any UAV, but it doesn’t tell you on that section. If it helps, I would look at the “parking lot” box on the right side of the screen and only see the box with the arrow on the left side in my peripheral. Then I would think “that parking lot would be behind me and to my left” or “that box is forward and to the right.”

For the PBM, focus on getting the correct response (trigger vs clutch) to the listening first, and tracking the targets second. For the emergency procedures, focus on fixing them first too. When the emergencies came up, I completely stopped tracking to look at my paper and make sure I did the right procedure, then went back to tracking.
 
Just got the call last night saying I was accepted for SNA, didn’t know they were doing board for non ISEL already. This is my second time applying I had 7,8,7 58 and flight experience. Did anyone else get in from this last board. Usually there’s a lot more chatter
 
leakyhman17 said:
Just got the call last night saying I was accepted for SNA, didn’t know they were doing board for non ISEL already. This is my second time applying I had 7,8,7 58 and flight experience. Did anyone else get in from this last board. Usually there’s a lot more chatter
Click to expand...
I submitted my package February 24th for SNA ISEL and have been told as of 10 minutes ago that my application still hasn’t been accepted
 
Absolutely crushing since I’ve been studying for this test for the last four months since I took the ORA before I only have one attempt left any advisor recommendations I appreciate really trying to make this happen not trying to let this discourage me the simulator to me was probably the toughest part
IMG_8031.jpeg
 
Kimoabonika said:
Absolutely crushing since I’ve been studying for this test for the last four months since I took the ORA before I only have one attempt left any advisor recommendations I appreciate really trying to make this happen not trying to let this discourage me the simulator to me was probably the toughest part
View attachment 44734
Click to expand...
You need to study everything all over again. Look through this forum and see what other people have done. But I definitely recommend the astb prep app, gomez drive, and the jazten simulator. I would also recommend taking your time reading the instructions for the performance based part very carefully before starting. What you have been doing has not been working so far from what your score is telling us.
 
If you visit my profile, I made study guides that I almost solely used for studying. A fair bit is grabbed from the other drives, but I wanted to make it as condensed as possible.

Aside from that, make sure that you are NAILING the UAV, Terrain Identification, and Dichotic listening portions of the ASTB.
 
Took the ASTB for the first time this past week and scored 56 9/9/8. Needless to say, I am pretty happy with myself.

I began studying on and off while also a full time student about a year in advance, once I got serious about doing this, but definitely did not need that much time.

ASTB PREP app, TBAS Study Pro, Barron's Prep Book, a few sections from PHAK, and CRAM flashcards were the most helpful resources. Definitely get comfortable using a stick and throttle. I found out about all of those resources from this forum and there are links somewhere.

Good luck to anybody on the test. Don't rush into taking it unless you feel confident you have prepared as much as possible. There are lots of resources, study guides, and practice tests online that allow you to get familiar with the test before you even have to use one of your three attempts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top