Tested today for the first time and got a 9/9/9/64.
I just want to thank everybody on here for the comments and all the different gouge posted. It was a big help. I'm a 25 year old Marine Sgt in the MECEP program, and there aren't too many aviation guarantees lying around this time of year I've been told so I couldn't give them a reason to say no. This forum was responsible for a small part of my decent score.
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I'm coming back to edit this in. I figured after I had posted that I'd offer a bulletized synopsis.
-The Arco book and Marine gouge here were the best at preparing me. The problem w/ the Arco book is that since its publication Math and reading have been separated into their own sections. Also, the spacial apperception is too easy. If you have problems on the SA in the arco, you don't really stand much chance on the actual test.
-The Cliffs Notes book is nearly worthless. The Mechanical Comprehension is too deep on many problems, and there are several mistakes throughout, especially in the SA. DO NOT BUY IT.
-The reading comprehension is ONLY reading comprehension. There is no fill in the blank or replace the word as there is in the study guide. Also, the paragraphs in the test are MUCH easier than many of the paragraphs in the guide so if you can do the guide good you're in there.
-If you get the Arco book...Go take the reading, math, aviation, and mech portions of the OTHER tests in the book, too. The math and reading comp sections of the air force test are especially helpful because they're separated like they are in the real test. They'll give you another group of problems to consider and can possibly expose more gaps in your knowledge. This also helps you to look at a new set of problems after you are through with the astb problems since they lose their value after you look at them a few times.
-Concerning the SA. The problems are a bit tougher than in the Arco book but not by too much. The differences: The test concentrated more on headings diagonal to land (especially banked and pitched), there are two angles of bank to worry about (not tough to tell apart, but the high angle of bank with pitch down quartering out to sea starts to get a little tough to look at), and last/least is that the real test has items where the aircraft is flying toward the land whereas the books only have the aircraft going to sea or parallel to the coastline.
-Use a systematic approach to solving the SA. Quickly solve which wing is down, which wing is toward land (if diagonal or parallel to the shore), and then pitch. You can usually get the correct answer simply bying solving two of these. Sometimes you need all three but after a very short time it should be natural anyway. If it doesn't become natural you should reconsider your career goals.
-There's no reason to miss any in the aeronautical/naval stuff. I had a bit of an advantage in that I have my ppl, but before I started studying last Saturday I didn't know the difference between a windlass and a capstan. It's not hard to remember. Know your AIM, know your superbasic aerodynamics.
-Go FAST, if you find yourself on a problem for more than 30 seconds and you're not already well on your way to an answer, move on. I knew going into the test that I would score well if I just had enough time to take a stab at every problem. Don't be the one who has 3 or 4 problems left unseen when time runs out.
All in all, I don't know how I'd study if I didn't know a lot of the concepts already. Gouging up really is just a refresher for concepts that you already knew but really had forgotten. That's the point of the test after all, APTITIUDE. That's especially why the time limits are so stringent. Bluntly, if you stink at the stuff, it's going to take a major change in the way your mind does business to do much better. When you study gouge it is absolutely imperative to understand the CONCEPTS that each problem is utilizing because you'll probably see it again in a very different form.
I got more, but I'm way over already.
I just want to thank everybody on here for the comments and all the different gouge posted. It was a big help. I'm a 25 year old Marine Sgt in the MECEP program, and there aren't too many aviation guarantees lying around this time of year I've been told so I couldn't give them a reason to say no. This forum was responsible for a small part of my decent score.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm coming back to edit this in. I figured after I had posted that I'd offer a bulletized synopsis.
-The Arco book and Marine gouge here were the best at preparing me. The problem w/ the Arco book is that since its publication Math and reading have been separated into their own sections. Also, the spacial apperception is too easy. If you have problems on the SA in the arco, you don't really stand much chance on the actual test.
-The Cliffs Notes book is nearly worthless. The Mechanical Comprehension is too deep on many problems, and there are several mistakes throughout, especially in the SA. DO NOT BUY IT.
-The reading comprehension is ONLY reading comprehension. There is no fill in the blank or replace the word as there is in the study guide. Also, the paragraphs in the test are MUCH easier than many of the paragraphs in the guide so if you can do the guide good you're in there.
-If you get the Arco book...Go take the reading, math, aviation, and mech portions of the OTHER tests in the book, too. The math and reading comp sections of the air force test are especially helpful because they're separated like they are in the real test. They'll give you another group of problems to consider and can possibly expose more gaps in your knowledge. This also helps you to look at a new set of problems after you are through with the astb problems since they lose their value after you look at them a few times.
-Concerning the SA. The problems are a bit tougher than in the Arco book but not by too much. The differences: The test concentrated more on headings diagonal to land (especially banked and pitched), there are two angles of bank to worry about (not tough to tell apart, but the high angle of bank with pitch down quartering out to sea starts to get a little tough to look at), and last/least is that the real test has items where the aircraft is flying toward the land whereas the books only have the aircraft going to sea or parallel to the coastline.
-Use a systematic approach to solving the SA. Quickly solve which wing is down, which wing is toward land (if diagonal or parallel to the shore), and then pitch. You can usually get the correct answer simply bying solving two of these. Sometimes you need all three but after a very short time it should be natural anyway. If it doesn't become natural you should reconsider your career goals.
-There's no reason to miss any in the aeronautical/naval stuff. I had a bit of an advantage in that I have my ppl, but before I started studying last Saturday I didn't know the difference between a windlass and a capstan. It's not hard to remember. Know your AIM, know your superbasic aerodynamics.
-Go FAST, if you find yourself on a problem for more than 30 seconds and you're not already well on your way to an answer, move on. I knew going into the test that I would score well if I just had enough time to take a stab at every problem. Don't be the one who has 3 or 4 problems left unseen when time runs out.
All in all, I don't know how I'd study if I didn't know a lot of the concepts already. Gouging up really is just a refresher for concepts that you already knew but really had forgotten. That's the point of the test after all, APTITIUDE. That's especially why the time limits are so stringent. Bluntly, if you stink at the stuff, it's going to take a major change in the way your mind does business to do much better. When you study gouge it is absolutely imperative to understand the CONCEPTS that each problem is utilizing because you'll probably see it again in a very different form.
I got more, but I'm way over already.
