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

[Tyler Mills]

Does anybody know how different the new ASTB form is from the old forms? I have books that I have been studying for some time now and I am nervous that the books are not adequate due to the new test form. Any information is greatly appreciated.

I just took the new version of the ASTB and scored a 9/9/9 72. I never took the old versions of the test but used those study guides for everything and from what I experienced the new version was quite different. The OAR is all the same and you still have the aviation/nautical information but the spatial sections were different. Instead of having a picture of the view from the cockpit and having to choose from a group of pictures showing the plane's orientation, there was a section where it showed a map that gave you the direction the UAV was facing and another picture with a parking lot in each cardinal direction. The view with the parking lots is from the UAV's perspective and you will be told to identify which one is in a certain cardinal direction and your score is based on time and accuracy. After that there was tracking an object with the throttle, tracking with a joystick, listening to numbers and letters over the headset and having to listen to a specific ear even though audio is coming from both, and lastly a combination of all three of these things. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to help anyway I can.

 

[ea6bflyr]

I just took the new version of the ASTB and scored a 9/9/9 72. I never took the old versions of the test but used those study guides for everything and from what I experienced the new version was quite different. The OAR is all the same and you still have the aviation/nautical information but the spatial sections were different. Instead of having a picture of the view from the cockpit and having to choose from a group of pictures showing the plane's orientation, there was a section where it showed a map that gave you the direction the UAV was facing and another picture with a parking lot in each cardinal direction. The view with the parking lots is from the UAV's perspective and you will be told to identify which one is in a certain cardinal direction and your score is based on time and accuracy. After that there was tracking an object with the throttle, tracking with a joystick, listening to numbers and letters over the headset and having to listen to a specific ear even though audio is coming from both, and lastly a combination of all three of these things. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to help anyway I can.

Great score and great feedback for those preparing for the test. Thanks!

 

[BusyBee604]

I just took the new version of the ASTB and scored a 9/9/9 72.

OMG, don't contemplate a retake like slater44 did. I don't think you can improve an 'ace'. Good onya for sharing tips. Thumbs up, well done!
BzB

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I just took the new version of the ASTB and scored a 9/9/9 72. I never took the old versions of the test but used those study guides for everything and from what I experienced the new version was quite different. The OAR is all the same and you still have the aviation/nautical information but the spatial sections were different. Instead of having a picture of the view from the cockpit and having to choose from a group of pictures showing the plane's orientation, there was a section where it showed a map that gave you the direction the UAV was facing and another picture with a parking lot in each cardinal direction. The view with the parking lots is from the UAV's perspective and you will be told to identify which one is in a certain cardinal direction and your score is based on time and accuracy. After that there was tracking an object with the throttle, tracking with a joystick, listening to numbers and letters over the headset and having to listen to a specific ear even though audio is coming from both, and lastly a combination of all three of these things. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to help anyway I can.

You hit a home run!!

 

[Navy Ship]

I just took the new version of the ASTB and scored a 9/9/9 72. I never took the old versions of the test but used those study guides for everything and from what I experienced the new version was quite different. The OAR is all the same and you still have the aviation/nautical information but the spatial sections were different. Instead of having a picture of the view from the cockpit and having to choose from a group of pictures showing the plane's orientation, there was a section where it showed a map that gave you the direction the UAV was facing and another picture with a parking lot in each cardinal direction. The view with the parking lots is from the UAV's perspective and you will be told to identify which one is in a certain cardinal direction and your score is based on time and accuracy. After that there was tracking an object with the throttle, tracking with a joystick, listening to numbers and letters over the headset and having to listen to a specific ear even though audio is coming from both, and lastly a combination of all three of these things. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to help anyway I can.

Wow congrats on the scores.

I've heard the part with the tracking with a joystick, listening to number and letter over the headset and hitting a button for even / odd was pretty difficult (nearly impossible). So out of curiosity to see what it takes to get those 9's, how much of this part do you think you answered / did accurately? And if you don't mind, can you mention your estimated performance on the other parts too? Thanks!

 

[Tyler Mills]

Wow congrats on the scores.

I've heard the part with the tracking with a joystick, listening to number and letter over the headset and hitting a button for even / odd was pretty difficult (nearly impossible). So out of curiosity to see what it takes to get those 9's, how much of this part do you think you answered / did accurately? And if you don't mind, can you mention your estimated performance on the other parts too? Thanks!

On the listening part on it's own I only missed maybe one of the responses and my reactions were all pretty quick, probably within 1 second. The individual joystick parts were pretty simple, it's just tracking as best as you can which I did well at. The only thing that was slightly challenging for that was getting used to how much throttle to give, the joystick tracking felt natural and was simple enough. When I had to track both at the same time I basically limited my focus to the joystick tracking and left the throttle tracking to my peripherals. There was a good amount of time when I wasn't on the target, but I was able to keep it close almost the entire time. When they combined all three it was about the same. I think when I was tracking both and doing the listening I missed 3 numbers out of what was 4 or 5 different groupings of letters/numbers. It's just really about being able to prioritize your attention. I was far from being perfect on the tracking, but I was able to follow close enough and never completely lose the target. It's challenging, but you have to force yourself to stay focused through all the side noise going on and all the multitasking.

The other part of test with the UAV spatial recognition I think I missed 3 or 4 of the orientation questions. I answered all of them within about 3 seconds though and they say reaction time matters for scoring. I haven't seen any study guides for that but you can probably set something up for yourself. You just have to get used to up not always being north. Set up a paper where Southeast/Southwest is at the top and get used to being able to identify where every cardinal direction is from there. What I generally did on the test was just identify the parking lot on top or closest to the top and go from there. For example if the UAV was facing southeast that means the parking lot in the top right would be the south and the one in the top left would be East, and use that to find whatever direction they asked for.

Let me know if there's anything else. This site was the main resource I used to help me prepare and I'm glad to contribute.

 

[zarevich]

Quick question to people who took the new test, which part of the FAA study guide should i really study for the test? And if i took the the old test once, will the new test count as my second try? or first?

 

[Navy Ship]

On the listening part on it's own I only missed maybe one of the responses and my reactions were all pretty quick, probably within 1 second. The individual joystick parts were pretty simple, it's just tracking as best as you can which I did well at. The only thing that was slightly challenging for that was getting used to how much throttle to give, the joystick tracking felt natural and was simple enough. When I had to track both at the same time I basically limited my focus to the joystick tracking and left the throttle tracking to my peripherals. There was a good amount of time when I wasn't on the target, but I was able to keep it close almost the entire time. When they combined all three it was about the same. I think when I was tracking both and doing the listening I missed 3 numbers out of what was 4 or 5 different groupings of letters/numbers. It's just really about being able to prioritize your attention. I was far from being perfect on the tracking, but I was able to follow close enough and never completely lose the target. It's challenging, but you have to force yourself to stay focused through all the side noise going on and all the multitasking.

The other part of test with the UAV spatial recognition I think I missed 3 or 4 of the orientation questions. I answered all of them within about 3 seconds though and they say reaction time matters for scoring. I haven't seen any study guides for that but you can probably set something up for yourself. You just have to get used to up not always being north. Set up a paper where Southeast/Southwest is at the top and get used to being able to identify where every cardinal direction is from there. What I generally did on the test was just identify the parking lot on top or closest to the top and go from there. For example if the UAV was facing southeast that means the parking lot in the top right would be the south and the one in the top left would be East, and use that to find whatever direction they asked for.

Let me know if there's anything else. This site was the main resource I used to help me prepare and I'm glad to contribute.

Nice. Did you do any preparation for the spatial portion of the test? Also did you have any prior flight experience.

 

[Tyler Mills]

Nice. Did you do any preparation for the spatial portion of the test? Also did you have any prior flight experience.

For the spatial portion I had studied off of the old study guides that focused more on plane orientation regarding bank and heading rather than cardinal directions. I didn't study Any stuff for the new portions mainly because I couldn't find anything on it yet. I don't have any other prior flight experience, the closest thing would be playing X-Wing and Tie Fighter for the Windows 95 with a joystick controller back when I was a kid.

 

[Navy Ship]

For the spatial portion I had studied off of the old study guides that focused more on plane orientation regarding bank and heading rather than cardinal directions. I didn't study Any stuff for the new portions mainly because I couldn't find anything on it yet. I don't have any other prior flight experience, the closest thing would be playing X-Wing and Tie Fighter for the Windows 95 with a joystick controller back when I was a kid.

Wow, I'm actually amazed you got 9's going in cold turkey like that. Congrats again on such a great score.

 

[Navy Ship]

On a slightly different note, has anyone taken both the old and new ASTBs. It would be nice to get a comparison going between the difficulty of the old vs. new test.

Although there's no doubt the new test is harder. Do they perhaps have a bigger "curve" on the new test because of the diffulty API guys had with it?

 

[dstc]

APEX 4 scores, 54,7,7,7. Over thought reading portion, ran out of time. Math and Mechanical is about the same as others have mentioned. Marine Gouge and Astricky's study guide are good sufficient for ANIT Portions, use Chapters 2-16 in FAA pilots handbook if you have no knowledge of Aviation, but truncated versions are in the Gouges and Study Guides. If you're a Navy buff, you should be able to answer former aircraft from WW2 to present and decks of the ships. For UAV spatial questions, focus on the heading of the UAV and use the compass and map as a reference. I only studied for a week, and I don't have a flying background or engineering background, just lots of statistical modeling and data analysis. Take the test seriously as the retest policy has changed.

 

[Henry Smith]

For the reading section, I found that quickly scanning the choices first helped. For the UAV section, you can actually go back and do the practice section over and over, so a bit of time practicing might be helpful just to get your bearings (pardon the pun).

 

[jconnolly]

I took the new version in December. I got 9/9/9/72. If you have any sort of math/science/physics/engineering background you will do fine on the test. I have an aerospace engineering degree and I only looked over the few practice questions from the NAMI site.

As for the throttle/joystick tracking, it was pretty difficult to follow directly. I think the icon was green maybe 25% of the time I was doing the exercise. I'm thinking they might not score that section as highly or weight it too much because I certainly didn't do exceptionally on it.

 

[zarevich]

I took the new version in December. I got 9/9/9/72. If you have any sort of math/science/physics/engineering background you will do fine on the test. I have an aerospace engineering degree and I only looked over the few practice questions from the NAMI site.

As for the throttle/joystick tracking, it was pretty difficult to follow directly. I think the icon was green maybe 25% of the time I was doing the exercise. I'm thinking they might not score that section as highly or weight it too much because I certainly didn't do exceptionally on it.

Nice Scores buddy!