Yes, I saw that post too. I have no idea how to solve that one tbh. I'll try to look it up though and see what I can find.
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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)
- Thread starter edato
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servewithpride
Member
My 3rd and final try was rescheduled 3 times so far ?, first and third time was due to a system issue and the 2nd time was due to scheduling misunderstanding (not from my end). Now I scheduled it for the fourth time next week. Wish me luck!
O.B
Member
YOU GOT THIS BRO!!! Wish you all the best.
Turbo7
New Member
Yes I am well aware of this. I just meant I come from a competitive unit so we are compared to one another often and that pushed me to try it again. One of my roommates got a 9/9/9 72 so knowing there's likely others like him in the country pushed me to do better so I'd have a better chance.
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r3coil
Active Member
Hello everyone. I'm an AD1 in the Navy with 8 years active duty service. I just took the astb for the third and final time. I got a 45, 5/7/6. May not be the highest OAR, but it meets the program authorization requirements for the designators I'm applying for (1390 SNA and 1520 AMDO). So I am happy now because I will be relying heavily on my package which I think is really strong because of my accomplishments in the Navy thus far. I went from an OAR of 38, 41 and now 45. I'm not good at math at all, but I know for a fact that consistently studying for a month made all the difference.
I highly recommend everyone to take all the practice tests on Kyle's and Holly's google drives. Lot of the content was on there. Especially for the math and mechanical portions. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up. I'll be applying for the october amdo board and november pilot board. Good luck everyone.
I highly recommend everyone to take all the practice tests on Kyle's and Holly's google drives. Lot of the content was on there. Especially for the math and mechanical portions. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up. I'll be applying for the october amdo board and november pilot board. Good luck everyone.
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EugeneGreen
New Member
Hello everyone, I’ve been lurking in the Air Warrior forums for a while . I’m prior Air Force AD, still in ANG trying to go Navy O now. Took my 1st OAR yesterday and made a 50 . Not the highest score I know , but I’ll contemplate if I should retake or not depending on how things pan with boards.
My feedback: I used the Barons Book, Trivium Book , and Kieno Thomas , who was VERY helpful in getting my math & mech equations up to speed . As well as a couple YouTube videos. There is some ASTB pdf floating around that list questions “easy/moderate/difficult” that best represents the actual format of testing, Because the difficulty did ramp up after getting simple questions right. If I could study more it would be for probability, Logarithms, and the gravitational problems . And dive more into the various notes on this forum .
My feedback: I used the Barons Book, Trivium Book , and Kieno Thomas , who was VERY helpful in getting my math & mech equations up to speed . As well as a couple YouTube videos. There is some ASTB pdf floating around that list questions “easy/moderate/difficult” that best represents the actual format of testing, Because the difficulty did ramp up after getting simple questions right. If I could study more it would be for probability, Logarithms, and the gravitational problems . And dive more into the various notes on this forum .
Hey everyone! Just got my scores and I am pretty pleased with them! I got a 61 8/8/8 shooting for an SNA spot. I felt like I definitely could've done better on the OAR, but I'm pretty pleased with my ASTB score given how difficult that portion felt.
Just some quick feedback:
Kyle and his study guide are the GOAT, use it and pay special attention to the ANIT gouge. Also, I'd definitely recommend either picking up your own copy of or finding a PDF version of the FAA handbook and definitely read and take notes on the chapters he highlights.
I used the Logitech X-52 during the test and I believe that it's the "official" joystick+throttle combo since the onscreen diagram during that section matched this setup. If $150 is too expensive, I'd recommend the T.Flight Hotas 4 at $80 as a good alternative.
Math:
I didn't study for the math section as much since I felt very confident in my math skills, that being said, I'd recommend an SAT math subject test level 1 prep book as a good indicator (and then some) of what you can expect to see on the test.
Geometry and distance/rate/time questions were fairly common in my test. Being able to quickly simplify exponents and functions (ex. quickly expand [x+2]^2 or quickly factor [x^2-6x+8]) is an extremely important skill to learn. I didn't see any matrices or logarithm questions, but I'd definitely still study both concepts, especially logarithms as it plays off your skills of working with exponents. I think I had around 3-4 probability questions not unlike the problem's in Kyle's study guide (you'll notice Kyle's guide is a recurring theme in this thread).
One unique question I did not see mentioned was:
"4 team members are running a relay race, each subsequent team member is 2 seconds faster than the previous runner. If the 4th runner is 1.12 times faster than the initial runner, how long did it take all 4 team members to complete the race overall?"
Reading:
I hated this section and I'm pretty sure this section is what dragged my score down. Back in high school, I pretty regularly practiced reading comprehension and grammar when prepping for the SAT/ACT and even had a weekly tutor to help me, so I generally score pretty highly on this section in other standardized tests. But oh my god the passages on the test were so poorly written that I almost wanted to just give up right then and there. The Barron's book that is recommended here pretty often is good enough.
Each question had its own unique passage in which you basically read through the passage and pick which of the answers is the most correct. Alot of the passages dealt with navy/military life as well.
Mechanics:
Know all of your simple machines (and the 3 types of levers) and their mechanical advantages. I saw pulleys (how does N number of strings affect the force needed to lift the load attached), levers (understand torque and how to balance a 1st degree lever with weights on either side of a fulcrum), and gears (gear ration, gear train, which direction each gear spins etc.). Understand know how to calculate frictional force (both static and kinetic). There were also alot of conceptual questions about Newtonian physics as well (mass remains constant but weight changes based on gravity/altitude).
I specifically had a problem with understanding block-and-tackle pulley systems, so I'd recommend this youtube video as a good primer.
Personally, the Barron's book and Kyle's study guide was all I needed, but I'd also consider an AP Physics 1 (Algebra-based) practice book if you feel especially weak in this area.
ANIT:
I felt like I did pretty well on this section and I think I was booted off before the time limit. As I said before, Kyle's breakdown of what chapters in the FAA handbook was extremely helpful, along with Popeye's gouge in the same folder. I'd say the it was a 60/40 split between Popeye's gouge (naval history, designation of different aircraft etc.) and aviation/nautical terms and knowledge. Definitely know the different parts of a ship as I know for a fact I was tested on that.
NATFI:
It's a personality test. Not sure what else to say about this one. Don't try to game it since who the hell even knows what sort of dark magic its used for.
UAV:
Obligatory UAV trick video
Both the cram and proprofs flashcard sets were useful. Use the UAV trick for one set, but I'd HIGHLY recommend practicing the other set without it. While accuracy is more important than speed, relying on the UAV trick to carry you through this section on test day doesn't seem like a smart idea. Again, accuracy is more important than speed. I averaged around 2-3 seconds and even took up to 6 seconds for some questions, but I only missed like 2 or 3 questions. Don't be afraid to take your time. I definitely did have to use the UAV trick during the test for a few questions, but I was able to correctly answer the overwhelming majority of my questions without it.
Dichotic Listening:
This is when you first start using the HOTAS (stick and throttle). Basically, the test will play a sequence of both letters and numbers after saying "right" or "left" to indicate the target ear. I had to press either the trigger on the stick or the clutch button on the throttle depending on whether the number said to the target ear is odd or even.
Example:
right E A 9(CLUTCH) B S 4(TRIGGER) left B C 2 (TRIGGER) C X 3 (CLUTCH).
Stick and Throttle Sections
Good luck everyone!
Just some quick feedback:
Kyle and his study guide are the GOAT, use it and pay special attention to the ANIT gouge. Also, I'd definitely recommend either picking up your own copy of or finding a PDF version of the FAA handbook and definitely read and take notes on the chapters he highlights.
I used the Logitech X-52 during the test and I believe that it's the "official" joystick+throttle combo since the onscreen diagram during that section matched this setup. If $150 is too expensive, I'd recommend the T.Flight Hotas 4 at $80 as a good alternative.
Math:
I didn't study for the math section as much since I felt very confident in my math skills, that being said, I'd recommend an SAT math subject test level 1 prep book as a good indicator (and then some) of what you can expect to see on the test.
Geometry and distance/rate/time questions were fairly common in my test. Being able to quickly simplify exponents and functions (ex. quickly expand [x+2]^2 or quickly factor [x^2-6x+8]) is an extremely important skill to learn. I didn't see any matrices or logarithm questions, but I'd definitely still study both concepts, especially logarithms as it plays off your skills of working with exponents. I think I had around 3-4 probability questions not unlike the problem's in Kyle's study guide (you'll notice Kyle's guide is a recurring theme in this thread).
One unique question I did not see mentioned was:
"4 team members are running a relay race, each subsequent team member is 2 seconds faster than the previous runner. If the 4th runner is 1.12 times faster than the initial runner, how long did it take all 4 team members to complete the race overall?"
Reading:
I hated this section and I'm pretty sure this section is what dragged my score down. Back in high school, I pretty regularly practiced reading comprehension and grammar when prepping for the SAT/ACT and even had a weekly tutor to help me, so I generally score pretty highly on this section in other standardized tests. But oh my god the passages on the test were so poorly written that I almost wanted to just give up right then and there. The Barron's book that is recommended here pretty often is good enough.
Each question had its own unique passage in which you basically read through the passage and pick which of the answers is the most correct. Alot of the passages dealt with navy/military life as well.
Mechanics:
Know all of your simple machines (and the 3 types of levers) and their mechanical advantages. I saw pulleys (how does N number of strings affect the force needed to lift the load attached), levers (understand torque and how to balance a 1st degree lever with weights on either side of a fulcrum), and gears (gear ration, gear train, which direction each gear spins etc.). Understand know how to calculate frictional force (both static and kinetic). There were also alot of conceptual questions about Newtonian physics as well (mass remains constant but weight changes based on gravity/altitude).
I specifically had a problem with understanding block-and-tackle pulley systems, so I'd recommend this youtube video as a good primer.
Personally, the Barron's book and Kyle's study guide was all I needed, but I'd also consider an AP Physics 1 (Algebra-based) practice book if you feel especially weak in this area.
ANIT:
I felt like I did pretty well on this section and I think I was booted off before the time limit. As I said before, Kyle's breakdown of what chapters in the FAA handbook was extremely helpful, along with Popeye's gouge in the same folder. I'd say the it was a 60/40 split between Popeye's gouge (naval history, designation of different aircraft etc.) and aviation/nautical terms and knowledge. Definitely know the different parts of a ship as I know for a fact I was tested on that.
NATFI:
It's a personality test. Not sure what else to say about this one. Don't try to game it since who the hell even knows what sort of dark magic its used for.
UAV:
Obligatory UAV trick video
Both the cram and proprofs flashcard sets were useful. Use the UAV trick for one set, but I'd HIGHLY recommend practicing the other set without it. While accuracy is more important than speed, relying on the UAV trick to carry you through this section on test day doesn't seem like a smart idea. Again, accuracy is more important than speed. I averaged around 2-3 seconds and even took up to 6 seconds for some questions, but I only missed like 2 or 3 questions. Don't be afraid to take your time. I definitely did have to use the UAV trick during the test for a few questions, but I was able to correctly answer the overwhelming majority of my questions without it.
Dichotic Listening:
This is when you first start using the HOTAS (stick and throttle). Basically, the test will play a sequence of both letters and numbers after saying "right" or "left" to indicate the target ear. I had to press either the trigger on the stick or the clutch button on the throttle depending on whether the number said to the target ear is odd or even.
Example:
right E A 9(CLUTCH) B S 4(TRIGGER) left B C 2 (TRIGGER) C X 3 (CLUTCH).
Stick and Throttle Sections
- If you get one of the flight sticks I mentioned earlier, I'd recommend downloading either War Thunder (do a test flight and set the mode to simulator) or DCS. Both of these games are on steam and free to download. War thunder is more "arcadey" but its still more than good enough. DCS has a reputation for being an intimidating "study" sim, but the two free planes (SU-25 attack jet or a trainer P-51) are easy enough. I'd recommend the SU-25 since you can control all of the plane's functions like landing gear, flaps, etc. from your keyboard. It's also a jet, which personally feels much easier to fly since you don't have to be constantly managing p-factor and the torque of the engine constantly causing a left-turning tendency.
- Vertical Tracking
- On the left side of your screen, there'll be a vertical bar with a fake airplane and a red crosshair that will turn green when the airplane is in chrosshair. Move the throttle up to move the crosshair up and move the throttle down to move the crosshair down. Your testing site should be using the X-52. On the X-52 throttle, there is a detent in the center with a little bit of resistance you need to overcome if you want to get out of the center or move past it. Don't worry about EXACTLY following the plane, get as close as you can and focus more on reacting when the plane changes direction up or down.
- Stick
- The objective is similar the vertical tracking above, but this time you'll be doing it along an x and y axis rather than simply up and down. The joystick is EXTREMELY sensitive. Left and right move as you'd expect them to and you Y axis is inverted just like it would be on a plane. Pull back on the stick to move the crosshair up and push down to move the crosshair down.
- Stick + Vertical Tracking (Throttle)
- Put the above two sections together. Most of your attention should be dedicated to the stick portion. Your peripheral vision should be more than good enough to focus on the vertical tracking section to your left. This is where getting some stick time in one of the two simulators I posted above REALLY comes in handy.
- Stick + Vertical Tracking (Throttle) + Listening
- Just like above, but now with the dichotic listening section thrown in. I would definitely focus on listening the most, but the stick and throttle sections still required a good amount of focus. Personally, I've been playing flight sims as long as I could remember, so I could easily allocate most of my brain power to the listening. For someone who doesn't have as much practice, I'd say it would be a 40/40/20 split between listening/stick/throttle respectively.
- Emergency Section
- This section combines the stick+throttle section with the task of having to actuate 2 knobs on the throttle and pressing the clutch button. The introduction screen to the section will give you time to write down and memorize the procedures. Focus on being able to quickly run through the emergency procedures.
- Fire: E knob LOW, I knob LOW, PRESS THE CLUTCH
- Engine: E knob HIGH, I knob HIGH, PRESS THE CLUTCH
- Propeller: E knob NEUTRAL, I knob HIGH, PRESS THE CLUTCH
- PRESS THE CLUTCH, PRESS THE CLUTCH, PRESS THE CLUTCH don't forget it.
- Pro tip: Just like the throttle, both the E knob and the I knob will have a detent at the middle neutral setting. Just move the knobs around a few times and you'll get the feel of it. Start the test with the knobs in the neutral position.
- Completely ignoring the vertical tracking part for like 2 seconds to quickly perform the emergency procedure seems to be better than spending over twice that amount of time to try and do both at the same time and potentially mess up BOTH the emergency procedure and your tracking.
- This section combines the stick+throttle section with the task of having to actuate 2 knobs on the throttle and pressing the clutch button. The introduction screen to the section will give you time to write down and memorize the procedures. Focus on being able to quickly run through the emergency procedures.
Good luck everyone!
brhodes2014
New Member
How can I get to the google drives for the study material?
KellieAF
New Member
Hey everyone! I took the ASTB a couple days ago for the first time and got a 53 6/7/7. As of right now I won’t be retaking it, but my recruiter is gonna see how a couple people do in the August board with similar scores to me to see if I need to retake it to be more competitive. I still have to go to MEPS and get the formal paperwork done, I’m hopefully gonna be ready for the October board. Here’s my experience with the test:
I was studying for the AFOQT as well around this time when I was still between the Air Force and the Navy so I had used a couple books, Barron’s is great, Trivium is okay - I found Trivium was a good entry level math because it breaks down a lot of concepts, but you could also use the khan academy. Online resources I used was Khan for math, and Kyle’s Study guide on here is single handedly one of the best. If any concepts aren’t clicking, or math you’re not getting, youtube it, there’s a lot of people who have made it easier and broken it down pretty well.
The test itself:
Math:
So first off. It took the computer a couple seconds to register whenever I put in an answer. I know I got the second answer wrong because I clicked the first answer, it didn’t load, so I clicked it again, and then it loaded the second question, regarded my answer, and moved to the third. So. Be patient.
I got a bunch of probability questions. The first were pretty easy, odds of rolling an even number on the die, but then progressed to more complicated ones. What are the odds of rolling this on the die and pulling the number 8 out of a card deck. I got some DRT, simplifying algebraic equations, and basic geometry in terms of angles of triangles and things like that. I probably wasn’t doing super well on the more advance probability so it didn’t push me much farther than algebra and basic geometry.
English
pace yourself. It’s a lot of reading. I got an English degree so I feel pretty good about it - make sure to double check your answer. If you’re a moderately fast reader you’ll have plenty of time. The one thing with this I wasn’t expecting was the layout. The passage is displayed, with four answers. No questions. You just pick the answer that is true given the layout. There’s a couple examples before you take this portion so pay attention to that. It’s pretty easy once you realize that you’re just looking for what is the true inference or statement about the passage.
Mechanics
Basically get ahold of everything you can with this. I got some pulley questions and levers. The only gear question I got related to whether something was spinning clockwise or counterclockwise. There’s theory questions, if someone is on a merry go round and moves to the most outermost point is theIr speed faster, slower, or the same? Things like that. A couple of diagrams of machines I’d not come up against, but if you have a pretty firm understanding in how simple machines work and the definitions of theories related to physics (outlined in books and in the Kyle study guide) then you can infer your way through questions you didn’t necessarily prepare for.
ANIT
Barron’s has a good list of major events and names you should know. One of the major resources i used for this was the cram Flash cards. https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-aviation-nautical-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163. I got a varying form of super easy questions like “what controls the roll on an aircraft” “what term means left on a boat” to more specific and historic questions like “what was the first plane to escort a bomber into enemy territory?” Know that Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier. Basically any form of study material I would use that you can get your hands on. The information in the section is the most spread out over the entire thing, so just do the best you can to prepare for it. Odds are you’ll go up against questions you didn’t know to prepare for, even if it’s just a couple.
NATFI
This is the “pick the more like you of these two options” part of the test. You can’t really study for it. You can approach it trying to keep the mentality of an officer, but some of the things that come up on this are just hard to pick from, or don’t even seem to relate to each other sometimes so just do your best. Be honest. It’s sort of exhausting so pace yourself, but try to answer quickly.
UAV
Use the compass trick. Be fast. I missed two, but don’t let it get to you if you miss them. Just keep chugging along. It’ll speak to you through the headphones and tell you what direction you have to notate on the parking lot. There’s different flashcards online you an use to practice, do that a couple times before you take the test and you should do just fine.
Dichotic Listening
Honestly the most frustrating part about this was a couple times I clicked the wrong button. Your right hand will have a trigger to hit anD your left hand will have a trigger to hit. It’ll tell you to listen to just your right ear/left ear, and when it says an even number in that ear you trigger the right hand, odd number you trigger the left hand. A couple times i clicked the wrong Hand. Right it on a piece of scratch paper and keep it in front of you so you can remind yourself.
Stick and Throttle
The first section is just throttle. THe easiest of the entire section, pay attention to the sudden changes, react as quick as you can. You get a practice before this happens.
Second section is just the stick - like a lot of people say it’s “inverted.” Before I was in college I messed around on flight simulators and flew a couple times, so it took me a minute but I got back in the groove. when you pull the stick toward you, the tracker goes up, push away from you, the tracker goes down. When the plane started picking up speed it got a little difficult, but focus, try to make it more instinctual and based in the feeling of the stick, don‘t get stuck in your head.
Third section is combined between the two - pay more attention to the stick portion, but use your periphery to pay attention to the vertical tracking. I found my left hand naturally sort of knew when it was going too high, and sort of wobbled back and forth a bit which helped me from getting stuck on the bottom part of the screen when the plane was on the top or vice versa. Again, focus, don’t overthink it, just react.
Fourth section combines dichotic listening with this. I found at this point I had actually like, started to feel better on the stick so it was much easier to pay attention to the listening portion primarily. tilt your head in the direction its coming from, and just do your best. This section is a little long, stay focused.
Emergency section. THIS IS THE ONLY SECTION YOU DO NOT GET TO PRACTICE. Make sure you WRITE OUT THE RULES on a scratch piece of paper. Keep them in front of you. refer to the little widget in the bottom right corner so that you are able to see when the knobs are truly at neutral. Don’t forget to hit clutch. You’ve been doing the stick and throttle for a while now so you should be getting the hang of it, so just focus on making sure you react as fast as possible to the emergency commands.
Bring some water and a snack for your break. Use the bathroom then too. Do your best. Tear through the Kyle Study Guide and through this thread. Good luck y’all got this! Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread I couldn’t have done it without y’all!
I was studying for the AFOQT as well around this time when I was still between the Air Force and the Navy so I had used a couple books, Barron’s is great, Trivium is okay - I found Trivium was a good entry level math because it breaks down a lot of concepts, but you could also use the khan academy. Online resources I used was Khan for math, and Kyle’s Study guide on here is single handedly one of the best. If any concepts aren’t clicking, or math you’re not getting, youtube it, there’s a lot of people who have made it easier and broken it down pretty well.
The test itself:
Math:
So first off. It took the computer a couple seconds to register whenever I put in an answer. I know I got the second answer wrong because I clicked the first answer, it didn’t load, so I clicked it again, and then it loaded the second question, regarded my answer, and moved to the third. So. Be patient.
I got a bunch of probability questions. The first were pretty easy, odds of rolling an even number on the die, but then progressed to more complicated ones. What are the odds of rolling this on the die and pulling the number 8 out of a card deck. I got some DRT, simplifying algebraic equations, and basic geometry in terms of angles of triangles and things like that. I probably wasn’t doing super well on the more advance probability so it didn’t push me much farther than algebra and basic geometry.
English
pace yourself. It’s a lot of reading. I got an English degree so I feel pretty good about it - make sure to double check your answer. If you’re a moderately fast reader you’ll have plenty of time. The one thing with this I wasn’t expecting was the layout. The passage is displayed, with four answers. No questions. You just pick the answer that is true given the layout. There’s a couple examples before you take this portion so pay attention to that. It’s pretty easy once you realize that you’re just looking for what is the true inference or statement about the passage.
Mechanics
Basically get ahold of everything you can with this. I got some pulley questions and levers. The only gear question I got related to whether something was spinning clockwise or counterclockwise. There’s theory questions, if someone is on a merry go round and moves to the most outermost point is theIr speed faster, slower, or the same? Things like that. A couple of diagrams of machines I’d not come up against, but if you have a pretty firm understanding in how simple machines work and the definitions of theories related to physics (outlined in books and in the Kyle study guide) then you can infer your way through questions you didn’t necessarily prepare for.
ANIT
Barron’s has a good list of major events and names you should know. One of the major resources i used for this was the cram Flash cards. https://www.cram.com/flashcards/astb-aviation-nautical-information-test-anit-comprehensive-4718163. I got a varying form of super easy questions like “what controls the roll on an aircraft” “what term means left on a boat” to more specific and historic questions like “what was the first plane to escort a bomber into enemy territory?” Know that Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier. Basically any form of study material I would use that you can get your hands on. The information in the section is the most spread out over the entire thing, so just do the best you can to prepare for it. Odds are you’ll go up against questions you didn’t know to prepare for, even if it’s just a couple.
NATFI
This is the “pick the more like you of these two options” part of the test. You can’t really study for it. You can approach it trying to keep the mentality of an officer, but some of the things that come up on this are just hard to pick from, or don’t even seem to relate to each other sometimes so just do your best. Be honest. It’s sort of exhausting so pace yourself, but try to answer quickly.
UAV
Use the compass trick. Be fast. I missed two, but don’t let it get to you if you miss them. Just keep chugging along. It’ll speak to you through the headphones and tell you what direction you have to notate on the parking lot. There’s different flashcards online you an use to practice, do that a couple times before you take the test and you should do just fine.
Dichotic Listening
Honestly the most frustrating part about this was a couple times I clicked the wrong button. Your right hand will have a trigger to hit anD your left hand will have a trigger to hit. It’ll tell you to listen to just your right ear/left ear, and when it says an even number in that ear you trigger the right hand, odd number you trigger the left hand. A couple times i clicked the wrong Hand. Right it on a piece of scratch paper and keep it in front of you so you can remind yourself.
Stick and Throttle
The first section is just throttle. THe easiest of the entire section, pay attention to the sudden changes, react as quick as you can. You get a practice before this happens.
Second section is just the stick - like a lot of people say it’s “inverted.” Before I was in college I messed around on flight simulators and flew a couple times, so it took me a minute but I got back in the groove. when you pull the stick toward you, the tracker goes up, push away from you, the tracker goes down. When the plane started picking up speed it got a little difficult, but focus, try to make it more instinctual and based in the feeling of the stick, don‘t get stuck in your head.
Third section is combined between the two - pay more attention to the stick portion, but use your periphery to pay attention to the vertical tracking. I found my left hand naturally sort of knew when it was going too high, and sort of wobbled back and forth a bit which helped me from getting stuck on the bottom part of the screen when the plane was on the top or vice versa. Again, focus, don’t overthink it, just react.
Fourth section combines dichotic listening with this. I found at this point I had actually like, started to feel better on the stick so it was much easier to pay attention to the listening portion primarily. tilt your head in the direction its coming from, and just do your best. This section is a little long, stay focused.
Emergency section. THIS IS THE ONLY SECTION YOU DO NOT GET TO PRACTICE. Make sure you WRITE OUT THE RULES on a scratch piece of paper. Keep them in front of you. refer to the little widget in the bottom right corner so that you are able to see when the knobs are truly at neutral. Don’t forget to hit clutch. You’ve been doing the stick and throttle for a while now so you should be getting the hang of it, so just focus on making sure you react as fast as possible to the emergency commands.
Bring some water and a snack for your break. Use the bathroom then too. Do your best. Tear through the Kyle Study Guide and through this thread. Good luck y’all got this! Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread I couldn’t have done it without y’all!
the_innkeeper
New Member
Combinatorics are kicking my butt.
Any preferred place to learn, other than Khan academy?
Any preferred place to learn, other than Khan academy?
Winslow Blow
New Member
What’s up Air Warriors,
First of all, thanks to everyone who has contributed countless hours of study guides and advice on this forum. I got picked up for pilot off this most recent cycle and am currently waiting on orders to OCS.
I scored a 47 5/7/6. Not that good right? I guess my PFAR was good enough. For what it’s worth I’ll give you some gouge (Navy know how) for the test.
The best single piece of advice I can give you is to NOT forget your social security card. That is another story for another time..
Math
Let’s see, for the math I drew a multiplication table up to 12 before the test started. You can eliminate some human error if you draw it right. Once you start getting the crazy genius math questions you’ll know you are doing well. I didn’t spend too much time on one problem, but I made sure to not make stupid mistakes along the way.
English
Just take a lot of practice tests and pay attention to the details. It’s easy to miss simple things in the questions and answers.
Mechanics
Same here. Just practice a lot of tests. Don’t nuke it. Think logically. I memorized and wrote down all of the scientific proportions and formulas as soon as I got the scratch paper.
ANIT
I used Barron’s Military Flight Manual and information from my EAWS (Enlisted Wings). I also listened to some Aviation and Nautical YouTube videos in my car. There are also some awesome study guides on this forum. I got an A-10 and some flight dynamics questions I remember.
NATFI
Just be confident and honest. Think like a leader.
UAV
Watch the YouTube video compass trick and practice it a couple times. It makes it so easy. Just be careful when you click your answer on the test.
Listening/Stick Throttle
Just relax and breathe through it. Try not to get flustered. I wrote out the EP's on a piece of paper and propped it up next to the screen. I also practiced each EP a couple times. I attached a cheat sheet on this post that should be helpful. Check it out.
Hope it helps! God bless!
First of all, thanks to everyone who has contributed countless hours of study guides and advice on this forum. I got picked up for pilot off this most recent cycle and am currently waiting on orders to OCS.
I scored a 47 5/7/6. Not that good right? I guess my PFAR was good enough. For what it’s worth I’ll give you some gouge (Navy know how) for the test.
The best single piece of advice I can give you is to NOT forget your social security card. That is another story for another time..
Math
Let’s see, for the math I drew a multiplication table up to 12 before the test started. You can eliminate some human error if you draw it right. Once you start getting the crazy genius math questions you’ll know you are doing well. I didn’t spend too much time on one problem, but I made sure to not make stupid mistakes along the way.
English
Just take a lot of practice tests and pay attention to the details. It’s easy to miss simple things in the questions and answers.
Mechanics
Same here. Just practice a lot of tests. Don’t nuke it. Think logically. I memorized and wrote down all of the scientific proportions and formulas as soon as I got the scratch paper.
ANIT
I used Barron’s Military Flight Manual and information from my EAWS (Enlisted Wings). I also listened to some Aviation and Nautical YouTube videos in my car. There are also some awesome study guides on this forum. I got an A-10 and some flight dynamics questions I remember.
NATFI
Just be confident and honest. Think like a leader.
UAV
Watch the YouTube video compass trick and practice it a couple times. It makes it so easy. Just be careful when you click your answer on the test.
Listening/Stick Throttle
Just relax and breathe through it. Try not to get flustered. I wrote out the EP's on a piece of paper and propped it up next to the screen. I also practiced each EP a couple times. I attached a cheat sheet on this post that should be helpful. Check it out.
Hope it helps! God bless!
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servewithpride
Member
Finally took the OAR yesterday for the third time after getting rescheduled last minute so many times due to system issues.
I got a 44 on my first attempt back in January, then 48 in February. Had I not come across this website and this thread after the 2nd attempt when I felt hopeless, I doubt that I would have been able to do any better due to the lack of studying material out there pertaining to this test. I scored a 56 which is higher than what I needed.
Big thank you to everyone here and to people like Kyle and others who took time to create those gouges that def came in handy especially on the mechanical section.
I got a 44 on my first attempt back in January, then 48 in February. Had I not come across this website and this thread after the 2nd attempt when I felt hopeless, I doubt that I would have been able to do any better due to the lack of studying material out there pertaining to this test. I scored a 56 which is higher than what I needed.
Big thank you to everyone here and to people like Kyle and others who took time to create those gouges that def came in handy especially on the mechanical section.
the_innkeeper
New Member
Took my OAR today. Scored a 63. Was expecting better on it, due to the level of questions I got in the math section (Sequences/series, matrices, exponents, probability) but the mech section was mostly conceptual vice computational.
Oh well.
Oh well.
donkeh
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, it's finally time to give my 2 cents back to the website that saved me and gave me the materials to pass the ASTB.
For my first ASTB attempt I entered woefully underprepared and with a very weak math foundation and it reflected in my scores. My first attempt was a 50 5,6,4 and I absolutely bombed the UAV portion. I watched the compass trick the night before but didn't think it was worth practicing all that much and let me tell you, it absolutely killed my score. I was feeling way too sorry for myself and decided to actually use the resources I had at my disposal and comb this website for all the information I could use and find to help me pass.
I just got out of my second attempt today and I scored a 47 6,8,6. Yup, thats right, my OAR actually went down 3 points somehow but my subscores all improved to where I needed them to be and ultimately these are the scores that matter the most in pilot selection (according to my recruiter). In preparation for my second run at the exam, I did numerous practice tests from Kyle's Google Drive folder and did a ton of private sessions for math tutoring with Kieno Thomas, read the entirety of the Barron's book, and hundreds of math generic math practice problems. If you have a weak foundation in math, there is NO ONE I could recommend more than him. He keeps an active timeline with each client and exposes your weaknesses and makes you work to turn them into your strengths, and all at what was a very reasonable hourly rate. He also hosts 2-3 weekly facebook/youtube livestreams that you can attend for free and ask any questions you may have about the exam and I would highly recommend attending as many of those as you can and participating. His facebook/youtube/business pages are all Stemwithkieno.com.
Math
Kicked my ass again despite all the studying I did that focused on different math concepts. The best thing I can recommend is relearning and mastering as much algebra as you can. My exam was very heavy on algebra and very little geometry, no DRT, lots of fractions, systems of equations, and that sort of stuff. You can tell when you get a question right or wrong and I knew that the second time they were significantly harder than my first attempt so that was a good sign. I got booted out pretty early with a decent amount of time left so it was most likely my weakest area but I am still happy with the score I got. There will always be 1-2 answers that are blatantly wrong if you have a basic understanding of what you should be looking for. This section is incredibly important. You HAVE to know this stuff to succeed.
English
Boring and really odd questions and passages that will make you want to rip your hair out. But it is also not that difficult. Just long and boring. Definitely prepare somewhat with the passages in the Barron's book, but don't stress this section too much.
Mechanics
Mostly conceptual and I got off pretty easy on this section compared to my first attempt. I was doing well enough to have questions requiring calculations in Ohms and Amperes thrown my way though so it's good to know those concepts and equations. Don't slack on mechanical studying, it's shorter than math and english but can be just as difficult.
ANIT
A lot of people struggle with this section due to the sheer volume of information that can ask you about. This was actually by far the easiest for me though, since I have been obsessed with aviation since I was 7-8 years old and have learned a ton about it over the years. I practiced with the flashcard set found on others posts in this thread and went through all 400+ flashcards at least 3 times. I know for a fact that I killed this section and it reflected in my score with an 8.
NATFI
There is no real preparation or way to "game" this section. Be true to yourself.
UAV
Learn the compass trick. And then practice it a couple of hundred times, it will pay off on the test. I went from probably getting 70% of them wrong my first time to getting all of them right on my second time and most of them answered in under 2 seconds. I averaged about 3 seconds while practicing at home.
Stick and Throttle
Good luck. Write down your procedures. Tilt your head to the side they are asking you to listen to. Don't expect to do well tracking the two targets at the same time. Just try your best. Seriously, good luck.
Conclusion
Use all your available resources and don't be discouraged when you see people post their insane scores on this thread and say "ehh it wasn't so hard" or "I feel like I could have done better", worry about you and you alone. Don't compare yourself to others, just work on yourself and improve every single day that you can. Do some DRT problems, practice a couple of UAV flashcards, watch videos on airplanes and flight. Be willing to learn and ready to make mistakes. It will be worth it when you get the score you desire.
Oh, and when they give you a 15 minute break, USE IT. I was almost ready to piss myself during the stick and throttle portion because I didn't take my break and had been drinking water prior to and during the exam.
Good luck, it really isn't that bad!
For my first ASTB attempt I entered woefully underprepared and with a very weak math foundation and it reflected in my scores. My first attempt was a 50 5,6,4 and I absolutely bombed the UAV portion. I watched the compass trick the night before but didn't think it was worth practicing all that much and let me tell you, it absolutely killed my score. I was feeling way too sorry for myself and decided to actually use the resources I had at my disposal and comb this website for all the information I could use and find to help me pass.
I just got out of my second attempt today and I scored a 47 6,8,6. Yup, thats right, my OAR actually went down 3 points somehow but my subscores all improved to where I needed them to be and ultimately these are the scores that matter the most in pilot selection (according to my recruiter). In preparation for my second run at the exam, I did numerous practice tests from Kyle's Google Drive folder and did a ton of private sessions for math tutoring with Kieno Thomas, read the entirety of the Barron's book, and hundreds of math generic math practice problems. If you have a weak foundation in math, there is NO ONE I could recommend more than him. He keeps an active timeline with each client and exposes your weaknesses and makes you work to turn them into your strengths, and all at what was a very reasonable hourly rate. He also hosts 2-3 weekly facebook/youtube livestreams that you can attend for free and ask any questions you may have about the exam and I would highly recommend attending as many of those as you can and participating. His facebook/youtube/business pages are all Stemwithkieno.com.
Math
Kicked my ass again despite all the studying I did that focused on different math concepts. The best thing I can recommend is relearning and mastering as much algebra as you can. My exam was very heavy on algebra and very little geometry, no DRT, lots of fractions, systems of equations, and that sort of stuff. You can tell when you get a question right or wrong and I knew that the second time they were significantly harder than my first attempt so that was a good sign. I got booted out pretty early with a decent amount of time left so it was most likely my weakest area but I am still happy with the score I got. There will always be 1-2 answers that are blatantly wrong if you have a basic understanding of what you should be looking for. This section is incredibly important. You HAVE to know this stuff to succeed.
English
Boring and really odd questions and passages that will make you want to rip your hair out. But it is also not that difficult. Just long and boring. Definitely prepare somewhat with the passages in the Barron's book, but don't stress this section too much.
Mechanics
Mostly conceptual and I got off pretty easy on this section compared to my first attempt. I was doing well enough to have questions requiring calculations in Ohms and Amperes thrown my way though so it's good to know those concepts and equations. Don't slack on mechanical studying, it's shorter than math and english but can be just as difficult.
ANIT
A lot of people struggle with this section due to the sheer volume of information that can ask you about. This was actually by far the easiest for me though, since I have been obsessed with aviation since I was 7-8 years old and have learned a ton about it over the years. I practiced with the flashcard set found on others posts in this thread and went through all 400+ flashcards at least 3 times. I know for a fact that I killed this section and it reflected in my score with an 8.
NATFI
There is no real preparation or way to "game" this section. Be true to yourself.
UAV
Learn the compass trick. And then practice it a couple of hundred times, it will pay off on the test. I went from probably getting 70% of them wrong my first time to getting all of them right on my second time and most of them answered in under 2 seconds. I averaged about 3 seconds while practicing at home.
Stick and Throttle
Good luck. Write down your procedures. Tilt your head to the side they are asking you to listen to. Don't expect to do well tracking the two targets at the same time. Just try your best. Seriously, good luck.
Conclusion
Use all your available resources and don't be discouraged when you see people post their insane scores on this thread and say "ehh it wasn't so hard" or "I feel like I could have done better", worry about you and you alone. Don't compare yourself to others, just work on yourself and improve every single day that you can. Do some DRT problems, practice a couple of UAV flashcards, watch videos on airplanes and flight. Be willing to learn and ready to make mistakes. It will be worth it when you get the score you desire.
Oh, and when they give you a 15 minute break, USE IT. I was almost ready to piss myself during the stick and throttle portion because I didn't take my break and had been drinking water prior to and during the exam.
Good luck, it really isn't that bad!