Taking the ASTB

[prsdrag0n]

Aside from the information I gathered from the Pilots Flight Manual, most of the information in that guide is collected from various gouges. If you look on the message boards, you'll see everyone's input on the q&a from the ASTB. However, to be honest, I just took the ASTB the 2nd time today and feel pretty confident about it. However, the best advice I can give is for the Nautical section of the test, you will either know the answers or you wont. The best site to study from (in my opinion) still remains http://www.geocities.com/tiffanypbaker/gouge/astb.htm
I'm not a big fan of the section of the test because I don't have any prior flight experience and I believe it is unfortunate that you already need to know things that will be taught while in flight school. Take it for what its worth. I ended up buying several of the study guides and I found that they all had inaccurate answers to some of the questions, and in the end confused me even more. The best way to study for this test are the gouges online, and even looking at the GMAT study guides (for math section). Anyway, I'm not trying to confuse anyone in that guide, just help out by combining all the gouges. Good luck to those taking the test in the near future!

 

[mmx1]

Not to toot my own horn, but I put together a comprehensive(IMHO) guide:

http://www.columbia.edu/~mmx1/astb/

It links the Marine gouge, the Mechanical Comprehension gouge, the online version of the peterson's book, the online FAA handbook, and one of the boating sites recommended here, which should cover all the bases.

 

[mmx1]

From the Nautical Study Guide.....who wrote this anyway?

• Angle of Attack – Angle formed by the chord line of the wing and the oncoming airflow......that should be relative wind, not oncoming airflow.

• On an airplane, what causes increased lift? Flaps.....call me crazy, but I thought it was the increased angle of attack that causes an increas in lift. Flaps are a method of achieving that goal.

• If a plane is straight & level during flight, its propulsion is greater than drag....??

• Windlass: Where the anchor is located or stored.....no, you're probably thinking of the chain locker and that is to store the anchor chain, not the anchor. You don't really "store" the anchor. The windlass is used to slowly lower the anchor or to raise it.

• Extended Position (of F-14's wings): Provides increased lift at low speeds....ok, but I thought it was the flaps that increased lift on airplanes. I'm so confused.

It's possible to overthink these answers. On a very basic level, all these answers are "correct." "Correct" enough for the exam, anyway. I know there was one question on the ASTB that was technically wrong, but correct if you considered NO2 to be a fuel (without giving too much away about the question itself). It is a "fuel" if you consider it as an additive, but technically speaking, from the chemist's point of view, it's an oxidizer, not a fuel.

[end nerd rant]

As for "straight and level", it should be "straight and level accelerated flight", as it reads in the Marine gouge. Small but important detail.

 

[nugget81]

mmx1, I read over your website and it looks really good.

Anyone who needs to study for the ASTB should use it for a "one-stop, get all the info you need and more" website.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

It's possible to overthink these answers. On a very basic level, all these answers are "correct." "Correct" enough for the exam, anyway.

Even on the most basic level, the windlass is not where the anchor is stored or even close to where it's located; and for that matter, the angle of attack is not the angle between the cord line and the oncoming wind, no matter how you slice it. As for the others, I can go either way on them. There's some others in there I didn't even mention such as the one about the elevators and pitch control. But then, we'll start getting into an aerodynamics debate which can be saved for another thread.

 

[mmx1]

Even on the most basic level, the windlass is not where the anchor is stored or even close to where it's located; and for that matter, the angle of attack is not the angle between the cord line and the oncoming wind, no matter how you slice it. As for the others, I can go either way on them. There's some others in there I didn't even mention such as the one about the elevators and pitch control. But then, we'll start getting into an aerodynamics debate which can be saved for another thread.

Fair enough, you're right. I should have said some. I believe that from a layman's point of view "oncoming wind" and "relative wind" are synonymous, but the former is by no means proper or precise terminology.

I remember being very frustrated at how vaguely both the (official) prep material and the exam material were written. More than once I've seen something and said "hmm, that's not 100% right, but it's the closest answer." That's why these tests all say "best possible answer" or something like that, to protect some wise guy from challenging them on . Point being, mistakes aside, the level of aerodynamics on the ASTB is very unsophisticated, and trying to be sophisticated will only get you confused.

 

[gtown99]

MMX, I think your study guide did totally rock. I used it.