Free ASTB-E Exam Flashcards

Aviation Selection Test Battery, Edition E. Administered by the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) / Naval Medicine Operational Training Command (NMOTC) for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviation officer selection.

Math Skills Test (MST), Reading Comprehension Test (RCT), Mechanical Comprehension Test (MCT), Aviation and Nautical Information Test (ANIT), Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory (NATFI), and Performance Based Measures Battery (PBM).

The composite score built from MST + RCT + MCT results. Reported on a 20-80 scale and used as a general officer-aptitude qualifier across Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard commissioning programs.

An aviation selection composite reflecting overall academic aptitude, reported as a stanine from 1 to 9.

The aviation selection composite used to screen Student Naval Aviator (pilot) candidates, reported as a stanine from 1 to 9.

The aviation selection composite used to screen Naval Flight Officer (NFO) candidates, reported as a stanine from 1 to 9.

Up to three total attempts are allowed. Candidates must wait 30 full calendar days between the first completed administration and a retest start, and scores from different attempts cannot be mixed by subtest.

No calculator is allowed on the Math Skills Test or anywhere else in the ASTB-E; all computation must be done by hand or mentally.

Distance = Rate x Time (equivalently, Rate = Distance / Time). Used for speed, fuel, and time word problems, including nautical-mile and knot scenarios.

Percent change = (New Value - Original Value) / Original Value x 100.

Add the ratio terms to find the total number of parts, divide the total quantity by that number of parts, then multiply the result by each term to find individual amounts.

Average = Sum of all values / Number of values.

Apply inverse operations to both sides in reverse order of operations, undoing addition or subtraction first, then multiplication or division, until the variable stands alone.

Perimeter = 2 x (Length + Width).

Triangle area = 1/2 x base x height. Circle area = pi x radius squared.

For a right triangle, a squared plus b squared equals c squared, where c is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle).

Skim the short passage first for main idea and structure, then read the questions before rereading for supporting details; RCT passages are typically brief technical or informational texts.

The main idea is the passage's central point that every paragraph supports. A supporting detail is a specific fact, example, or reason used to develop that central point.

A logical conclusion drawn from evidence stated in the passage, not information stated outright. The correct answer must be directly supported by the text, not just plausible.

Use surrounding sentence context, such as contrast words, definitions, or examples, to determine a word's intended meaning rather than relying only on its most common dictionary definition.

Determine whether the author's aim is to inform, persuade, describe, or narrate, and note word-choice cues (objective vs. critical language) that reveal the passage's tone.

The fulcrum sits between the effort and the load (example: a seesaw or crowbar). Depending on fulcrum placement, it can multiply force or change the direction of the applied force.

The load sits between the fulcrum and the effort (example: a wheelbarrow). Always multiplies force, trading distance moved for reduced effort.

Mechanical advantage equals the number of rope segments supporting the load. Combining a movable pulley with a fixed pulley reduces the effort force needed to lift a weight.

Meshed gears always rotate in opposite directions. A smaller gear driven by a larger gear spins faster but produces less torque.

Pressure applied to an enclosed, incompressible fluid is transmitted equally in all directions. This is the working principle behind hydraulic lifts and hydraulic brakes.

Work = Force x Distance, measured in the direction the force is applied.

Voltage = Current x Resistance (V = I x R), relating the basic electrical quantities in a simple circuit.

In a series circuit, current is the same throughout and resistances add together. In a parallel circuit, voltage is the same across each branch and total resistance decreases as branches are added.

An object is more stable when its center of gravity is lower and its base of support is wider. Raising the center of gravity or narrowing the base increases the risk of tipping.

Lift, weight (gravity), thrust, and drag. Steady, level, unaccelerated flight requires lift to equal weight and thrust to equal drag.

An airfoil's curved shape causes air to move faster over the top surface than the bottom, lowering pressure above the wing relative to below it and creating an upward lift force.

Ailerons control roll (on the wings), elevators control pitch (on the horizontal stabilizer), and the rudder controls yaw (on the vertical stabilizer).

Longitudinal axis (roll), lateral axis (pitch), and vertical axis (yaw). Each axis passes through the aircraft's center of gravity.

The angle between a wing's chord line and the oncoming relative wind. Exceeding the critical angle of attack causes an aerodynamic stall regardless of airspeed.

A loss of lift that occurs when the wing's critical angle of attack is exceeded, disrupting smooth airflow over the airfoil surface.

A nautical mile (about 6,076 feet) is longer than a statute mile (5,280 feet). Aviation and naval navigation use nautical miles and knots (nautical miles per hour) for speed.

Port is the left side of a vessel or aircraft when facing forward; starboard is the right side.

It is a flight instrument that measures altitude using barometric (air) pressure changes relative to a reference pressure setting.

A warm front brings gradually rising cloud layers and steady precipitation ahead of it. A cold front brings fast-moving, often severe thunderstorms along a steeper leading edge.

A standardized routine surface weather report format used in aviation, typically updated hourly, giving wind, visibility, sky condition, temperature, dew point, and altimeter setting.

A VHF Omnidirectional Range station is a ground-based radio navigation aid that provides aircraft with bearing information relative to the station.

A non-cognitive personality and behavioral inventory that compares a candidate's traits, attitudes, and behavioral tendencies against profiles associated with successful naval aviators. It is not scored right or wrong.

Respond honestly and consistently rather than trying to guess a 'correct' profile. The inventory is designed to flag inconsistent or overly self-favorable response patterns.

No. NATFI trait facets and scoring criteria are officially proprietary and are not publicly released, unlike the objective OAR subtests.

Multitasking ability, situational awareness, spatial orientation, and psychomotor control-tracking performance under time pressure, delivered as computer-based tasks.

The PBM is administered on the APEX system using a joystick and throttle, an aircraft/UAV-style control interface, rather than only a mouse and keyboard.

As a series of computer-based tasks with on-screen automated instructions and practice trials before scored trials, testing tracking and multitasking under time pressure.

The PBM measures real-time joystick and throttle control-tracking plus divided-attention performance, so multiple-choice practice can only approximate the underlying spatial-orientation and multitasking concepts, not the timed control task itself.

Practice spatial-orientation and rapid-decision drills under time pressure, and get comfortable with basic instrument and attitude interpretation, since PBM performance is skill-based rather than knowledge-based.