Friday, January 20, 2006
End of API Week Four
Phew! Time to relax, finally! I haven't had more than a few hours to breathe since I came back from leave and now it's over. We took our last serious test today, FR&R, and the mother of all tests, Navigation, on Monday.
Navigation is the one that kicks everybody's ass. Unlike the rest of the exams which are 50 questions in 50 minutes, this one is 50 questions in 2 hours and ten minutes. There is a reason that they give you that long. Forty of the questions are knowledge questions, half of them just stratight from the brain knowledge and the other half calculations. The last ten are based on a jet log, which you must create from an assigned course. There are many measurements to be made from the map, many calculations to be made from those measurements, and more calculations to be made from those calculations. Make a mistake anywhere along the line and all the rest of your answers are wrong. And trust me, mistakes are easy to make. Keep in mind that 80% is passing, so there is little room for error.
So after studing like mad and not sleeping well the night before the test, I took the test. Things went really well, it seemed too well. I was a little nervous after the test while waiting for the results, but I was confident in my answers. It turned out well, I got a 96. We only lost one person on this test, a marine. He has been struggling academicaly for a while and showing less and less motivation. He may DOR (drop on request) from the program, which may be best for him. If he's struggling now he will likely struggle later and if his heart is not in it he'll never make it. He will probably make a great ground officer.
That was the huge hurdle, and this week we jumped the final hurdle; Flight Rules and Regulations. Not a big deal for me because my IFS instructor was really strict about me knowing the FAA regulations when I was flying with him. The only things I really had to learn were the regs the Navy adds on top of the FAA regs.
Carmean was sweating it, because he already has two test failures. The rule in API is that you get rolled back to the next class on two failures and you are booted out of aviation on the third. They did a study at some point and determined that of the students who are allowed to continue after their third failure, 98% attrite from the program later, so almost no one gets to continue past their third failure.
There was no reason for him to worry, he got a 94 and I collected my third 98. The final tally:
Aerodynamics I - 96
Weather - 90
Aerodynamics II - 98
Engines - 98
Navigation - 96
FR&R - 98
Not bad, if I do say so myself.
So we're heading into week five, which is filled with land survival classes, physiology, and the dunk tanks. Good fun, no stress. Life is good.
Navigation is the one that kicks everybody's ass. Unlike the rest of the exams which are 50 questions in 50 minutes, this one is 50 questions in 2 hours and ten minutes. There is a reason that they give you that long. Forty of the questions are knowledge questions, half of them just stratight from the brain knowledge and the other half calculations. The last ten are based on a jet log, which you must create from an assigned course. There are many measurements to be made from the map, many calculations to be made from those measurements, and more calculations to be made from those calculations. Make a mistake anywhere along the line and all the rest of your answers are wrong. And trust me, mistakes are easy to make. Keep in mind that 80% is passing, so there is little room for error.
So after studing like mad and not sleeping well the night before the test, I took the test. Things went really well, it seemed too well. I was a little nervous after the test while waiting for the results, but I was confident in my answers. It turned out well, I got a 96. We only lost one person on this test, a marine. He has been struggling academicaly for a while and showing less and less motivation. He may DOR (drop on request) from the program, which may be best for him. If he's struggling now he will likely struggle later and if his heart is not in it he'll never make it. He will probably make a great ground officer.
That was the huge hurdle, and this week we jumped the final hurdle; Flight Rules and Regulations. Not a big deal for me because my IFS instructor was really strict about me knowing the FAA regulations when I was flying with him. The only things I really had to learn were the regs the Navy adds on top of the FAA regs.
Carmean was sweating it, because he already has two test failures. The rule in API is that you get rolled back to the next class on two failures and you are booted out of aviation on the third. They did a study at some point and determined that of the students who are allowed to continue after their third failure, 98% attrite from the program later, so almost no one gets to continue past their third failure.
There was no reason for him to worry, he got a 94 and I collected my third 98. The final tally:
Aerodynamics I - 96
Weather - 90
Aerodynamics II - 98
Engines - 98
Navigation - 96
FR&R - 98
Not bad, if I do say so myself.
So we're heading into week five, which is filled with land survival classes, physiology, and the dunk tanks. Good fun, no stress. Life is good.
// posted by Josh @ 1/20/2006 12:55:00 PM 
Comments:
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that's pretty cool seeing all those 8s after the 9s ...... actually it's awsome seeing ALL those 90s -- well done!
the dunk tank doesn't sound like good fun to me! ;-)
just be safe while you're having fun. ~Luv Ya!
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the dunk tank doesn't sound like good fun to me! ;-)
just be safe while you're having fun. ~Luv Ya!
# posted by 
: 1/21/2006 11:11 AM
: 1/21/2006 11:11 AM << Home
