AFOQT · Pilot and ABM composites
Aviation Information
Aviation Information is the AFOQT subtest whose items ask how an airplane flies, what its parts and systems do or what an airport's lights mean, and you pick the best of five answers.
- Items
- 20
- Time
- 8 minutes
- Answer options
- 5
- Composites
- Pilot, ABM (not CSO)
- Guessing penalty
- None
Screens of the trainer
The subtest
Measures
The subtest measures knowledge of aviation. It counts toward the Pilot and Air Battle Manager (ABM) composites, and not toward the Combat Systems Officer (CSO) composite.
The Pilot composite feeds the Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) score, along with flying hours and the Test of Basic Aviation Skills (TBAS).
Format
Each item is a question or an incomplete statement followed by five choices. You pick the one that best answers the question or completes the statement.
The pace is 24 seconds per item.
Scoring
Composite scores are reported as percentiles from 1 to 99.
On average, test-takers answer a smaller share of its items correctly than on most other AFOQT subtests.
Item types
One question, five choices
Each item is a short question on one point of aviation knowledge. The items draw from aerodynamics and aircraft performance, aircraft parts and systems, flight instruments, and airport lighting and markings.
Free practice test
Item 1 of 5
Applying carburetor heat causes a decrease in engine power mainly because the heated air entering the engine is
Show the answer
Answer: less dense than the outside air it replaces
Heated air is less dense, which enriches the mixture and reduces power.
The heated air is warmer, not colder, and still passes through the carburetor.
No intercooler is involved, and carburetor heat does not by itself cut fuel flow.
Item 2 of 5
Motion about an aircraft's vertical axis, controlled by the rudder, is called
Show the answer
Answer: yaw
Yaw is motion about the vertical axis, and the rudder controls it.
Roll is about the longitudinal axis, pitch about the lateral axis.
Slip and skid describe uncoordinated flight, not an axis of rotation.
Item 3 of 5
A heading indicator gradually drifts from its set heading mainly because of precession caused by bearing friction and because
Show the answer
Answer: the Earth rotates in space at 15 degrees per hour
The gyro holds its orientation in space while the Earth turns 15 degrees per hour.
The drift reaches up to 15 degrees per hour.
Rotor speed, vacuum pressure, the compass and magnetic variation do not cause this drift.
Item 4 of 5
REILs are installed at many airports mainly to help a pilot
Show the answer
Answer: identify a runway's approach end quickly and positively
Runway end identifier lights (REILs) are a pair of synchronized flashing lights.
They mark the approach end quickly, among other lights or in low visibility.
They do not show runway length, glide path, airport location or an ATC clearance.
Item 5 of 5
An airplane is based at a high-elevation airport on a hot, humid afternoon. Compared to a cool, dry morning at the same airport, the density altitude is
Show the answer
Answer: higher, and takeoff performance is reduced
High elevation, high temperature and high humidity all raise density altitude.
Higher density altitude means thinner air and reduced takeoff performance.
Density altitude does not depend on elevation alone, nor on the engine type.
The Frontline Forge trainer
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An explanation after each answer
Training mode shows the correct answer after each item and explains it. The clock stops while you read, until you press Next.
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The real format, ranked
Test mode runs 20 items in 8 minutes, the count and time of the real subtest, then reviews every item. Each score is ranked against other test-takers, and the Statistics page plots the ranking of every attempt.
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400 items from FAA handbooks
Each session draws 20 items from a bank of 400, written from the FAA's pilot handbooks and the Aeronautical Information Manual. The 400 cover the principles of flight, aircraft systems, flight instruments, airports and air traffic control, and performance, weather and human factors, and none asks for a computation.