Your FREE ASTB Flashcards 2026 – 250+ Cards

Lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Lift opposes weight; thrust opposes drag.

The upward aerodynamic force, generated mainly by the wings, that opposes weight.

The downward force of gravity on the aircraft, opposed by lift.

The forward force from the engine or propeller that opposes drag.

The rearward force of air resistance that opposes thrust and the aircraft's motion.

Parasite drag (from the aircraft's shape, increases with speed) and induced drag (a by-product of lift, greatest at low speed).

As a fluid's speed increases, its pressure decreases. Faster air over a wing lowers pressure on top, helping create lift.

The angle between the wing's chord line and the oncoming air. Lift rises with it until the critical angle.

The angle of attack beyond which airflow separates from the wing and it stalls.

A sudden loss of lift when the wing exceeds its critical angle of attack. It can occur at any airspeed.

Yes. A stall is caused by exceeding the critical angle of attack, which can happen at any airspeed or attitude.

Increased lift and reduced drag when flying within about one wingspan of the ground.

An imaginary straight line from the leading edge to the trailing edge of a wing.

The cross-sectional shape of a wing or rotor blade designed to produce lift.

Swirling air shed from the wingtips, a source of induced drag and wake turbulence.

Primary controls on the wings' trailing edges that control roll about the longitudinal axis.

A primary control on the horizontal tail that controls pitch about the lateral axis.

A primary control on the vertical tail that controls yaw about the vertical axis.

Ailerons = roll, elevator = pitch, rudder = yaw.

The nose-to-tail axis; roll occurs about it (controlled by ailerons).

The wingtip-to-wingtip axis; pitch occurs about it (controlled by the elevator).

The up-down axis through the center; yaw occurs about it (controlled by the rudder).

Secondary high-lift devices on the wing's trailing edge that increase lift (and drag) at low speed.

Leading-edge high-lift devices that delay the stall by improving airflow at high angles of attack.

The tail assembly of an aircraft, including the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.

The main body of an aircraft that holds the crew, passengers, or cargo.

The fixed vertical tail fin that provides directional (yaw) stability; the rudder attaches to it.

The fixed horizontal tail surface that provides pitch stability; the elevator attaches to it.

An instrument that shows the aircraft's altitude using atmospheric pressure.

An instrument that shows how fast the aircraft is moving through the air.

An instrument that shows the aircraft's pitch and bank relative to the horizon.

A forward-facing tube that measures ram air pressure for the airspeed indicator.

Equipment that replies to radar with a code and altitude so controllers can identify the aircraft.

True north is the geographic pole; magnetic north is where the compass points. They differ by magnetic variation.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT), used in aviation so everyone references one time zone.

One nautical mile per hour, the standard speed unit in aviation and at sea.

About 1.15 statute miles; based on one minute of latitude.

A runway's number is its magnetic heading rounded to the nearest 10 (e.g., heading 270 = runway 27).

The two ends of one runway differ by 18 (e.g., 09 and 27).

Tower light signals (steady/flashing green, red, white) used to direct aircraft that have lost radio communication.

A helicopter's spinning rotor acts like a rotating wing, generating lift as the blades move through the air.

Oxygen deficiency at altitude that impairs judgment and consciousness — a flight-physiology hazard.

A pilot's inability to correctly sense aircraft attitude/position, especially without outside visual references.

The balance point of the aircraft; loading must keep it within limits for safe control.

Altimeter, airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, and heading indicator (plus turn and vertical-speed).

An adjustment that relieves control pressure so the aircraft holds an attitude hands-off.

The control that sets engine power and therefore thrust.

The angle the aircraft is rolled left or right; banking turns the aircraft.

The front edge of a wing that first meets the oncoming air.

The rear edge of a wing where ailerons and flaps are located.

Lift depends on air density, wing area, the lift coefficient, and the square of velocity.

Induced drag is greatest at low airspeed/high angle of attack (e.g., during slow flight and takeoff).

Parasite drag rises sharply as airspeed increases.

The upward angle of the wings from root to tip; it improves roll (lateral) stability.

The curvature of an airfoil; more camber generally produces more lift at a given speed.

Rotation of the nose left or right about the vertical axis, controlled by the rudder.

Rotation of the nose up or down about the lateral axis, controlled by the elevator.

Rotation of the wings up or down about the longitudinal axis, controlled by the ailerons.

The tendency of the nose to yaw opposite the direction of a roll; the rudder coordinates the turn.

Panels that rise from the wing to reduce lift and increase drag, used to descend or slow down.

A jet engine that compresses air, adds fuel and ignites it, and expels exhaust to produce thrust.

An airfoil that rotates to produce thrust by accelerating air rearward.

An instrument showing the aircraft's compass heading.

An instrument showing the rate of climb or descent.

An instrument showing rate of turn and whether the turn is coordinated.

The maximum altitude at which an aircraft can maintain a specified minimum climb rate.

Credited with the first powered, controlled airplane flight in 1903 — common aviation-history fact.

The ratio of an aircraft's speed to the speed of sound.

The point on a wing where the total aerodynamic force acts; it moves with angle of attack.

Reduce the angle of attack (lower the nose) and add power to regain airflow over the wing.

About 29.92 inches of mercury (1013 hPa) at sea level.

Longitudinal (roll), lateral (pitch), and vertical (yaw).

The left side of a ship or aircraft when facing the bow (front).

The right side of a ship or aircraft when facing the bow (front).

The front of a ship.

The back of a ship.

'Port' and 'left' both have four letters.

Designation for an aircraft carrier (CVN = nuclear-powered).

Designation for a guided-missile destroyer.

A 'big-deck' (L-class) ship that carries Marines, helicopters, and vertical/short-takeoff aircraft.

A flight-deck device that accelerates an aircraft to flying speed for launch (CATOBAR carriers).

Cables on the flight deck that a landing aircraft's tailhook catches to stop quickly.

A hook lowered from a carrier aircraft to catch an arresting cable on landing.

Catapult-Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery — the U.S. carrier launch/recovery method.

The superstructure (command tower) on a carrier's flight deck.

The enclosed deck below the flight deck where aircraft are stored and maintained.

Aircraft director, catapult, and arresting-gear officer on the carrier flight deck.

Aviation fuel handlers on the carrier flight deck.

Ordnance handlers and the crash & salvage crew on the flight deck.

Catapult and arresting-gear crews and maintenance personnel.

Aircraft handlers / plane pushers who move and chock aircraft.

Safety, medical, and landing-signal officers.

The central structural backbone running along the bottom of a ship's hull.

The watertight body of a ship.

Toward the stern (rear) of a ship.

Toward the bow (front) of a ship.

Ship speed is measured in knots — one nautical mile per hour.

The ship's steering control (the wheel).

A persistent lean of a ship to one side.

The vertical distance from the waterline to the bottom of the hull.

The weather decks / upper exterior of a ship.

A vertical partition (wall) inside a ship.

The ceiling of a compartment aboard ship.

The floor of a compartment aboard ship.

The kitchen aboard a ship.

The command center from which a ship is steered and navigated.

Weight (often water) carried low in a ship to improve stability.

Securing a ship to a pier, buoy, or anchor.

Also a unit of speed: one nautical mile per hour.

The aftermost part of a ship's main deck.

Fulcrum in the middle, between effort and load (e.g., a seesaw or crowbar).

Load in the middle, between fulcrum and effort (e.g., a wheelbarrow). Always multiplies force.

Effort in the middle, between fulcrum and load (e.g., tweezers or the forearm). Multiplies distance, not force.

By what's in the middle: Fulcrum (1st), Load (2nd), Effort (3rd) — 'FLE.'

The fixed pivot point about which a lever rotates.

Output force divided by input force — how much a machine multiplies your effort.

More force always costs more distance: you move the effort farther to move the load less.

Changes only the direction of a force; gives no mechanical advantage.

Attached to the load; provides mechanical advantage, roughly halving the effort needed.

Two meshed gears turn in opposite directions.

A gear placed between two others so they turn the same direction; it doesn't change the gear ratio.

The ratio of teeth between meshed gears; sets the trade between speed and torque.

The smaller gear (fewer teeth) turns faster but with less torque.

A twisting force that causes rotation; equals force times the distance from the pivot.

Faster fluid flow means lower pressure.

At constant temperature, a gas's pressure and volume are inversely related (squeeze it, pressure rises).

Pressure applied to a confined fluid transmits equally in all directions — the basis of hydraulics.

A small force on a small piston creates pressure that lifts a large load on a big piston.

Force per unit area; smaller area under the same force means higher pressure.

A ramp; a simple machine that reduces the force needed to raise a load by increasing the distance.

An inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder; converts rotation into linear force.

Two inclined planes back to back; converts a driving force into splitting force.

A simple machine where a large wheel turns a small axle (or vice versa) to trade force and distance.

A force that opposes motion between surfaces in contact; produces heat and wastes energy.

Intake, compression, power, exhaust.

An object stays at rest or in motion unless acted on by a net force (inertia).

Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The point where an object's weight is balanced; affects stability and tipping.

Components in one path; the same current flows through all, and one break stops the circuit.

Components on separate branches; each gets the full voltage, and one break doesn't stop the others.

A safety device that melts to break a circuit when current is too high.

Mass per unit volume; objects less dense than a fluid float.

The upward force a fluid exerts on a submerged or floating object.

Force times the distance moved in the direction of the force.

Potential is stored (e.g., by height); kinetic is the energy of motion.

A spring's restoring force is proportional to how far it is stretched or compressed.

Where a pipe narrows, fluid speeds up and its pressure drops (Bernoulli).

For a given force, smaller area produces greater pressure (P = F ÷ A).

A pulley system using multiple movable pulleys to multiply force greatly.

A state with no net force or torque, so an object stays at rest or moves steadily.

The rate of change of velocity; produced by a net force.

Mass times velocity; conserved in collisions.

A lever balances when effort × effort-arm equals load × load-arm.

Most materials expand when heated and contract when cooled.

Heat transfer through direct contact between materials.

Ohm's law: voltage = current × resistance (V = IR).

Static friction (before motion) is usually greater than kinetic friction (during motion).

Reduces friction between moving parts, cutting wear and heat.

Uses Pascal's principle to transmit pedal force through fluid to the brake pads.

distance = rate × time (d = rt).

rate = distance ÷ time.

time = distance ÷ rate.

Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division (left to right), Addition/Subtraction (left to right).

Change in y over change in x (rise over run): m = (y2 − y1) ÷ (x2 − x1).

y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

length × width.

one-half × base × height (½bh).

pi × radius squared (πr²).

2 × pi × radius (2πr).

For a right triangle, a² + b² = c² (c is the hypotenuse).

favorable outcomes ÷ total equally likely outcomes (a value from 0 to 1).

Multiply their individual probabilities.

change ÷ original value × 100.

Multiply by 1.25.

Multiply by 0.75.

25%.

About 0.333.

75%.

x⁻ⁿ = 1 ÷ xⁿ.

xᵐ × xⁿ = xᵐ⁺ⁿ (add the exponents).

(xᵐ)ⁿ = xᵐⁿ (multiply the exponents).

12.

x = 5 (subtract 7, then divide by 3).

Sum of the values divided by how many there are.

The middle value of an ordered list (average the two middle values if even).

The value that appears most often in a data set.

A comparison of two quantities, written a : b or a/b.

An equation stating two ratios are equal; solve by cross-multiplying.

Interest = principal × rate × time.

Divide the numerator by the denominator.

You multiply or divide both sides by a negative number.

2 × (length + width).

length × width × height.

180 degrees.

Add up to 180 degrees.

Add up to 360 degrees.

Any nonzero number to the power 0 equals 1.

The distance of a number from zero; always non-negative.

A whole number greater than 1 with no divisors other than 1 and itself.

The largest number that divides two or more numbers evenly.

The smallest number that two or more numbers all divide into.

1 divided by the number; multiplying a number by its reciprocal gives 1.

Multiply by 100 and add a percent sign.

No — none allowed; you get scratch paper only.

Divide minutes by 60.

Total distance divided by total time — not the average of the two speeds.

a(b + c) = ab + ac.

Multiply the number by the percent written as a decimal.

Add their speeds to get the closing rate.

Subtract the slower speed from the faster to get the gap-closing rate.

144.

225.

Answer only from the passage — never from outside knowledge.

An answer accurate in the real world but not established by the passage; it's wrong.

The central point the whole passage supports — broader than any single detail.

A specific fact the passage states that backs the main idea.

A conclusion the passage implies but doesn't state outright; pick the best-supported one.

Choices with 'always,' 'never,' or 'all' often overstate the passage.

Paraphrase the question and predict the answer before reading the choices.

Cross out choices you can't support with a line from the text.

The attitude the writing conveys (e.g., critical, neutral, enthusiastic).

Why the passage was written — to inform, persuade, describe, or compare.

An answer that's too broad or too narrow compared with what the passage covers.

Don't over-read; find the supporting line and move on under time pressure.

Restate it in your own words to clarify exactly what's being asked.

On every reading question, the credited choice is the one the text most directly backs.

A wrong answer choice designed to look attractive (twisted detail, half-true, off-topic).

Track how the author's ideas connect — claim, evidence, conclusion.

Use surrounding words to infer a term's meaning within the passage.

Often states the main idea of a paragraph; a quick anchor for comprehension.

When the main point isn't stated outright, synthesize it from the details.

Identify which event leads to which outcome in the passage.

Note how the passage shows similarities and differences between ideas.

Distinguish verifiable statements from the author's judgments.

Aviation Selection Test Battery (Enhanced) — used by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to select officer aviation candidates.

Seven.

Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, Mechanical Comprehension, Aviation & Nautical Information, NATFI, Performance Based Measures, and a Biographical Inventory.

Math Skills Test — arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, no calculator. One of the three OAR subtests.

Reading Comprehension Test — answer only from the passage. One of the three OAR subtests.

Mechanical Comprehension Test — applied physics. One of the three OAR subtests.

Aviation and Nautical Information Test — aviation and seamanship knowledge; the most study-able subtest.

Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory — a forced-choice personality inventory with no right answers.

Performance Based Measures — psychomotor and multitasking tasks on a stick-and-throttle controller with headphones.

Biographical Inventory with Response Validation — background questions with a built-in honesty check.

Officer Aptitude Rating — a 20–80 score from the Math, Reading, and Mechanical subtests.

Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, and Mechanical Comprehension.

20 to 80, with an average band around 40–60 (a t-score, not a stanine).

Academic Qualifications Rating — a 1–9 stanine predicting ground-school/academic success.

Pilot Flight Aptitude Rating — a 1–9 stanine predicting primary-flight success for pilots.

Flight Officer Flight Aptitude Rating — a 1–9 stanine predicting flight success for naval flight officers.

A 'standard nine' score (1–9) where 5 is average and 9 is the top ~4%.

AQR and PFAR.

AQR and FOFAR.

Three attempts in a lifetime; the cap cannot be waived.

30 days.

90 days.

Your most recent scores — even if they are lower.

No; your most recent valid scores stay on record until you test again.

Not allowed on the Math Skills Test — scratch paper only.

Yes — the three academic subtests (Math, Reading, Mechanical) are computer-adaptive.

Roughly 2 to 3¼ hours.

About 1½ to 2 hours.

Hands-On-Throttle-And-Stick — the stick-and-throttle controller used for the PBM.

Inverted — push the stick forward and the cursor goes down, like real aircraft pitch.

A PBM task with different audio in each ear; attend to one ear and respond to it.

Not really — you can only familiarize yourself with the controls and the task stack.

The OAR is part of the ASTB-E — it's the three academic subtests. The full ASTB adds aviation, personality, performance, and biographical subtests plus the aviation ratings.

The Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) at NAS Pensacola.

At Navy recruiting offices, NROTC units, Marine officer-selection offices, and military institutes — 250+ sites.

To measure your mental math and number sense under time pressure.

Yes — it's largely knowledge, so it's the most improvable subtest and a fast way to raise aviation ratings.

5 (the 40th–60th percentile).

Generally 6 or higher.