SIFT study guide
SIFT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Selection Instrument for Flight Training (SIFT) is the battery the U.S. Army uses to assess candidates who want to become aviators - most often applicants for warrant officer flight training, and also commissioning-path candidates who need a flight aptitude score on file. The SIFT study guide has 7 sections and about 2,554 words.
01Simple Drawings: Fast, Accurate Figure Matching
Simple Drawings measures how quickly and accurately you can decide whether two line drawings show the same object. You are given a target drawing and several choices; typically only one choice is the target turned to a new orientation, while the rest are altered or mirrored.
369 words, about 2 min02Hidden Figures: Finding a Shape Inside a Pattern
You are shown a simple target shape (a triangle, star, arrow, or letter-like form) and a dense pattern of overlapping lines. Usually exactly one location in the pattern contains the target at the same size and orientation; read the instructions in case rotation or scaling is permitted.
341 words, about 2 min03Army Aviation Information: Rotorcraft Basics
Basic helicopter aerodynamics, flight controls, and Army aviation terminology. This is knowledge recall plus simple application, not engineering mathematics.
377 words, about 2 min04Spatial Apperception: Reading Attitude From the Cockpit View
You see the view out of a cockpit, with sky, ground, and a horizon line, and must state the aircraft's attitude: climbing or descending, banked left or right, or both at once. Pitch from horizon height.
369 words, about 2 min05Reading Comprehension: Answer Only From the Passage
Passages of one or two paragraphs followed by questions on main idea, explicit detail, inference, vocabulary in context, and the author's purpose or tone. Main idea: the correct answer covers the whole passage, not one vivid detail.
353 words, about 2 min06Math Skills: Clean Setup Beats Long Computation
Arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percents, ratios and proportions, basic algebra, and plane geometry, plus word problems. There is no calculator, so the scoring rewards estimation and a clean setup over long computation.
351 words, about 2 min07Mechanical Comprehension: Pick the Right Principle
Everyday physics: levers, pulleys, gears, inclined planes, work and power, pressure, and simple fluid systems. The arithmetic is light; the challenge is recognizing which principle applies.
394 words, about 2 min