Aerodynamics, Flight Rules, Instruments, and Army Aviation Readiness
Aviation knowledge also tests lift, drag, thrust, weight, basic flight rules, safety, instruments, and Army aviation career context.
How to study for the SIFT
Use the seven SIFT subtests as your map: build fast visual accuracy, then rotate aviation knowledge, spatial orientation, reading, math, and mechanical reasoning.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Aerodynamics, Flight Rules, Instruments, and Army Aviation Readiness questions reward the answer that follows the official source, the professional role, and the stated facts.
Exam cue: Identify the candidate role, client or public risk, source rule, calculation, or process step being tested.
Concept 2
The strongest answer identifies the rule, safety concern, ethical duty, calculation, client factor, or process step before acting.
Exam cue: Check whether the fact pattern is using a national standard, jurisdiction rule, handbook policy, or scenario-specific instruction.
Concept 3
Eliminate answers that ignore requirements, skip documentation, overreach the role, or treat convenience as the standard.
Exam cue: Choose the compliant and professionally scoped answer before the convenient or familiar answer.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating related standards as interchangeable without checking the source.
Guardrail: Avoid answers that rely only on habit, ignore the stated source, skip safety or compliance steps, or choose convenience over the professional standard.
Skipping screening, documentation, authorization, sanitation, recordkeeping, or other required procedure.
Guardrail: Avoid answers that rely only on habit, ignore the stated source, skip safety or compliance steps, or choose convenience over the professional standard.
Choosing an answer that protects convenience instead of client safety, public protection, or the stated professional duty.
Guardrail: Avoid answers that rely only on habit, ignore the stated source, skip safety or compliance steps, or choose convenience over the professional standard.
Memory anchors
Lift
Lift is the upward aerodynamic force that opposes weight.
Drag
Drag is aerodynamic resistance opposite the direction of motion.
Thrust
Thrust is the force that moves an aircraft forward or through the air.
Weight
Weight is the force of gravity acting on the aircraft.
Autorotation
Autorotation uses upward airflow through the rotor to maintain rotor speed after power loss.
Airspeed
Airspeed is the aircraft's speed relative to the surrounding air.
Altitude
Altitude is vertical distance above a reference such as sea level or ground level.
Flight Rule
A flight rule sets required procedures for safe aircraft operation.
Angle of Attack
Angle of attack is measured between the airfoil chord and relative wind.
Critical Angle
An airfoil stalls when it exceeds its critical angle of attack, not at one universal airspeed.
Density Altitude
High elevation, temperature, and humidity can reduce aircraft and engine performance.
Ground Effect
A rotor hovering near a suitable surface generally needs less power than out of ground effect.
Dissymmetry of Lift
Forward flight gives the advancing blade more relative airspeed than the retreating blade.
Vortex Ring State
A powered descent at low forward speed can place a rotor in recirculating wake.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
In unaccelerated, straight-and-level helicopter flight, which pairing describes the balanced forces?
Aerodynamic lift on a rotor blade acts primarily in which direction?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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