Module overview
What the test trains
This module focuses on mental arithmetic, speed-distance-time reasoning, time arithmetic, route reading and reference-table use. It is designed to make the underlying process easier to recognise, repeat and review before you add more speed or workload.
Task profile
What the task looks like
What it involves
- Read a fixed map of named locations connected by routes with mileages.
- Identify the start point, destination, route, current time and parcel weight.
- Turn the parcel weight into a speed with the Speed and Parcel Weight page in the Menu, then add each travelled route leg and calculate Time = Distance ÷ Speed.
- Add the journey time to the current time (or subtract it from the required arrival time) and enter the result as four-digit HHMM time; journey and single-leg answers are typed in minutes.
- For a fuel question, read the fuel rate for that speed from the Speed and Fuel Consumption page in the Menu and multiply it by the journey time; the answer is in litres.
Practice screen example
These screenshots show CBAT Academy’s independent practice version of the task.
Learn by doing
Speed, distance and time: worked examples
Keep distance in nautical miles (NM), speed in knots (NM per hour), and time in hours when using distance = speed × time. For minutes, use time = distance ÷ speed × 60. These original examples practise the arithmetic behind route problems.
1. Find the flight time
A route leg is 90 NM long. At a constant ground speed of 180 knots, how many minutes does it take?
Show answer and method
- Time = 90 ÷ 180 = 0.5 hours.
- Convert hours to minutes: 0.5 × 60 = 30 minutes.
- Sense check: at 180 knots you cover 3 NM per minute; 90 ÷ 3 = 30.
30 minutes.
Watch out: 0.5 hours is 30 minutes, not 50. Treat the decimal as a fraction of an hour.
2. Work backwards from arrival time
You must arrive at 14:20 after flying 120 NM at 240 knots. When should you depart, assuming no other delays?
Show answer and method
- At 240 knots, you cover 4 NM per minute.
- 120 ÷ 4 = 30 minutes of flight time.
- Subtract 30 minutes from 14:20: 13:50.
Depart at 13:50.
Watch out: Cross the hour boundary carefully. Clock minutes use base 60, not base 100.
3. Combine two route legs
Fly 60 NM at 180 knots, then 80 NM at 240 knots. What is the total flight time?
Show answer and method
- First leg: 60 ÷ 180 × 60 = 20 minutes.
- Second leg: 80 ÷ 240 × 60 = 20 minutes.
- Add the leg times: 20 + 20 = 40 minutes.
40 minutes.
Watch out: Do not average the two speeds and divide the total distance by that value. Calculate each leg separately.
A short drill before you start
Before opening the trainer, convert 120, 180, 240 and 300 knots to NM per minute: 2, 3, 4 and 5. Then solve three single-leg questions accurately before adding arrival times or multiple legs.
Try free Airborne Numerical practice →Build the next skill
- Angles, Bearings & Degrees: worked examples and practice
- Instrument Comprehension: worked examples and practice
Original CBAT Academy training examples. These are not official RAF questions.
Interface briefing
Controls and difficulty
Controls
Read the map and journey table, open the Speed and Parcel Weight and Speed and Fuel Consumption pages from the Menu when you need them, then type your answer with the number keys (or the on-screen keypad on a phone) and press Enter.
Difficulty and settings
Practice runs range from 8 questions in 8 minutes at Easy up to 16 questions in 16 minutes at Hard. Assessment mode blends all three automatically.
Read how practice scores and estimates work →Training plan
Build a method that holds up under pressure
Why this becomes difficult
- Several pieces of information must be combined without losing track of the route.
- A route-reading error contaminates the entire calculation.
- Decimal-hour conversion creates a second arithmetic step after the division.
- Time arithmetic can cross an hour boundary or midnight.
- Looking up reference information costs time while the calculation is active.
- A fuel question chains two lookups, weight to speed and then speed to fuel rate, and neither value is in the journey table.
Preparation tips
- Memorise Speed = Distance ÷ Time and rearrange it instantly.
- Become fluent with common fractions: 0.25 h = 15 min, 0.5 h = 30 min and 0.75 h = 45 min.
- Add route legs in a fixed order and hold one intermediate value at a time: distance, journey time, then arrival time.
- Estimate before finalising. A 200-mile journey at 200 mph should take about one hour.
- Practise 24-hour time arithmetic, including carrying minutes over an hour and crossing midnight.
Common mistakes
- Using direct distance instead of the highlighted route distance.
- Forgetting an intermediate leg or counting the same leg twice.
- Treating 0.5 hours as 50 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
- Entering 10:05 as 105 instead of 1005.
- Using the wrong speed or calculating before confirming what the question asks.
- Looking for the fuel rate in the journey table, or reading it straight off the parcel weight, instead of going weight to speed to fuel rate.
Useful practice drills
- Twenty rapid decimal-hour conversions.
- Ten 24-hour-clock addition problems.
- Route totals from simple network diagrams.
- Speed-distance-time problems where only one variable changes.
- Full mixed questions under a short timer once the arithmetic is reliable.
Transparency
Sources and information status
Task guidance on this page describes CBAT Academy’s own software. Broad aptitude context is checked against the public references in the source register.
This guide describes CBAT Academy’s independently developed practice modules. It is not an exact specification of any current RAF, Canadian Forces or Ministry of Defence assessment. Official content, timings, scoring and administration may differ.
Continue the briefing
Turn the method into repeatable performance.
Launch the interactive trainer, begin with accuracy and review the pattern behind each mistake before increasing pace.