ASTB-E Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: D

4/25: 4/25 = (4/10)(4/10) assumes replacement. Without replacement, the second draw is 3 red out of 9.

2/5: 2/5 is the probability that a single draw is red. It ignores the second draw.

11/15: This adds the probabilities (4/10 + 3/9). For two events that must both happen, multiply.

2/15: Correct. P = (4/10) x (3/9) = 12/90 = 2/15.

For "both A and B," multiply. Without replacement, reduce both the favorable count and the total for the second draw.

Answer: B

36 nautical miles: This uses 2 hours instead of 2.5 hours.

45 nautical miles: Correct. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, so 18 x 2.5 = 45 nautical miles.

7.2 nautical miles: This divides speed by time (18 / 2.5). Distance is speed times time.

50 nautical miles: This uses an incorrect product. 18 x 2.5 = 45, not 50.

Distance = rate x time. Since a knot is nautical miles per hour, knots x hours gives nautical miles directly.

Answer: B

Aircraft that operate from land bases never corrode.: The passage says salt spray speeds up corrosion. It does not claim that corrosion is absent elsewhere.

Fresh-water rinsing helps by removing salt that would otherwise speed corrosion.: Correct. The passage explains that salt speeds corrosion and gives fresh-water rinsing as the response, which implies rinsing removes salt deposits.

Corrosion is mostly found on the exposed outer surfaces of aircraft.: The passage stresses hidden areas where salt collects unseen, not exposed surfaces.

Salt water does not conduct electricity.: This contradicts the passage, which says dissolved salt makes moisture a better conductor.

Link the cause described in the passage to the countermeasure it gives. The supported answer connects the two without going further.

Answer: C

2.5 pounds: This divides force by the area ratio. A larger output piston multiplies force rather than reducing it.

400 pounds: This does not follow from the pressure relationship. The correct output is 25 psi x 40 sq in = 1,000 lb.

1,000 pounds: Correct. Pressure = 50 lb / 2 sq in = 25 psi, transmitted equally through the fluid. 25 psi x 40 sq in = 1,000 lb.

2,000 pounds: This multiplies 50 lb by 40 sq in without first converting the input force to pressure.

Pascal's principle: pressure is transmitted equally through a confined fluid, so F2 = F1 x (A2/A1). The large piston moves a correspondingly shorter distance.

Answer: A

Its port side: Correct. The red sidelight is on the port (left) side. Seeing only red means the lookout is viewing the vessel's port side.

Its starboard side: The starboard sidelight is green, and no green light is visible.

Its stern: From astern you would see a white sternlight, not a red sidelight.

Its bow, head-on: A vessel seen head-on shows both red and green sidelights (plus its masthead light).

Red = port, green = starboard (memory aid: "port wine is red"). Both sidelights visible means head-on; white only means you are seeing the stern.

Answer: B

Light, with gear and flaps extended, and fast: These are the conditions for the weakest vortices: low weight, high speed, and a dirty configuration that changes the wingtip flow.

Heavy, with gear and flaps retracted, and slow: Correct. Vortex strength increases with weight and decreases with speed. A heavy, clean, slow aircraft needs a high angle of attack, which produces the strongest vortices.

Heavy, with gear and flaps extended, and fast: Weight is right, but high speed reduces the angle of attack and vortex strength. A clean wing produces stronger vortices.

Light, with gear and flaps retracted, and slow: Low weight reduces the lift the wing must produce, so the vortices are weaker than for a heavy aircraft.

Remember "heavy, clean, slow" for the strongest wake turbulence: that is when the wing works hardest (high angle of attack) to produce lift.