What does Control Task measure?

Two-axis continuous flight tracking: internalising the bank-heading and pitch-altitude couplings and holding two moving targets in tolerance simultaneously.

Why does the aircraft level off when I release the keys?

Bank and pitch inputs are damped: they decay to zero on release. Like the real test, this demands continuous small inputs — set-and-forget does not work.

What do the two sub-percentages mean?

They are per-axis time-in-tolerance shares; the headline score counts only time with BOTH in tolerance at once. The sub-percentages tell you which axis is bleeding.

How should I train this module?

Build single-axis discipline first (mentally isolating heading, then altitude), then carry both with small corrections. Automate these two axes before moving up to Advanced Coordination.

Home > Compass Test Guide > Control Task

TRACKING CORECOMPASS

Control Task

This is the core tracking task; it asks you to protect the primary line while keeping attention and motor balance stable.

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What it measures

Control Task reveals a candidate’s flight-like tracking discipline in its rawest form.

Common mistake

Candidates often build a chasing style of control instead of a stable one.

Training note

This module becomes much clearer when trained alongside Basic and Advanced Coordination.

What this module reveals

Why recruiters care about it

Control Task reveals a candidate’s flight-like tracking discipline in its rawest form.

Within Compass, the control backbone supporting other modules is read here.

Control tasks are often used to separate cockpit-like tracking discipline early in the process.

How to play

Step-by-step simulation flow

Follow the flight director

An attitude indicator sits in the centre, the altitude tape to its right and the heading tape below. Magenta targets (the "M" heading marker, the altitude caret and the flight-director lines) show where you must fly.

Control Task: the attitude indicator with magenta targets on the altitude and heading tapes

Heading through bank, altitude through pitch

Arrows ← / → bank the aircraft, and bank turns the heading; ↑ / ↓ pitch the nose, and pitch drives the altitude. Release the keys and bank/pitch decay back to zero — the aircraft responds with realistic inertia.

Chase the moving targets

The target heading and altitude never hold still: they drift at their own rates, flip direction every 10–20 seconds, and wind/turbulence modulate the drift. The task is holding both inside tolerance at once.

Scoring

The score is the share of the run with BOTH heading and altitude inside tolerance at the same time; the two sub-percentages (Heading / Altitude) are shown separately. A run lasts 4 minutes; CHECK RIDE hardens in 100-second blocks across 5.

Difficulty

How difficulty scales

Difficulty is a multiplier: MEDIUM speeds target drift and turbulence by 10%, HARD by 20%. The number looks small, but with two targets wandering independently the compound effect is very real.

Because the score demands the intersection ("both at once"), single-axis focus loses: 90% heading with 50% altitude collapses to a much lower joint score. Strong candidates carry both axes together with small corrections.

How to train it

CadetPrep training approach

Keep bank and pitch small: a steep bank turns fast but cannot be stopped in time — you overshoot the target.

Anticipate the flips: target drift reverses every 10–20 seconds; meet the turn instead of chasing aggressively.

Keep a steady two-axis scan; altitude error grows silently because the eye naturally drifts to the horizon.

On joystick, start with lower sensitivity and tiny inputs; on keyboard, short taps beat holding the key.

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