New Personality Evaluation of Pilot Candidates in Czech Air Force

Pilot selection has been a topic since the beginning of aviation, both in civil and military aviation. The first research was carried out before the First World War and has gained importance, especially in the last 20 years, due to the dynamic growth of civil air transport. The selection of military pilots in the Czech Air Force environment takes place within the framework of the admission procedure for study at the University of Defence (UoD) in the specialization of military pilot (MP). The selection includes medical tests, psychological tests, and knowledge tests. This paper aims to verify the suitability of using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) test battery in a shortened form to design and implement a new objective system for selecting candidates for the military pilot specialization. Current MP specialization students (n=51) and candidates in the 2022/2023 academic year (n=35) were tested. The results showed that most students tested (82%) scored low on the Neuroticism scale, and 16% are in the broader average range. On the Conscientiousness scale, a majority of the students (63%) scored high, 37% of the students were in the normal range, and none of the respondents were in the below-average range. The analysis shows that 55% of the subjects have low Neuroticism scores and high Conscientiousness scores. The pilot testing has fulfilled its purpose; there has been a validation of the tools that can be used to define the prerequisites to achieve the desired abilities and skills for the MP specialization. This form may be used to select suitable candidates for the MP specialization in the future.