The sensors and algorithms used to determine your potential gains are highly developed. Your OA Coach will be analyzing these data regularly, and he or she will give you feedback every 7 to 10 days or so to help you stay on track and understand your performance gains. Bottom Line: You’ll know your about improvements with clarity. Those seeking Special Issuance and participating in the Fly Right or Forever Fly program get an even deeper analysis, which is critical for their purposes.

A new exercise program of any kind may not seem beneficial, at least in the beginning. When done the OA Way, our exercises have been shown to enhance neurological functioning and make real-world impacts in people’s day-to-day performance, so hang in there as your brain is getting better with proper training!

For those seeking Special Issuance, things could “click” at any moment and your OA Coach will keep you abreast of both your strengths and weaknesses along the way.

Please Note: Some injuries or conditions might be found to not be fully amenable via brain training, which often can only be determined on a case-by-case basis after working out for at least 6-weeks. While plateaus are common, if prolonged a significant break from training is potentially needed, or training itself was only effective to a point. Talk to your OA Coach if concerns arise, though know we will be monitoring your data and giving you feedback throughout your training program without you having to ask! In addition, if obstacles remain present, feel free to contact your AME, Neuropsychologist, or Neurologist to potentially learn more about any neurocognitive obstacles present.

Your OA Coach will contact you via email within 24 to 48 hours after you sign up for a specific program (you will not be contacted if you register but do not pay the training fee).

Hopefully you have already taken the time to review ALL of the videos on our Home Page and Start Now page, as well as read ALL of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) to see what the program is about – if not do it BEFORE you sign up for any program!

After you sign up for a specific program, you will receive a Training Video and detailed information packet via your email on file. This will walk you through every step of the way, including how to take your OA Assess (Pre- and Post-Training Assessments for those in the Fly Right or Forever Fly programs) AND begin actual training. Once enough data is generated you will then receive your first OA Training Update from your OA Coach!

Also, your OA Coach is responsible for many pilots and your program has been set up for You, with highly customized programming for those in the Fly Right or Forever Fly programs. That is the nature of the program, and while you receive personalized training and coaching we are not here to counsel you, provide therapy, or provide any deep insights into your brain’s processing, though you may experience that through our work together!

So, it is not typical that pilots need to contact our office or their OA Coach but if you have done all of the above and still need help feel free to use support@oapilots.com or call 800-240-7510.

OA Training helps to strengthen parts of the brain most important to flying. While many pilots are able to do day-to-day tasks with relative ease, head injuries, strokes, alcohol or substance abuse, or simply getting older takes its toll on the brain more than you may imagine and may impact your capacity to hold an airman medical certificate. OA was built on such circumstances and could help you reach your aviation goals.

Aspiring pilots, including those with a past diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, ASD, CP, or LD often greatly benefit from OA Training – which could help with both flight training and general school demands alike!

Yes, many pilots who struggled in the same way have benefitted from OA Training. It is the most researched program of its kind and we have seen many pilots reach their aviation goals following completion of our program. OA goes so far beyond playing with “brain games” on the internet, with no professional and personalized guidance, that it’s hard to express the massive difference in what you get (though check out the Start Now page after your done reading the FAQ’s). Outside of meeting with a professional cognitive rehabilitation therapist one-on-one in his or her office, we know of no other program that has the potential of OA.

Pilots continue to say our program is like having a personal trainer or physical therapist (PT) as a guide to overcome a weakness, injury, or obstacle. In this way, we assign exercises that are customized for a particular pilot’s needs through our Fly Right or Forever Fly program, and we guide pilots during the training process to ensure optimal effects. The brain is quite complicated, so OA strives to take the guesswork out of training to assist pilots in making real performance gains. Simply put, we believe there is no better program available in any profession.

In addition to offering pilots a well-designed program, an unintended but fortunate outcome of our work has been that our analysis of your OA data can help determine when you might be ready to take or retake cog tests. This, as you can imagine, is a big deal. Basically, by the middle of your training program we start to compare your performance levels with other pilots who have been successful in reaching their aviation goals. Essentially, by the end of your 6-week core program we can answer the question: Are you training at the levels of other successful pilots or not? Similarly: Do you seem to have a fighting chance to perform well on cog tests at this point in time or not?

Our latest research indicates that pilots who reach our target training levels have about a 9 out of 10 chance of reaching their aeromedical goals, while those that do not reach target training levels have about a 4 out of 10 chance. This is not to say that 90% of pilots who complete our program are successful in reaching their aeromedical goals, but it is to say that over 90% of pilots who reach our target training levels are successful with future cog testing or re-testing! While we cannot perfectly predict future performance, we can help pilots gauge their chances of success in a data driven way, which is a big deal indeed. 

As you know, not everything we plan turns out as planned. If you find you are not reaching expected training levels by the end of the 6-week core program, you may decide to take a chance and simply take or retake cog tests, or you may decide to continue OA Training in 1- to 3-week blocks of time at reduced fees. This can be done until you reach your training goals or OA’s target training levels, though we do not offer programs for more than 12-weeks total (if you experience a prolonged plateau in one or another cognitive area, continued training might not be recommended by your OA Coach). OA is not the be-all and end-all of your decision to test or re-test, and we encourage you to consult with your Neuropsychologist, AME, or another aeromedical professional to determine your readiness. Of course, discussion with your OA Coach and/or John Milanovich PhD, founder and designer of OA, could be especially beneficial in determining your readiness. Please note consultation with John Milanovich PhD incurs additional fees unless you are part of the Forever Fly program (see Start Now page).

The Fine Print: Much like PT, you must understand brain training results vary due to individual differences, such as the nature and extent of a weakness, injury, or obstacle. Exercise effort levels are also an important factor, and it is possible that some challenges might not be overcome using OA Training alone or in conjunction with a medical intervention. Finally, it should be noted that, unlike PT, OA Training is not a medical intervention and it was designed for fitness and educational purposes only.

You should also note there are many other factors outside of brain training linked to your success with cog tests and aviation in general, ranging from your cognitive functioning to your emotional health (i.e., anxiety levels during tests) to how much water you drank or sleep you enjoyed. In addition, it is our understanding that evaluations for FAA purposes look beyond cognitive functioning to make their determinations, using multiple forms of required information.

In terms of your readiness to take or retake cog tests, it is critical to note that our work in this area has been presented at scientific conferences and is being written up for publication, but it is currently considered unpublished and, unlike the actual exercises we use, it has not gone through a rigorous, scientific, peer-reviewed process; sample sizes are fortunately quite large by this time and growing every week; overall, we are only able to offer you our training experiences and expertise based on a changing landscape of information and the many pilots we have worked with in the past and at present. Nonetheless, we enjoy working with professionals in the aeromedical field so that we all develop a greater understanding of this important area, which in the past most often had no basis for determining readiness other than pure guesswork!

Final Note: Just as our exercises do not look like flying, they also do not look like cog tests. Our exercises strive to assist you in strengthening the underlying brain processes most important to flight performance and safety, many of which are measured during cog testing and important in reaching a determination regarding the issuance of your airman medical certificate. While OA Exercises and Coaching could help you reach your aviation goals, we do not “coach” pilots on ways to “beat” their cog tests, and we strive to maintain the highest level of ethical standards in this regard.

Generally speaking, the answer is Yes. However, everyone needs to take a day off at least once per week to aid in neural consolidation!

FOR THOSE SEEKING SPECIAL ISSUANCE, it should be noted that you might reach a plateau in one or another cognitive domain during training. While our hope is that you “breakthrough” the plateau to jump up to our target training level(s), prolonged plateaus are possible. Overall, we tend to see greatly diminishing returns after 12-weeks of training, and while most pilots complete training in 6-weeks some require more. Training extensions after the core 6-week program are discounted at significantly reduced rates, as long as they are purchased within 3-weeks of your last training week. See also, “How often do I train?” in the FAQ section above.

No. However, an annual week-long Booster Session really helps maintain your gains. In addition, we recommend completing a 5- to 6-week program every 3 to 5 years to maintain brain health and to potentially reduce some of the declines in processing speed and mental capacities that occur with normal aging. Ultimately, we hope OA Training assists pilots in extending their careers and day-to-day livelihoods well beyond expectations.

No, we do not. Different people have different brains, needs, and expectations, which does not allow us to guarantee training results. After signing up for a program, you may receive a partial refund (minus $125 in service and administration fees) only if you have not started any exercises; in addition, after 3-weeks following your date of purchase no refund of any kind for any reason is offered, whether you began training/started exercises or not. 

It should be noted that in virtually all pilots training the OA Way leads to significant gains in one or more processing areas, which may or may not reach our target training levels or lead to desired results.

While we know there are free “brain games” in cyberspace, many (if not all) lack the scientific scrutiny of OA or are not specifically designed for pilots. Typical costs for coached online programs have ranged from $1200 to $2000, often for 5-weeks of training of just ONE neurocognitive domain (OA trains 3 to 6 domains, depending on a pilot’s needs, which is possible due to advancements in adaptive training). We also do not waste a pilot’s time by using exercises that may not have the cognitive rigor or difficulty required in the aviation environment. Finally, we help you understand how ready you are for costly neuropsychological testing based on our carefully constructed research database, all without in-person visits!

When it comes to our mission, the bottom line is we strive to assist pilots in reaching their aviation goals, and we believe the human pilot should never be  considered “obsolete.” So, strengthening the Neurological Hardware of the Human Pilot is our number one endeavor and we believe there is no better and cost-effective pathway to this (especially for those seeking special issuance).

For more information on what sets OA apart from other approaches, see the OA vs ALL on this page or Start Now page to learn more about the OA Difference!