The Confuser

[richard14]

Hello all,

I'm a 5hr PPL student and am currently studying for the Airlaw exam. Whilst trawling this place I found:


http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244349


I have a question. Are the questions in the in the PPL Confuser the exact questions in the exam, or just an example of the type of questions I can expect to face when I take the test?

I can see this guys predicament - and sympathise a bit. I, of course, recognise that study is the best way, and not to just learn answers to some set questions, but this guys comments have me now wondering....

Thanks in advance

[A330 Dreamer]

the confuser isn't exactly the same but very similar.

However, do you want to really learn the subjects or just pass exams for the sake of ticking them off?

I used it for air law then someone with a lot more experience than me (10,000hr airline pilot) asked me that same question then I never looked at it again.

Read the books, make legible notes and re-read areas where you have problems and speak with your instructor. I am currently doing my ATPL's and I think if I just used the confuser to pass the exams I'd be in simple terms f**ked to make an attempt at this mountain of books.

best of luck

[nadders]

Hi Richard,

I agree partly with A330 Dreamer. I have the confuser but didn't want to risk just learning those questions, however when i sat the Air Law exam recently i found the layout and wording of questions to be very very similar. (95% Pass by the way). I also wanted to make absolutely sure that I knew the subject, you don't get a Multi-guess when another aircraft is flying towards you and you're not sure which way to turn:eek:

Personally, after reading the Air Law book thoroughly, I went back through it making notes on crib cards of what I deemed to be the important points. I then studied them over and over until I was relatively happy that I knew the subject, THEN I worked through the confuser to see how I got on. I found it a good confidence booster when I was getting the majority of the questions correct. I also used this website www.airquiz.com (http://www.airquiz.com) You pay £20 and the site generates as many exams as you want for any of the PPL papers. It also marks them and e mails you the results and gives you areas to brush up on. Reckon the subscription lasts 2 years and you can do as many papers as you want in that time.

Don't no if this is any good to you, but a tip an old school teacher gave me for my GCSE'S was to read all the questions thoroughly before even picking your pen up. Then answer all the questions that you instantly know the answers to. Leave the one's you are not absolutley positive on and come back to them. Its purely psychological, but again it is a confidence booster being able to put definitive answers down. There's nothing worse than dwelling over a question for 5 minutes and not knowing the answer, it will knock your confidence for the rest of the paper and put unnecessary doubts in your mind. It worked a treat for my Air Law exam!!!:ok:

Hope all this mumbo jumbo helps. Good luck,

Nadders.

[richard14]

A330 & nadders,

Thanks for the replies. Nadders, I found your tips particularly helpful so thanks for that. I'm 41 years old and left school at 16 and to take up "studying" again has come as something of a culture shock.:\ Something I've noticed is that my ability to retain information (once read) is not what it was when in my teens. It's going in .......but slowly!! I look at my pile of Thom books and sort of wince at the sight of them, but I have a steely determination to see this thing through!

I have a day off tomorrow incidentally, and intend to take spin to Transair Pilot Shop at Fairoaks. On my shopping list is the Oxford Air Law interactive CD. I just see it as a more colourful, bright (I sound like a magpie) alternative to learning from a book! Any comments on this CD would be helpful.....please ....

Another thing is that I've noticed I have a fear of failure. Admittedly it's not the end of the world to fail an Airlaw exam, but I'm not going to take it 'til I'm ready....

Anyhow can't dally here, I have to get back to book 2......

Thanks all.

[IO540]

The reality of air law is that most of it is a memorisation exercise for stuff that will never be used. For example almost nobody can remember the various cloud clearance distances for various heights and speeds below/above 140kt in different airspace classes. If you are VFR then most of it is irrelevant, and if you are IFR then even more of it is irrelevant :) The stuff you really need to know is practical flying issues like Class D or above needing ATC clearance.

The Confuser does the job very well because it contains very similar questions, and has about 4x more questions than the actual paper. So if you get a good score on the Confuser you are sure to have picked up enough stuff to do well in the exam.

There is no point in criticising the Confuser, versus swatting it up from a Trevor Thom book. Both are just learning aids.

[tiggermoth]

I sat Air Law a couple of weeks ago, and used the Confuser right near the end (somehow got 92% by the way).

In answer to your question, for my Air Law paper, the question format, the question itself, and in some cases the order of answers were the same as the Confuser.

There may be a couple of words here and there a little bit different, but it's pretty much the same.

In other words you'll be in the exam and think - I've had this exact same question before.

Like the others say, learn the subject first.

A thing I found useful with the Confuser was to answer 40 questions, mark them, look up the examples, then re-do the questions again. The second time you do it you'll be much quicker. Mark it again, and look up the explanations again for the ones you got wrong.

Then do questions 41-80 (say). Mark as before, then "just for fun" go back and try questions 1-40 again. Before long you'll be getting near 100%. Continue until you do all 120 questions in the confuser.

Make notes of things that keep on confusing you.

Make diagrams of things like separation minima, airspace rules, quadrant rule etc. (If need be, as soon as you are told start your exam scribble any aid-memoirs down on the scribbling paper they supply you.)

Try and reword things in your own way. Also get somebody to test you.

I also agree with nadders - go on www.airquiz.com, the exam papers they set are different each time.

TiggerMoth

[soay]

You know you've done enough studying when you can spot the mistakes in the Confuser. :8

[bencoulthard]

I passed air law earlier this year. I found the Trevor Thom books OK until I read the AFE Jeremy Pratt books.
By comparison the Thom books seemed long winded and reminded me of junior school text books.
I much preferred AFE.
The confuser is good in the way that you see how the questions are worded in an exam.
However, read whichever book you choose cover to cover before you attempt the confuser. I did this and found my weak areas, then I went back and re-read those sections.
Hope this helps and let us know how you did.

Ben

[tangovictor]

I have a day off tomorrow incidentally, and intend to take spin to Transair Pilot Shop at Fairoaks. On my shopping list is the Oxford Air Law interactive CD. I just see it as a more colourful, bright (I sound like a magpie) alternative to learning from a book! Any comments on this CD would be helpful.....please ....

I purchased the airlaw and practical flying training on cd rom, Im a tad older than yourself, and find them brilliant, the airlaw also has its own, set of questions / answers to test yourself, much better than a book, in my opinion
TV

[tiggermoth]

I can't comment on the interactive CD, but I bought a DVD off Ebay on the subject of Air Law and Operational Procedures, and didn't find it terribly useful for memorising the subject.

Also, as a word of warning, it appears that the DVD was a ripped off copied version.

I was tempted to buy interactive CD roms, but after forking out for both the Trevor Thom and Pratt books I decided to give it a miss.

[tangovictor]

Also, as a word of warning, it appears that the DVD was a ripped off copied version.

do you honestly think you were going to get, the offical version on ebay ??
you pay your money, and take your choice

[tiggermoth]

Sorry, tangovictor, I was hoping that would be helpful to you.

do you honestly think you were going to get, the offical version on ebay ??
you pay your money, and take your choice

As a matter of fact, yes, I expected to have an original DVD especially as it was posted in the Aviation section. Anyhow, the matter is, bootleg or not, the DVD for Air Law and Operational Procedures is not particularily helpful (whether you pay £15 for it or £38).

(I'll leave my comment about the Radiotelephony double CD that I bought from a main supplier for another topic!)

[A330 Dreamer]

remember the initial costs of training is what makes people think flying is expensive.

Buying the books+the cd's are a bit OTT are they not? they both say the same thing apart from the book doesn't give some1 reading it out for you!

When you finally pass your PPL you'll find that the exams weren't that difficult and the level of study isn't impossible.

THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED!

[funfly]

I seem to remember a long thread on here about the position should you sell an aviation training DVD or buy one on ebay. I seem to remember that you could be in trouble with the supplier as they are not trasferrable.
The case in point was a man who claimed that he had not actually used the DVD therefore had not agreed to the conditions but he was still pursued by the seller, I think a well known shop based near Oxford.

[tangovictor]

I seem to remember a long thread on here about the position should you sell an aviation training DVD or buy one on ebay. I seem to remember that you could be in trouble with the supplier as they are not trasferrable.
The case in point was a man who claimed that he had not actually used the DVD therefore had not agreed to the conditions but he was still pursued by the seller, I think a well known shop based near Oxford.

like most things in life, you get what you pay for, would you put copy parts into your airplane's engine to save a few pounds ? No, so why not pay for the genuine article, piracy is theft, plain and simple !

[high-hopes]

like most things in life, you get what you pay for, would you put copy parts into your airplane's engine to save a few pounds ? No, so why not pay for the genuine article, piracy is theft, plain and simple !

is every single bit of software running on the computers of the users of this forum authentic and licensed ? ;)

[tiggermoth]

Tangovictor/funfly,

I'm sorry, you seem to have misunderstood. I'm sure it's my fault. :bored:

The Air Law & Operational procedures is not worth buying in my opinion. Best spend a couple of hours reading the books instead.

The Ebay thing is a tad offtopic - but all my fault. Yes, piracy is theft, agreed. Yep, hands up - learnt my lesson. As I said I was not aware it would be a copy. Won't be buying stuff like that off Ebay again! := The quality of the said copy was fine, it's the content that wasn't up to par.

The key with learning Air Law is repetition, repetition and even more repetition. I went into Manchester central library and kept myself in there for four hours one Saturday afternoon plodding through the Trevor Thom book, and a bunch of those 'pink things' that we are supposed to read. And we all know those 'pink things' are related to ______, right?




Answer: safety :)

[fox golf]

Alternatively - just use the confuser to get through air law; your instructor will tell you what you need to know to stay alive and safe. Do you really want to know the ins and outs of the Chicago convention?
Oh, and if pretty much anything goes wrong - it's your fault as pilot in command.

[bencoulthard]

The Ebay thing is a tad offtopic - but all my fault. Yes, piracy is theft, agreed. Yep, hands up - learnt my lesson. As I said I was not aware it would be a copy. Won't be buying stuff like that off Ebay again! := The quality of the said copy was fine, it's the content that wasn't up to par.

Just a point from a person who is developing an Ebay store, we are not all crooks. However Ebay attracts them, do your homework and be careful.
http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=guppy0285
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Guppy-Sales