Urgent Advice needed, Gen Nav Tips!!

[Pilot_x2009]

Hi Guys,

Im on my second attempt for Gen Nav and really need some advice on what i need to be good at to get through and whats the best way to approch it regarding the study, plus what area i should focus on!

I would really appriciate some tips to get through this hard subject!! :ugh:

Many Thanks....

[TheOptimist]

Never
Eat
Shredded
Wheat.

[JohnGV]

Well what do you struggle with the most thats the question you need to ask your self?

I find Nav...tends to be the easier of subjects, it only gets a little more tricky when you start on radio-Nav - which for your private you shouldnt be studyin a whole lot of that.

Where did you struggle with in your exam/practice exams?

JV

[JohnGV]

I'd say key things are;

- know the flight computer (whizz wheel) inside out and all the functions.

- Learn PAlt + DAlt Formulas

-Practice over and over again 1) W + B and C of G calculations and all the relative info around it
2) completeing Nav logs and flight plans (with an instructor if necessary)

-Takeoff/Landing distance calculations

-Understand basic differences between statute/Nautical miles and where each is used for different purposes.

-Track correction methods (double-track method, Closing angle method etc)

-Fuel calculations Lbs-Gallons and to Litres

Many more i'm sure but thats a start

JV

[Air1980]

Having just taken all 14 in one sitting and amazingly passed them all (yippee) I couldn't agree more. Know the whizz wheel inside and out, backwards and forwards, upside down and right way up. The QB have so many of the CRP5 questions that you cannot hope to memorise them - and thus have no choice than to sit down, every evening, and challenge yourself to find courses, tracks, winds etc. Come up with an easy method that you will remember in the heat of the exam ("wind on, course on").There were a great many CRP needed questions in my September exam. They all tend to follow the same method, and if you consistently get, for example, "find the wind" questions wrong, do not give up. Keep at it and all will be well.

You are not alone in finding Gen Nav daunting, I have 10 years of airline flying and instructing behind me, and found this the most difficult to grasp. Mostly the asinine Lambert vs Mercator vs Polar calculations. The term useless can be easily applied to this "knowledge". However, again, find an easy way to memorise them short term - or use some other books to study from - I gave up on the books I had and turned to some RAF manuals I had been given, and the lightbulb went on......

[oceanicclarence]

Time management helps a lot in this exam, most people are still scribbling at the end. Do the easier questions first, then the next harder ones etc, leave stuff like polar until the end, but make sure you have a crack at it, a guess is better than nothing. Know the whiz wheel inside out, you do not want to be thinking 'how do I calculate that' during the exam, seconds count.
Work methodicaly through the questions, if you get stuck for more than 30 seconds, move on, come back to it, but for Gods sake don't forget to move on a line on the answer paper, don't miss out 22 for example and write 23's answer in line 22........I know someone who did that. only realised all his answers were out of sync 5 mins before the end.

And

Reeeeelax!!!

[Pilot_x2009]

Hey guys, many thanks for you tips. I'm nervous as hell but gonna do my best.

:ugh:

[lilpilot]

Agree with the above plus:
Keep in mind the calculation questions are much higher points then the memory ones. So go for those, get all of those done and you can still pass. You need to know about 6-8 formulas to handle them. Practice so those questions become routine. You'll feel better too during the exam, knowing that you get closer to passing. Select the questions that need the same set of formulas and gadgets and do them in groups. First do "PSR/PNR questions" then the "chart questions" (buzz words will help you i.e. "on a Mercator chart...") then the "wind questions" this way you wont use the wrong formula for a question. Then do the ones where you need the Jeppesen binder, they are usually the group of questions which give mid range points.
Then if you have enough time you can bother to guestimate the 1 point questions. (I didn't have the time, I just filled in the blanks on the answer sheet, I already knew that if I miscalculated one high point or two midpoint questions I'll still pass without any of the 1 point questions)
I also drew up an "attack plan". I wrote up all the question numbers and points given to them, and the group to the ones I recognized immediately.
Like this:
1. 1
2. 1
3. 1
4. 3 pnr
5. 2 wind
6. 5 merc
.....so on
- this took about 5 minutes then I calculated how many points I need to pass.
- then I picked the higher point questions and started up....
- then when done crossed it out on the list making sure I put the answer on the right line on the answer sheet
- when done with all the questions needing only a calculator I went on to the whizwheel ones
- then to the jepp ones

Gen Nav was hopelessly my weakest point, so I had to devise this "selective point collection strategy" to pass. It worked.

[smith]

Get to the exam centre on time. I got stuck in traffic and got into the exam centre half an hour late, failed with 67% :-(

Nailed it on the resit with 98%.

Maybe I'm technically minded or something but I really enjoyed GNAV, sometimes if I struggled with something I just went over and over it again and it evntually clicked and became second nature.

TBH I thought I had got 100% on my resit I felt that confident about my answers, was gutted when I got my result of 98% and that was after studying at the infamous, now defunct GCNS.

[Halfbaked_Boy]

smith,

Shame about the traffic situation first time round, can be a real buggah at times - certainly got the ticker going with 20 minutes and 20 miles to go until exam time :eek:

I also managed (by the grace of the gods) 98% for GNAV, and actually scored higher in that than I did in VFR/IFR comms! Great minds think alike hey? :ok:


Pilot_x2009,

I'm guessing you're taking GNAV tomorrow (normally on a Wednesday?), so best of luck for it matey. Remember your departure/convergency formulas, and at the last minute spend some time going over polars/gridded charts and imprint that in your mind. In fact, if you know your whizzwheel inside out, and can do basic maths, this exam's a bit of a blessing :)

All the best.