Anyone recently sat CASA AASA Exam?

[FOOTE]

Hi all,

I am currently self studying toward the CASA AASA exam (exam is on the 12th Dec) using the AFT material. I was wondering if anyone has recently sat the exam and could give me an idea of what the questions are like? I have been going over the AFT aerodynamics questions and they have included questions on PNR's, ETP's and a question I have no knowledge on which is "The maximum quick turn around weight increases with increasing runway downslope, True or False".

If anyone could help me it would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt

[ChaseIt]

Take another look at brake energy limits... Best of luck mate heard it can be a wild card with what questions you get these days

[ersa]

There are no pnr's or ETP in the systems exam.

there will be 60 random questions , the AFT wasn't the best learning tool for that exam.

The aviation theory centre book, is the best

[wishiwasupthere]

the AFT wasn't the best learning tool for that exam.

Completely agree!

I found the AFT notes for AASA as a bit light on for information. I attempted to self study using the AFT notes and found that in the practice exams there were questions on subjects that were barely covered in the notes or not covered in enough detail to answer the questions. I bought Rob Avery's books for that subject which IMHO were much better, and passed the exam first go with 94%.

[FOOTE]

Thanks for the heads up guys. This will be my first of the exams, I figured I would start with a more familiar topic since I just finished my instructor rating a few months back. I was quite annoyed when I came to do the aerodynamics revision tests and I was finding Navigation and questions that no notes had been provided for. I have decided to order the aviation theory centre book to hopefully compensate for the missing information.

If anyone else has an opinion they would like to share please feel free.

Cheers,

Matt

[ReverseFlight]

Foote, answer is false. When braking downslope, more energy is used and the brakes become hotter. On a quick turnaround, there is less braking power available for an RTO so the MTOW should be less, all other things being equal.

I know I shouldn't be spoonfeeding you but there you go.

[FOOTE]

Thanks for the answer wouldn't have thought that question was an aerodynamics question though. Anyway good to know the theory behind it.

Cheers

[Jay Bo]

AFT notes are lacking in detail and fall short on some content. AFT practice questions are easily worded and very simple.
Got the Avery exam practice test and some of those questions in there were not covered in the exam. For $500 or so for text books I expect a lot more.
50 questions you get. A very mixed bag. I got about 10 questions that I didn't really know cause I didn't come across the information in the study texts.
From memory TCAS inhibits (RTFQ) FMC cancelling. Few questions on braking and aileron lockout. Question on comparing a straight wing versus swept back wing and how they differ at max C/L before mach1 and after mach 1.
Few more aerodynamic questions that weren't covered in detail. A question on bleed air and its effects on EPR and the relationship of TAS, CAS, MACH through inversions and isothermal layer. So a mixed bag of very simple questions and a few not so
If u can get your hands on Oxford aviation atpl books there's a large bank of questions in there that might help
In the end I wished I used other provider notes.
When I was doing the test at around 10 questions that I left to the end to stew over, I thought all I want to do is just pass even though I hate just scraping through and scraped it I did

[FOOTE]

Jay Bo,

I totally agree with your thoughts there. I found those questions on the relationship of TAS, CAS, Mach through the isothermal layers quite confusing with no notes to refer to. Hopefully the additional Aviation theory centre book will help iron out any kinks. Do you mind if I ask how did your marks in the AFT practice exams compare to the mark you got in the ASL/CASA exam?

Matt

[kingRB]

When I was doing the test at around 10 questions that I left to the end to stew over, I thought all I want to do is just pass even though I hate just scraping through and scraped it I did

Would have to agree, even though I sat them back in 2011, sounds like not much has changed. The ATPL AFT notes for Systems would have to be the weakest out of all of them, and as a result I only just scraped through on that exam too where the AFT study material for the rest saw me get excellent marks.

If you are going to use them (self study), try and supplement with more study references other than AFT. Not that they are bad, but yeah, paying a premium you would expect not having to purchase anything else.

[thorn bird]

A bit of a head up for anyone about to sit ATPL law.
I heard today that at a recent sitting most of the questions were on Part 61, and included a lot of questions from the MOS.
As there are a lot of inconsistencies in part 61, and in places it disagrees with other regulations it was little wonder that none of the group that sat it passed.
It would seem air law is going to be the hardest of all the required subjects to pass as the massive volume of aviation regulations continues to grow unabated, they will rival the tax laws soon.
Perhaps the CAsA should consider whether a law degree, specializing in aviation law (as it applies in Australia but nowhere else in the world) should be a prerequisite for an ATPL licence.

[Jay Bo]

I'll post the relationship of air speeds when I find the notes for you.
Aft notes - avg around 88% for prac exams
Avery exams - without using his notes low 70% and a couple in the 60%
Actual exam passed 70%

Found the airspeed relationships in the Oxford atpl books

[FOOTE]

Thanks Jay Bo for the results and if you wouldn't mind posting the relationships that would be great.

boby I appreciate your input, I sure do hope the AFT stuff proves its worth as we all know its not the cheapest option. As for Flight planning I haven't yet started with it, I have however been told it is worth going along to a course for, rather than self studying it.

Cheers,

Matt

[MaxFL360]

I'll try and explain the speed relationship as best I can, in my head it all makes sense ha.

In the exam they will want you to understand the relationship between EAS, IAS, TAS and Mach. It is important you understand the relationship up to the tropopause and what happens once within and above the tropopause.

Starting with EAS, we are going to assume that we have an aircraft that is going to climb at constant EAS up and through the tropopause, what will happen to IAS, TAS and Mach? All will increase as the aircraft climbs at constant EAS. We don need to get to technical, this is about the depth of knowledge required.

Now lets look at a constant IAS climb. In the exam we can assume IAS=CAS. IAS is just a function of the dynamic pressure so as we climb at constant IAS, EAS will decrease slightly as the effects of compressibility become apparent. At constant IAS climb TAS will increase and Mach will also increase up and through the tropopause.

Constant TAS climb will see will see both IAS and EAS decrease up and through the tropopause. The interesting thing occurs with the mach number a you enter the tropopause. As you should know the tropopause is an isothermal layer and the relationship between TAS and Mach is dependent on temperature, so at consent TAS climb with no change in temperature there will be no change in the mach number in an isothermal layer even though density is still dropping. This is a question you may also see on the NAV exam.

Finally Constant Mach. As we climb at constant Mach, EAS and IAS will both decrease up and through the tropopause. TAS will decrease up to the tropopause then will not change through the isothermal layer (tropopause) as we remembered from before the relationship between TAS and Mach is dependent on temperature.

Hope that helps. A little trick I learnt for the exam is to use 4 fingers on your hand. Left to right for each finger represents a type of speed. Eg right hand palm towards face. Pinky=EAS then IAS etc pointer finger will be mach. To visualize the relation upto the tropopause. Can't visualize past the tropopause for some speed relationships unless you have messed up hands ha.

So lets say you want to see on your hand how a constant IAS climb will effect EAS, TAS and Mach. Hold up your hand and the finger that is designated IAS you will point exactly vertical, all other fingers
will be slightly angled left or right. For this example we can see that if IAS finger is exactly vertical then the EAS finger is angled left and TAS and Mach fingers are angled right. The angle of the fingers is telling us what is happening to each airspeed. Left angle tells us It is decreasing, right angled and it is decreasing.

[Jay Bo]

Here Foote, MaxFL has it sorted.




C T M (CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA)


C- CAS
T-TAS
M- MACH

let’s try an example. Using your thumb and next two fingers on your left hand with your palm facing towards you. Your thumb is CAS, middle finger TAS and other MACH.

Now, imagine you were to climb at a constant CAS. What you want to figure out is what is happening to the TAS and the MACH. So CAS is a bench mark for this example and therefore we need to do something with our thumb.

Rotate your hand so that your thumb is pointing straight up in the air. What’s happened to your other fingers? They're both pointing to the right, right? Or if you imagine that is a graph format, they are increasing. So TAS and MACH increase

look at it the other way, if you were descending at the CAS, so starting at the top of your thumb and coming vertically downwards, so coming back down the fingers they are now decreasing also. So descending at a CONSTANT CAS the TAS and the MACH decrease.

Now rotate your hand so that the middle finger is pointing upwards.

So a climb at constant TAS, the CAS decreases and the MACH increases.


MACH NUMBER CALCULATED WITH PA AND CAS AND TO FIND TAS ADD OAT


CLIMB AT CONSTANT CAS IN STANDARD ATMOSPHERE – TAS AND MACH INCREASE


DESCENT AT CONSTANT CAS IN STANDARD ATMOSPHERE – TAS AND MACH DECREASE


CLIMB AT CONSTANCT MACH IN STANDARD ATMOSPHERE – TAS AND CAS DECREASE


DESCENT AT CONSTANT MACH IN STANDARD ATMOSPHERE – TAS AND CAS INCREASE


CLIMB AND DESCENT THROUGH AN ISOTHERMAL LAYER


CLIMB/DESCNET AT A CONSTANT MACH – TAS WILL NOT CHANGE AND CAS WILL DECREASE IN A CLIMB AND INCREASE IN A DESCENT


CLIMB AT A CONSTANT CAS – THE TAS AND MACH WILL BOTH INCREASE AT THE SAME RATE


CLIMB AND DESCENT THROUGH AN INVERSION


CONSTANT MACH CLIMB THE TAS WILL INCREASE. CAS WILL REDUCE


DESCENDING AT CONSTANT MACH TAS WILL REDUCE AND CAS WILL INCREASE


CLIMBING AT CONSTANT CAS THE TAS AND MACH WILL BOTH INCREASE BUT TAS AT A GREATER RATE+

Also have an understanding of dutch roll and what and why is causing it. The relationship of spiral instability and stability, longitudinal and lateral stability etc.
Also properties of avgas versus kero eg, flashpoint
cheers

[FOOTE]

MaxFL360,

Excellent explanation thank you. I now fully understand it and the hand trick is genius.

Thanks again,

Matt

[FOOTE]

Jay Bo,

It seems I went to reply a second after you did so missed yours. Have read both your post as well as MaxFL's and have got it.

Cheers,

Matt

[FOOTE]

Question for anyone who can help me out, This came up in one of the AFT practice exams.

For a constant IAS and constant FL, is Mach number affected by changes in air temperature?

My answer is Yes and according to the answers provided by AFT I am incorrect. Both the AFT and Aviation Theory centre notes say that Mach number varies with temperature so is my answer correct or incorrect?

Cheers,

Matt

[JustJoinedToSearch]

Check out your whiz wheel. CAS (IAS) vs Pressure altitude gives a constant mach number. You are correct that the mach number varies with temperature but so does the air density. So if temp increases = density decreases = the aircraft has to move faster through the air to achieve the same amount of lift (TAS increases) but the IAS and mach number remain the same at a constant level.

I don't think I've explained that very well but I hope it helps in any way.

Edit: It might help to think of IAS as a value that represents the relative force of the air hitting the wing rather than a speed.

[FOOTE]

JJTS,

Thanks for your answer, can't believe I forgot to consider air density.

Matt