Originally Posted by
samdol1978
Hi Guys,
I am in the process of taking my 6 other CPL(A) papers after clearing my Human Factors(CPL). Currently a PPL(A)and RAA RPC(A) holder
Able to share the difficulty level from 1-5 on the following papers CASA CPL(A) theory papers? Pls share tips to clear as well. I am studying using Bob Tait and practising question bank using Pilot Practise Exam.
Aerodynamics
Flight Operation And Planning
Airlaw
Navigation
Meteorology
Airgen
Thx all.
First, if you have a PPL, don't bother telling people you have an RPL, most pilots hate RPL pilots and think of them as cowboys.
When it comes to the subjects I believe everyone is different, I personally really enjoyed self studying Performance, a lot of people don't enjoy the topic. I also hear a lot Performance is the hardest exam of the 7, i also disagree with this and found the exam relatively straight forward... As long as you put the work in of course!
Depending on how fast you want to get the exams done, ill list them in what i found easiest to hardest...
AGK - Definitely the easiest exam out of the 7 by a massive country mile! Most people including myself walked out of the exam room within 15 minutes with decent scores. Go through your Bob Tait book, do the practice exams, any systems you are not 100% sure about, re read the topic, make yourself familiar.
Air law - Another easy one, honestly if there was an exam I didn't deserve to pass it was Air Law. I didnt put much effort in as I was focused for my PPL flight test when I sat it. However my biggest advice for you when sitting Air Law, USE ALL THE TIME! When you answer all the questions, dont just submit it and hope for the best, re check all your references and answers, if you have checked them, re check them again. Use up every minute and second you have absolutely confirming every answer. I honestly did next to no study on this one, but only got one wrong purely because I cross checked every reference.
Met - Met isn't easy, but i'm not amazing when it comes to weather. Honestly I haven't got much to say with Met other than read the Bob Tait books, answer all the questions, re read anything you're not 100% confident about. I like to picture myself trying to teach someone the topic, if I cant confidently 'pretend' teach someone than ill keep re reading it until i have a full understanding of it.
Aero - Aerodynamics was my favourite topic and still is when it comes to the 7 exams. It was also the first exam that I sat and honestly I didn't do as well as i wanted to, (I think it was 80%), but I was happy to pass my first CPL exam first go. The one thing every exam has in common is you must thoroughly read the book, don't just read it cover to cover and think, sweet i'm good to go now. You must challenge your knowledge on each topic, create your own questions and quizzes for yourself. The exam will honestly cover nearly everything in the book, so you must have at the very least, basic knowledge on everything contained.
Nav - Nav isn't a hard exam, however, it is EXTREMELY easy to make a simple mistake that can cost you 4 or 5 marks (around 10%). If you mess up the 2 highest marked questions with a simple mistake you almost fail from that alone. The main bit of advice I can give you is, take your time, RTFQ, use reasoning to determine your answer, if something doesn't look right, find why that is. I failed Nav first time, I went in confident, when I submitted the exam I was confident I passed with a good mark until I saw I failed by 1%, literally got 69%. Went in second time with an easy 90% because I realized after that I obviously made simple errors and made sure to cross check my answers in anyway possible.
Perf - Some say performance is hard, some say its easy, so I wont tell you its hard or easy, just to make sure you learn the formulas. Echo is honestly a very interesting chart, one that I really enjoyed learning and found fascinating that simple math can give us precise C of G changes when shifting weight around for example. Honestly its one of those exams where you must know the formulas but don't get so caught up in the formulas you forget your basics. Not every question will require a formula to work out so make sure you basic knowledge is up to scratch.
My final advice to you for the exams. All the exams are honestly easy, provided you put the work in! No one has ever sat a CPL exam having put a lot of work into attaining knowledge and found it extremely hard. As my instructor said to me at the time, you either know it or you don't. Sitting looking at the screen isnt going to help. Oh and most importantly... READ THE ******* QUESTION! That one is by far the most important. CASA will deliberately put answers in there to trick you into thinking the opposite. Half knowledge is the main problem, for example a question in AGK might be about detonation, now detonation will obviously rise our temperatures, but when 3 of the answers say temperatures will rise, which one do you pick?
If you need anymore advice feel free to PM.