Originally Posted by
Time Map Ground
Passed the exam recently. Here are some of my observations/tips:
- There were 17 questions in total, around 10 of them required type-in answers. All of the 5-markers were type-in.
- If I remember correctly, there were two 1-markers, three 2-markers, five 3-markers, four 4-markers and three 5-markers.
- I found that the most effective way to finish on time was to start with the 5-markers first, then work backwards to the 1-markers.
- There are some questions which don't require the use of the ERC. For example, there was a 5-marker which involved a forward planning from ALPHA to BRAVO via CHARLIE, where they gave you the tracks, distances, RSWT data and magnetic variations. This may be good news for those who aren't really a fan of mapwork. Personally, this saved me some precious seconds because I did not have to find the route on the map.
- There were two or three questions where I was able to save a lot of time by only completing a partial flight plan. These are usually questions which give you a 'planned weight' at a certain waypoint.
- There were a fair number of mid-flight PNR questions. Know your fuel policy well and remember to apply the correct fixed reserve (2250kg inflight) if it is a PNR/NO. Do not subtract taxi/shutdown fuel from the safe endurance for inflight PNR questions.
- RTFQ: For those questions which ask for fuel required, read the question very carefully to see if they are asking for the required minimum FUEL ONBOARD or FLIGHT FUEL on startup.
- With the RSWT winds, don't bother figuring out what the exact magnetic variation is for the sector. You'll just be eating into your precious exam time. Just round it to the nearest 5 degrees. For example, on a AD-PH flight, the initial climb will have you flying through a magnetic variation of 8E. In this case, just round it up to 10E. On the initial cruise, you'll encounter magnetic variations of 7E, 6E, 5E, 4E and 3E. Round to 5E. On the final cruise segments, you'll get variations of 2E, 1E, 0E, 1W and 2W. Round to 0E (i.e. just copy down the RSWT from the screen). However, if you are given those non-ERC ALPHA-BRAVO questions as mentioned above, just use the exact magnetic variation they give you in the question and apply it to the RSWT. I used this for my exam and it proved to be of sufficient accuracy.
- Just a refresher: If you end up cruising at FL210 (right inbetween the two RSWT levels), use winds from FL235, not FL185. No interpolation required.
Good luck to everyone who is about to take this exam. Enjoy the beers afterwards. They certainly will taste good!
Awesome post thanks for taking the time to write that, will be sitting this exam in the next couple of months and those little tips I imagine will come in very handy