Right then, it's time for me to be honest (I have always been honest, but what I am about to write, I could easily 'miss out' but then it wouldn't be a proper diary now would it?)
My final exam was to be Navigation, which I took, and failed. Now I will tell you why I failed.
My normal routine for exams is to read the text book, absorb it, and revise the confuser, and this has led me to pass every other exam first time, with a good score, however, Navigation is different.
Whilst I was reading the Navigation book, I noticed that there are lots of calculations to do, I.e rate of fuel burn, rate of descent, fuel specific gravity etc - all of which at first looked a bit daunting, and dare I say 'pointless'? This led me to think:
"I'll just read the book, not practice the calculations, and then use the confuser to find out how to do them".
Big mistake.
In my opinion, the confuser has been a great source of information and practice, however, I found that when it came to calculations and examples, it just baffles you with equations and numbers, and doesn't really explain it properly (something which the PPL book did, very well). This wasn't very encouraging for me, and I didn't learn it properly - so when I sat the exam, I couldn't answer the difficult questions PROPERLY - I could only take a reasonable guess. That coupled with a couple of stupid answers, was the reason I failed. In summary, I took a bad, and naive attitude to the exam.
Now then, I went over the failed exam, with my instructor, prior to which, I really learned all the necessary techniques properly. I looked at what I had written and thought of myself as a complete idiot
I re-sat the exam yesterday and passed - easy peasy. And this is how I did it (this is my advice for anyone who will be taking Nav)
1) Take your Whizz wheel and the little book that comes with it and
LEARN IT INSIDE AND OUT. This book should contain explanations and examples on how to work out all the required calculations. I sat on the train to work with it in my hands, in the canteen, at home and anywhere I could get a few mins practice in - this leads onto:
2) At first, I didn't realise that you can do
ALL the necessary calculations on the whizz wheel, from simple multiplication and division, to complex rate of descents.
3) Know your lines/true tracks/magnetic tracks/wind calculations etc - these are the things you learn as you FLY navigation, and there is a section in the exam.
4) (Very important) - Be able to read grid references, such as N21XYZ and W0003 etc - these looked difficult at first to me, purely because I didn't study it hard enough, and I thought:
"I'll just look on the chart until I find what the exam is asking for".
Big mistake, you could spend 10 mins looking for an aerodrome, when all's you need to do is know how to read the grid references.
5) Don't think that Radio Navigation is easy (theory). There is a whole different section on this and sometimes the most basic questions can be the most difficult ones, such as:
"What band do NDB's operate on?"
Go over this with your instructor, and perhaps sit in the aircraft to get a firm grip on the principles.
6) You simply cannot get away with just learning the answers from the confuser, and if you pass having done this, then you are just lucky. Yo need to know the maths - cant emphasise this enough! Don't get yourself down with the though of this, you can do it ALL on the whizz wheel.
All the way up to my first attempt, I hated Nav, purely because I didn't know it properly. Now I have passed, I love it.
I am glad I failed the first one, because it meant that I would go away, and really absorb the material - now I can do it and it's great
All exams are now in the bag, and I will soon be having my last few hours as a stude - so until then - safe flying
Lee
PS If anyone would like any help with Nav, then post here ......
PPS Thanks to DiscoChocolate who put up with me on the phone for an hour - was a great help