"Stealing the TAS" eh, didn't know it had a name. Yeah, sometimes the calculator is faster, depends on how many fingers I have on how many pages or a myriad of other factors.
You've got 15 minutes to get everything ready whilst sitting your practice exam so make sure that EVERYTHING is ready. Do a "data dump" with things like:
- writing down the formulae that you may sometimes mess up (in the heat of battle I sometimes can't think of the PNR or CP formulae to same me life),
- make up a chart with your fuel requirements (I write up a chart for the In-Flight fuel requirements which is similar in format to the Before-Flight chart on p. 1-17),
- if you're going to make a list of question numbers and their relative points (worth it if you plan on attacking the big ones first) set that up in those 15 minutes.
- draw mud maps on the top of all the flight planning forms (I use a combination method of mud maps and the flight plan).
- if you have any remaining time consider measuring two or three tracks (saves probably 2 minutes of exam time per trip) but avoid tracks which, without the information provided in the question, would involve the use of a TAC (unless you manage to get a TAC into the exam). Basically depending on which edition of the ERCs High you use (not all ERCs are exactly the same, especially when it comes to being near the Terminal Areas) you could look at
- H2 YCIN - YBAS, Townsville (WISKA is on the marked DME step at 90 DME)- Mt Isa - AS, Cairns (BULOK is on the marked 90 DME but is actually 92nm CS due to the dogleg) - Mt Isa - AS
- H3 AS - Ayers Rock - PH (Cunderdin is just past a marked DME step at 68 DME) (J64), PAD (WINCH is on the marked 90 DME) - MHP - PH, PH - PAD (The reverse trip via Y135 is only 7 nm shorter), PH (Pingelly is just past a marke DME step at 67 DME) - Hobart
Yes there is some guessing with some of the positions that I've listed as XX DME but in my opinion you should be able to guess to within a mile or two.
It all seems trivial but the 15 minutes are there and you certainly pay the ASL staff enough to use them however you need.
These are just ideas and if it doesn't suit you don't worry about it (it works for me but speaking with Tiger19 he reckons it's a bit too much messing around).
I also believe that using large zones is of great benefit. Generally breaking a large sector into smaller zones will yield a slightly smaller fuel flow but if you know that then just go the faster method of the big zone and keep it in the back of your mind if torn between answers. (This is not good on small questions covering small sectors.)
For flights around the WA/SA border look at the actual mag var if unsure whether to use 0 or 5 degrees on your winds.
When you get a start zone weight (after having done your descent fuel) multiply NM by the generic SGR (SAR corrected with +/- 1 for +/- every 50 knots wind) then divide by half and subtract the start zone weight to get a more accurate EMZW (it will be a negative number but you'll know what to do with it). If it's dman close to being on the verge of a MZW requiring interpolation and one not requiring interpolation assume that someone is trying to screw you and go with the one that requires interpolation (more often than not they want to screw you). Don't forget to check it after getting a zone weight. If it's wrong then use the "wrong fuel" to estimate the new EMZW but no need to recheck this one (according to my uni lecturer) as it's more accurate than the SGR method (but just not quite close enough for an answer).
If a question only asks for fuel then consider not worrying about Landing weight or even TOD weight (by this time you've already got your descent fuel/dist/time). Also, don't stress about checking that your landing weight is closer to 70,000 or 60,000 as this makes such a small difference. (I've noticed that my plans for Norm Ops are always nearest to 70t, DP and OEI are usually a bit under 70t and if I plan to an alternate it's usually just under 65). Rob avery suggests always going to halfway between the figures. I think that's a bit annoying.
On the 3, 4 and 5 markers skim the entire question especially the last paragraph which actually poses the question. You may well find that you don't have to do a whole plan (I did the whole plan and then found that they gave me GW at position X, I didn't redo the whole thing, I just found the different weight at X according to my plan which was about 1000 kg off and corrected my numbers, just barely got that one right).
Have some water on hand
Highlight the One Engine Inop headings in your manual so that you remember to multiply by TWO (of course the fuel burn of 6000 kg per hour should tip you off).
Put some blank post-its in your manual so that you've got some ready made book marks.
Put some nice folds in your ERCs High so that you can easily fold it however you need it for a particular route in the exam. I took particular care placing folds in ERCs 2 and 3 so that between most major cities I can have only the relevant parts of the chart showing with nice clean folds with minimal re-arranging. It's not pretty but it's practical.
OK, that's all I can think of. Most of those are half-baked ideas from a guy who has yet to pass so take it with a pinch of salt.
FRQ CB