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Old 31st December 2008 | 17:42
  #11 (permalink)  
Keith.Williams.
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 775
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From: Dorset
MohitC

You have just made the classical mistake of answering the question that you wanted to be asked instead of answering the question that you were actually being asked. Many students fail JAR exams by doing this. In some cases they start to pass the JAR exams only after they have recognised their error and started to take more care to answer the question that is written on the exam paper.

You are of course correct in saying that Fowler flaps increase wing area. So to maintain constant lift at constant IAS as Fowler flaps are deing deployed you must reduce pitch angle even more, so that the CL actually decreases enough to negate the increase in camber and the increase in wing area.

But the question said nothing about Fowler flaps. And out of five or so types of flaps that are included in the JAR syllabus, only Fowler Flaps increase wing area. So you have picked an answer that is true for only 1/5th of the possible interpretations fo the question. In doing so you have given yourself less than a 20% probability of success.

A more rational approach would be to say "the examiners have not stated the flap type, but only Folwer Flaps increase area. So it is more probable that they are thinking of a system which does not". This approach will bring you to the correct answer and get you the mark.

You should of course always appeal any question which appears to have more than one correct answer.

The various posts that you have made in this forum recently, have had one unifying theme. They have all been intended to give you a much greater understanding of these subjects than can be gained by simply memorising questions and answers in a database. This approach is commendable.

Unfortunately the vast mojority of such databases contain few if any detailed explanations. In this sense they are more suited to the process of rote learning than they are to the development of any meaningful understanding of the subjet matter.

It is of course true that many of the questions in the JAR CQB cover material that has no intrinsic long-term value. But this cannot be said of all of the questions.
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