weasello
15th Aug 2006, 02:26
I'm looking for some advice!
I'm currently working on my Commercial License in Canada; out of a required 200 hours experience I'm sitting at nearly 170. Most of my training is done and just last weekend I did my first cross-country trip, meeting my 300nm requirement for the CPL license.
However, I'm having a bit of trouble with the written portion of the course.
My school has a practice test that I've written; it requires an 80% passing rate before I can write the real thing. I've written it once now and gotten 60% and found myself straining to remember the particular idiosyncracies of flight.
Before I start sounding like a know-nothing, in almost every instance I erred on the side of safety. For example, a question asked "When should your landing light be on?", to which I responded "all the time." Maximum safety, not breaking any rules! Of course, the answer was "below 2000 ft AGL while on approach to a runway." Some could argue it was a issue of question phrasing, but I digress.
I also found the questions to by hyper-specific about little itty bitty things that I have a general knowledge of, but not a specific one. Things like, "When performing an aerobatic demonstration for the public, how many days in advance must you submit an application for authorization?" ... I never have, and probably never will want to perform an airshow. And if I do, I'll call the appropriate people and get the details. Why do I need this info!? I was never taught it in ground school! Of course, the multiple choice answers were 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. All of which are reasonable and eliminates guesswork.
Being a good little student, I took my failings in stride and hit the books. I've been browsing through my various training books reading up on everything I can, but even those two questions I cited above haven't come up yet. Since there's no central reference manual or list of things to know, what *should* I be studying?!
Is there some sort of central book o' questions I can pick up and memorize? Or am I really expected to know every intricacy of flight and the law around it, even if it's something stupid like due dates on application forms?!
I'm currently working on my Commercial License in Canada; out of a required 200 hours experience I'm sitting at nearly 170. Most of my training is done and just last weekend I did my first cross-country trip, meeting my 300nm requirement for the CPL license.
However, I'm having a bit of trouble with the written portion of the course.
My school has a practice test that I've written; it requires an 80% passing rate before I can write the real thing. I've written it once now and gotten 60% and found myself straining to remember the particular idiosyncracies of flight.
Before I start sounding like a know-nothing, in almost every instance I erred on the side of safety. For example, a question asked "When should your landing light be on?", to which I responded "all the time." Maximum safety, not breaking any rules! Of course, the answer was "below 2000 ft AGL while on approach to a runway." Some could argue it was a issue of question phrasing, but I digress.
I also found the questions to by hyper-specific about little itty bitty things that I have a general knowledge of, but not a specific one. Things like, "When performing an aerobatic demonstration for the public, how many days in advance must you submit an application for authorization?" ... I never have, and probably never will want to perform an airshow. And if I do, I'll call the appropriate people and get the details. Why do I need this info!? I was never taught it in ground school! Of course, the multiple choice answers were 30, 60, 90, and 120 days. All of which are reasonable and eliminates guesswork.
Being a good little student, I took my failings in stride and hit the books. I've been browsing through my various training books reading up on everything I can, but even those two questions I cited above haven't come up yet. Since there's no central reference manual or list of things to know, what *should* I be studying?!
Is there some sort of central book o' questions I can pick up and memorize? Or am I really expected to know every intricacy of flight and the law around it, even if it's something stupid like due dates on application forms?!