Hardest PPL exam

[Mr Cessna]

Just wondering what JAR PPL exam people found the hardest as NAV was a killer for me :( I did pass - ONLY JUST, but I think it must have been my maths that ever so slightly let me down.

[IO540]

Air Law.

Ghastly.

Get yourself the PPL Confuser and get your head down and pass the exam...

[Wibblemonster]

Gen Tech is tricky with 50 questions. As above, get the confuser & practice,practice,practice.

Best of luck!

[flyingpony]

Meteorology for me. 70% on the first attempt, scraped the pass on the second...

[Airbusboy]

I found the Nav exam hardest. Make sure your whizzwheel calculations and track measurements are spot on.

[Pilot DAR]

I once had a 30 questions aircraft type conversion exam, where 10 of the 30 questions had nothing whatever to do with the type (so I had not reviewed those aspects at all). One question (which I got wrong) had as the "correct" answer, a violation of an air regulation (which is exactly why I did not choose it). I failed the exam by one question.

I complained, and it was agreed I should have passed, and I was sent a letter saying I had. I'm told the exam was changed.

[pistongone]

Human Performance and Limitations. It was like walking through treacle reading that book:ugh:

[TractorBoy]

Air Law.

Ghastly.

Get yourself the PPL Confuser and get your head down and pass the exam...

Oh yes!!

Found I coped with the exams Ok, with the Confuser. The worst was the Air Law exam as it's quite possibly the most tedious subject on the face of the Earth.

The ones you enjoy are the best. Aircraft (Tech) was good fun ( I was a Physics geek at uni ).

[dan_vector]

By far it is MET for me. Failed the first time!! Interestingly I found NAV to be the easiest. Air Law is probably a close 2nd although I didnt have a major issue with it, I did however spend the most time studying for Air Law.

[soay]

Air Law for me as well, because it's just a memory test.

[IO540]

It may depend on your education and general background.

For me, with an engineering/electronics background, Air Law was the exam which was totally disconnected from any form of common sense.

It was like a Geography O-Level; do that and the amount of revision wipes out 3 other O-Level passes.

But I can imagine that tech subjects are going to be hard for people without a tech background.

[JohnRayner]

Air Law.

Every other exam (barring RT perhaps) follows some sort of logical pattern, relating to maths or one of the sciences. Air Law? loads of rules made up by some dudes in the first part of the last century, that you either know or you don't.

Lots and lots of rote learning. Ew.

Agree about the confuser. Well worth getting hold of one.

JR

[Genghis the Engineer]

Anything involving air law, at all levels (PPL(M), then JAR-PPL(SEP), and finally CPL. I passed them all first time, but near as dammit minimum mark on all of them, and hated all of them.

For me to learn stuff, I need to understand it. Air law is all about memory - it's why I was also useless at history at school, and foreign languages at most times.

G

[jkveenstra]

Definitely Meteorology.

Air Law is boring and a lot of stuff to learn, but I didn't find it hard to understand.

[HighFlyer75]

Meteorology for me as well. A bit too interpretive for my liking. It always seemed to me like there were a number of possible answers to some of the questions related to interpreting weather conditions and you needed to know which one they were looking for.

For the most part with the other exams there was only one answer and you either knew it or you didn't. Air law was pretty boring but I didn't really think of it as hard.

[ma11achy]

Navigation, Planning and aircraft performance for me. (All in one exam, with the IAA syllabus). Nightmare....

Failed it first time around, scraped through on the second attempt.

[Conventional Gear]

I didn't enjoy Airlaw much, but the hardest for me was Nav. I left it to last, seemed to have mental block preparing for the exam. Passed comfortably when I actually got around to sitting it and only took about 20 minutes to do it. Trouble is I want to do an IMC now and as far as I know it's going to be the same thing all over again. :{

[Morris542]

Gen tech was the most difficult for me because a lot of the information was new to me. Reading the book twice and doing a lot of practise with the confuser meant I managed to scrape a pass first time. I'm reading it all again to make sure it stays relatively fresh in my mind. I didn't find Air Law difficult, but it was very boring - I found the most effective way of getting to sleep was to read that stuff.

I thought Nav was the most fun and it was also the exam in which I did best.

[willisp]

Had to be Met. There seemed to be more than one 'right' answer. In the other exams it always seemed like there was at least one stand out answer.

[trident3A]

Found met really hard but at least the material was interesting - air law was just so dry it was awful to learn.

[1800ed]

I can't say I found learning about different types of cloud or precipitation much fun and I got my lowest mark on MET, so it would have to have been that one for me.

[LeeP-PA28]

For me (90% into my PPL now), the hardest was Met. Just so dull and boring! Like others, I failed this one (and only this one) first time and then scraped through. But thankfully it's done now.

In the last week, I've done Met, Human Performance, my practise QCC, my actual QCC and Planning & performance. My head hurts! Just got aircraft tech to do now.

I'd not heard of the confuser til joining here and I've been using the Great Circle apps, Airquiz and the Pooleys books :)

[FleetFlyer]

I was self taught and passed all the exams first time. However, as others have said, Air law is a memory test with no room for interpretation, so if you need to, spend the extra time on this.

For me, the hardest was Met.

If you take the time to knuckle down with the books and pass the confusers by knowing the answer (don't waste time with the confuser until you're ready for it) then you'll be fine. If you don't pass on your third try and you've genuinely put in the effort then piloting may not be for you.

If there is anything you're not sure about then discuss it with your instructor. This applies especially when you find you don't know why a certain confuser answer is correct. You'll find that the more you talk about a subject, the easier it becomes to retrieve information on it.

[skipzoid]

For me;
Law was straight forward, Human Performance okay, Nav & Radio a doddle, Met I found difficult, AGK & Principles of Flight very tough, nailed it second time around though. the AGK part was easy both times.

I'm now onto Flight Performance & Planning - any tips or suggested reading would be much appreciated.

(Is there a specific Helicopter exam for Flight Performance & Planning, as there is with AGK & Principles of Flight?)

[AndoniP]

i can't remember air law as i done it ages ago, but i do remember it being straight forward. I read the entire Trevor Thom book then looked at the confuser. as it was (to me) kind of interesting I remembered just about enough to pass first time.

i did the nav exam at a time way before I actually done any practical nav exercises. i failed first time, and passed once i took it after my QXC. i understand why i didn't pass first time, there are certain subjects that you would do better in once you have practical experience of it. same with RT - i just about passed the practical, however I reckon I would have done better if I had actually flown through a control zone, MATZ, requested special VFR and so on.

the most difficult imo? met. utterly boring - learning about clouds and precipitation. thank god the confuser helped me pass.

[effortless]

I was looking at a mates revision the other day. I think that it is a lot harder now than when I did it.

[FlyingKiwi_73]

I did Air Law and Human Performance exams on the same day.... i studied my ass of for Law, glanced and the human factors book.Passed Law happily, but flicking through the first pages of Human Factors the butt started to clench!!! really should have read the book... luckily i passed with the barest or margins.Got all 6 in one pass....!! Nav was anoher close one, really enjoyed Met!

[Pudnucker]

Air Law... About 50% of it is utter irrelevant cr@p.. I condensed the important stuff (signals, interception, who gives way rules) into 2x double sided A5 cards that I keep in my knee board.

Nav seems to trouble a lot of people. I'd highly recommend getting an instructor to give you some focused 1 on 1 on nav (I made mine dinner a couple of nights and he came over). I got 100% in both the nav exam and practical thanks to that small investment. It is just maths and there is only one right answer - make sure you double check all your calculations meticulously. I HATE maths but really enjoy Nav because it was carefully and properly explained to me.

[The500man]

Nav seems to trouble a lot of people... It is just maths and there is only one right answer...


You've also got to be able to draw accurate lines on a chart from and to the correct places and then measure those lines accurately. If you go wrong at the start, it will carry through in all your answers. Personally I found Nav a doddle and would rank it among the easiest along with HPL and Comms.

Air law is the most boring, but it's only half a book and really not that hard. Meteorology (also half a book) however is a bit of a bitch. I still have no clue what the CAA accepted method is for calculating surface winds for a given time of day, and none of the instructors I asked had a clue either!


the most difficult imo? met. utterly boring - learning about clouds and precipitation.


It isn't hard and I didn't find it boring but it certainly isn't as straight forward as it could be. It gets my vote for the most difficult.

[HubertWilkins]

This morning I did Air Law and Met together. Bad idea. I was really worried about Air Law and quietly confident re Met.
Ended up scoring 100% in Airlaw and just scraped through in Met.
Some of the questions in Met were so silly it was unbelievable, one about conditionally unstable air had even the examiner going " what's that?"
I hated studying the law but obviously ended up doing well, I liked Met but the the problem there are the questions...
As someone posted before I have had five people explain to me surface winds and how the caa likes calculating them and so far I have 5 different answers...

[riverrock83]

I'm another who found MET the hardest - just about scraping through. One part of the problem was that I didn't give it the respect it perhaps deserved, but I also got confused with some of the questions - in that I made different assumptions to what they made.
To me (and also my examiner) some of the questions weren't that clear and since I hadn't looked at similar practice questions (AirQuiz is great but the questions are worded differently) I just didn't get what they were looking for, and then over thinked, rather than picking the simplest answer.

Surface winds - there are two standard methods using a "whizz wheel" (wind up and wind down). One requires an extra step. Both should get the same answer - although some people say the CAA likes one more. Don't think I've ever seen evidence of that! However with Nav for me - none of my answers quite matched what they had (despite double checking every line and measurement). I picked the closest answer each time and got a good mark.

[keith williams]

one about conditionally unstable air had even the examiner going " what's that?"

Candidates have been reporting questions on the air mass stability for more than a year. The key aspects of the subject are outlined in the following text.

A stable atmosphere resists vertical motion, so if air is displaced vertically, it will tend to return to its initial level after the displacing force has been removed. An unstable atmosphere tends to encourage vertical movement, so if air is displaced vertically, it will continue to move in that direction after the displacing force has been removed. A neutrally stable atmosphere is one that neither resists nor encourages vertical displacement, so if air is displaced vertically it will tend to remain at its new level after the displacing force has been removed.

The principal factor that determines stability is the rate at which air temperature changes with changes of altitude. If a parcel of air moves vertically upwards, the pressure exerted on it by the surrounding air will decrease. As the parcel expands against the reduced pressure, the work done by the parcel in expanding uses up some of its energy in the form of heat and so its temperature decreases. On descent in the atmosphere the parcel of air is subjected to the opposite process, and its temperature rises. These changes in temperature that occurs solely due to the change in pressure are known as adiabatic heating or cooling.

But the changing pressure is not the only factor that determines the temperature change in a parcel of air. The water vapour content of the air and specifically whether the air is saturated or unsaturated also affects the temperature changes as the air moves vertically in the atmosphere.

The rate at which the temperature of unsaturated (dry) air change, due solely to the change in pressure, when it moves vertically in the atmosphere, is approximately 3°C/1000ft of vertical displacement. This value is known as the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR).

The rate at which the temperature of saturated air changes, due solely to the change in pressure, when it moves vertically within the atmosphere is known as the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR). The SALR is approximately 1.5°C/1000ft, in the lower atmosphere in temperate latitudes.

The difference between the DALR and SALR is caused by the release of latent heat when water vapour in saturated air condenses out to form water droplets. A parcel of air is said to be saturated when it is incapable of holding any more water vapour at its present temperature. If a parcel of saturated air is forced upwards, its temperature decreases due to adiabatic expansion and this causes some of the water vapour to condense out to form water droplets. This condensation releases latent heat, which offsets some of the adiabatic cooling and thereby reduces the rate of cooling.

The rate at which temperature actually decreases with increasing altitude in the atmosphere is called the Environmental Lapse Rate.

If the temperature and density of a parcel of air are initially the same as those of the surrounding atmosphere, the air will be neutrally buoyant, so there will be not tendency for it to move vertically. If an external force such as being blown over an upward mountain slope causes the air to move upwards, it temperature will decrease at a rate that is somewhere between the DALR and the SALR, depending on its humidity. The temperature of the surrounding air at each level will be determined by the local ELR. If the cooling rate of the parcel is greater than the ELR, the parcel will eventually become colder and denser that the surrounding air. This will cause the parcel to sink back to its original level after the displacing force has been removed. This situation will always occur if the temperature lapse rate in the atmosphere (the ELR) is less than the SALR (1.5 degrees C / 1000ft). So air is ABSOLUTELY STABLE when the ELR is less than 1.5 degrees C / 1000ft.

If the cooling rate of the parcel is less than the ELR, the parcel will eventually become warmer and less dense that the surrounding air. This will cause the parcel to continue to rise even after the displacing force has been removed. This situation will always occur if the temperature lapse rate in the atmosphere (the ELR) is greater than the DALR (3 degrees C / 1000ft). So air is ABSOLUTELY UNSTABLE when the ELR is more than 3 degrees C / 1000ft.

If the ELR greater than the SALR (1.5 degrees C / 1000ft) but less than the DALR (3 degrees C / 1000ft), the air may be stable or unstable depending upon the humidity within the parcel of air. This condition is described as being CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE.

If the ELR is exactly equal to the lapse rate for the parcel of air, the density of the parcel will always be equal to that of the air surrounding it, so the parcel will remain at rest at its new level after the displacing force has been removed. This situation is said to be NEUTRALLY STABLE.

Example question.

The air temperature at 1000 feet agl is 12 degrees Celsius. The air temperature at 2000 feet agl is 10 degrees Celsius. The air between these two altitudes will be?

A. Absolutely stable.
B. Absolutely unstable.
C. Conditionally unstable.
D. There is insufficient data available to the predict stability.

Solution.

In this question the air temperature decreases from 12 degrees Celsius at t 1000 feet agl, to 10 degrees Celsius at 2000 feet agl. This is a lapse rate of 2 degrees per 1000 feet.

This lapse rate is less than the DALR (3 degrees C / 1000 ft) but greater than the SALR (1.5 degrees Celsius / 1000ft), so the air is CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE.

[Sensible Flyer]

Air Law I scraped through because it was so bloody boring and I really couldn't see the point in memorising a load of "rules made up by some dudes 50 years ago" as someone put it earlier. There wws very little of the material that was ever going to be of practical use.
The rest I really enjoyed studying for. I did find the met exam a bit tricky though as some of the questions were unclear.

Only other thing I found generally was that on a few of the exams (met and air law being most prominent in this respect) some of the questions seemed to be poorly written and hence led me to select a wrong answer as I had misunderstood what was actually being asked. Once I got used to the style this became less of a problem, but they did remind me of the cryptic crossword at times!

As others have said the nav is not hard but you need to be super accurate with your lines and measurements or you're going to get a lot of answers wrong.

Aircraft techncial was easy as I'm an engineer and could have deduced most of the answers without even studying the subject (I did read the book but that was about it).

[Biggles Boyle]

I found the Nav exam the hardest and the Aviation Law was the most boring all the others are quite easy. I did one days ground school for each exam the books (Trevor Thoms)have too much irrelevant dribble in them especially the aviation law.

[stevelup]

The nav exam is by far one of the easier ones - I wonder if you took yours before you had done any practical nav planning?

[abgd]

Thanks for the explanation about conditionally stable and unstable - it's the clearest thing I managed to find.

I did worst on nav, but found air law the hardest. I also had to work a bit for the r/t because though not hard, it's like learning a new language and takes time to sink in. It's also not something that people are likely to have a lot of background knowledge on, unlike flight performance & planning, which is GCSE maths and physics, or aircraft systems, which anyone who has been interested in aviation for a while (e.g. model aircraft) is likely to know something about.

There were a few questions in the exams that didn't seem to be covered in any of the texts I had available (Trevor Thom). I think I also got caught out by conditionally stable and unstable. I also found one about night visibility by moonlight surprising.

I think of all the exams, I found the met one most rewarding. I hadn't really looked at any of this stuff since we covered the weather in primary school. I also enjoyed aircraft systems. I would have found air-law quite fun if I didn't have to remember it all.

[Biggles Boyle]

mlee,
I did use the *************** a bit but found the great circle app much better. The quickest way to pass I think is doing some ground school before each exam when the stuff is explained to you by an instructor you remember it better.

[G-OE]

Found nav fun and simple. Law was by far hardest as it is just a memory test with no logic, just this is this and that is that, where as all the others made sense

[Steevo25]

I found Nav the hardest. Not because of the content, but because of getting the answers exactly as they wanted. I always found that I was between 2 answers on the question. This was usually because my line on he chart was not 100% straight or the thickness of the line was such that I was always a couple of degrees out so it put me between 2 answers and I just had to make a guess.The principle of the exam itself was easy but it was my lowest score out of all of them (I got around 80%).

Air Law was the most boring and the most interesting for me was Aircraft General.