UK Air Law (Again...)

[vwdan]

Hi Everyone,

An obvious newbie here and I can see that the above topic has been done to death, but I hope you'll understand my post. Short story is that I'm finally in a position to start my PPL so I've done so! Like most schools, my school won't allow me solo until I do Air Law so I guess this'll be my first exam.

Anyway, my concern is that I keep reading older threads from 2013/2014 that imply new exams are coming and now I'm paranoid about accidentally learning from outdated resources.

So, can anyone clarify if/when the exams changed (to EASA?) And, can anyone recommend what resources are valid?

I've already ordered the AFE PPL 2 book (I already have PPL 1 which I've found to be good), so I'm hoping that'll be somewhat useful.

Apologies if this is a repeat question, but I couldn't see any recent threads.

[Baikonour]

The exam formats changed last October (2014), but the syllabus did not.


Having said that, the Air Law syllabus changes every time one of the applicable documents change, which may end up changing the questions and/or answers... So your latest version of books may not (indeed cannot) always be up to date. (e.g recent changes to the overtaking rules on ground and the line feature rule in the air)


Practically speaking, if you know your stuff you will pass, even if you do get one question wrong due to missing a recent change.


Also, as an aid, airquiz.com seems to always be bang up to date, and they are a good way to test yourself as well... (no connection, just a happy customer)

Good luck!


B.

[Whopity]

my school won't allow me solo until I do Air Law so I guess this'll be my first exam.What you should also be aware of is that you only have 6 sittings and there are 9 exams so taking one at a time is no longer a good idea. The school is also required to sign you off for the exams so they should ensure you are ready. The latest versions of the books are about as good as you will get. Air Law really has little relevance as they seldom ask questions relating to the Rules of the Air, they are more interested in the Chicago Convention.

[vwdan]

Thank you both, that's very useful information.

I'll definitely be getting some ground school a little later, and trying to suss out the sittings thing.

I just feel much better knowing that I can start working my way through the book without it seriously hindering me in future.

I wasn't meant to be worrying about this for a few months, but I might just have the opportunity to do some intensive flying next month and I don't want to get hindered by exams.

[Baikonour]

you only have 6 sittings

That is not as bad as it sounds. Each 'sitting' covers a period of several days. 9 days, I think, to be precise. So you could do an exam a day on a Saturday, Sunday and the following Saturday and Sunday for a grand total of 4 exams in a 'sitting' - or, of course, as many exams as you want, one after the other, on a single day.

Check out an earlier thread (http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/548845-ppl-uk-theory.html) regarding sittings...

B.

[ozbeck]

Baikonour alluded to "recent changes to the overtaking rules on ground and the line feature rule in the air".

Please can anyone tell me what these new rules are, and on a general point, how can one be sure to be updated when things change?

[flybymike]

It's in here.
CluedUp Preview: How SERA affects UK domestic rules of the air, general permissions and exemptions | Airspace Use & Rules | Operations and Safety (http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=2884&pagetype=90&pageid=16723)

[ozbeck]

Many thanks Flybymike! Just a relaxing of the rules rather than new procedures.

One of my favourite short trips includes flying North up the East coast when, of course, I fly over the sea, so I am relieved that I have not been doing anything illegal or dangerous under the new rules.

[PA28181]

VFR at night

Aircraft have been able to fly under VFR at night since June 2012. SERA introduced a small number of additional requirements for aircraft flying at night. These are:

If the aircraft leaves the vicinity of an aerodrome a flight plan must be filed. This can either be a ‘paper’ plan, an AFPEX plan or an abbreviated plan (‘booking out’).
The cloud ceiling must be at least 1500 ft AMSL;
The flight visibility must be at least 5 km, or 3 km for helicopters;
When flying at 3000 ft AMSL or below, the surface must be in sight at all times; and
The night VFR minimum height requirements are more stringent than the day requirements. Aircraft are to be flown at least 1000 ft above the highest fixed obstacle within 8 km of the aircraft, or 2000 ft when flying over high or mountainous terrain.


Intrigued by this: Do I read this that we have to file a FP when leaving for a night cross country or have I missed an exemption somewhere?

[Baikonour]

Thanks FBM - you pipped me to it...
how can one be sure to be updated when things change?

That's less obvious. Forums like these and others are useful. As are flying clubs, noticeboards, flying schools, magazines, GASCO etc.

I believe you can also subscribe to a service from the CAA to receive updates, but you may find yourself swamped with stuff which is irrelevant and consequently miss out on the stuff which does matter to you.

Which then triggers the discussion on how your currency (or lack of) on the rules may affect your license status (and actual airmanship...) when all you have to do is 1 hour every 24 months, without any instruction/update/testing...

Intrigued by this: Do I read this that we have to file a FP when leaving for a night cross country or have I missed an exemption somewhere?
A 'proper' FP is not required:
This can either be a ‘paper’ plan, an AFPEX plan or an abbreviated plan (‘booking out’).

B.

[Pete O'Tewbe]

Just to amplify what Baikonour rightly pointed out:

A 'proper' FP is not required

From Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012:

‘flight plan’ means specified information provided to air traffic services units, relative to an intended flight or portion of a flight of an aircraft;

Note that the Regulation doesn't specify the medium to be used.

Also:

I believe you can also subscribe to a service from the CAA to receive updates, but you may find yourself swamped with stuff which is irrelevant and consequently miss out on the stuff which does matter to you

You can indeed subscribe for free and you can also select in which subject areas you wish to be informed and what to ignore.

[TheEnthusiast]

Good luck vwdan! My license has just arrived in the post and it feels very much worth it now.

I agree with Baikonour (http://www.pprune.org/members/430796-baikonour)'s answers. The exams seemed to stay away from anything which had changed very recently, but it's always good to keep an eye on CAA website. New stuff can always be in there but as Baikonour says, that will probably just mean missing one question, and hopefully you'll find the answer soon after.

My flight school didn't offer ground school lessons so I had to learn on my own from books and quizzes. Thought I'd put my experience here in case it's helpful. My experience of Air Law (which I took about a year ago):

Personally I had no problems with being out of date, despite the book revision predating exams by 3 years. I had the 10th reprint with revisions of AFE PPL2 book, and I think that is still the current version (see Private Pilot's Licence Course, PPL 2 Air Law, Operational Proce (http://www.afeonline.com/shop/private-pilot-s-licence-course-ppl-2-air-law-operational-proce.h) ).

I passed but there were a couple of things that surprised me and meant I didn't get 100%.

Questions that tripped me up having read the AFE PPL2 Book

A question required me to know what mode charlie on a transponder means. That is in the book, but it's in the comms section, not air law, and so I hadn't revised it.

Quadrantal rule question needed me to know the meaning of the terms right drift and magnetic variation. Those are covered in the PPL3 book (navigation) so I hadn't covered them yet. I guessed but guessed wrong! Now somewhat irrelevant under SERA (http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=2884&pagetype=90&pageid=16723), though I guess they could formulate semicircular rule questions in the same way.

There was a question on pilot vs controller responsiblities under SVFR.The book partially covered this. I might be wrong but it didn't seem to mention controller responsibilities in enough detail for me to answer the question (I looked for this afterwards).

Conclusion: the book is alright, you can pass if you revise just the air law section, but you'd do better to revise comms and operational procedures (ops) too. And don't stress if there's a question or two that you don't know - they probably weren't in that book but will be covered later.

I agree that the online quizzes are helpful after learning from the book. I didn't use the easaPPLex app but people who do say that it pretty much has the whole question bank in there...lots of people achieve 100% using that.

Regarding comments from others about sittings: I did the Air Law exam on its own and still only used up 4 of the 6 available sittings in total. If you can be bothered to revise comms and ops and take all three at the same time you might find you get better marks overall; but if you're in a hurry to get air law and solo then just do that. You do seem to need the operational flight safety bit in AFE PPL4 for ops, so again the books don't quite correspond to the exams.

Hope that helps!

[DeafOldFart]

First time I ever saw the word 'fovea' was on the exam paper....
There are some oddball questions that turn up regularly, like the best material for an identification plate.... chewing gum and nougat are not deemed suitable.
Over the past 40 years I have passed full sets of exams at least 6 times, and finally got to the NPPL last year.
Six papers in an afternoon is possible, but not recommended, it's hard to walk straight afterwards.
Don't rely on one author... read other books on the same subject from different sources.
You can 'cheat' a little by doing the R/T exams separately, and get a Red Cover. This also covers some rather exotic subjects on airspace... it gives you less to worry about, having a permanent pass in place!
Might sound odd, but how about reading ALL the books thoroughly before taking any exams, the questions do indeed cross boundaries.
I reckon if you have to revise a subject, you haven't learnt it....
Good luck to all future students!!!

[TheEnthusiast]

how about reading ALL the books thoroughly before taking any exams
Not a bad idea if really time to take it all in - I certainly had a quick skim through everything before immersing myself in any one topic. But I wouldn't want to scare a new UK PPL student into thinking they have to read up on all exams just to pass air law. There is only a slight mismatch between the (AFE) book titles and exam titles - they generally do match up. I really don't get why there isn't a clear and detailed syllabus from CAA, but that's another topic!!

I reckon if you have to revise a subject, you haven't learnt it.... Well everyone learns differently but for me that's true by definition: I revise until it seems to be in long-term memory and at that point I might say I've learnt it. If I need to revise further then my learning is not complete :-)

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Study re experience ...

A NAV exam makes a lot more sense one you've done some nav exercises.

But MET? - if you're facing an exam in this subject you could be asked all sorts of esoterica to which the real, practical, answer, that keeps you alive, if you've got enough actual real life experience, would be simply "who cares? - there's no way I'd have taken off with that forecast".

[funfly]

they are more interested in the Chicago Convention.

…and don't forget the coloured lights :rolleyes:

[DirtyProp]

...., they are more interested in the Chicago Convention.

And those will truly develop your airmanship!
Dear God...

[Maoraigh1]

But MET? - if you're facing an exam in this subject you could be asked all sorts of esoterica to which the real, practical, answer, that keeps you alive, if you've got enough actual real life experience, would be simply "who cares? - there's no way I'd have taken off with that forecast".

I find met a very interesting and relevant subject - 28+ years after my PPL exams, and 2000+ hours solo real life.
There are occasions when the I'd have taken off with that forecast conditions aren't forecast, or the timing is 'way out. Sometimes the Airmet is more a climate statement than an accurate prediction for an area. Your met knowledge matters.

[Pull what]

The exam formats changed last October (2014), but the syllabus did not.

The current standards doc 11 shows the latest 3 Air Law exams being current exams from September 2013 (011A 010B 10C)

I really don't get why there isn't a clear and detailed syllabus from CAA, but that's another topic!!

I really dont get why pilots do not keep themselves up to date

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP%201298%20AltMOC_PPL(A).pdf

[vwdan]

Thanks again everyone - I'm now feeling a lot more clued up.

[BillieBob]

The current standards doc 11 shows the latest 3 Air Law exams being current exams from September 2013 (011A 010B 10C)But IN 2014/147 (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=6386) shows them as being 010A/14, 010B/14 and 010C/14I really dont get why pilots do not keep themselves up to dateQuite!

[Pull what]

Well it says this is current and the 2013 exams are in tbe document which I check before I set an examination


List of Flight Crew Standards Documents | Publications | About the CAA (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=list&type=sercat&id=22)

Standards Document 11 Provision and Conduct of Ground Examinations for the Private Pilot Licence Aeroplanes & Helicopters Current 26 April 2013