Navigation Exam
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 105
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From: Dublin
Navigation Exam
Dear All.
Im booked in to do my Navigation exam on Wednesday and i am in a real pickle. I just dont get it. The whole book reads a pile of tosh (Jeremy Pratt).
Has anyone else had the same feelings trying to read through it and got any tips?
Its my last exam too so i just really want to get it done and dusted.
Please Help.
Im booked in to do my Navigation exam on Wednesday and i am in a real pickle. I just dont get it. The whole book reads a pile of tosh (Jeremy Pratt).
Has anyone else had the same feelings trying to read through it and got any tips?
Its my last exam too so i just really want to get it done and dusted.
Please Help.
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: UK
most of the exam is practical - so if you have planned flights during your practical flying then 90% of it will be a breeze. There are usually some radio nav bits at the end but a good way of prep for those is the Q&A book by the same author.
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 689
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From: Down south
The obvious solution is to talk to your Instructor.
It is not just a case of just passing an exam, it is acquiring the knowledge for a skill that is required to be a competent pilot.
Try to set your standards higher than the minimum required for an exam, the more you know, and the better you understand the subject, the better a pilot you will become.
It is not just a case of just passing an exam, it is acquiring the knowledge for a skill that is required to be a competent pilot.
Try to set your standards higher than the minimum required for an exam, the more you know, and the better you understand the subject, the better a pilot you will become.
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 33
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From: UK
There is no rush to get the exam done then yet. If I were you I'd settle into doing the navigation ex. elements of your practical flying and the book will become clear once you have something to relate to. Your instructors will be the best reference.
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,443
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From: Cambridge, England, EU
One method of track correction in practical nav is Double track error , works fine in the air but it wont help you answer the question on the nav paper which uses RA=60D , same thing theoretically but different answers in reality.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 105
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From: Dublin
Well guys. After a lot of time spent looking at the whizz wheel i now feel comfortable calculating TAS, GS, W/V, HDG(T), HDG(M), DIST, TIME and a little bit of MSA and PL/ALT.
Some 73 pages through Jeremys Nav section, still another 114 to go. It remains to be seen if i'll be able to do the exam on Wednesday without any ground school help prior.
I will let you's know if i make any in roads tomorrow.
P.S. Perhaps i was being a little harsh on Jeremy.
Some 73 pages through Jeremys Nav section, still another 114 to go. It remains to be seen if i'll be able to do the exam on Wednesday without any ground school help prior.
I will let you's know if i make any in roads tomorrow.
P.S. Perhaps i was being a little harsh on Jeremy.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,434
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From: Scotland
Nothing will beat some practical nav exercises to understand what the object is.
There is a big difference between knowing how to calculate that lot, & knowing the reasons why & how to apply it.
I would wait till you have been out of the circuit once or twice.
You may find that out of sight of the runway you will suddenly feel lost!
Well guys. After a lot of time spent looking at the whizz wheel i now feel comfortable calculating TAS, GS, W/V, HDG(T), HDG(M), DIST, TIME and a little bit of MSA and PL/ALT.
I would wait till you have been out of the circuit once or twice.
You may find that out of sight of the runway you will suddenly feel lost!
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
From: Australia
Dont do the exam. You dont sound ready and you want to do it at your best.This especially applies to a CPL situation where your professional reputation is on the line.
Get some more study done, including reading, test excercises in the exam section of the book, and pay for a few theory lessons from your instructor.
Pay attention to wind correction, true vs magnetic corrections, diversions (in the nav practical exam you will have to do a diversion in the air, unannounced, with wind correction and revised ETA's), and practice estimation of wind coorected Eta's. This is really important in real life if you are flying in marginal condtions and you have to have a concrete idea of the fuel implications of a diversion.
When I did it, it was with some professional help and teaching, and in a controlled way. You need to be able to say something to yourself like ..."I
have now done so many practice exams that i can reliably predict my mark to within a few percent..."
then you know you are ready....
By the way, in the group of CPLs i knew the,guy that got 100 percent was the goy that got a qantas job! A sensible aim point is 90 percent or close to it, as you then know that even with performance anxiety in the exam you probably wont fall below 80 percent. The minimum standards are higher if you go on the the Irex IFR exam so its good to get used to it.
Get some more study done, including reading, test excercises in the exam section of the book, and pay for a few theory lessons from your instructor.
Pay attention to wind correction, true vs magnetic corrections, diversions (in the nav practical exam you will have to do a diversion in the air, unannounced, with wind correction and revised ETA's), and practice estimation of wind coorected Eta's. This is really important in real life if you are flying in marginal condtions and you have to have a concrete idea of the fuel implications of a diversion.
When I did it, it was with some professional help and teaching, and in a controlled way. You need to be able to say something to yourself like ..."I
have now done so many practice exams that i can reliably predict my mark to within a few percent..."
then you know you are ready....
By the way, in the group of CPLs i knew the,guy that got 100 percent was the goy that got a qantas job! A sensible aim point is 90 percent or close to it, as you then know that even with performance anxiety in the exam you probably wont fall below 80 percent. The minimum standards are higher if you go on the the Irex IFR exam so its good to get used to it.
Last edited by Mimpe; 9th August 2011 at 00:13.
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2000
Aviation Qualifications: CPL
Posts: 14,480
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From: UK
What sort of instructor is putting somebody up for the nav exam without doing any navigation with them first? (Well, possibly one trying to bring somebody down to size I suppose?)
Cancel your exam, plenty of time to do it once you have some useful experience to built it on. Also get some proper groundschool, this really isn't a subject to self-teach.
Possibly see if you can back seat with somebody else doing nav training, or pax time with an experienced PPL doing a $100 burger run.
G
Cancel your exam, plenty of time to do it once you have some useful experience to built it on. Also get some proper groundschool, this really isn't a subject to self-teach.
Possibly see if you can back seat with somebody else doing nav training, or pax time with an experienced PPL doing a $100 burger run.
G
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 6,626
Likes: 12
From: UK
The Navigation exam is based on the completion of a Flight Plan which you then answer a number of questions on. If you can't produce an accurate flight plan, then the information you generate will not match the answers in the related questions. Like a pack of cards the whole paper comes tumbling down.
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 5
From: South of England
Wilco.XMG
As some of the previous posters - and also bearing in mind your correspondence on the thread about Q&A books - I feel that you are approaching the whole task of training with entirely the wrong attitude. I would say that you are not alone - I see the same in other areas of aviation training - but your whole approach seems to be centred on "exam technique" and ticking boxes to get the necessary evil of the exams out of the way as soon as possible, possibly by knowledge, possibly by luck of the draw with the exam questions on the day.
But what use is it to you if, in ticking that box, you scrape the 70 or 75%, but have complete ignorance or lack of understanding of the remaining 25 or 30%? Do yourself a favour, take your time and enjoy (I assume that you enjoy) your training - from that will emanate understanding. Any exam - practical, oral or written - will then be straightforward, merely a demonstration of what you then know that you know and understand.
2 s
As some of the previous posters - and also bearing in mind your correspondence on the thread about Q&A books - I feel that you are approaching the whole task of training with entirely the wrong attitude. I would say that you are not alone - I see the same in other areas of aviation training - but your whole approach seems to be centred on "exam technique" and ticking boxes to get the necessary evil of the exams out of the way as soon as possible, possibly by knowledge, possibly by luck of the draw with the exam questions on the day.
But what use is it to you if, in ticking that box, you scrape the 70 or 75%, but have complete ignorance or lack of understanding of the remaining 25 or 30%? Do yourself a favour, take your time and enjoy (I assume that you enjoy) your training - from that will emanate understanding. Any exam - practical, oral or written - will then be straightforward, merely a demonstration of what you then know that you know and understand.
2 s
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 105
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From: Dublin
Cheers guys.
So much sensible input in a single thread has rarely been seen around these parts.
The reason i wanted to get this exam done is that i want to complete all my exams before i get back to university, in September. I have all the others done, Medical done and Radio test booked.
Gives me next summer to continue the practical flying after I graduate.
I have tried revising the material again and it still leaves more questions for me than answers. So i have decided not to sit the exam tomorrow and have some ground school with the CFI. [Im sure you's will be all glad to hear there is one less inexperienced pilot in the skies.]
I'll try for the rest of the day to get the hang of the whizz wheel completely so that tomorrow i can get help with the flight log etc.
Thanks for all the support and advice guys [and gals], i'll be sure to update yous.
So much sensible input in a single thread has rarely been seen around these parts.
The reason i wanted to get this exam done is that i want to complete all my exams before i get back to university, in September. I have all the others done, Medical done and Radio test booked.
Gives me next summer to continue the practical flying after I graduate.
I have tried revising the material again and it still leaves more questions for me than answers. So i have decided not to sit the exam tomorrow and have some ground school with the CFI. [Im sure you's will be all glad to hear there is one less inexperienced pilot in the skies.]
I'll try for the rest of the day to get the hang of the whizz wheel completely so that tomorrow i can get help with the flight log etc.
Thanks for all the support and advice guys [and gals], i'll be sure to update yous.