The CRP 5 is not actually specified, but it is what the examiners use - the trouble is it inherited a lot of mistakes from the RAF one it was copied from. You should be able to use anything

we were told that if you used a CRP5 you had a chance of passing. If you used any of the other main stream wheels you would actually get the wrong answers but they would look right.

Ie one answer would be stupid.

One answer would work for using trig.
One answer would work using a Jep wheel
One answer would be right for the CRP 5 which was the correct one.

Something to do with the bloke that wrote most of the questions for NAV in the initial Q bank was a mate of Bob's.

Now why am I not surprised :)

The CAA exams are really a joke. What is said by you is correct. Many times you get an answer, where you know for sure its the right one, but according to Exam answers its incorrect.

And also true, is the bad English. Especially now in changing questionbank, its really frustrating, that you see a lot of questions in CAA exam which you have never seen before. It is not that you dont have the knowledge, but just not understanding the question. Because how they build up a sentence it totally doesnt make any sense what they try to ask. So how should you ever find the correct answer?

Most aren't the UK CAA's each country was given its own section to write questions on.

Then in the old days they were fired through babblefish and that was the way you got them.

The UK I think did Human performance and General Nav. Its was one of the instructors at OAT that did the Human performance and some ex RAF Nav off Shacks that did the Nav.

The French for some reason didn't trust the Brits with polar nav so it turn up in OPS procedures. Which was a bit of a bugger when you had decided to do the first two days worth of exams out of sequence and hadn't even looked at polar Nav before. This did have the advantage that if you passed OPS procedures first time you never had to look at it ever.

The question bank seemed to go in cycles with the English being corrected as the complaints came in.

The reason why the question banks keep getting updated is basically because of the online question banks. As they fill up with the new questions the percentage pass rate goes up so they dilute the bank again with new questions and the circle starts again.

Well I can tell you, If the Lithuanian CAA makes also questions. I can tell you. They make no sense at all.

But as I said. Its a total joke. It has not much to do with testing actual knowledge.
I am so happy when I have finished my last 2 exams. And from then just read proper books to gain usable knowledge. As far as I heard , Handling the Big Jets is an very usefull book. Because I am very interested in gaining as much knowledge as possible. Instead of the crap which is tested during the exams.

Performance by Swatton should also be on your professional library shelf.

Although there seems to be a second one out and its hellva expensive.

As anyone got it yet?

About Performance I have nothing to complain. Usable questions.

Swatton is good for post exams. My copy of the first edition is dog eared with use.

Just about to put an order in for the second and the principles of flight.

Performance has recently been adjusted and checked. There is a greater spread between possible answers now that bear no relation to the various databases. There was never a problem with flight planning as it was done by the Germans :)

What were the other nationality's for the exams?

I suspect that in Germany there is some law that you need a license to set exams so the questions were actually put through someone that had a clue about exam setting.

If I'm not mistaken, the UK looks after comms (the ICAO dosumant follows CAP 413) and the French do POF.

Some excellent points here..
 

This old-stager has just retired after 3+ years in selection and recruitment for a large Middle-Eatern airline..

Here's my tuppence worth..

1 Any debate about the relevance of the ATPL syllabus is totally pointless here.. Candidates need to pass the exams to get the licence and they need the licence to get the job..period.

2 Most of the airlines with which I have been acquainted (European, Middle-Eastern, US and Asian) showed little interest in first-time passes..either for writtens or flight-tests.. BUT almost all have required candidates to demonstrate at the interview stage that they have a clear understanding of relevant ATPL subject matter.

3 I can record here, with immense sadness and frustration, that those candidates who achieved their passes through heavy reliance on question-banks can be identified within a few minutes of the interview starting... Sure, they learned the answers but often without any real understanding of the subject matter.

4 Use of question-banks to improve chances of passing is just fine but ONLY to support a very clear understanding of the subject matter. Without that understanding and knowledge, candidates put themselves at a huge disadvantage. IMHO of course.

Good luck to them all..it's very competitive out there and likely to remain so for many years yet.