That said, if you are trying to use your time efficiently, place particular emphasis on the areas most commonly examined in the RPL-N syllabus, especially air law, meteorology, navigation, flight planning, human factors and performance.

In other words, do not ignore any section completely, but give the greatest attention to the subjects that directly affect planning and conducting a day VFR navigation flight.

For the PAL alternate question, the extra 30 minutes holding fuel is a night requirement, not a day requirement. The key is to read AIP ENR 1.1 para 10.7.4.4 in context. Paragraphs 10.7.4.1, 10.7.4.2 and 10.7.4.3 all begin with “When a flight is planned to land at night…”, and para 10.7.4.4 then continues that same runway-lighting alternate theme by saying that an aerodrome served by PAL may be nominated as an alternate, provided the aircraft has either dual VHF, or single VHF plus HF and 30 minutes holding fuel. Para 10.7.4.5 then adds that these lighting-based alternate requirements do not apply if the aircraft carries holding fuel for first light plus 10 minutes at the destination. So for exam purposes, if the issue is an alternate with PAL, the 30-minute holding fuel requirement applies to the night landing case.

On the BOD / first light plus 10 minutes point, I would not assume the exam will always hand you the time. AIP GEN 2.7 states that NAIPS automatically computes first light and last light, which tells you that this is recognised planning data and may need to be determined as part of a question unless it is given to you. In other words, sometimes the exam may give you the time to save a step, but you should still understand where it comes from.

On the Grid LSALT issue, the practical exam answer is that you can use it where there is no applicable published route-segment LSALT. The Aeronautical Chart User Guide says that air routes are divided into route segments and each route segment contains track, distance and LSALT. However, it then immediately says that the LSALT specified for a route segment is only valid for RNP 2 operations and that for operations other than RNP 2, pilots must use a pilot-calculated LSALT or Grid LSALT. That is the important line. So although the regulation wording refers to LSALT/MSA for the last route segment, that does not mean you are restricted only to a printed route LSALT bubble. If there is no usable published route-segment LSALT for your operation, the applicable LSALT for that final segment may be a pilot-calculated LSALT derived from Grid LSALT. The CASA Part 91 Plain English Guide is consistent with this and states that for day IFR to an aerodrome without an IAP, the alternate minima are LSALT for the final route segment plus 500 feet. 

On the Townsville VOLMET question can you help us where that actual Question is ? If it is one of ours it will need to be amended. Based on the current AIP your answer of “the current time on VHF” is a very reasonable one. The AIP VOLMET table shows Bellenden Kerr 119.75 MHz and Mt Blackwood 119.85 MHz as H24 continuous VHF VOLMET services, and both include Townsville in their list. The same table also shows the Australian HF VOLMET as a scheduled broadcast at H+00 to H+05 and H+30 to H+35, which would make 0330 on HF the next HF broadcast after 0312Z. But because Townsville is already available on continuous VHF VOLMET, the wording you quoted supports current time on VHF. I do not think this is about needing to remain on a VHF listening watch and therefore preferring HF. More likely the practice question is out of date .

I’m studying for my RPL-N exam. To make the most efficient use of my time, is there a recommendation of what chapters to study from volume 1 and 2 please?

Cheers!

• Videos 1–3 = early performance fundamentals
• Video 4 = take-off and landing performance
• Videos 5–6 = climb, cruise and descent performance
• Videos 7–10 = navigation/performance planning topics such as GS, time, fuel and wind
• Videos 11–12 = mixed worked examples / exam-style revision

So after about Video 4, the course is following a topic sequence rather than the exact book page order.

Best way to use it is to follow the book in order, and use the videos as supporting explanation rather than trying to match each one to exact pages.

The CPL Performance videos do not follow the book page-for-page.

While the videos do refer back to the book at times, they are structured differently. The videos are designed to:

• Explain key concepts
• Group similar ideas together
• Build understanding in a logical teaching sequence

The book, on the other hand, is structured as a reference and study manual, with topics laid out in a more formal order.

What this means for you

• You cannot match each video to exact page ranges
• Some topics in the book:
  • are split across multiple videos
  • appear in a different order
  • or may not have a direct video equivalent

This is why after Video 4 it starts to feel “out of sequence”.

Best way to use the course

Use the book as your primary study guide
Use the videos to support understanding of the difficult concepts

Don’t try to force a page-to-video match — it won’t line up cleanly.

📌 Key takeaway

The book teaches you what you need to know
The videos help you understand how to think about it

The books are very thoughtful and from a giant math avoidance person I can follow it thorough and make passes.

So far I have watched videos 1-6 carefully.  then looked through 7-12 to see how it fits, but cannot make them work against the book.

Video 1 - Pages 1-5

Video 2 - Pages 6-14??

video 3 - Pages 16 - 19??

Video 4 - Pages 22 - 65?

Video 5 - pages 67 - 109 - but there does not seem to be any video on climb gradient, GS and time interval, 

Video 6 - pages 137 -?

Video 7 - jumps back to page 110 - 119??

Video 8 - pages 120 - 136??

Video 9 - pages 139 - 150?? - this video just starts in the middle of a sentence

Video 10 - pages 151 - ?

Videos 11 and 12, I can't figure out how they fit in.

the problem is, after video 4 it appears to be chaotic for videos 5-12.

Can someone help me out with the structure please.