88% in today's Aero exam. It's a solid pass but I felt I knew this topic quite well so was hoping for something in the 90s.

Key observations:

1. It's absolutely critical to know the key graphs - Coefficients of lift & drag, Drag/thrust & thrust available, Power required and available. You also need to know what happens to the curves when things change: deploying flaps, spoilers etc; changing weight etc. If you look at these graphs and are not sure what they're saying, you are not ready for the exam
2. Be sure you're right up to speed on spins and spiral dives, including recovery and the rationale for the recovery intervention
3. There are questions on stability, so make sure you understand the three dimensions of stability, what improves/degrades them, and behaviour statically and dynamically.

In respect of the first observation, here's my #1 Aero exam tip: Be able to draw these curves, know how they change when underlying assumptions (eg. weight) change, and be able to explain all the interesting points. You know these curves well enough when you can confidently say "I could explain this to a new CPL student"

My KDRs relate to definitional things, and that's probably a consequence of zipping through the exam too quickly. My first run through took about 25 mins, then another 10 to review. Ninety minutes is oodles and oodles of time, but don't rush!

My study relied 100% on the Bob Tait book and I can say with complete conviction it's completely sufficient to get you through the course in a solid way IF YOU INTERNALISE ALL THE CONCEPTS. The BT book practice questions are a bit easier than the actual CASA questions, but not too much in it. As a final pre-exam check I did the Dyson-Holland practice exam and it's similar to BT's questions in terms of difficulty, but good to experience different wording. If you're scoring 90% in with Bob's practice test, you can be confident you're ready for the real exam after polishing up those few Q's where you tripped.

Thanks to bobtait, John.Heddles and Sasut2 for tips along the way.

Happy studies!

Congratulations HPOUND, that's a great result, especially for home study, so don't feel at all disappointed. Your advice is very appropriate and for the sake of others who may read this post, I agree that there is no future in just trying to learn the answers to questions. It's important to carefully study the material covered in the text and gain a sound understanding of the concepts. Being able to explain it in your own words to your kid brother is a good goal to work towards.

There is no escaping the fact that Aerodynamics is a subject that has mathematics at its core. You don't have to be a maths 'nerd' but you do have to work on the ability to interpret graphs and basic mathematical relationships such as the lift formula.

Again, well done mate, all the best with the rest of your study.

Bob