Happy Leap Year everyone!
Yes - its a happy day for me indeed as I walked out with a strong pass on CAGK this morning - much to my disbelief! Its one thing to go in expecting you'll get a higher mark and end up disappointed getting a lower one - but that feeling when you think you will most likely score a borderline pass (maybe even fail) and then get a higher grade is nothing short of ecstatic!
AGK was definitely such an exam for me - Despite having done at least 3 revisions of the book, scoring well on the online exams and having attempted all in-text questions twice, I was not feeling very confident about this exam due to its sheer content. As is always the case with theory-heavy subjects, this exam might be a breeze of sorts for those who are 'mechanically minded', perhaps even work as mechanics or are aspring/current LAME's etc, but for someone like me who is not, it can be a stretch. So here is my debrief on my attempt along with tips
1) Similar to CHUF, this is NOT an exam you should take for granted thinking there'll be a lot of general knowledge questions based on your experience on the typical GA aircraft. There's a lot of theory in the text and Bob Tait's book has nailed it in terms of scope and depth of the required learning. And yes, you HAVE TO memorize every syllable in it - if you thought CADA or CHUF required detailed reading, this is in a league of its own! If you have not attempted CADA or CHUF and if this is your first theory-intensive exam, then suffice it to say you might find studying for the other two a bit easier. But again, each to their own and if you're truly mechanically minded, you might find AGK easy to tackle.
2) The question-bank consists of 40, 1 mark questions and a time-limit of 90 mins. Unlike CHUF where the last 25% of the quesiton bank is usually reserved for TEM, I don't think there's any set rule of how, or if at all, the questions are grouped or skewed. This brings me to point #3
3) I was asked a number of questions re fuel-systems and engines and they defiinitely dominated my question bank (e.g. problems with gravity-fed systems, what happens to RPM if oil pressure's lost in CSU hubs for ME aircraft, impact on mixture if you use carby heat, effects of a live mag, impact of throttle ice etc). Other questions were scattered and picked from across the remaining chapters - there was only one question on fire systems albeit with complicated language re the fire loop and NO questions on auto-pilots. I say again, some questions will be downright confusing due to the complex language used in them but if the answer looks very obvious to you - it probably is the correct one. For instance, I was asked a rather convoluted question around a live mag so it pays to write what is being asked and eliminate words and options which are obviously unrelated. Like for my question re fire systems, the language was yet again convoluted but I slowly read every option carefully, writing key words in each of them and then chose the right one by eliminating options which obviously didn't seem to fit within the context of what was being asked.
4) All up, as per my original advice, learn EVERY WORD in the book until you can't memorize no more. Pay close attention to topics up until hydraulic systems in the book - the rest of the chapters are much simpler as they deal with RPL-PPL level knowledge and attempt every single question from the book right through to the online exams.
Final remarks -
Its been an absolute pleasure being a part of the BT online community and needless to say, some of the posts by fellow forum members who attempted the exam before I did certainly helped me prepare. Doing the CPL theory exams within 4 months while working full-time hasn't been the easiest of tasks, given I had to give up flying during this time, but I'm glad I did them as the knowledge one acquires by way of these exams is invaluable!
I will still be logging in online and will be happy to offer my 2 cents worth of help or advice to anyone who has any questions or just needs some tips re any of the exams.
I now look forward to resuming flying and getting my Multi-Engine class rating - and yeah, the almighty IREX on 22nd May!
Good luck and G'day!
Harry
