Hi everyone,

I have just sat the CPL nav exam and failed and im looking for some guidance as i feel a bit lost. i studied the bob tait cpl nav book hard for 3 months and tried to get a good understanding of the actual principals rather then just memorizing the practice exams in the book and i failed bad with a 55% i am not sure where to go now i know all the information in the book very well but i still failed maybe i am doing something wrong the questions on the actual exam i worked through with the same principles but still failed? if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions id really appreciate the help i self study at home i cant afford anything else as i am a single parent working full time hope someone has some ideas.

Cheers

-Dan Parker

Gidday Dan

It can be a long lonely slog doing the subjects by home study. It's hard to say exactly what your problem may be. I suggest you go through your KDR and try to identify a particular subject area that keeps coming up. If you can find one, let me know and I'll see if I can help. It certainly is possible to pass the CASA exam by using the book, so it is likely you are somehow misinterpreting questions.

Keep your chin up mate....

Bob

Hi bob,
Thanks for the reply mate, yes I think somehow I'm not understanding the questions in the exam. I had a question which I found confusing for example one question was along the lines of asking me if I had to travel from point a to point b and the flight would take 90 mins what would be the latest ETD from point a. I just did not quite understand what exactly it was asking should I be looking at the latest time to leave after the 10 min into morning civil twilight? Or should I find the EOD at point b then subtract 90mins + 10 mins for the EOD buffer in evening civil twilight? Also questions were missing info and I found them to not be very descriptive such as not providing whether winds were in deg true or deg magnetic. Most of these questions I druggies with reflected in the KDR's I do feel I have a good grasp of the processes involved in working through the answers just the questions are riddles rather then questions that leave you asking a question about the question. I've already knocked off 2 exams with no issue at all but now I seem to be suffering with this nav stuff, I like your books and they haven't failed me at all very good books I trust them to get me through all the exams. Would the practice cyber exams you provide help me to have a broader range of questions where I can spend some time understanding where in the syllabus I'm struggling? I'm very very determined I just feel slightly lost and feel perhaps by reading more again and again I'll be covering old ground. How long do I need to wait now before I can resit the exam If I recall it's 7 days but I'm not 100%

Thanks for taking the time to help mate!

Cheers

-Dan Parker

Dan

I do think the cyber exams would be a great help in your case. I like to hear that you are determined, that's what it takes. If you try the cyber exams you have the advantage of posting particular questions that you find confusing on the forum. You can be sure someone will answer you promptly. In your situation, it is often helpful if you can identify a particular question and understand why you are getting it wrong.
That is more useful than continuing to read the same material over and over.

Bob

(Topic moved to CPL Nav forum)

Hi Dan for what it is worth I have been flying for over 40 years and have many hundreds of hours. I have now completed IREX, Perf, Law, Aero and am currently about to sit Met. I too had great difficulty with the CASA exam questions being vague and inaccurate and in some cases downright wrong. Having said thet, I too am studying at home and I have found that posting EXACT questions that are causing you grief on this site will give great assistance. As you go over the books, and find an area of concern jusy detail it here and you'll find some really good help.

All I can say is in the exam, try not to read too much into their questions and just go with the MOST logical approach. This seems to work most of the time.

I am leaving Nav until after all the others because in my case that seems to suit my knowledge set better and I found that IREX had a LOT of nav questions anyway.

Good luck and hope you can get over the line with this one.

Hi Brenton,

Thanks for your words of encouragement! I have purchased the bob tait cyber exam for nav to increase my range of questions and when the day vfr book arrives I can go over it fully. I have had 1 attempt at it without marking yet and seemed to find the questions straightforward unlike the casa exam I'm which I felt totally lost as to where to go. I remember the 1 in 60 questions having this - "if p=5 D1=30nm D2=D1 what hdg change would be required at x?"

Now I am certainly not a man of maths so I felt unsure about this one is it saying that D2 is the same as D1 in distance?
This is what I mean, if that is indeed the case why not just say D2=30nm? I am a deep thinker perhaps I'm asking why too much rather then assuming that's the logical answer....

Thanks again I'll let you all know how I go i will sit it again I never give up.
Cheers
-Dan Parker

Hi Mate,

I know how you feel, Aerodynamics which was my first exam to sit for and is also a challenge I had with and only passed on 3rd attempt

But since that exam, I managed to pull pass on every single first attempt

I will be sitting NAV exam on Monday 22nd august. Will let know how I go.

If I pass then I have air law to go and i am done with CPL level.

Remember the real exam is based on CASA English!!!!

Don't worry mate, I work full time also monday-friday and only study time is at night for 3 hours and weekends.

Hi,

Good to hear you passed in the end that's a win for sure! I am going to sit my nav exam on the 30th august so hopefully with two weeks study under my belt I will be ready to have another go. Good luck with your nav exam I wish you luck hopefully you'll do better then I did.

Air law is a piece of cake really all the answers are there in the AIP CAO and CAR the key to the exam is knowing those books like the back of your hand and you'll breeze it no worries mate!

I feel for you working full time I know your pain too well unfortunately it is so tough at times but I take my hat of too you doing the hard yards mate.

Like myself we will reap the benefits of our hard work someday and take to the skies where we belong
All the best mate please let me know how you go and if you remember any questions post them here if you can as I know it will help me in a big way to know what I'm in for in round 2.

Good luck! Cheers.

-Dan Parker

Hey Dan,

I had the exam yesterday and after 3.5 weeks of studying I was really surprised by the questions that were presented in the exam, I was not expecting what I expected in the exam yesterday (22nd August)at all, but none the less I passed the exam with 83% and now on to the final exam of Air Law and then IREX.

From what I can recall in exam I had a total of 31 questions, the following question structures were:

2x on runway wind velocity questions
4x fuel questions
10x 1 in 60 rule questions (2 marks each)
4x on questions on Longitude and latitude
4x on questions related to WAC, PCA, and VTC
4x on BOD & EOD questions
3x question on climb & decent rate

I must admit it was challenging exam but I am happy with the result.

Let me know if you need any help

Cheers,
Sarmad