Are exams ment to trick you?

[Sloper]

Goodaye all

 

Have done a couple of exams for BAK and have noticed that the qeustions are designed to trip you up.

 

Is that the norm?

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[turboplanner]

Yes, that's what happens in real operations

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

The advice I was given for my BAK by my FI was "RTFQ"

 

 

[Tomo]

If you don't know the answer... I guess they do!

 

Seriously though, I'm sure they are designed to be a little tricky, and get you thinking. They make it look easy by using multi choice answers, so to get you back, they make up some trickery...

 

But yes, reading the question over an over, and answering only what they ask is certainly a plus. Sometimes you think they are trying to trick you, so you answer with the smartest looking answer, only to find you are changing the original question.

 

 

[Sloper]

l just find it a total change from doing TAFE and Uni exams and find that a little frustating.

 

Never did like muiltiple choice answers, you either know it or not.

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[Tomo]

Ok, yes, very much different to Tafe.

 

 

[Ultralights]

my advice for students sitting any Multi choice aviation exam... Read the F*#*ing question, then read EVERY answer, the RTFQ again..

 

 

[Bubbleboy]

Hi Bruce...its been a few years since I completed my exams but BAK, PPL, CPL and IFR were not that tricky. Have a thorough knowledge and you should get it.

 

ATPL was a whole different kettle of fish! At the time I did mine the word going around was the exams were being written by an ex Malaysian Airlines Captain? who had one aim in life, that was to make the ATPL exams so hard, tricky and deceiving that no one could pass them! At one stage you had to pass all seven ATPL exams at the same time. They then decided that you had 3 years to pass them all, one at a time if you liked.

 

Dont go in to them thinking you can "wing it", make sure you know and understand your knowledge.

 

Scotty

 

 

[Bryon]

My FI explained it this way

 

Two answers are obviously wrong ,

 

of the other two, if you understand the subject, you will know which is right :hittinghead:

 

BUT whatever you do RTFQ and try to understand what information they want

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

designed to get you thinking but probably designed to get you used to those confusing op reg,s cao's and such.

 

 

[rgmwa]

I've confidently answered questions, only to find out later I got it wrong because I went for the obvious (to me) response, and not the right response. As others have said the most important thing is to RTFQ. Then, if you have time at the end of the exam, go back to the start and RTFQ again.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[NWpilot]

thats what i was taught when i sat my PPL exams RTFQ=1/2 TFA

 

it works

 

 

[flying dog]

Though I am also "guilty" of failing to understand the question in some exams, here is a bit of advice:

 

If your are used to working out the answer yourself, but you are given multiplel choice, work out your answer and look for it in the options.

 

The problem as I see it is HOW the question is interpreted by you.

 

One question which got me was this kind of thing:

 

If you see a plane flying and it is in fog/mist/rain, what is the danger?

 

1: It is closer to you than you think.

 

2: It is further away than you think.

 

3: (something else)

 

4: (something else again)

 

And the answer is 1.

 

Thing is (as I see it):

 

Ok, it "looks further away" because the definition of its shape is obscured because of the fog/mist/rain.

 

So: We are told of the optical problem caused in this situation. The mechanics are not explained to the level I am accustomed, but.....

 

We KNOW of the problem. So you are flying along there is a plane flying near you in the fog/mist/rain.

 

It looks 'X' far away, but as you know of the problem, you know it is really 'Y' away - which is closer than 'X'.

 

There is NO real problem as it has been explained.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

The most correct answer usually lies towards safety.

 

 

[Guest Mad Dave]

Also make sure you are satisfied that the other answers are wrong. Sometimes there are 2 answers that are right, but one will be "more right". If you are too hasty and pick an answer that seems right, you may get it wrong.

 

 

[Tomo]

Also make sure you are satisfied that the other answers are wrong. Sometimes there are 2 answers that are right, but one will be "more right". If you are too hasty and pick an answer that seems right, you may get it wrong.

I got bit with one of them the other day...

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Also make sure you are satisfied that the other answers are wrong. Sometimes there are 2 answers that are right, but one will be "more right". If you are too hasty and pick an answer that seems right, you may get it wrong.

Exactly so.

 

If you don't really know the subject matter and be confident of the facts, your'e in trouble, because some questions are designed to make you question your grip on the topic.

 

I don't think aviation is unique in this regard. Some years back I did some real estate exams and the same applies.

 

Other issues I had with the RAAus exams were:-

 

• there were a few questions that made no sense or had insufficient information in the question, and I had to ask the CFI to clarify the question.
   
   
  
• There were just a couple of incorrect answers in the RAAus Answer sheet, which when the marking was challenged, the CFI looked at the question / answer and pronounced the RAAus answer to be incorrect and mine correct... phew! (not that it would have changed the outcome, but I hate being marked wrong if I'm not).
   
   
  

 

 

I seem to recall doing at least one orally, so I was just asked the questions and had to respond without any presented choices.

 

Then there was another day where I spent a couple of hours answering questions about information in AIP... for example... "Where would I find...?" "Ok, show me." Do you need to have a radio at <ad-name>? "Show me the AD Datum for <ad-name>. "What does this symbol mean? Point to Restricted area on a map.... What are the hours of operation, controlling authority and height / altitude limits? On ERC-L, explain the information shown on this route.

 

My CFI was very thorough and ensured that any wrongly answered questions resulted in reviewing the topic, afterwards, to understand what was correct and why the answer was wrong.

 

 

[Sloper]

Seems l did read the qeustions right.

 

Got a reasonably good pass on my BAK.

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[turboplanner]

Congratulations, pleased to see our stirring worked!

 

Now it's just the flying.

 

 

[NWpilot]

Well done Sloper, Good to hear, Now get out there and enjoy your flying

 

 

[pudestcon]

Onya Sloper:clap:

 

Pud

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hey Sloper! Well done. Hope the rest goes well too!

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[facthunter]

Advice on exams.

 

the main purpose of multi-choice exams is the ease of marking. There have been plenty of stuff-ups with them over the ages. Sometimes more than one answer is correct, or sometimes none are. IF they are set well they can be very thorough in testing your knowledge, There has been plenty of good advice given already here. The main one is to answer the question asked. Once you have more or less decided on the answer CHECK that IT really does answer the question. Others have made the point more succinctly.

 

.....Nev

 

 

[Sloper]

Now for PPL

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

My husband got totally frustrated with the Flight Safety (Jul/Aug 10) Flying Ops quizz No.5

 

"When operating in the vicinity of a non-towered aerodrome, other than when joing on base leg or final, pilots are expected to make the following minimum broadcasts: intending to take off (taxiing call), intending to enter the runway,

 

(a) ready to join the circuit, overflying.

 

(b) inbound, ready to join the circuit, base

 

© inbound, base, final

 

(d) inbound, overflying, base, final, clear of the runways"

 

First, because it was talking about circuits he decided it only related to inbound, join the circuit, land, taxi, shut down. After that the terms threw him - "ready to join the circuit" when he was used to saying "joining down wind" and being there. Finally frustrated because none of the answers seemed right he turned to the back. (a) is the answer

 

If you read the CAAP 166 1(0) table 2:

 

6.3 When operating in the vicinity of a non-towered aerodrome, it is expected that all pilots would make the following minimum positional broadcasts from aircraft that carry a VHF airband radio:

 

(Table 2 is a little messy due to copying & pasting)

 

Table 2 — Circumstances/Broadcasts in the vicinity of non-towered aerodromes

 

 

 

Item Circumstance (non-towered aerodromes) Pilot’s radio broadcasts

 

1 The pilot intends to take-off. Immediately before, or during, taxiing.

 

2 The pilot intends to enter a runway. Immediately before entering a runway.

 

3 The pilot is inbound. 10 NM or earlier from the aerodrome, commensurate with aircraft performance and pilot workload, with

 

an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the aerodrome

 

4 The pilot is ready to join the circuit. Immediately before joining the circuit.

 

5 • The pilot intends to carry out a straight-in approach; or

 

• Join on base leg. On final approach at not less than 3 NM from the threshold. Prior to joining on base

 

6 The pilot intends to fly through the vicinity of, but not land at, a non-towered aerodrome. When the aircraft enters the vicinity of the aerodrome (as defined).

 

 

 

 

Note the CAAP says "in the vicinity .." and defines an inbound call as one of the 6 to be done "in the vicinity ..". yet the author of the question must be interpreting it as IN the vicinity - ie an inbound call is something you make before entering INTO the vicinity so an inbound call does not form part of a correct answer. Confused? He certainly was, as I got frustrated trying to explain that it was someone's interpretation. Reminded me of some PPL qns.

 

Sue i_dunno

 

(a) a pilot

 

(b) a female

 

© an engineer

 

(d) a dog lover

 

Answers in next month's edition.