Commercial Written at TC

[gustind]

Hi everyone,

I wrote the Commercial written in the past week and in the process of studying I was a bit lost for resources. Well in fact I had them all however I certainly did not know what to expect from the commercial written exam. I searched the avcanada forums with zero luck. So the following post will summarize some topics I found were on the CPL exam to assist those who may be writing it in the future.

I kindly ask everyone that you NOT start talking about how knowledge requirements are part of the training and blah blah about not knowing everything but still being able to fly. I don't need this thread 7500'd.

> Using cruise performance charts as well as time/fuel/distance to climb charts.
> Turn and bank indications and control inputs associated with those indications.
> Track correction for NAV portion
> Characteristics of Map projections (ie. VTA = rhumb line?)
> Operation of a slaved gyro compass (not your basic flux valve crap)
> Services provided by ATC in different types of airspaces
> METARs and TAFs as well as GFAs and SIG WX Lo chart
> Crosswinds with a given CRFI
> Using the infamous sun chart for the beginning and end of evening civil twilight
> Subsiding air affects relative humidity
> Effect of wind shear during take off and landing
> Operation of a turbo-charger, super charger and waste gate
> Why are control surfaces dynamically balanced (the answer they are looking for is not flutter)
> Why saturated air cools at a different rate than unsaturated
> Flight conditions through warm and cold fronts as well as Trowals
> Crew member fatigue stuff
> Effect of C of G on stability
> Medical anesthetics, scuba diving etc,.
> VOT check (+- 4)
> Properties associated with hail
> Relationships between induced drag and airspeed
> Multi-engine requirements over water>
> Oxygen requirements
> Calculate ETE
> How a load change can effect the a/c w & b
> How air masses aquire their properties
> Methods to de-icing or making your wing clean
> Forces on a tail wheel aircraft during take off
> How density altitude affects a/c performance
> U/S equip on aircraft with and without a MEL.
> Minimum emergency equipment required for different aircraft
> Sensory illusions to a pilot in IMC
> Min lighting for an aerodrome at night
> Use of safety belts and restraints.
> When is an AOC required?
> Questions regarding ground speed and ETE, as well as RMI indications
> NOTAMs (Till approx vs. till xxxxxxx, NOTAMN vs. NOTAMR)

The exam is very fair. The nav questions are independent of each other which means you can screw up your planning and only get one question wrong lets say instead of questions based on the previous one etc,.

Just a lol: My computer randomly shut down 15 minutes into the exam and one of my questions was actually blank and the woman had to print the question for me to answer it. Interesting day. Use the info to your advantage and have fun and good luck.

[Snow Angel]

Thank-you for this info. I found it very helpful. I'm writing my CPL written shortly and am wondering if there are any online practice exams anyone would recommend? Or if anyone else has any comments on preparing for the 'big written'? Are there quite a few questions on Air Taxi/Aerial Apps Regs etc? I always seem to get them &$#@ed up! Thanks for the help.

[helpmefly]

I wrote the exam last week.. I got a partial pass. I failed NAV (57.5%) and MET (50%). I really hate how TC marks exams and doesn't show what question you got wrong.... The results that were giving to me show a generic area I got wrong. I found it pretty funny that it said I didn't know my day VFR fuel requirements... If they want to know if I know the requirements, then why don't they just ask "what are the VFR day fuel requirements?" instead of putting it in some confusing content. I'm not sure how I'm going to improve my skills before the next exam because I got 98% on met when writing my recommend... Anyone have some suggestions on study material? I used ., Canadian Commercial Pilot Answer Guide, Sharper Edge Commercial Pilot Written Exam Prep. Guide 2010.

[Hedley]

Unfortunately the Transport written tests are somewhat ornately written, by I suspect some long-retired but enormously frustrated English major whom really didn't like pilots very much - perhaps one doinked his wife, I don't know - and what you see is his revenge upon pilots.

They really don't test your aviation knowledge. Instead, they test your reading comprehension of the English language, with a certain percentage failure being the objective, instead of the accurate measuring of a candidate's aviation knowledge.

You have my sympathy. I have no idea how someone who's first language is NOT English could possibly pass the Transport writtens. Imagine you or I going to India or China and trying to pass a similar test of our knowledge of their languages, in order to get a pilot's licence.

PS I was told by a fairly surprising source that a certain school in western ontario which taught foreign students had obtained the actual written tests, and their students merely memorized the correct answers. This may be safe to repeat now, that the certain school is defunct.

[gustind]

I kindly ask everyone that you NOT start talking about how knowledge requirements are part of the training and blah blah about not knowing everything but still being able to fly. I don't need this thread 7500'd..............


The exam is very fair. The nav questions are independent of each other which means you can screw up your planning and only get one question wrong lets say instead of questions based on the previous one etc,.

First off I'd like to quote myself in two places. The first one is in regards to 7500'd this thread.

The second remark is in response to Matt there. You must have really f'd up hard on NAV to get the mark you did given the circumstance above. The questions are fair enough that they are all independent of each other. No excuses there. Instead of complaining about how you did and how the TC exam is a pain in the ass, why don't you post some of the topics they recommend you review so as to help other people in the community? Down the road, an employer will not know that you had to do the CPL exam twice, it just simply won't matter so get over it and move on.

@SnowAngel: Try this: http://www.aerotraining.com/index.html

[Big Pistons Forever]

I wrote the exam last week.. I got a partial pass. I failed NAV (57.5%) and MET (50%). I really hate how TC marks exams and doesn't show what question you got wrong.... The results that were giving to me show a generic area I got wrong. I found it pretty funny that it said I didn't know my day VFR fuel requirements... If they want to know if I know the requirements, then why don't they just ask "what are the VFR day fuel requirements?" instead of putting it in some confusing content. I'm not sure how I'm going to improve my skills before the next exam because I got 98% on met when writing my recommend... Anyone have some suggestions on study material? I used .., Canadian Commercial Pilot Answer Guide, Sharper Edge Commercial Pilot Written Exam Prep. Guide 2010.

The good news is that no one will know you F'd up your exam. The bad news is the CPL knowledge requirements are IMO not very onerous so frankly if you did so poorly
on the exam I really have to ask how much effort you made to learn about your chosen profession. The CPL is the first rung of the commercial pilot ladder..... the knowledge requirements are only going to get harder. Yes the TC exams can be a pain in the ass and are often only tangentially related to stuff that actually matters but guess what; the stuff you are forced to study in order to get enough knowledge to pass the exam actually will provide the foundation knowledge you will use for the rest of your career ........ or not.

[SuperchargedRS]

I was once told by a very smart and accomplished DE, that all he was looking for is if I knew how to fly, judging good flying, he said, was like judging good pornography, you cant really say what makes it good, but you know it when you see it.

If you bombed the test (which you did), dont let some of the robots tell you that you dont compute into a good pilot, just suck it up, study your azz off and take it again.
Best online resource I used was webexams.com however I dont know of a canuck equivalent (and dont understand why there isnt much online for TC practice tests)

I would care more about how you deal with a engine failure, or how you describe your planning of a x-country or how you do in a spot landing contest then how you did on some TC thing.

[zed]

I guess I would start by asking... Did you read the From the Ground Up once, twice, or more in your studies? And I mean in addition to the time you read it for your PPL? You did read it for your PPL? And when I mean read, I mean not skim through. But to actually understand the stuff you were reading? Did you tab anything you had a question on and asked someone who actually knows their stuff? Did you do the questions in the back of the book? Do you have the FGU workbook, and worked through it? Same goes for the Air Command weather manual and its workbook. If you did all that and still had difficulty then I wonder who did your groundschool? In either PPL or CPL? If you need practice exams then try...

http://www.vippilot.com/en/books-logboo ... index.html

But note these will not directly prepare you for the TC exam by themselves. As already mentioned, the TC exam questions were written by some clearly pilot hating, officious, nameless bureaucrats... If you use practice exames, the best way is to do one, and figure out what you did wrong. And here's the important part, ie 'trick', go back to the books and study that section again. If you have lots of problems in an areas, then re-study the entire section again from scratch. This studying is not a go and hunt the specific answer to that specific question study. Once you do all that go back and repeat. Keep doing this until you start to find you are needing to go back and study less. At about that point you should be ready to do the exam. One last thing, don't do this method by cramming it in the day before the exam. You need two or three days between your practice exams to really spend the time researching and studying again to absorb the knowledge. Studying like this takes time. But then having failed the exam you wasteed not only time but also money.

Keep working hard, anything worth having takes effort.

[Snow Angel]

Thanks. I do know about and am working through the Aerotraining Online Tests. I've been through FTGU several times as well as the test at the back. I've been going through . too. I have the Canadian Comm Pilot Answer Guide and am going through that as well. Would anyone have anything else to recommend? I like the . ground school book and have been doing all the examples and practical stuff in it. How's the written prep book of his? Expensive! But worth it? I just thought there might be more online prep I wasn't aware of. Guess not eh?! I did my private in the US and they had a really good instant results on each question one with help if you got it wrong type of thing. Was hoping for somthing like that...aww well. I'll keep hackin' away. You scared me dude on $#&%ing up the Nav and Wx so bad! Sounds harsh! Thanks on the help.

[helpmefly]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm back to the books and studying hard

[zed]

Good luck mate.

[kerosene]

I have a suggestion for those wanting to write the exam, if you care to , and I'm sure TC won't advertise this, you could go take the Dispatch Exam

-why?
1- it's free
2- no reference letter required
3- it really tests on the Met stuff, as some of questions are ATPL knowledge (MET Exam)

No help on the Nav stuff though, If you're having problems you might want to pay a visit to your instructor and practise.

[zed]

Nice one Kerosene... Good catch.

Yes the Dispach Exams are currently free.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/quebec/pilots-e ... r-1477.htm

I have no idea why TC hasn't slapped a fee onto the exam. But if you're really struggling with MET and want a more difficult test to test yourself on... Have 3.5 hours to blow off in the local TC office... Then the Dispatch Met exam is probably the thing for you.

The only other one is the hang glider... It tests "Air Space - Air Law & Procedures"
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/quebec/pilots-e ... n-1332.htm
Your guess is as good as mine as to how comparable it is to the pilot ones.

[Trapper]

I have to agree 100% with Hedley's post about a certain 'school in western ontario' whose students are cheating on TC exams. I suspect that the surprising source of Hedley's information comes from a TC inspector as TC is well aware of the cheating that occurs on their exams. It's not just TC exams, it's in house tests, PSTAR exams, language testing etc. in fact any test that they can cheat on they will.

I once thought that although they can cheat their way through exams there is no way that they can cheat on a flight test. How wrong I was, from personal observation I have seen them cheating on IFR flight tests by using the IFR controller in lieu of their instructor by asking questions of the controller for example; 'can I descend now for the approach', 'can I start the procedure turn now' etc.

The other problem is that there are PE's who are known to be 'an easy ride' and students will flock to them. As a Pilot Examiner I take the responsibility seriously and abide by the content of the PE manual, all students are treated equally and if they meet the standard they get a pass. I have actually had students in tears when they found out that I would be doing their flight test, they then fought tooth and nail to have another PE assigned as 'the other guy' would be sure to give them an easy ride.

The main problem is that it is a cultural thing where a failure is seen as a loss of 'face' to them so cheating becomes acceptable. Anyway enough about Maylan, the problem is much larger that that . . .

To be continued.

Trapper

[Trapper]

This whole cheating thing is a recent phenomenon and is mostly confined to chinese and indian students not just at schools 'in a location in western ontario'. This is happening across Canada where 'eastern' students are training and around the world where the same thing is happening. Take a look at the PPRUNE forum 'South Asia and the Far East' and you will see that the problem is happening in the Phillipines, India and China and probably many other places as well. It's not just cheating students, it's 'bent' FTU's who are padding students log books for a price.

Now to the important part, this cheating to get ahead is putting lives at risk by reducing safety. How would you like to be operated on by a doctor who cheated his way through medical college. Yet you may be getting on a plane where the pilot cheated his way through flight school and padded his log book as well.

So what can we do as pilots, instructors, pilot examiners and FTU's. Where does the responsibility lie to ensure that students are properly trained to the required standard and that they meet those standards without cheating.

Open to suggestions.

Trapper

[Hedley]

TC is well aware of the cheating that occurs on their exams

One must wonder how they kept their FTU OC!

Clearly it was "not in the public interest" for this FTU to operate in this manner, yet they kept their OC.

It's interesting how unevenly the regulations are applied. One can't help but wonder why.

[Shiny Side Up]

It's interesting how unevenly the regulations are applied. One can't help but wonder why.

One can't help but wonder if there's help on the inside. I'm reminded of the set up the one driver's school had where they even had a doctor on the payroll to make sure no one who paid was denied the medical for the Class 1 driver's licence. The examiner was paid off and the whole nine yards. More than a hundered licenses were issued this way, and while they tracked down a few, there's a lot of tractor trailer units out there still being driven by unqualified drivers. The worst part was when the school was shut down, they packed up and moved to another province - they got away with the same scam in Vancouver.

[stiknrudder]

Came across this thread and couldnt help reading some of the comments regarding unethical practices by asian students.

While you all are partly right and I dont blame you for your perception of us Asians (I am Indian Myself), We are not all here to break the law.

Its the few rotten apples who are spoiliing it for us.

Most of us who come to Canada are interested in really learning to fly and want to do it the right way.
I have had and excellent experience in my training so far at CZBB.
The school I am with is a very old and well known one in the area and does everything above board.
No cheats on the PSTAR, Radio and PPL written exams.all were properly supervised and professionally conducted.
The same for the flight training.
The flight tests are conducted by external TC examiners and weak students do partial/fail, they are not pushed through.

Based on my experience at this school, I thought flight training is professional, fair and honest across the country and was rather surprised to read the comments here saying otherwise. More than that, was really disappointed to read that my fellow Indians are involved. The flight training system back home is already in shambles because of all this fakery and cheating and was hoping the cancer wouldnt have spread here.

in my opinion it takes two to tango and while the students are looking for short cuts, the schools are also encouraging it in order to make a fast buck.