CPAER and Flying beyond

[dave_091]

Hi guys,

I am getting ready to write the commercial pilot exam soon. I was wondering if any of you recommend buying the book called " flying beyond".

I have just finished Harvs air ground school for the cpl and I have to do their 6 online exams before I get my recommend. However, I still feel that I want some more reading material.

I have bought a copy of the 2014 commercial pilot exam prep guide by sharper edge solutions and it is awesome! Some of the questions asked in it can be quite challenging.

What I am trying to seek in the book flying beyond is a well laid out section on Air Law. Right now I am going through the CARS over and over and it's quite boring. Having something written out in textbook format that is more reader friendly would be nice. If flying beyond does not offer a good Air Law section that covers the CPL material then I am not sure I will bother ordering the book.

Cheers!

[Docbrad]

Personally, what I did is I went through every single CAR that is on the exam. Once. That one time through, if I didn't know the rule 100% before reading it (some stuff you should just know from flying and doing your PPL) I would write it down, in my own words. I would make the reg as simple as possible. Then, when it came time to study air law, I studied my own notes. Either I already know the rule cold, or I'm reading it in my own language.

But that's just me.

[dave_091]

I am not a fan of air law at all but on the PPAER I managed to pass with 100%.

It was some sort of a miracle.

My final mark was a 93. Not bad but still room for improvement.

I hear the navigation and general knowledge is what gives the most hiccups.

[MIQ]

I agree with what Docbrad said, that's the best way to get your Air Law Knowledge straight. I have Flying Beyond and also did my CPL ground school through Harv's Air and found the Flying Beyond to be absolutely unnecessary. It is a great book, no doubt about it, however almost everything you need to know is covered by From The Ground Up and that little bit of extra knowledge that you need for the CPL you can get through the Harv's Air slides as well as the CARs website. If you have money lying around, get it, otherwise $80 is a bit steep considering you don't really need it.

[Docbrad]

For the entire CPL written, my resources were Sharper's Edge, From the Ground Up, CARs, the AIM, my own personal notes and the other accociated garbage that has simply been crammed into my brain over the years

[GreenBastrd]

I used flying beyond and its gold question book, Read flying beyond from start to finish there is some great info in there. The gold question book has quality CPL Exam questions in there for Air Law and Gen Knowledge. Good Luck

[airspeed250]

For Air Law, get the CPL exam guide from TC, it will tell you exactly which CARS and other Air Law topics are possibly on the exam. Then simply read the CARs in question straight from TC, and other material from the AIM. I found the CARs are very straight forward to understand. You do not need a study guide to go with them. If anything, sometimes the study guides make things more confusing. I went through the Air Law CPL exam guide from TC, copied and pasted each of the CARs into a document and made my own study guide. There is some Air Law content from the AIM, such as carrying hazardous materials w/ pax, but easy enough to find, and no study guide required. I found Sharper Edge didn't cover some of the material that was on the TC exam guide either. The questions on the actual exam are not difficult at all. It seemed fairly basic. Don't stress out about knowing every little if/then scenario from the CARs when you read them.

Sharper Edge is a good book in general. That plus the AIM and From the Ground Up is all you need. Again, follow the TC exam guide for each subject - they highlight the sections you really need to know. If you feel like having more sample questions, I recommend the gold colour Canadian Commercial Pilot Answer Guide.

One last comment, Nav was exceptionally easy. I don't know why people say this is a difficult section. If you can read a map, and do a basic flight plan properly, you won't have a problem. Know how to measure distance, heading, calculating speed, and time to a specific point on a map. Some of the questions you would think belong on a student pilot permit exam. Know the basic properties of VOR navigation, and about DME. Gen Knowledge, same thing... not difficult. The TC exam guide will tell you what they might question you on. Study those topics. I was freaking out going into the exam based on some of the comments on this website. It's not a hard exam at all, but if a person doesn't prepare properly, I can see why some struggle with it. Since you did very well on the PPL, you won't find the CPL much more challenging.

[dave_091]

Thanks for the information guys, much appreciated.

I like the idea of printing off the TC Commercial exam guide and writing the CAR for each topic. I will put something like that together myself and hold onto it for future reference as well.

I now understand how important it was to take good notes during the PPL. Every exam builds off your previous knowledge with some extra questions thrown in.

once again, thanks for the replies.

[dave_091]

Wrote the CPAER the other day.

Got a 91.

100 in air nav
95 in air law
95 in met
80 in general knowledge

I didn't study general knowledge at all before the exam, I should have. Some of the general knowledge questions were quite challenging!! I was so worried about law that I spent probably 75 % of my time studying for it. I have learned a lot after taking this exam.... Don't ignore one area because you think you know it well.