Still ploughing along

Not a huge amount to describe since the last post. We have now finished Principles of Flight or PoF (if you google PoF you get something rather different) which is, for me, the most challenging topic we've done. Lots and lots of variables and a great many things that are easily confused. The basics of how an aeroplane stays in the sky and what kinds of drag are present etc are not too tricky. The difficulty comes with things like stability and the seemingly endless number of things that can be varied with a propeller. So often, your instinct is completely the opposite of the actual answer. 

Anyway, from that nightmare, we entered the world of meteorology, which for me has been the most interesting so far. It's great to see how it all works and for once it isn't actually too tricky. It's fairly logical and there aren't too many annoying facts to learn. My favourite bit has been clouds - have always liked them. Not sure why. Here's a selection of the 'best':

that should say Castellanus (i.e. like castle ramparts)

Cirrus

Mammatus (guess what that comes from)

Nacreous

Noctilucent

So that's clouds. Plenty of other stuff too but those have been the most striking. This week we look at instruments which covers not only the basic flight instruments (altimeter, airspeed indicator etc.) but also how to use some of the more complex systems that are employed in jet aircraft. Should be fun!

AGK is done, now POF

So begins week 3. We have now finished AGK (Aircraft General Knowledge). What an apt title as it encompasses pretty much every system you could imagine within a large jet transport while also covering many of the 'basics' of a variety of propellor-driven piston-engined aircraft. It is a vast topic and while none of it is horrendously difficult, the sheer quantity of it and the irritatingly obscure way in which the CAA/EASA word their questions makes the subject matter seem rather elusive. 

Here's an example:

The database (of over thousand questions on this particular subject, taken from previous genuine exams) will have a number of questions worded very much like this but changing words like 'divergent' and swapping 'static' pressure for 'dynamic' pressure etc. It's very easy to miss a small change like that and get the question wrong.

The official line is, learn all the material and you can then use the question database as a 'tool'. What they are emphatic about is not to use the database to just memorise all the questions. As the questions are often updated (and often as minimally as I describe above) it's a technique likely to spell disaster. As with anything, a combination approach is best. Personally, I study the material, do some questions, get most of them wrong then go back to the material to work out why. If that doesn't work, there are instructors and course-mates to help get to the bottom of what was wrong. At the end of that process it's a question of just memorising everything. 

We now won't see this subject again until the mocks in mid-December and the exam in early January. Official pass-rate is 75% but most airlines look for first-time passes with an overall 85% average across all 14 exams. Seems pretty unlikely the way things are but just have to keep working away.

That's a lot of boring words so on a lighter note here is an example of a question with a moderately amusing answer (option A presumably the one Mr T would go for):

and here's a nice picture of a plane to finish with: