One chapter down in CP written test prep.

One chapter down (basic aerodynamics), nine more to go. Lots of
highlighting. Good thing that I bought that new 4-pack the other day.

So far, so good. I've had a few "Um...I have no idea" thoughts as I read
through and attempt to answer the questions. I definitely plan to read
through relevant chapters of a CP text or buy the FAA publication
FAA-H-8083-25, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. I'll be
borrowing my partner's Gleim CP text and brushing up on the aerodynamics
stuff in short order. The stack of books continues to grow.

I've found a couple of websites that look like they'll be good
candidates for practice tests. I haven't tried either of these yet but
plan to do so fairly soon.

http://exams4pilots.org
http://mypilottests.com

It must have been a bad day at the ASA printing facility as my FAR/AIM
showed up with a 25 page section upside down. Kudos to Amazon.com
though. The return process was painless. They paid for return shipping
and had a new copy to me in a matter of a couple days.

It's not all books/no flying. I'll be learning some of the commercial
maneuvers from one of my partners who just recently earned his CP
certificate.

Next up: Aircraft Systems...

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Student - CP-ASEL

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Don't worry about it. Just look at some of the people you know with
commercial certificates and the fact they passed the exam and you know it
will not be too hard.

I bet that if you did a mock test now you would score 60% before any serious
"study".


"Jack Allison" wrote in message
news
One chapter down (basic aerodynamics), nine more to go. Lots of
highlighting. Good thing that I bought that new 4-pack the other day.

So far, so good. I've had a few "Um...I have no idea" thoughts as I read
through and attempt to answer the questions. I definitely plan to read
through relevant chapters of a CP text or buy the FAA publication
FAA-H-8083-25, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. I'll be
borrowing my partner's Gleim CP text and brushing up on the aerodynamics
stuff in short order. The stack of books continues to grow.

I've found a couple of websites that look like they'll be good candidates
for practice tests. I haven't tried either of these yet but plan to do so
fairly soon.

http://exams4pilots.org
http://mypilottests.com

It must have been a bad day at the ASA printing facility as my FAR/AIM
showed up with a 25 page section upside down. Kudos to Amazon.com though.
The return process was painless. They paid for return shipping and had a
new copy to me in a matter of a couple days.

It's not all books/no flying. I'll be learning some of the commercial
maneuvers from one of my partners who just recently earned his CP
certificate.

Next up: Aircraft Systems...

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Student - CP-ASEL

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

"S Green" wrote in message
...
Don't worry about it. Just look at some of the people you know with
commercial certificates and the fact they passed the exam and you know it
will not be too hard.

*raises hand*

I used the ASA test prep and the Jeppeson Instrument/Commercial textbook,
studied on my own. Wasn't nearly as mind-draining as the Instrument exam.
(And the checkride is a hell of a lot more fun, by the way.)

-c

On Dec 9, 2:03 am, Jack Allison
wrote:
I've found a couple of websites that look like they'll be good
candidates for practice tests. I haven't tried either of these yet but
plan to do so fairly soon.

http://exams4pilots.org
http://mypilottests.com

Jack,
It's a coincidence that I am also studying for the commercial
written test. I started the study last spring finishing all but one
chapter then got interrupted with a dive trip following with heavy
workload! We started the commercial flight training last August and
managed to get the two long x-country training trips combined with the
complex hours (our Cardinal has constant speed prop but no retractable
LG so we getting the 10 complex hours in a RG Cardinal). We also
finished the solo long country trips last Labor Day weekend.

The commerical maneuvers are fun to learn. Last week, our
instructor said we are close for the checkrides so we dusted off the
books to get ready for the written. I finished reviewing/studying the
Gelim CP FAA Knowledge Test in about 4 days and took the practice exam
at the end of the book for a score of 94% so I think I am close to
ready. I am going through another round of study before taking the
actual written test to allow for some test-anxiety-induced
mistakes ;-)

About the two online practice test sites, I had used the
exams4pilots.org site and found it quite useful especially for the
option to select the number of test questions. 10 questions at a time
is good for 5 minutes break during the day. I also find the answers to
be in agreement with Gleim's book. I had tried several online test
sites before and every so often, I would find the answers for few
questions contradicting with Gleim's book. I had just registered
for the second site and took all the exam questions of the first
chapter. There were two answers (out of something like 37) not in
agreement with the Gleim's book

A propeller rotating clockwise as seen from the rear, creates a
spiraling slipstream that tends to rotate the airplane to the
a) right around the vertical axis, and to the left around the
longitudinal axis.
b) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the
longitudinal axis. (correct based on Gleim's book)
c) left around the vertical axis, and to the right around the
longitudinal axis. (correct based on mypilottests)


Forst covering the upper surface of an airplane wing usually will
cause
a) the airplane to stall at an angle of attack that is higher than
normal.
b) drag factors so large that sufficient speed cannot be obtained for
takeoff. (correct based on mypilottests)
c) the airplane to stall at an angle of attack that is lower than
normal. (correct based on Gleim's book)

With my previous scores of 100 for both the PP and IR written tests
based on studying the Gleim's books , I think I will stick with the
Gleim's answers to be on safe side ;-) Besides, Dr. Gleim's
explanations for his chosen answers seeemed quite reasonable.


Have fun with your study.

Hai Longworth

john smith wrote:

So, what aerodynamics are you having difficulty with?
It's more of needing to find some better/slightly more in depth
reference material than my Jepp PP manual. For example, some of the
lift to drag ratio questions left me wanting to read through this type
of material in a text vs. the test prep guide. From the test guide, I
understand enough to figure out the answers on the test but I'm looking
to learn a bit more of the theory/explanation behind some of this stuff.
For now, I'll tuck away the info. to pass the written but definitely
bookmark some stuff to learn better later on, for the practical test.

I'll look through the Gleim explanations and imagine that will help.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Student - CP-ASEL

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Longworth wrote:
We also
finished the solo long country trips last Labor Day weekend.
I did a long solo x-c last year to Palm Springs. Had the opportunity to
meet the group's own Jay Beckman while there.


The commerical maneuvers are fun to learn.
Yes, so I've heard from several folks. I'm fortunate int that I can get
introduced to the maneuvers via one of my airplane partners. Was
planning to do some of this yesterday afternoon but time got away from
us and he needed to do some practice approaches...so, will have to wait
for another day.


About the two online practice test sites, I had used the
exams4pilots.org site and found it quite useful especially for the
option to select the number of test questions. 10 questions at a time
is good for 5 minutes break during the day. I also find the answers to
be in agreement with Gleim's book.
Cool, I'm planning to check this site out further soon. I like being
able to pick a small number of questions in order to take several
mini-practice tests when you don't have enough time for the whole thing.

I had tried several online test
sites before and every so often, I would find the answers for few
questions contradicting with Gleim's book. I had just registered
for the second site and took all the exam questions of the first
chapter. There were two answers (out of something like 37) not in
agreement with the Gleim's book

Yeah, I found some discrepancies with the instrument written when
comparing a free online site vs. the test prep book. I suppose you get
what you pay for, eh? :-)

Interesting that you're finishing up with the written test and I'm
starting with it. I find that I want to get it out of the way and now
is a good time to do just that. Still, I can see that doing it later
and in preparation for the checkride would be a good idea. Hmmm, maybe
I'll try that...for some other certificate or rating. :-)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Student - CP-ASEL

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

gatt wrote:
I used the ASA test prep and the Jeppeson Instrument/Commercial textbook,
studied on my own. Wasn't nearly as mind-draining as the Instrument exam.
Good to know. I remember several instrument lessons where it was all I
could do just to drive home.




--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Student - CP-ASEL

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

On Dec 11, 7:03 am, Longworth wrote:
On Dec 9, 2:03 am, Jack Allison
wrote: I've found a couple of websites that look like they'll be good
candidates for practice tests. I haven't tried either of these yet but
plan to do so fairly soon.

http://exams4pilots.org
http://mypilottests.com

Jack,
It's a coincidence that I am also studying for the commercial
written test. I started the study last spring finishing all but one
chapter then got interrupted with a dive trip following with heavy
workload! We started the commercial flight training last August and
managed to get the two long x-country training trips combined with the
complex hours (our Cardinal has constant speed prop but no retractable
LG so we getting the 10 complex hours in a RG Cardinal). We also
finished the solo long country trips last Labor Day weekend.

The commerical maneuvers are fun to learn. Last week, our
instructor said we are close for the checkrides so we dusted off the
books to get ready for the written. I finished reviewing/studying the
Gelim CP FAA Knowledge Test in about 4 days and took the practice exam
at the end of the book for a score of 94% so I think I am close to
ready. I am going through another round of study before taking the
actual written test to allow for some test-anxiety-induced
mistakes ;-)

About the two online practice test sites, I had used the
exams4pilots.org site and found it quite useful especially for the
option to select the number of test questions. 10 questions at a time
is good for 5 minutes break during the day. I also find the answers to
be in agreement with Gleim's book. I had tried several online test
sites before and every so often, I would find the answers for few
questions contradicting with Gleim's book. I had just registered
for the second site and took all the exam questions of the first
chapter. There were two answers (out of something like 37) not in
agreement with the Gleim's book

A propeller rotating clockwise as seen from the rear, creates a
spiraling slipstream that tends to rotate the airplane to the
a) right around the vertical axis, and to the left around the
longitudinal axis.
b) left around the vertical axis, and to the left around the
longitudinal axis. (correct based on Gleim's book)
c) left around the vertical axis, and to the right around the
longitudinal axis. (correct based on mypilottests)

Since the prop and plane try to rotate in opposite directions (Newton)
c annot be correct.


Forst covering the upper surface of an airplane wing usually will
cause
a) the airplane to stall at an angle of attack that is higher than
normal.
b) drag factors so large that sufficient speed cannot be obtained for
takeoff. (correct based on mypilottests)
c) the airplane to stall at an angle of attack that is lower than
normal. (correct based on Gleim's book)


I think that b) need not be correct (how much frost?) but increasing
the roughness of the surface can promote flow separation c) Since
take off can occur in ground effect b) seems even more unlikely.

My 2c

Cheers

"Jack Allison" wrote in message news:z-
gatt wrote:
I used the ASA test prep and the Jeppeson Instrument/Commercial textbook,
studied on my own. Wasn't nearly as mind-draining as the Instrument
exam.

Good to know. I remember several instrument lessons where it was all I
could do just to drive home.

Ha! That was me, too. Driving down the highway, glancing at the
speedometer and hearing the instructor's voice. "Watch your airspeed."

Yeah, not quite that intense.

-c

Jack,
It's a coincidence that I am also studying for the commercial
written test. I started the study last spring finishing all but one
chapter then got interrupted with a dive trip following with heavy
workload! We started the commercial flight training last August

Think of the poor European pilot doing the commercial licence.

9 exams to take all totalling about 20 hours of exam time. $140 an exam and
the exam only available to be taken at a few centres every two months. To
be followed by the IR exams all 7 of those too.

Most do the ATPL exams - there is only 14 of them to do, and covers both
the commercial and the IR but to a higher level.

Before one is allowed to enter the exams one needs to be signed off by an
approved flight school that at least 650 hours of study has been completed
of which 60 must be done in the classroom.

The questions are all multiple choice like the FAA ones except with a choice
of 4, but the biggest drawback is that the question bank of between
15-20,000 questions is not publicly available. People try and remember the
questions and give feedback but its not perfect. So no substitute for
knowing the stuff.
All in all - $6500 before you even get into the aircraft.

The FAA Commercial took about 3 weeks of study around a Christmas holiday
and cost me about $150 for the books and the test which I did while on
vacation in Florida and then I knocked off the flying and checkride in a
couple of weeks on another trip. That had extra costs like the student visa.

In between sorties I managed to knock out the ground instructor knowledge
tests. The FOI is a bit of an insult to the intelligence and the AGI and
Instrument instructor were like doing the prep for the oral part of the
checkride. (It was 20 months before that I had done the commercial written).

So its been a bit of a doddle doing the FAA stuff and a bit grim (an
expensive) doing the European stuff.

At least the FAA COM/IR will give some exemptions when I do the flying bit.
The instrument rating training drops from 50 hours to 15 hours with the IR.
(The checkride fee for that is $1500).