8 THINGS TO DO JUST BEFORE YOUR VIVA

That crucial 15 minutes before a VIVA can become the longest 15 minutes in an aspiring ATPL seeker’s life. What are you doing in those last few moments before you go into high stake Viva? Most people are getting just nervous or more nervous. They are thinking about all the things that can go wrong and all the ways in which they might screw up. They are worried about being judged by others and found lacking. In other words they are sabotaging themselves. Not many professionals are able to collect…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL. CPL) EXAMINATION: TOP 3 TIPS FOR VIVA

Reading time: 5 min Once you have passed the written examination, life can seem a little flat for a while. Congratulate yourself, take a breath – but try not to lose your momentum. Remember that this is not an interview but is an oral examination and, like any other examination; you need to revise and prepare for it thoroughly. And, as with other exams, there are strategies that you can adopt that may help you with this. Purpose of the Viva Voce Examination. Literally, “viva voce” means by or with…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 7: EXAM DAY PREPARATIONS

Reading time < 2 min Get plenty of rest the night before. Sleep, learning, and memory are complex phenomena that are not entirely understood. However, animal and human studies suggest that the quantity and quality of sleep have a profound impact on learning and memory. Research suggests that sleep helps learning and memory in two distinct ways. First, a sleep-deprived person cannot focus attention optimally and therefore cannot learn efficiently. Second, sleep itself has a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information. We suggest to sleep…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 6: KEEPING MOTIVATED

Reading time less than 2 min. Take breaks. You need some time to have fun and it is better to study when you are feeling relaxed than to exhaust yourself studying all day! Carefully structure your break and study time. Usually, 20-30 minutes of study and then a 5-minute break is the most effective method. If you have trouble bringing yourself to study, instead of long uninterrupted sessions, chunk your work into 20 minute periods, taking a 10-minute break at the end of every period.  Make sure that you structure the…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATION: TIP # 4 ORGANISE YOUR LEARNING

Focus on your study objectives. What do you intend to accomplish during this session? Setting a concrete study goal may help you. Creating study plans is also a good idea. If 3 out of 5 lessons are easy and can be finished fast, finish them first, so you can spend quality time on the difficult lessons without fretting. Take Notes. Take notes and rewrite the most difficult and important information and display it where you are most likely to see it. Make mnemonics to remember. Not only will this give you a…

PILOT LICENCE (ATPL, CPL) EXAMINATIONS: TIPS # 3: SOLVING MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Studying for a multiple-choice exam requires a special method of preparation which is distinctly different from an essay exam. Multiple-choice exams ask a student to recognize a correct answer among a set of options that include 3 or 4 wrong answers (called options/distracters ), rather than asking the student to produce a correct answer entirely from his/her own mind.  Students commonly consider multiple choice exams easier than essay exams. Perhaps the most obvious reasons are:  The correct answer is guaranteed to be among the possible options.  Many multiple-choice exams tend to emphasize basic definitions…

What mistakes pilots should avoid during landing flare?

The Landing Flare, in a fixed wing aircraft, is the one most difficult task a pilot executes on routine basis.  The landing flare is a transition phase between the final approach and the touchdown on the landing surface. This sub-phase of flight normally involves a simultaneous increase in aircraft pitch attitude and a reduction in engine power/thrust, the combination of which results in a decrease in both rate of descent and airspeed. What is landing flare? The flare process requires that the pilot adjust the aircraft attitude and power settings…

How pilots can assist controllers during a procedural approach control to save time and fuel?

What is a Procedural Approach Control? Procedural approach control is a form of non-radar air traffic control conducted from the Tower to separate arriving, departing, and overflying aircraft within a designated area around an aerodrome. The procedural approach is used in areas with little or no radar coverage, where traffic density is relatively low. The procedural approach controller may utilize a variety of (non-radar) separation standards to achieve separation between aircraft i.e. vertical, longitudinal, lateral, geographical, or visual separation. Without an accurate radar picture to aid situational awareness the procedural approach…