Big thanks to Bob and team for the awesome book and law extract, and to Maree for setting up the practice exams. Self studied for two and a half weeks over the Christmas break and passed the IREX yesterday on first attempt with 85%. Would have preferred my mark started with a 9 but I'll take the pass!

Took in the Air Services list:
DAPS
Full set of Lows
Full set of TACs
Aus PCA
AIP
ERSA
Printed CAAP
Printed Bob Tait IREX extract
Own ruler, own square aviation protractor, own set of Linex navigation dividers.
(Forgot my E6B!)

Tips:
1. Practice highlighting the key word or phrase in any of Bob's practice questions that will tell you which part of the AIP you need to find. Get fast at reading a question and instantly knowing which section of the ERSA, AIP, or law extract to turn to.

2. You have plenty of time to get your answer right the first time- nothing like the flight planning exam. IREX is 3.5 hours and I was done in 2.5 whereas when I did planning for helicopters and fixed-wing I was pushed right to the end both times.

3. When you get given a practice question with a peculiarity (such as an NDB with a different rated coverage in a certain sector, or traffic delay times at certain airports) don't just mark your questions right or wrong, highlight it in the DAP or ERSA. You may just find some very similar questions in the actual exam.

4. Get a good set of dividers (Linex are around $20 from Whitworths or any good marine store that sells nav equipment). They're on the CASA list but I never see them in the exam room. No faster and more accurate way to measure distances for your time and fuel calcs.

5. Get fast at finding ADs and waypoints on your charts given nothing but the Lat/Long. You may be lucky and be given an ERC reference, you may not.

6. The HAT trick is great but also draw everything using your aviation protractor. It'll highlight any obvious mistakes.

7. No limit on the amount of scrap paper you can use so go through the same methodical ACVWPLS process every time for alternates.

8. If it's been a while since you studied Met, pull out Bob's book (or buy it) and redo all the practice questions. Icing, microbursts, OPRs for alternates, etc are all fair game under the Part 61 MOS IREX syllabus and I'm always surprised at how few people ever read the manual of standards before sitting a CASA exam. It should be your Number 1 resource re what to study for any given exam.

Overall I found the IREX very fair and straightforward. You've got the full set of documents on your desk that any instrument-rated pilot could be expected to own in hard copy. They're therefore all fair game and the exam is really an exercise in how quickly you know where to look to find the answer. In comparison to some other exams, at least with IREX I found that if you knew where to find the reference, it pretty much matched one of the answer options word for word.

Congratulations Firefly, well done.
I'm glad you found the book and practice exams helpful. However, as you have indicated, the real effort must come from you. Your mark is a credit to you, especially for home study over two and a half weeks including the Christmas break. All the best with you flying now.

Regards

Bob

Cheers Bob- much appreciated.