Hi,
I have a question on the subject of drift, but really it is about discrepancies or ambiguity in the questions and whether there is a place where these can be reported as a reference so avoid future confusion.
The question I use as an example is from the Bob Tait navigation: Q21 Navigation progress test 3.

Q. If an aircraft holding a constant heading in a constant wind increases its TAS its track made good will change.
(a) the statement above is true.
(b) the statement above is false.

The answer provided in the book is [a] true, which is only correct if the wind is not a direct head or tail wind. If the question was in an exam and was the difference between a pass and fail, I would be really wondering what to write knowing the questions in the exams are sometimes looking for that kind of specific answer.

The purpose of this question is not to be pedantic, I do find the Bob Tait books very concise most of the time, however I wonder if there is a place in the forums where ambiguous questions are indexed?

Thanks in advance,
Cam

Hi Cam

You have made a valid point. It is not true if there is no cross-wind component. I will change the wording to reflect that. In the case of the CASA exam, there should be no problem since their questions are subject to review by a validation committee [or so I've been told]. For example, in that case the examiner would have to ensure a question like that was based on a specific heading and a specific wind direction.

Personally,I don't think we need to include a category in the forum for ambiguous questions. It would probably suffice to post such comments under the subject heading as you have done.

Thanks very much for your feed-back. It is most appreciated.

Bob

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am also curious about question 24 in the same test. The options are for a variation of 8 degrees left or right of heading and a GS variation of +-6 knots. Should this be 16 degrees instead? 300 and 332?

The FPT is 316°M and the wind is from 235°M [220 + 15] at 25 knots. The TAS is 185 knots. According to my computer, the drift is 7 or 8 degrees right and the ground speed is 179 knots. That makes the answer [a] 308°M and 179 knots the one to pick. That's the answer given in the book.

Bob

You are so right, my apologies. For some reason I read (and re-read) the computer increments as 2 degrees..
Thanks,
Cam