Hi Guys,

Sat Performance last week and going in felt pretty good about it...

Wasn't expecting to get 5 ETP/PNR questions which required manual input + crosswinds of over 30kts. Can someone please explain the process of doing these problems. For example do I use ETAS for both GS Home and 2 x TAS? Or can I get away with using TAS stated in the problem and using ERSA conversion table?

I got all but one of these questions wrong.

Also stumbled on a question relating to frost on the wings. Question said:

What effect would frost have on take off?
a) The take off run will be affected, stall speed remains unchanged
b) Both the take off run and stall speed will be changed
c) Both take off run and stall speed will un unaffected
d) Take off run will be unaffected, stall speed increases.

I went with D, but it is on my KDR. My thinking was frost will only effect the aircraft once it attempts to create lift due to increased flow separation. I got a similar question in Aerodynamics which I got correct..

I just sat the exam today and had multiple manual entry questions - ranging from TODA, weights and minutes. Most of them appeared on my KDR.

Does anyone know what’s the go with CASA regarding the accuracy of the answers? 550kg and 560 kg are less than 1mm apart on the TO weight chart. What about fuel conversion? ERSA has it that US gal to kg is 2.72 for AvGas. Litres to kg is 0.72 on ERSA but on the Charlie loading chart it’s 0.71. The problem is what numbers do we use for Echo then? Such minute decimal differences in the intermediate calculations can bring about quite a big issue with the final answer. Why don’t CASA just leave it as multiple choice for these questions? From the forums, it seems like they are moving towards more manual entry answers. Doesn’t help that these questions carries 2-4 points each on the exam.

I have contacted CASA concerning the margins allowed in 'fill in the box' type questions. Their reply was that there are no fixed margins such as +/- 5% applied. They promise that they do allow appropriate margins depending on each question. For example, if a question asked for the minimum altitude permitted for flight over a built-up area, the answer would be 1000ft and no margin would be applied. If it asked for the visibility required for VMC flight, the answer would be 5km with no margins.

For questions involving calculations, margins are applied appropriate to the question, but they did not quantify what they are.

Frost on the wings would result in a longer take-off run because the aircraft would have to accelerate to a higher IAS to generate the lift required for lift-off. Also the stalling speed would be increased because the design maximum lift coefficient could not be achieved.