Hey Guys,

I'm sitting the PPL exam on Monday 7th April, and I have a question with regards to the performance charts. Does CASA expect you to obtain a very accurate answer or do they give you something like "The take-off distance is closest to...." with a list of 4 choices the way it is in Bob's PPL textbook?

Cheers!

Hi Aaron,

Yes, that's the general structure of those types of questions and it is usual to use the phrase "is closest to..." when asking for an answer. Good luck with the exam on Monday. Let us know how you get on

Cheers,

Rich

Hi Richard,

That's great to hear! Thanks for that.

Thank you, I'll definitely let you know!

Cheers,

Aaron

Hi Aaron,

How did you go? I hope you had success in your exam! I am currently studying for the exam and an really excited about this industry.

G'day getluke,

I passed, got 72%, just some things I needed to tidy up but I was generally happy with the exam. The exam get's you to think, so make sure you've done all the questions in Bob's PPL textbook as some of them are exactly the same in the real exam. Make sure you understand loading systems and performance charts as well

Good luck!

Cheers

Well done Aaron,

Great to hear you passed after the hard work.

What are your intentions? Are your using this for work? Have you obtained your operator and controller certificates?

How did you go about obtaining your Aircraft Radiotelephone Operator Certificate (AROCP) if you have actually got this already?

Thanks mate!

No I'm doing it because I want to be a pilot for an airline, I'm doing my PPL flight test in a few weeks! I have no intentions of doing ATC.

Cheers!

Hi
Just a quick question (PERFORMANCE BASICS):
Given that the pressure height is 6000 ft and the OAT is +13 Celsius, calculate the density height.

In the answer:
6000 + 120 * 10 = 7200 ft density height.

Where is the "120" comes from.

Thanks in advance,
Nikita

Hi Nikita,

Temperature in ISA lapses at 2 degrees per 1000 ft so at 6000ft, the temperature in ISA should be 3 degrees Celsius (15 - 2 * 6 = 3). The temperature we have is +13 Celsius which is 10 degrees hotter than ISA.

Now, it just so happens if you heat air by 1 degree, it has the same effect on its density as increasing its altitude by 120 ft would have. So, to correct for the hotter-than-ISA temperature we multiply the number of degrees we are hotter than ISA by 120 to get a temperature correction which we apply to the pressure height to get a density height.

120 ft / degree * 10 degrees = 1200 ft. Therefore, even though the air is at a pressure height of 6000ft, its density is actually more like the air at 7200 ft in ISA because it is warmer.

Cheers,

Rich

Ok, it is clear now.
Thanks for the quick response Rich.
Nikita