But how do you know when you’re actually ready to write the Transport Canada written exam?
Sure, I know you can’t write it until you get your letter of recommendation from your Flight Instructor, but besides waiting for he/she to tell you, how would YOU know that YOU feel ready for this? I’m pretty sure you don’t want to show up and hit a big 42% on the practice exam in front of all your buddies at the flying club.
A Quick Look Back at Where We Have Come From
Step #1 – The Medical Exam – I’m going to assume that you have this already. If you’re under 40 you’ll need to update every 5 years, if you’re over 40, it’s every 2 years. Your CAT 3 Medical is required. Read more about it here.
Step #2 – The Radio Exam – Get your Radio Certificate as early as you can. Bottom line, it’ll make it easier for you to understand all the radio communications. Read more about it here.
Step #3 – The PSTAR Exam – Pre-Solo Testing of Air Regulations… or the PSTAR Exam is something you’ll need to pass prior to flying solo for the first time. If you had a chance to check out my free PSTAR App, then you get the idea of the Air Regulations.
Step #4 – Ground School and Flight Lessons – Ideally, start these both at the same time. You require 40 hours of ground school in order to qualify to write your Transport Canada written exam to get your PPL. You’ll also need to be proficient with all the Air Exercises as outline in the Transport Canada Flight Training Manual in order to build your skills for operating the aircraft properly. You can read more here.
Step #5 – The Ground School Kit – There are a few things you should consider purchasing to make your ground school and flight planning easier.
Step #6 – Give Yourself a Debrief After Each Flight Lesson – Are you taking the time to read your Flight Training Manual before you take each of your Flight Lessons? The pilots who prepare for their up-coming flight lesson often learn quicker and easier with just a little time on the ground preparing.
Step #7 – Get What You Need for your Flight Bag – There are 3 kinds of equipment you can buy, equipment that is essential, equipment that is a preference, and then there’s equipment that’s a complete waste. Bottom line, each pilot is different and places value in their own way. However, there are some items, like From the Ground Up or the Transport Canada Flight Training Manual that just seem like they’re essentials for most pilots across the country. What’s essential for you? You can check out my list here.
Every Pilot Needs to Do Their Two Weeks
I spoke recently to a Class 1 Flight Instructor, and he made some observations that he’s seen in the past 30+ years of being around student pilots who are preparing for their Transport Canada written exam.
He said it all boils down to the fact that after you’ve completed your ground school, every pilot needs to do their 2 weeks of study time.
That’s it.
He didn’t mean just a bit of study here and there, he meant get permission from your family and friends to check out for 2 weeks and hit the books, hit your study notes, take some practice exams and spend 2 weeks to get it all done. Once you pass your written exam, you’ll have a year that it’s valid so you can then tackle your Flight Test.
Preparing For Your Written Exam
I’m going to assume that if you’ve finished ground school, and if you stayed awake, you should have a few study notes. I’m thinking you should have some concepts, perhaps some sample weight and balance questions, some flight planning exercises, and some odds and ends of all kinds of “important points” indicated by your Ground School Flight Instructor.
In your preparation time during the 2 weeks, hit those notes hard. Review the entire ground school course for anything that didn’t make any sense, follow along with your Study and Reference Guide for each topic you’ve been studying as pointed out in Tip #5 and at this point you should have a clear idea of what you know really well, and you should also be able to identify the topics or concepts that are a bit fuzzy.
Put aside the things you know and spend your time on what needs clarifying. Check From the Ground Up to sort out any cobwebs in your thinking, or review your Ground School course for any topics you need clarifying, and get those topics better understood.
So, You Think You’re Ready for the Exam?
There will come a moment when you realize, ok, that’s it… “I think I’m ready to write the Transport exam.” My advice? Don’t follow through on that just yet.
Start with a practice exam.
Your flying club should have a few exams for you so you can get a real sense of writing the exam and handing it over to someone who may find out if you’re on your game or if you’re a rookie at this point. Remember, the goal here is to identify your weak topics, but don’t give up if you bomb your first exam. Try a couple of these exams and find out the type of answers you seem to be struggling in. Meteorology? Spend some time reviewing the NavCanada website. Air Law trouble? Use our PSTAR App to review the Air Regulations. You can review our online ground school to see if it’s right for you. It comes with 850+ questions and you try several practice exams.
When you write these practice exams, you should be very honest with yourself and make note of the questions that you’re just guessing at vs. the answers that you really know, so you can really identify what you know and what you don’t know.
After Trying Some Practice Exams, Hit the Books Again
This time focus in just on the topics you don’t know, the questions where you were guessing. Learn that material. If the software you’re using to test yourself has some tidbits or explanations, that’s great. Read that and try and learn why the answer is what it happens to be.
Do this for a couple of days before you take your next practice exam and let the information settle in. If you needed to check your performance charts, review those, if you missed some questions in METARs, find some to practice online.
The Official Transport Canada (Practice) Written Exam
After you’ve put in some more study time on the areas that were identified by your failed questions on the practice exams, now you should be ready for “the official” practice exam. It’s available from the Transport Canada website. I hope you haven’t looked at these questions AT ALL yet in your preparation time… you want to reserve this exam for “the final practice exam” to let you know if you’re REALLY ready for the official exam.
You can get the Transport Canada PPL practice exam here or simply google: TP13014e and you’ll find the Civil Aviation Sample Examination.
This should be the final indicator to let you know if you’re ready for this or not.
When I followed this method of preparation, first with ground school, then with studying my notes, onto practice exams using software, and last, with this Official Transport Civil Aviation Sample Examination… I scored an overall 81% on the this “official” sample exam.
The great thing about the sample exam is you’ll note that the exam is broken down into the four categories: Air Law, Navigation, Meteorology, and Aeronautics – General Knowledge, and you can find out how you did on each section. For me, I hit 100% on Air Law, but my lowest mark was 73% in Meteorology. That meant I didn’t need to touch Air Law again at all… but I spent some time in MET to make sure I knew what I was missing.
Remember, 60% is required to pass each section. Figure out where you’re weak and put in some serious study time.
If you’re hitting +80% on the practice exams, go back to the flying club and hit one more practice exam just to make sure this wasn’t a fluke, and if you nail it, you’ll know you’re ready and your Flight Instructor should be prepared to give you your recommendation letter.
Have a Strategy for How You Prepare for Your Written Exam
The overall point here? Have a strategy that works for you if you want to pass your Transport exam on the first attempt. Everybody learns differently, some read, others need to watch a video, and others need a quiz to engage them with the material.
Know what works best for you and put just as much time into coming up with a plan that works best for you so you don’t waste time reviewing material you already know.
The last point I want to make, even if you bomb your practice exam at your Flying Club and feel terrible, don’t let it get you down. You can recover. Give yourself a tiny break to clear your head and see what areas you need to polish up.
But DO NOT give up. You’ve come all this way, you can do this!
Step #9 – Ok, You’ve Passed Your Transport Canada Exam. Now What?
Thanks so much for your support! We’re so grateful for your feedback and for your support for what we’re doing in the aviation education industry in Canada!
