On a sunny afternoon at a coastal aerodrome, which way does a sea breeze blow?
From the sea towards the land By day the land heats up faster than the sea, so the air over the land warms and rises. Cooler air from over the sea flows in to replace it, and that onshore flow is the sea breeze.
After flying 60 nautical miles, you find you’re 3 nautical miles off track. Roughly how many degrees off track is that?
3 degrees The 1 in 60 rule says that 1 nautical mile off track after 60 nautical miles is about 1 degree. So 3 nautical miles off after 60 is about 3 degrees.
Two aeroplanes are converging at about the same height. Which one must give way?
The one with the other on its right When two aircraft of the same kind converge at about the same level, the one that has the other on its right gives way. So on a converging path, the side the other aircraft is on decides who moves.
What makes a wing stall?
Passing its critical angle of attack A wing stalls when its angle of attack, the angle between the wing and the oncoming air, goes past the critical angle. The airflow then breaks away from the top of the wing and lift falls sharply.
Why is hypoxia a danger to a pilot?
It can dull judgement before you notice it Hypoxia is a shortage of oxygen reaching the body, and the brain feels it early. It can dull judgement and slow thinking before you notice anything wrong, which is what makes it dangerous.
When is carburettor icing most likely?
In humid air at low power, even when warm Fuel evaporating in the carburettor, and the drop in pressure at the venturi, cool the air sharply. In humid air that moisture can freeze even on a warm day, and the risk is higher with the throttle partly closed.
What weather does a stable air mass tend to bring?
Layer cloud, smooth air and poor visibility Stable air resists rising, so any cloud spreads out in layers and the air stays smooth. Haze, smoke and moisture stay trapped near the ground, which often means poor visibility.
Compared with a cool day at a sea-level aerodrome, how does a hot day at a high aerodrome change your take-off distance?
It’s longer, as the air is less dense Heat and height both make the air less dense, so the density height goes up. The engine makes less power, the propeller less thrust and the wing less lift, so you need a longer take-off run.
Your true track is 090° and the variation is 10° east. What’s your magnetic track?
080° With east variation you subtract it from true to get magnetic. So 090° true with 10° east variation is 080° magnetic.
In a level turn at 60° of bank, what load factor do you pull?
2 g In a level turn the wing must make enough lift to hold the aeroplane up and pull it round. At 60° of bank that comes to twice its weight, a load factor of 2 g, and the stall speed rises with it.
To carry a passenger on your recreational pilot licence, how many take-offs and landings do you need in the previous 90 days?
3 CASA’s page on keeping your RPL active says you need 3 take-offs and landings in the previous 90 days to carry a passenger. It’s a recent-experience rule, so it counts only the last 90 days, not your total.
You’re approaching a runway that’s narrower than you’re used to. What illusion can it cause?
You feel too high, and fly the approach low A narrow runway looks like a normal one seen from further up, so you can feel higher than you are. Pilots who trust that picture tend to fly the approach too low.
At night, the air on a hillside cools and flows down the slope. What’s that wind called?
A katabatic wind At night the slope loses heat and cools the air touching it. That cold air is denser, so it drains down the hill as a katabatic wind.
You turn the master switch off, but the engine keeps running. Why?
The magnetos make their own spark Magnetos make their own electricity as the engine turns them, so the ignition doesn’t depend on the battery or the master switch. So the magneto switches, not the master switch, control the ignition.
You want to track due north, and the wind is from the west. Where should you point the nose?
A little left of north, into the wind A wind from the west pushes you east, off your track. To stay on a northerly track, you head a little left of north, into the wind, so the drift cancels out.
What does dihedral on a wing mainly give the aeroplane?
Lateral stability, in roll Dihedral angles the wings up from the root to the tip. If a wing drops and the aeroplane starts to sideslip, the lower wing meets the air at a bigger angle, makes more lift and rolls the aeroplane back towards level.
What can happen if the centre of gravity is behind the aft limit?
Less stable in pitch, and a harder stall recovery With the centre of gravity too far aft, the tailplane has less leverage to keep the nose steady. The aeroplane becomes less stable in pitch, and recovering from a stall or spin can become hard or impossible.
Two aeroplanes are approaching each other head-on. What should each pilot do?
Alter heading to the right When two aircraft are approaching head-on, or nearly so, each alters its heading to the right. Both doing the same thing means they pass clear of each other.
You fly with a heavy cold and blocked sinuses. When are you most likely to get ear pain?
On descent, as air can’t get back in On descent the outside pressure rises, and air has to flow back up the Eustachian tube into the middle ear. A cold can block the tube, so the pressure can’t equalise and the eardrum is pushed in, which hurts.
Which conditions favour radiation fog over land?
A clear night, light wind and moist air On a clear night the ground loses heat quickly and cools the air above it. With moist air and just a light wind, that air cools to its dew point and radiation fog forms.
Australia · Theory exams