Can I pass PPL exams with a question bank? 

Should I use a question bank only?

Passing the exams is an exercise in ticking boxes (literally). You may well achieve this by memorising questions and applying some intelligent guesswork.

However, you may also regret that choice when the aircraft starts misbehaving. While we train for a range of ‘standard emergencies’, aircraft often challenge us with ‘non-standard carry-on’.

Our rule- and skill-based responses might not be sufficient. That’s where knowledge comes in to help us make our best possible decision. 

When we add the general aviation environment, which is less structured and not as rigid as the world of airline operations, we are even more likely to encounter the unforeseen in recreational flying as a PPL holder.

Without an entourage of flight planners, dispatchers, standby mechanics and ramp agents, we are often the final decision makers. This means that we deal with delays, defects, paperwork, changing weather conditions, fading daylight and the pressure from our passengers, who “really wanted to go there”.

Learning Behaviours

In the subject of Human Performance & Limitations we are introduced to an important three-level concept:

• Skill-based behaviour is when we make decisions and choose our actions on the basis of experience and having “been there”. But to get there, we need exposure and experience. 

• Rule-based behaviour is when we rely on a set of learned action patterns and draw on what we learned in a classroom.  

• Knowledge-based behaviour is when we base our course of action on our knowledge and understanding of processes. Whilst skill- and rule-based behaviour drastically reduce our workload and allow us to default to a set of standard actions, knowledge-based behaviour will always be our ultimate plan B when all else fails, from a 15-hour first solo student pilot to a seasoned transatlantic skipper. 

At the risk of indulging in cliché, this is where the saying “knowledge is king” has its fair place. If we find ourselves in a situation which misbehaves and refuses to fit into our skill set , we have to work out what to do next. That requires knowledge and understanding and does not come from a faded memory of a question bank. 

Case Study: US Airways Flight 1549

Before leaving the wondrous world of cliché, let’s pull out another big gun: US Airways Flight 1549. The crew responded confidently with knowledge, and skill, and avoided a seemingly inevitable disaster over the crowded urban sprawl of New York City by landing in the Hudson River. The crew ditched not only the aircraft, but also every rule in the book. This was not because they had a sudden onset of indifference, but because they quickly and correctly assessed all the pre-written rules as unconducive to a reasonably safe outcome. 

On a less dramatic note, it is important to understand where to find information and how to read and interpret it. This type of information includes; aircraft manuals, procedures and legislation. Knowledge also helps us understand the basis of rules and procedures, as well as their possible limitations. We can expand our knowledge independently and become less reliant on others when we have a broad knowledge base. When we ask others for help, we can better assess the quality of the information they provide. Then there are those situations where others aren’t around like that Sunday morning when … but let’s not get back to drama. 

The current electronic exams are quite dynamic. We are adding, removing, and modifying questions to reflect knowledge gaps identified in practical training, recent incidents, and trends.

This means that arriving at the exam venue with a brain full of correct answers is no longer a guaranteed pass. Sometimes we subtly change questions, and they may look suspiciously like their versions from yesterday, but a small change in a word here or there significantly alters the matters 

Can I pass my PPL using a Question Bank?

Getting back to the question second time ’round: Yes, you can, but not as a standalone. A question bank is one of many tools in your PPL toolkit and allows you to: 

• Learn question technique, 

• Get a feel for the style and wording of question, 

• Get used to the subtleties of multiple choice answers, 

• Practice applying your knowledge under exam conditions, 

• Build confidence in your ability, and 

• Reveal gaps in your knowledge which you possibly never knew were there (things we don’t know we don’t know…) 

At SkyLearner we call our question bank “Solution Bank” because the question remains an afterthought. More importantly, we want to figure out how we got to the correct answer, why the other answers are not correct, what the subtext of the question was, which assumptions we think were made when the question was written and, the pièce de résistance, what would the question need to say for the other answers to be correct? 

All our SkyLearner PPL subjects include a comprehensive and up to date Solution Bank. Our Solution Bank allows you to practice exam style questions while learning the theory behind the question! See our full PPL Self Study Theory Course here.

Thinking Ahead

Moving on to another form of future proofing, you may read this while you’re scheming out your pilot career path. If so, the commercial-level exams, CPL or ATPL, are lurking around the corner and may leap out sooner than you had expected them to.

For many students the exam is a big mountain to climb, and the mountain always appears tallest to those who “banked” their PPL exams, missing out on those big core concepts. It is surprising how much of the current PPL syllabus is regurgitated in the commercial syllabi. This is on the assumption that little of the PPL knowledge would be retained.

By investing the extra time and effort into the PPL foundation, we can sail into the commercial exams with a solid footing. Even when we get more complexity, we will have the bigger picture in our minds and know where to put new information without redrafting entire subjects.