Writing the exam part 1

There is surprisingly little information about the process for sitting your PPL written exam (or PPAER as it is called for some reason). The Transport Canada website is so full of dead links that I gave up trying to find anything useful. All I had was the address from Bob, a list of required items on my recommendation letter and a hazy recollection of events from RTH.

I don’t deal with that level of uncertainty too well. Still it had to be done, the date was set, the vacation day from work booked and I had officially run out of excuses.

I set off, having stopped at a local coffee shop for fuel in the form of tea and a bagel and rode the subway to my destination.

There are a lot of government departments in this building; luckily a quick glance at the directory revealed floor 4 was for “aviation examinations”. Once I’m out of the elevator I glance around for a clue. One way is marked “no admittance to the public”. I guess I’m heading the other way then.

At the reception desk I hand over my letter and medical certificate* and sign on the dotted line. I’m given directions to the third floor to pay. The woman behind the desk jokes “getting there and back is part of your navigation exercise!”

I find my way downstairs to the correct department and hand over the laminated sheet I’m clutching. Trying not to wince as I hear the price, I hand over my credit card. I take my “official receipt” and head on back to the 4^th floor. In the elevator I glance at it and realise that despite my use of I’m-a-proper-pilot-really phonetics; of the 7 letters in my name, 3 are incorrect. 

Great !

I decide not to notice and plead ignorance if needed.

At reception I exchange a glance at my receipt for a folder containing instructions, an abbreviations sheet, some scrap paper and an “appendix”. On top of that I’m handed the world’s largest laminated chart and a couple of markers. Clutching the aforementioned items, I get a flashback to high school as I pick up my requisite clear ziploc bag containing my protractor, ruler and other flight planning stuff.

Fighting off a sense of impending doom I follow the woman into a room with a dozen or so computers in it. I carefully read through the instructions, take a deep breath and click on “proceed”. I jump several inches into the air as it emits a loud “beep”.

The first question sits before me, I notice that you can navigate thought the questions one at a time, bookmark questions for later or just jump to whatever number you fancy.

Once again I inhale and start clickety-clicking on those answers.

*I'm not entirely sure why you need a valid medical before sitting the exam, maybe so that you don't keel over and have a heart attack during the test?