This is a topic in keeping with previous sessions. The 100 questions of the 2024 BIA (Brevet d'Initiation Aéronautique - Aeronautical Initiation Certificate) that candidates encountered during Thursday's exam are similar in style to previous BIA exams. Most were interesting, but not always. The exam included 20 questions on meteorology and aerology, 20 on aerodynamics, aerostatics, and the principles of flight, 20 on the study of aircraft and spacecraft, 20 on regulations, navigation, and flight safety, and 20 on the history and culture of aeronautics and space. For those who registered for the optional exam, there were an additional 20 questions on aeronautical English.
Questions often interesting, but not always
The majority of the questions covered a good portion of the BIA syllabus. But this year again, we're falling into the same traps as previous sessions, with some questions that have no place in an exam designed for young people taking their first steps in the field. Anecdotal, ambiguous, or clearly too difficult questions. So much so that many instructors of the BIA (Brevet d'Initiation Aéronautique - Aeronautical Initiation Certificate), certified by their Certificate of Aptitude for Aeronautical Instruction, remain perplexed by the authors' intentions. The result is a detrimental effect on candidates, bewildered by questions that elude them. As an instructor, one's primary goal is to reassure and emphasize fundamental aeronautical knowledge.
Anecdotal questions like…
It's a case of cronyism. Questions whose only purpose is to please one of the aeronautical federations or another BIA partner. And too bad if we're not part of that circle. In 2022, the question was the number of microlight classes, followed two questions later by another about the class number of a paramotor. Why not the pilot's age?
The session was more reasonable in this regard, even though question 4.3 included the acronym for the federation that groups helicopters. This is unlikely to please the FFPLUM, which groups helicopters into the microlight class.
Ambiguous questions such as…
In Part 3, the study of aircraft and spacecraft, question 3.5 on the turn indicator has overlapping options. A right turn includes an asymmetric right turn.
Extremely difficult questions such as…
Part 3, the study of aircraft and spacecraft, was rich in such questions. Question 3.8, concerning the bypass ratio of a turbofan engine, exceeds the knowledge provided by the instructor. While the answer isn't difficult, the question is unnecessarily ambitious. Question 3.16 asks whether a canard wing is a lift or drag wing and whether it stalls before or after the wing. Also in this section is question 3.20, which deals with single- or twin-spool turbofan engines and single- or twin-spool configurations.
And in the following section, Navigation, Regulations, and Flight Safety, question 4.18 asks whether the DME (Diagnostic Mechanism of Airworthiness) measures ground distance or slant height.
