As the 2025 Aeronautical Initiation Certificate (BIA) exams approach, scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, the atmosphere is studious in middle schools, high schools, and flying clubs for those registered for the exam. On Wednesday, they will have 20 questions on Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics, 20 questions on Aircraft Knowledge, 20 questions on Meteorology, 20 questions on Navigation and Flight Safety, and 20 questions on the History of Aeronautics and Space. And if they are registered for the optional exam, they will have 20 questions on Aeronautical English. Suffice it to say that the field is broad and has mobilized the young aeronautical talent, teachers, and instructors who prepare them throughout the year.
What to do in the last days of preparation?
A few days before the exam, the advice we can give candidates is to focus on the 2022, 2023, and 2024 past papers. Past papers are needed to understand what is expected of candidates. Past papers are also important because some of the 2025 BIA questions are already included in the last BIA sessions. Past papers allow you to assess what you know and identify areas that you haven't mastered enough. In this case, you should reread your course to consolidate what you've learned. And finally, it's by doing past papers that you discover that there are trivial questions, like those that please the BIA partners, poorly worded, incomplete, or ambiguous questions. And questions that are outside the syllabus or beyond the reach of a young person who has been discovering aeronautics since last September. We can hope that the 2025 edition will be more reasonable. But it's less certain.
And we mustn't forget that the BIA is a single-choice questionnaire with no negative points, where you need to have 50 correct answers out of 100 to obtain the diploma. So, if you don't know the answer, you can rely on luck by randomly marking a box. The probability of finding the correct answer will be greater if you manage to eliminate one incorrect answer. If you have average luck, you only need to answer 34 questions correctly and randomly answer the other 66 questions.
Current Aeronautics and Space Topics
The topic is still in a sealed envelope. But we know the influence that current aeronautics topics have on the development of the subject, especially the History of Aeronautics and Space exam. However, the year 2024 is particularly dense with topics. Technological advances and innovative projects, first and foremost, such as the Toulouse-based startup Beyond Aero, which carried out the first test flights of its Blériot prototype, a hydrogen-electric aircraft, marking an important step towards cleaner aviation. Like Airbus, which delivered its first A321XLR to Iberia, a single-aisle aircraft capable of traveling up to 8,700 km, thus offering new possibilities for long-haul flights. In the space sector, the French company Hemeria launched the first five nanosatellites of the Kinéis IoT constellation in June 2024 and also signed a contract with ESA for the Swing mission, the first European nanosatellite dedicated to space weather. There's also decarbonization and environmental issues, with major industry players, including Airbus, Boeing, Dassault, GE Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, RTX, and Safran, strengthening their commitment to net-zero CO2 aviation by 2050. Projects like BeautHyFuel, supported by CORAC, aim to accelerate the decarbonization of light aviation. And technology demonstrators such as the EcoPulse, jointly developed by Airbus, Dassault, and Safran, have completed their first flights, illustrating advances in hybrid-electric propulsion.
We also tried to identify the anniversaries of major events, particularly centenaries. We couldn't find any that stood out in the year 1925.
All that remains is to wish the candidates a good rest and a good rest.
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