FAA exam calculator use

[wishboneash]

Has anyone here got away with a simple scientific calculator for their FAA exam? Mine has the various log, trig functions and simple memory (TI-30 SLR+). No programmable functions on mine and is solar powered so it doesn't retain anything. If this is a big deal I may have to go get a simple one with only the simple algebraic functions. Thanks.

[N201MKTurbo]

You are allowed a calculator as long as it doesn't have memory. yours should be fine.

[Hank]

The important thing is to be familiar with the calculator. I used my (aging)(ancient) HP 41 CX that got me through college, because I still use the statistics and trig functions at work. I was nice and pulled the batteries out to placate them. Dad gum machine just keeps chugging along . . . .

[wishboneash]

Thanks for the responses. I think I am good to go. My calculator is so old, I am surprised it still works!

[Hank]

I bought mine new in Sept 84, still use it at work. Keep fresh batteries I it, use it occasionally and it will keep going. If it's not a TI . . .

[flyboy0681]

Generally I'd say you are safe but it will depend on the testing center. Even when I brought a Sporty's E6B calculator, they examined it very carefully. They also sent me back to my car to put my phone away.

[DAVIDWH]

Many high school students use the I-phone with google search and texting. (Secretly of course)

Wish we would have that access to high tech. during chem. finals.

FAA, not so much.

[Mooneymite]

Oh, I thought you were talking about an E6B....  

 

[wishboneash]

I think the FAA prefers "rules of thumb" rather than more exact calculations (for example, sin x ~ x for small x). Using a scientific calculator and deriving from first principles might cause some deviations from their own answers . Rules of thumb are good for quick decision making, maybe that's their rationale.

[flyboy0681]

For what it's worth, I bought a used Sporty's E6B for $10 (plus shipping) in 2014 to help me through the IFR written and got so good at using it that I spent no more than three minutes on the flight plan section, getting them all correct. 

[DXB]

 

For what it's worth, I bought a used Sporty's E6B for $10 (plus shipping) in 2014 to help me through the IFR written and got so good at using it that I spent no more than three minutes on the flight plan section, getting them all correct. 

My test center wouldn't let me take in my Sporty's E6B calculator though it's specifically marketed as legal for FAA tests.  Very disconcerting.

[mpg]

 

My test center wouldn't let me take in my Sporty's E6B calculator though it's specifically marketed as legal for FAA tests.  Very disconcerting.

Wowwie!!    Is your E6B "calculator" something electronic??   Or is it like mine,,,   a manual slide rule, wiz wheel!

[DXB]

The electronic one

[flyboy0681]

 

My test center wouldn't let me take in my Sporty's E6B calculator though it's specifically marketed as legal for FAA tests.  Very disconcerting.

Since I had to rely entirely on my Electronic E6B (I never could figure out the whiz wheel), I would have had them call their district office to set them straight. The rules on this are clear as day.

[DXB]

 

Since I had to rely entirely on my Electronic E6B (I never could figure out the whiz wheel), I would have had them call their district office to set them straight. The rules on this are clear as day.

Yeah luckily it didn't come to that - this was two years ago for my PPL written.   There is a limited E6B-like calculator included in the test software itself that I was unfamiliar with. Before causing a stink, I asked them to let me see and use this calculator before I started the official test. They did, and I found it to be adequate and had no issues on the test. 

[carusoam]

Odd logic...

1) illegal to use a fancy calculator that you bring and use flying all the time....

2) legal to memorize all the published answers and finish the test early...

 

CB solution:

There are not that many flight planning questions that are complex enough to use a calculator.  Memorize them all...

 

Statistical solution:

there is only a small chance of getting these questions because the test needs to cover all the different areas as well.  Take your best stab at it and move on. A passing grade is far from perfect.

 

Real life solution: 

Personal Flight planning is done using computers and decimal places.  The back-up phone in your pocket is more powerful than the primary navigation tool that was available when the test was last-updated.

Significant figures (when to round a number), according to the FAA method, makes it a challenge to calculate the answers exactly the way the test is written.

 

Engineering solution:

Use a calculator, never drop a decimal point until you have to, always have a spare calculator and some spare batteries.

 

The logic for this:

I wanted to score a high number that was meaningful to other people.  'Honey, I'm a safe pilot. Even the US government thinks I am' (I got one question incorrect)...

 

Why the FAA does this to potential IR pilots: (complete speculation on my part)

1) they want for you to prove that you are trained to keep from being upside down in the weeds on f... under most common IMC conditions.

 

Have no fear:

People that spend time on MS are probably not the target of this onerous test.  

This is based on my experience only.  I used sample tests on the budding Internet to practice. I learned very quickly that some test questions are professionally written to be tricky and will trip up an ordinary person that doesn't practice test taking...

Best regards,

-a-

[flyboy0681]

 

 

The logic for this:

I wanted to score a high number that was meaningful to other people.  'Honey, I'm a safe pilot. Even the US government thinks I am' (I got one question incorrect)...

 

Why the FAA does this to potential IR pilots: (complete speculation on my part)

1) they want for you to prove that you are trained to keep from being upside down in the weeds on f... under most common IMC conditions.

 

I agree with you on all counts, the FAA needs to move into the late 20th century with the test.

FWIW, I got two wrong, one was on the new icing question.

[1964-M20E]

There are some questions the FAA has that make you wonder.  As for calculations and rounding and extrapolation answers form charts, graphs and instruments I was taught in high school that the best you can extrapolate (guess) between to marks on any gauge you choose is half the amount of the quantity represented by the tick marks on that gauge.  It was always laughable that the FAA would come up with fractions of a number where you could barely read the graph presented and the width of your pencil was more than the space between the lines.

 

Anyway the only FAA written I plan on taking at this point is the commercial maybe a CFI in the future but that is a big maybe.

 

 

 

 

[chrisk]

10 hours ago, DXB said:

Yeah luckily it didn't come to that - this was two years ago for my PPL written.   There is a limited E6B-like calculator included in the test software itself that I was unfamiliar with. Before causing a stink, I asked them to let me see and use this calculator before I started the official test. They did, and I found it to be adequate and had no issues on the test. 

Yes, the test has a built in calculator.  The last test I took was the commercial.   I don't remember needing to use the calculator.  What I do remember is a number of really poorly written questions, and a number of questions on NDBs.  Are there any NDBs left?

[flyboy0681]

54 minutes ago, chrisk said:

Yes, the test has a built in calculator.  The last test I took was the commercial.   I don't remember needing to use the calculator.  What I do remember is a number of really poorly written questions, and a number of questions on NDBs.  Are there any NDBs left?

It gets worse. There are a few questions about receiving clearances at uncontrolled airports and how one should manage the time needed between obtaining the clearance from a pay phone,climbing in the plane, starting up, running up and taking off.

[Marauder]

28 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:It gets worse. There are a few questions about receiving clearances at uncontrolled airports and how one should manage the time needed between obtaining the clearance from a pay phone,climbing in the plane, starting up, running up and taking off.

LOL! That brings back memories. Like making the call at the pay phone at the gas station 5 miles away. Make the call, jump back in the courtesy car (hoping it would start), drop off the car, try to avoid "Talking Ted" and his 10 minutes of questions about Mooneys and then realizing you left the chocks on the nose wheel after startup.

Times have changed...

[N33GG]

I have taken several FAA exams, and don't remember many questions that required a calculator.  Just get all the easy questions right,and you will pass with flying colors. 

[gsxrpilot]

23 hours ago, Marauder said:

and then realizing you left the chocks on the nose wheel after startup.

Own a plane long enough and you'll know exactly how many inches of manifold pressure it takes to jump the chocks.

[cnoe]

23 hours ago, Marauder said: and then realizing you left the chocks on the nose wheel after startup.

Own a plane long enough and you'll know exactly how many inches of manifold pressure it takes to jump the chocks.

Yes, I know that number.

At my old airport once I saw a student and instructor parked in the grass pivoting an M20C around the left tie-down thinking the wheel was stuck in the soft ground. After waving them down I untied them as they sat idling with sheepish grins.

It's hard to get a line guy to crawl under the nose to pull a chock though, hence the need for POWER.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mooneymite]

King-air pilot too lazy to pull the forgotten nose wheel chock powers over it only to have it jump into the spinning prop.

Some lessons are best learned as an observer.