2024 Exam Preparation Guides are now available for order, shipping out starting September 25, 2023.

Airline Transport Pilot - Support

Below we provide solutions, errata, omissions, exam hints & solutions. We do not provide solutions to every question - only those that students find consistently challenging.

If you have a question or concern please let us know on our contact page.

Exam Hints & Info
2023 - 2024

VHF Line-of-sight Calculations

Calculating the maximum line-of-sight reception range for VOR or VHF radio can be tricky. Review the PDF linked below for the three most common types of questions and and explanation of how to solve each one.

VOR Reception Exam Hints (PDF, 210 KB)

Errata / Omissions
2023

Section 6.2, Question 10 (eBook quiz C06-010)

Answer b) should be updated to say:

b) Mercator projection

Errata / Omissions
2023

Rhumb Lines and Great Circle Lines on Transverse Mercator Projections:

The following changes are made to the description of Rhumb and Great Circle lines on the Transverse Mercator projection, which is used on the VTA charts.

Rhumb Lines: Arc - bulged towards the nearest pole

Great Circle Lines: Approximates a straight line

These details are updated on: Navigation section 6.1.2 “Chart Properties”, page 263, which is reproduced below:

Chart Properties (PDF, 86 KB)

Errata /Omissions
2023

Wake Turbulence Separation

Transport Canada has updated the wake turbulence categories in AIM RAC 4.1.1 to show in kilograms (kg), not in pounds (lb). Make sure you know the categories in kilograms for the exams.

The Super Heavy wake turbulence category was added, and separation distances between Super Heavy and other categories are updated.

Refer to AIM RAC 4.1.1, Table 4.1 - Separation per Aircraft Category for Wake Turbulence Purposes

Errata / Omissions
2023

WAC Charts No Longer Available:

Both Canada and the United States of America have stopped production of the 1:1,000,000 scale World Aeronautical Charts (WAC). You no longer need to know the details of WAC charts for your TC exams!

The details of WAC charts have been removed from: Navigation section 6.1.2 “Chart Properties”, page 263

Errata / Omissions
2022

Section 3.2, Question 35 (eBook quiz C03-035)

The list of possible answers to Question 35 should be replaced as follows:
a. 25.00, will
b. 25.40, will
c. 26.50, will not
d. 25.00, will not

Solutions
2022 - 2024

Section 3 - Flight Operations

Pressurization Problems

Flight Operations Pressurization Questions 19 & 29 Solutions (PDF, 10 KB)

Weight and Balance Problems

Refer to the following files for solutions to the weight and balance exercise from questions 30 to 36.

Flight Operations Weight & Balance Questions 30 to 33 Solutions (PDF, 66 KB)
Flight Operations Weight & Balance Question 34 Solution (PDF, 103 KB)
Flight Operations Weight & Balance Questions 35 Solution (PDF, 33 KB)
Flight Operations Weight & Balance Questions 36 Solution (PDF, 67 KB)

Instruments Question 4 Solution (PDF, 40 KB)

Errata / Omissions
2022

Air Law - Section 1.1.7 - VFR Weather Minima

VFR Weather Minima in uncontrolled airspace - The section for above 1,000 ft AGL should say "At or above 1,000 ft AGL", as follows:

Errata / Omissions
2021

Fatigue Management Rules - CAR changes

The regulations around flight duty times and fatigue management have changed in December 2020, and since the Sharper Edge Solutions 2021 editions were released in September 2020 they also do not capture these latest regulations. Note that both the Commercial Pilot License and Airline Transport License study and reference guides have also not been updated to reflect the regulatory changes. Consult your local flight school and local Transport Canada office to find out if the exams in your region are updated to include the new fatigue management rules.

Errata / Omissions
2020, 2021

Section 1.1.11.5 - Low Level Airways

The top of low level airways extends up to 17,999 ft ASL, not AGL

Errata / Omissions
2020, 2021

Section 1.1.18 - Speed Limits while Holding

The rules about speed limits in the hold have been changed. The new rules do not separate between propeller driven and turbojet aircraft. The new speed limits are shown below:

Errata / Omissions
2020, 2021

Section 9.2 - Radio Aids, Question 29

Answer (b) was incorrect and is revised to say:
b) Skip zone

Errata / Omissions
2020, 2021

Section 9.2 - Radio Aids, Question 6

Answer (d) had a typo and is revised to say:
d) 122 nm

Errata / Omissions
2021

Section 3.1.1 - Standard Weights for Passengers

The standard passenger weights for use in weight and balance calculations were increased in the October 2019 Aeronautical Information Manual. See
AIM RAC 3.4.7

Errata / Omissions
2021

North Atlantic Airspace Classification - Air Law Question 112

The answers for question 112 should be as follows:
a. FL 060, A, E
b. FL 055, A, G
c. FL 060, A, G
d. FL 055, A, E

Errata / Omissions
2021

CARs now require 12 hour since your last alcoholic drink

The regulations about alcohol and drugs that relate to crew members (CAR 602.03) were updated in December 2018. The old rule requiring 8 hours between consuming an alcoholic drink and flying have changed - the rule now requires 12 hours between drinking alcohol and acting as a crew member of an aircraft. CAR 602.03 Alcohol or Drugs - Crew Members

Solutions
2019 - 2024

Section 3 - Meteorology

Meteorology Question 1 Solution (PDF, 29 KB)

Exam Hints & Info
2017 - 2024

General Exam Information

The Transport Canada Study and Reference Guide for the ATPL exams lists Human Factors for the SARON exam and not for the SAMRA exam, but the feedback that we received from students who have written the ATPL exams is that Human Factors questions do come up in the SAMRA exam quite often.

Human Factors is considered such an important topic that you should know the material anyway and be prepared for Human Factors questions on every exam.

A similar situation occurs where the SARON lists "General Navigation", while the SAMRA lists "Radio Aids to Navigation". In reality there is a lot of common information between General Navigation and Radio Aids to Navigation, so you can expect both types of questions in the SARON as well as the SAMRA exams.