AZF E preparation

While Steve’s hint is valuable if you really need a quick link between questions and material, the Bundesnetzagentur also publishes all questions you need to know for the theoretical exam on their website, see here PDF

I personally never liked the pricey options for question banks and preferred to study raw and publicly available material.

The question is – do you want to learn to answer the questions correctly, as they tend to teach the youth of today at school, or do you want to understand the subject matter? With Exam, you would start by answering the questions and if you got it wrong, you were linked directly to a module which gave you a full explanation about why such that you easily understand the issues.

I personally have an issue with people learning the answers parrot fashion but not having a clue about the topic they are studying because if the circumstances varies even slightly, they are lost. Finally, bearing in mind this ‘pricey’ exam software includes all modules for IR flying, not just radiotelephony, I personally think it’s good value.

You got me wrong Steve. I am not a parrot learner and I am not propagating it. As I say I like raw learning material and there is so much available in the internet nowadays. So what I did at the beginning is similar to your approach, I started off with going through questions to see what I already knew (I have to admit I studied Aerospace Engineering until two years before my PPL). Then when I hit a question I didn‘t get, I did not just click the quick link to the training material, but I started a search in the internet. So e.g. from my studies I didn‘t know everything about airspace’s, hence I found the raw material in the AIP, some guidance from DFS and maybe even something straight from ICAO or not applicable but still interesting from the FAA. Of course this was not learning straight to the point, but that way I learned from the first day that there is more than just flying in Germany and the EASA area.
And I learned about the misconceptions of the question creators, e.g. that all technical questions for engines and props are for a fixed pitch carburetor engine with manual mixture, because that is what students fly. ;-) But I flew an Aquila with a Rotax, so variable pitch automatic mixture. Therefore I think that your approach works and is better than parrot learning, but I still think I learned more by looking left and right. And I don‘t know the material from Peters, now Boeing, but I know that all material I have seen in other courseware was not worth the money it cost. And finally of course a good flight instructor or buddy that helps you out on the last 3% is a must, I can‘t count the people I helped with the last notch that helped them to understand a certain topic, especially when they were no engineers. ;-)

Of course Törr, here it is: The relevant regulation for the AZF is the FlugfunkV (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/flugfunkv_2008/) and there you can find Annex 1 which gives the requirements for the examination (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/flugfunkv_2008/anlage_1.html). There paragraph 5 is for the AZF E and first refers to 4.1 which is the theoretical knowledge exam which is 40 questions out of the list given by me before.
Then you have the references to 4.2.1 and 4.2.2, while the latter is the practical Radio telephony exam, 4.2.1 reads:

Vorbereitung eines Fluges nach Instrumentenflugregeln zwischen zwei Verkehrsflughäfen unter Verwendung amtlicher Unterlagen und Veröffentlichungen, soweit es für die Durchführung des Sprechfunkverkehrs erforderlich ist;

and means: Preparation of a flight according to IFR between two airports with the official documents and publications, as far as necessary for conducting Radio telephony.

As far as I remember we were given the full set of DFS AIP charts for an airport of departure and arrival including SIDs, STARs and approaches, as well as a DFS enroute chart. With this you had to check possible first waypoints from the SIDs and possible last points from the STARs and then find an airway from the enroute chart, that connects those. Luckily this was without the need to find a Eurocontrol valid route, only altitude based on direction of flight and the correct way of entering the flight plan (e.g. DKB4S DKB DKB2T in case of SID links to STAR).

So no very specific IFR knowledge needed, but general knowledge yes!

Hello Tore,

can you tell us at which bureau of the Radiotelephony Agency you are planning to take the test?
Oh, and by the way, do you already have a BZF (restricted certificate)? Unless you are becoming an ATCO, you cannot do the AZF (general/unrestricted certificate) directly. You have to have a BZF first. This is because the AZF test does not cover VFR phraseology or emergency procedures (light gun anyone?), but allows you to communicate while flying VFR as well.

I do the courses for both BZF and AZF at our ATO in Northern Germany, and I could help you with some info and material, if you like.

I only have the BZF I, so no knowledge of the IFR part of the exam, but the exam was already pretty comprehensive. Preparation was with an FI of the club I did my PPL at, and I also used the Peters Exam software which I found to be good value, like Steve.

In the BZF exam there was a simulated VFR arrival at Erfurt and an S-VFR departure at Braunschweig IIRC. I guess with the AZF they do something similar but with IFR procedures.