There are no complete study guides or reference books for candidates for the CPL(B) theory examinations to study. In this Help Page I will attempt to give references to questions in the COPB operational theory examination that are commonly answered incorrectly by exam candidates. I do not provide any guarantee that this material is correct so be sure to cross check it against the reference material. If you do find an error, please let me know as I do not wish to mislead anyone. Similarly if you sit the exam and are given a question which you cannot find an answer to on this page please contact the office with details.
Do not attempt to use this document as your sole reference source as it will not provide you with the background knowledge required to successfully participate in the ballooning industry, it will guide you towards important knowledge points required to pass the theory assessment . Study all of the referenced material thoroughly and completely before attempting the exam!
For study areas marked with * there are additional, more comprehensive articles and resources on the topic available on this website. Links to these additional pages are included at the end of relevant section of this page and on the main Pilot and Crew Education page.
Table of Contents
GeneralOperational Requirements
Meteorology |
NavigationPerformanceHuman Factors Topics |
Exam Technique
The CASA examinations are delivered electronically by a system called CyberExams.The computer system controls the time allowed to complete the exam, marks the answers and issues the results. The exam supervisors have little knowledge of the exam questions so there is little or no point asking them any questions.
Operational Data
You will be provided with a booklet containing some reference material including maps, charts, MSL charts. There is also some additional Operational Data available via the delivery system.This information includes the:
- Balloon configuration and equipment list,
- Fuel configuration and company fuel policy,
- Senitive Area / PZ list,
- 3:00 AM wind observations.
It is very important that you review the operational data and use it during the examination. You are unlikely to pass the exam if you do not heed this warning.
Extracting Information from ERSA
Mountain Waves
Airflow over a ridge or mountain range may set up an undulating flow downstream prodided certain preconditions are met. This undulating flow is called mountain waves and can be the source of strong turbulence, rotors and vertical wind speeds. Mountain wave activity is often evidenced by lenticular clouds.
For mountain waves to form the following conditions must exist:
- wind flow almost at right angles to the mountain;
- wind strength of at leat 25 knots near the mountain top;
- wind speed increasing with height;
- an upper stable layer (inversion) sandwiched between an unstable layer at the surface and another unstable or weakly stable layer above.
If the air stream is sufficiently moist at any level affected by the wave activity, cloud may form in the ascending sections and produce almond or lens type ‘lenticular’ cloud formations. Mountain waves can exist without any visible indication.
Anatomy of the Ear
The ear is an important organ and has functions in the auditory and balance systems.
Sound waves collected by the fleshy outer part of the ear known as the pinna pass along the ear canal causing the ear drum to vibrate. These vibrations are passed across the mid ear by a series of three small bones which excite the cochlear or fluid filled inner part of the ear. The cochlear produces electrical stimulus which is passed to the brain for processing via the auditory nerve.
The other major function of the inner ear is the detection of motion. This is accomplished by the three semicircular canals and the otoliths. The fluid filled semicircular canals detect angular accelerations in three planes and the otolith sense linear accelerations. The otoliths are not shown on the diagram (right) but are located at the base of the semicircular canals. Together the semicircular canals and otoliths are known as the vestibular apparatus. The sensory outputs from the vestibular apparatus are transmitted to the brain via the vestibular nerve.
The Eustachean tube is a fleshy tube which connects the middle ear cavity to the throat. The purpose of this is to allow air pressure in the middle ear to be equalised with the outside air pressure. If it becomes blocked for any reason ear pain will result with any pressure change like those during climb and descent.
Further information on the anatomy of the ear can be found in Roger Green’s book Human Factors for Pilots on page 16 and in Tony Wilson’s book Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations on pages 75 – 77.
Hearing Protection
Excessively loud noises typically those above 85dB can damage to your ears and will result in permanent hearing loss. Hearing protection should be worn whenever you are likely to be exposed to sounds louder than 85dB. (All of the balloon burners and inflation fans that I have tested are much louder than 85dB so hearing protection in the form of ear plugs or headphones should be worn at all times when you are inflating or flying balloons.)
Tony Wilson’s book ‘Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations’ has more information on noise and its effects starting on p21.
Anatomy of the Eye
The eye behaves like a camera with the lens focusing light onto the retina rather than the film or image sensor. The retina converts light into impulses that travel up the optic nerve to the brain. The retina has two type of receptors, rods and cones. There are about 120 million rods and six to seven million cones in an average eye. The rods are more than 1000 times as sensitive to light than the cones but are not sensitive to colour. The rods are also much better at detecting movement than the cones. Rods are distributed away from the fovea or central axis of the eye and are responsible for our perpherial and low light vision. The cones are located close to the fovea and are responsible for colour vision and high resolution vision. The eye moves continually to keep the light from the object of interest falling on the fovea where the bulk of the cones reside.
There are basically two ways that the eye can adapt to changing levels of light. The first is by changing the diameter of the iris, this can change very rapidly and can alter the amount of light entering the eye by a ratio of 5 : 1. The second method of adapting for changing light levels is through chemical changes in the retina, these changes take place relatively slowly. It takes about seven minutes for full dark adaption of the cones and up to another 30 minutes for full rod adaption. Through this process however the eye can adapt to variations of light levels in the order of 150,000 : 1.
The capacity of the eye to resolve detail is termed ‘acuity’. Acuity is not evenly distributed across the retina, this is because the high resolution sensors (cones) are located predominately around the fovea. Everything that we see in detail is automatically bought into focus on the fovea. The rest of the retina fills in the remainder of the picture in relatively coarse detail and brings to our attention any movement or change.
Further information on vision, anatomy of the eye and limitations of vision can be found on our vision page. There is also more information in Roger Green’s book Human Factors for Pilots on pages 18 – 20 and in Tony Wilson’s book Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations on pages 22 – 36.
Limitations of Vision
- Myopia – short sightedness or near sightedness occurs when only near objects can be seen clearly.
- Hyperopia – long sightedness, only distant objects can be seen clearly because the light rays are focused behind the retina.
- Astigmatism – a defect where the rays of light converge unequally in different meridians of the eye, caused by unequal curvature of the cornea.
- Presbyopia – long sightedness caused by the aging process.
- Empty Field Myopia – the tendency for the eye to take a resting focus when there is nothing to focus on. The resting focal point is usually a meter or two away.
Each eye has a blind spot which is the point in your visual field where the optic nerve attaches to retina. For people with functioning sight in both eyes the blind spot in each eye is ‘filled in’ by detail obtained from the other eye so it is not normally apparent.
Further information on vision, anatomy of the eye and limitations of vision can be found on our vision page. There is also more information in Roger Green’s book Human Factors for Pilots on pages 18 – 20 and in Tony Wilson’s book Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations on pages 22 – 36.
Scanning for Traffic
Humans and other animals do not look at a scene in fixed steadiness; instead, the eyes move around, locating interesting parts of the scene and building up a mental ‘map’ corresponding to the scene. Saccades are quick, simultaneous movements of both eyes in the same direction.
When scanning a scene it is imperative that the function of saccades is recognised and the limitations that they place on visual recognition are accounted for. During a saccade the brain is unable to process any information so when scanning it is useless to scan a scene using a continuous pan. The correct technique is to look at a portion of the scene, give your brain time to process the ‘picture’ then move your eyes or head slightly left or right and then give your brain time to process the new picture then do it all over again.
Tony Wilson’s book ‘Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations’ has further information on scanning and saccades on p26.
Motion Sickness
Motion sickness or kinitosis is a condition in which a disagreement exists between the movement perceptions of the visual (eyes), vestibular (ears) and proprioceptive (nerves of the muscles, skins and supporting tissue) systems. Depending on the environment in which it is caused it can also be known as car sickness, sea sickness, air sickness or space sickness. Motion sickness may also occur when there is an absense of motion when the sufferer is expecting movement such as during simulated flight.
Dizziness, fatigue and nausea are the most common symptoms of motion sickness. Some people also suffer vomiting, hyperventilation, pallor and cold sweats as a symptoms.
The incidence of motion sickness varies greatly with the form and intensity of the stimulus, individual susceptability and the nature of the work being done. Most people will suffer with motion sickness if provoked sufficiently.
Most people adapt to motion sickness rapidly with repeated exposure and no longer suffer any symptoms.
Treatment
Medications exist which alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness but most have a detrimental affect on performance compared with the unmedicated( but sickness free) state.
One common suggestion is to simply look out of the window of the moving vehicle and to gaze toward the horizon in the direction of travel. This helps to re-orient the inner sense of balance by providing a visual reaffirmation of motion.
In the night, or in a ship without windows, it is helpful to simply close one’s eyes, or if possible, take a nap. This resolves the input conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. Napping also helps prevent psychogenic effects (i.e. the effect of sickness being magnified by thinking about it).
A simple and effective method for relieving common and mild car sickness is chewing gum. Snacking on lollies or just chewing in general seems to also reduce adverse effects of the conflict between vision and balance.
Fresh, cool air can also relieve motion sickness slightly, although it is likely this is related to avoiding foul odors which can worsen nausea.
Further information on motion sickness can be found in Roger Green’s book ‘Human Factors for Pilots’ starting on page16 and in Tony Wilson’s book Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations on page 77.
Hypoxia
Hypoxia literally means “deficient in oxygen”.
The following factors can increase the effects and cause the onset of hypoxia at lower altitudes.
- Being Overweight;
- Drinking too much alcohol;
- Suffering from an illness
- Being tired or unfit;
- Being cold;
- Being a smoker. (carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in the blood to the extent that a smoker could already be at the equivalent of 8,000 feet while still on the ground.
Further information on hypoxia can be found in a separate article in the education section of this website. Roger Green’s book ‘Human Factors for Pilots’ also has comprehensive information on inversions starting on page 8. Tony Wilson’s book ‘Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations’ has a short section starting on page 66.
Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation is overbreathing, that is breathing more than is required to remove excess carbon dioxide from the body. It results in acidic blood pH levels which induces a number of effects including:
- Dizziness;
- Tingling;
- Visual disturbances;
- Hot or cold feelings;
- Red flushed face;
- Anxiety;
- Impaired performance; and
- In extreme cases, loss of consciousness.
Hyperventilation is often a result of or associated with a panic attack.
If the effects of hyperventilation are experienced in flight they can be difficult to distinguish from hypoxia. If the symptoms are experienced below 10,000 feet where hypoxia is rarely a problem then you should treat the situation as it is hyperventilation. Above 10,000 feet where hypoxia is a possibility you should adopt the conservative approach and treat as hypoxia by promptly reducing altitude or donning oxygen.
Treatment for hyperventilation is to consciously slow the breathing rate and to breath more deeply, this will allow the blood pH level to return to normal. Another technique is to cover the nose and mouth with a paper bag, thus forcing the inhalation of higher levels of CO2. This should be only be done for one or two minutes.
Equilibrium System
Our bodies have 3 systems which allow us to know which way is up and how to stay the right way up.
The three systems are the visual system, the vestibular system and the proprioceptive system. All three systems have limitations which you need to be aware of. A decription of these can be found in Tony Wilson’s book ‘Aircraft Human Performance & Limitations’ starting on page 57.
Alcohol and Drugs
Trapped Gases
Boyles law states that the volume of a gas is inversely propotional to the absolute pressure of a gas if the temperature remains unchanged. This law has special application in the flight environment as any gas within our body cavities will expand as we ascend. There are 5 areas of our bodies that can be affected by pressure changes, these are:
- middle ear;
- sinuses;
- gastrointestinal tract;
- teeth; and
- lungs.
Balloon Pilot Education – COPB Examination Help – Technical data content credited to Mr Steve Griffin
