How the dreaded C.A.R was overcome…!

It was a combination of making notes, summarizing rather than expanding, selective memorizing, followed by question banks.

Making notes is something everybody can do with most topics. With the C.A.R, you have to be careful. Adding/removing one word can very easily change the whole context of what is mentioned. It is law, after-all!

Now Why is it so important to pass the C.A.R exam in the first few attempts?
As already mentioned, the C.A.R exam is not just the first exam you write, it’s also YOUR first interface with the D.G.C.A.
No matter who your boss is, in no matter how high profile a company, the D.G.C.A will always remain the authority you are responsible to as licensed AME in India. Now it is not my intent to get into the governing powers or prowess (!) of the D.G.C.A here. All I will say is that, in this first interface with the D.G.C.A, it is in your hands whether you make it a positive or negative experience for yourself. Believe me, if you’re in aviation for the long-haul, it will matter!
Secondly, passing the C.A.R, or for that matter any exam, in the first few attempts, is always a GREAT feeling! ‘Well begun is half done’…heard that? That cliché sure holds good here! Not only is it the fist in a series of exams you’ll be sitting in your goal to becoming an AME, it is also your first few steps in your career in Aviation. A good beginning makes all the difference.

Now a domino effect of not passing the C.A.R quickly (in the first few attempts) is that every now and then the D.G.C.A comes up with amendments to Parts or even whole Series at times. It’s all to do with changing times, changing demands of the aviation sector, improvements to air safety, etc. Though this is in the interest of Air Safety and making sure Indian Air Regulations are at par with other countries vis-à-vis the ICAO, how does it affect you the student, preparing to write the examination? On first glance, it ‘adds-on’ to what you have to know/study and makes it more voluminous. What it also does sometimes is it requires you to ‘un-learn’ and ‘re-learn’ a certain paragraph of a Part, or even the whole Part! This does create a whole plethora of problems. If you ask why? For a person studying the C.A.R, the various Series and Parts are very much like a ‘sequence-of-events’….break/add/modify any one, and the whole thing needs to be re-understood in the new context! If you’ve been halfway through the C.A.R, you’ll know what I mean by that!