Air Law
The regulatory ladder
Air law questions rarely test deep legal reasoning; they test whether you know which document governs which subject and which rule wins when two apply. Work downwards: the Chicago Convention (1944) created ICAO; ICAO publishes Annexes containing Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) plus PANS; states transpose these into national law, and in Europe into the EASA Basic Regulation and Implementing Rules. Learn the Annex map: Annex 1 Personnel Licensing, Annex 2 Rules of the Air, Annex 6 Operation of Aircraft, Annex 8 Airworthiness, Annex 11 Air Traffic Services, Annex 14 Aerodromes. Standards are binding unless a difference is filed; Recommended Practices are desirable but not mandatory - a favourite trap.
Rules in the air
Annex 2 is examined constantly. Know right-of-way: a balloon has priority over all; a glider over airships and power-driven aircraft; power-driven aircraft give way to the right when converging at the same level; head-on both turn right; the overtaking aircraft keeps clear to the right. Know the semi-circular rule, the meanings of QNH, QFE and QNE, transition altitude versus transition level, and the airspace classes A to G with their clearance and VMC requirements.
Traps
Questions mix 'cleared' with 'requested', 'shall' with 'should', and altitudes with flight levels. Watch for the word magnetic versus true, and for transition altitude given in feet against a flight level. The altimeter subscale question is nearly always present: below transition altitude set QNH, above it set standard 1013.25.
Worked example
Semi-circular rule: magnetic track 275 degrees. 275 lies between 180 and 359, so file an even flight level such as FL300 or FL320. A track of 090 degrees takes an odd level such as FL290 or FL310.