DGAC Bolivia Private Pilot (PPA) common mistakes
DGAC Bolivia Private Pilot (PPA) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating DGAC Bolivia VFR weather minima and airspace-class rules as identical to ICAO Annex 2 defaults or to FAA/European figures, answering with memorised foreign numbers instead of Bolivian values.
Most candidates train from foreign or translated material, so the local AIP and DGAC resolution values for visibility, cloud clearance and controlled-airspace entry never get drilled, and the exam tests the Bolivian figures.
What to do instead
Build a one-page table of Bolivian VFR minima by airspace and altitude directly from the DGAC regulation and AIP, then self-test it daily until recall is automatic; mark any figure you cannot source as unknown rather than guessing.
Computing mass and balance by adding arms and weights but forgetting to convert arms to moments, or mixing kilogram-metres with pound-inches mid-calculation, producing a CG outside the envelope.
Candidates memorise the moment formula but rush under time pressure and drop the arm-to-moment step, or switch units when a question quotes inches and pounds.
What to do instead
Always write the full table (weight, arm, moment) before dividing, convert all units first, and check the resulting CG against the forward and aft limits explicitly; practise ten full load-sheet problems per study session.
Answering takeoff and landing distance questions with the book ground-roll figure while ignoring the 50-foot screen height, wind, slope and surface corrections the question implies.
Chart reading is taught as 'find the number', so candidates skip the correction notes printed beside the graph and forget that published distances assume specific conditions.
What to do instead
Before reading any performance chart, list its stated assumptions (pressure altitude, temperature, weight, wind, slope, surface) and apply each correction in sequence; practise by verbalising every correction out loud before selecting an answer.
Mixing up indicated, calibrated, true and groundspeed when a navigation question asks for heading or ETA, then applying wind correction to the wrong speed.
The definitions blur in memory, and candidates apply the wind triangle to indicated airspeed because that is the number on the dial, producing a wrong heading or time.
What to do instead
Drill the conversion chain (IAS to CAS to TAS to GS) as a fixed routine and always label each speed in the working; solve wind-triangle problems by drawing the vector diagram before calculating.
Confusing QNH, QFE and QNE and selecting the wrong altimeter setting when crossing the transition altitude or answering questions about terrain clearance versus flight level.
The three settings sound alike and candidates memorise 'QNH for landing' without understanding what each reference surface means, so scenario questions about transition altitude catch them out.
What to do instead
Learn each setting by its reference datum and the reading it produces at a known elevation, then work through transition-altitude scenarios step by step, stating which setting is set and why at each stage.
Reciting hypoxia, hyperventilation and carbon monoxide symptoms as a list without matching them to the correct altitude, onset time or corrective action in a scenario question.
Human performance is revised by rote memorisation of symptom lists, so candidates cannot discriminate between conditions that share dizziness and confusion when the question describes a specific flight situation.
What to do instead
Study each condition with a structured card covering cause, subtle early signs, distinguishing signs, time of useful consciousness where relevant, and immediate action; then answer scenario questions by naming the discriminator before the diagnosis.
Describing stability, stall and load factor qualitatively without linking them to angle of attack, indicated airspeed and the effect of bank angle on stall speed.
Principles of flight is treated as definitions to memorise, so candidates cannot apply the stall-speed increase with load factor or explain why a stall can occur at any speed and attitude.
What to do instead
Work numerical load-factor and stall-speed problems (for example stall speed at 60 degrees bank) and explain each answer in terms of angle of attack; draw the four forces for climbs, descents and turns rather than reciting them.
Reading a meteorological report or forecast and missing the change-group timing, validity period or units, then answering questions about expected conditions at a specific hour incorrectly.
Candidates decode the abbreviations but skim the group structure, so BECMG and TEMPO periods, wind units and visibility units are misapplied to the question's time.
What to do instead
Decode every report in fixed order (type, time, wind, visibility, weather, cloud, temperature, pressure, trend) and write the validity window and change-group timing explicitly before answering; practise with timed decoding drills.
Using non-standard or incomplete radiotelephony phraseology, omitting the aircraft callsign on readback, or failing to read back clearances and runway instructions as required.
Candidates learn phraseology passively from listening and abbreviate under exam pressure, and they underestimate that readback of clearances is a regulatory requirement rather than a courtesy.
What to do instead
Practise scripted exchanges aloud with a partner, always including callsign, full readback of clearance, runway and hold-short instructions; record yourself and check each transmission against the standard phraseology list.
Answering operational-procedure questions about emergencies, diversion or fuel planning from general airmanship rather than the specific published procedure, checklist order or regulatory minimum.
Candidates rely on intuition because they have not studied the aircraft flight manual and DGAC operational requirements in detail, and the plausible-sounding option is often not the prescribed one.
What to do instead
Memorise the standard emergency checklist sequence and the regulatory fuel and alternate minima, then answer procedure questions by locating the governing document first; review each wrong answer to identify which published source it violated.