Knowledge area
Airframes, Engines and RPA Systems
RPAS components and systems: airframe, electrical/fuel systems, batteries, control station, data links, propulsion, payloads, launch/recovery, maintenance and instruments (compass, altimeter, ASI, IMU).
The syllabus is not the same for every certification. Here is what each level expects of you in this area.
Basic
For basic certification
16 topics- Airframes: handling, care, securing
- Electrical systems: components, servo motors, integrity and maintenance
- Redundancies and critical items: risk of flying with inoperative systems
- Control station: orientation, software version control, flight simulation
- Data links: frequency bands, line-of-sight, antennas and tracking, interference, gain and SNR
- Batteries: types and hazards, parameters (capacity, C-rating), cycles and storage, discharge curves, transport (TDG)
- Fuel systems: types and hazards, quantity measurement, fueling and storage
- Autopilots: role, control levels, flight termination, software version
- Payloads: sensor types (EO, IR, RF, atmospheric)
- Propulsion: electric motors, speed controllers, internal combustion engines
- Launch and recovery systems: types, safety areas
- Maintenance and record keeping: technical logs, critical tasks, 2-person verification
- Magnetic compass: principles, variation, factors, calibration
- Altimeter: principles, errors and malfunctions
- Airspeed indicator: principles, errors and malfunctions
- Inertial measurement unit (IMU): components, errors and malfunctions
Advanced
What advanced certification adds
Same as basicNothing more. This area is required identically at both levels: what you learn for basic carries over to advanced unchanged.
Mock exams mix all eight areas, just like the real exam.