One of the smallest syllabi — but a pure technique exam. Easy to pass well if you practise the calculations; easy to fail if you only read about them.
Last updated
Exam
25 questions
In 60 minutes, at the standard 75% pass mark.
Study load
lower end
Of the rough 40–80 h/subject planning range — it is a range, not a promise.
Sit alongside
See pairing
Affinity guidance below — matched to our in-app planner.
Flashcards in the exam
Permitted*
*At Austro Control — see the note below.
Aircraft weighing, CG calculations, load sheets, forward and aft limits, loading, zero fuel mass, and maximum take-off and landing mass.
At 25 questions in 60 minutes it is the smallest exam in the set — nearly every mark is a worked calculation.
For the full topic-by-topic syllabus breakdown, see the Mass & Balance subject guide.
Any single number here would be false precision, so we won’t give one. As a rough planning figure, most self-study candidates allocate 40–80 hours per subject, and students report Mass & Balance typically sitting toward the lower end of that range. The smallest exam in the set with a tight, self-contained syllabus — the hours go into calculation practice, not reading.
Your own figure depends on background, maths comfort and whether you are studying full-time — treat the range as a budget to adjust, not a target to hit.
There is almost nothing to memorise beyond a handful of definitions and the method. You cannot memorise your way through Mass & Balance: the numbers change, the method does not. Every hour spent doing full load-sheet problems is worth several hours of reading.
Sit Mass & Balance with Performance (032) — they are the natural calculation pair, working from the same aircraft data and limitations. Both also feed Flight Planning (033), so this pair comes before 033.
How the pairings fit into a full plan — and why order matters — is covered in the recommended order of study, with the sitting mechanics in sittings & limits.
The detail nobody mentions
Austro Control permits flashcards in the Mass & Balance (031) exam — per Austro Control’s own FAQ, flashcards are allowed in subjects 031, 032, 033, 034 and 061. If you are sitting with Austro Control, building a clean flashcard set for this subject is study time that walks into the exam room with you. Other authorities set their own rules — confirm before assuming.
Important: Exam question counts and durations are set per authority and periodically revised, and difficulty reports are exactly that — student reports, not guarantees. Confirm current exam details with your ATO and authority before planning.
One of the smallest syllabi — but a pure technique exam. Easy to pass well if you practise the calculations; easy to fail if you only read about them.
There is almost nothing to memorise beyond a handful of definitions and the method. You cannot memorise your way through Mass & Balance: the numbers change, the method does not. Every hour spent doing full load-sheet problems is worth several hours of reading.
It is a range, and it genuinely varies by background — as a rough planning figure, most self-study candidates allocate 40–80 hours per subject, and students report Mass & Balance typically sits toward the lower end of that range. The smallest exam in the set with a tight, self-contained syllabus — the hours go into calculation practice, not reading.
Sit Mass & Balance with Performance (032) — they are the natural calculation pair, working from the same aircraft data and limitations. Both also feed Flight Planning (033), so this pair comes before 033.
Drill Mass & Balance (031) questions with per-topic mastery tracking, spaced-repetition review, and timed mock exams at the real 75% pass mark.
