Specifically, I can't speak for the SAAB. There are question banks for each airplane (I'm about 98% sure) on MyMesaba.com. However, the questions are old (from Sept 2006) and the answers are not provided. A few guys in my group felt these were really helpful regardless as to whether the instructors told us we were wasting our time. The question banks are stored under "My Department", "Flight Ops", and under the header "Pilot Training" on the page that comes up. I printed CRJ test question bank (a 300-some-page document) for like $15 at OfficeMax and honestly, I didn't find it all that useful. I did (however) find the CRJ-Limitations worksheet (found in the same section) very helpful. Albeit...I discovered that some of the limitations were incorrect. As I said, they are old documents and you would be wise to use them only for reference...verify the numbers before you commit them to memory.

Honestly, there was one question that was in that bank of questions that was NOT covered in class and was on the Indoc (1st week) test. For the life of me, I can't remember it. The question banks are worth a glance over at the very least because it gets you thinking. New hires are usually given access to MyMesaba.com within 7 days of your start date but if you know someone who is willing to download them for you and send them to you...great. One question that is definitely on the Indoc test is "Class C visual/cloud clearences"....don't mess that one up. The easiest way to screw up is to not read all of the answers before making a selection.

The -200 ORAL / Systems guide that I used came from the actual Bombardier instructors and nearly everything in it was helpful in getting ready for the ORAL. I can't tell you how over prepared we were for our ORAL because of it. My FO colleague worked very hard at putting that together and I just edited it for content/spelling. When the instructor found out that we had put the guide together, he recommended that we charge people for it. LOL

I don't know how much longer they'll be outsourcing SIM/ORAL/checkrides to CAE in Denver/Montreal because the -200 SIM in Minny has been certified (as far as I know). Once they get the crews that are behind through, they should probably begin opening up that SIM in Minny to the people behind us. I doubt the format of the ORAL will be any different, but its something to think about. We heard all sorts of horror stories on how difficult some of the ORALS were with certain examiners. But, I was amazed at how much stuff was literally glossed over. Don't get me wrong...we over-prepared. We had a few groups in front of us who clued us in on what to expect too.

The ORAL (and this is probably true in the SAAB too) is all about System Knowledge integration. They go through every button on the overhead panel. You have to know what lights/messages come on at what times and so forth. My advice is to know the Electrics, Hydraulics, Fuel systems and study the walk-around procedures cold. I downloaded the actual CAE walk-around PowerPoint (videos included) that they actually use to quiz you on during the -200 ORAL. Of course, that is available once you get to that point in your training. If you're really ambitious, you'll do whatever it takes to download a FMS simulator like the one they have you practice on in class. Knowing the FMS like the back of your hand by the time you get to SIM will put you WAY ahead of everyone else and it will make you very popular with the not-so-technically-inclined captains. It worked for us.