Finch,
In addition to what Matt mentioned, many SNAs study together, and quiz each other on procedures, systems, course rules, EPs, or any other knowledge related to the flights. Plus the fact that you take advantage of students ahead of you by getting the "gouge" on what to expect on the upcoming flight, in addition to finding out about the instructor you are scheduled to fly with.
I had a good friend (thanks Tim!) during Primary whom I studied with, and I must say it really helped to go over procedures and have him randomly quiz me, talk through the pattern, "you are on crosswind with a chip light, what are you going to do?" etc.
The Formation flights are one stage in particular where it pays off to get together with your partner, going over and over the Parade Sequence, till you can do it in your sleep, whether you are lead or wing. Then when it comes to the FORM1 brief, that typically is one of your longest briefs, you can talk through the whole thing "in stereo", completing each others sentences so to speak and the instructors won't hassle you. I unfortunately have seen/heard some briefs fall apart because two SNAs didn't get together enough and hammer out the parade sequence and get on the same sheet of music so to speak.
Just like Matt says, it pays to keep going over your Emergency Procedures, because you REALLY have to know them cold in the plane. It is sort of like blood in the water to a shark, if an IP catches you not knowing your procedures in the plane, god help you, is all I have to say on that subject (hey it happened to me on FAM2, and let's say I have NEVER let it happen to me again, the ICS was on fire that day, I used that silver bullet, thank you very much).
I can't really give an exact time amount spent studying. Like Matt said, the stages are front loaded, FAMs more than anything else, since you are learning to fly from scratch on this new plane, and have to learn all the procedures in addition to systems and course rules knowledge from scratch. But as you go on the number of brief items decrease, but also become wider in the range that the instructor can ask you. For instance the brief item might be something like, ANY EMERGENCY PROCEDURE, which opens you up to any of them, and be prepared to spit out all the NOTES, WARNINGS, and CAUTIONS that go along with it. Plus on preflight, SYSTEMS questions are free game, and the farther you get along, the less time the IP will spend asking you questions, but if you stumble, suddenly you will get a billion questions on a specific system probing your knowledge. So you find that a portion of your studying is spent not only preparing for the next flight, but also going over and reinforcing material that you have already learned.
Whew, probably more info than you were looking for!! Well, speaking of studying, I need to study for my flight at 1300, finished my BIs last week, and did my NFAM SOLO the other night, and now into the plane for RI2, PAR/ASR, woohoo!!
