ATPL Books: Do they help?

[catherine]

Has anyone used the various books around to assist in their studies for the ATPL exams - for example Question Bank Vol I and II by Mike Burton and Anthony Stephens or Key Facts for JAA ATPL by Stuart Smith (or any others that may be about)

If so, did you find that they helped or is it not really worth the additional costs?

Thank you!

[Flypuppy]

Additional question banks are definately worth getting hold of, there a couple of online question resources such as bigredjumbo (http://www.geocities.com/bigredjumbo/index.html) and iwannabeapilot (http://www.iwannabeapilot.com/forums/index2.php)

Mike Burtons books are also worth having, he is someone who knows the exam system inside out and anything he doesnt know about the technical group of exams probably isn't worth knowing.

A few other books worth having are:

Meteorology for Pilots
Mike Wickson
ISBN 1 84037 284 2

Aircraft Performance Theory for Pilots
Pete Swatton
(invaluable for PoF, Perf and M&B Jar)

The Jet Engine
Rolls Royce
ISBN 0902121 2 35

Aircraft Instruments and Integrated Systems
EHJ Pallet
ISBN 0 582 08627 2

[unowho]

Yes, extra books are extra cost. BUT another point of view on a subject may just be what it takes to enlighten you. Of course don't forget to search the internet, it is a very useful tool.

[catherine]

Excellent - Thank you for the info!

[Echo India]

Hi Catherine

Posted this a few weeks back. Hope it helps.

EI

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=122048

Book Review
Well, I purchased two of the books. Vol 2 of “Key Facts & Handling Questions” by Anthony Stevens and Vol 1 of “Keynotes for Pilots” by Stuart Smith & Mike Groves. They both cover the same subjects.

For anyone else thinking of purchasing them, I'll give you my opinion of them.

Anthony Stevens’s book, "Key Facts & Handling Questions" is basically a handy revision guide. It’s only about 108 pages long and each subject is broken down into various headings. For example Human Perf is broken down into Human Physiology, Atmosphere & Oxygen Requirements and Sleep, to mention just a few. There are then various bullet points of the key facts covered under that heading. Taking Human Perf again as an example, there are 182 key facts in total. It covers pretty much all the main points you need to know without going into detail. It’s ideal for someone wanting to revise over key points while on the bus or train, commuting into work without having to carry all your notes with you. The book would easily fit into a jacket pocket. I would say however, that it pretty much covers the material that is in your course provider's notes, so if you are based at home studying and don’t face too many moments when you wished you had some notes with you to read over, then it’s probably not really worth it. Stick with your course provider’s notes and revise from that.

The Stuart & Groves book, “Keynotes For Pilots” employs a different style. It poses the material in the form of a serious of questions. For example, “How long is the saccade rest cycle?” Or “What are the characteristics of the Polar maritime air mass?” to take just a couple of examples. Personally, I find this a much better form of revision as it forces you to try and think of the answer. Its only about 90 pages long and is spiral bound, with a blank page next to page that the questions are on, so that you can add in your own notes. However, I have one main gripe with the book and that is the price. The book covers most of the trickier points that you might be more likely to forget come exam time, however it doesn’t cover as many points as Anthony Stevens’s book and at £18, I’d have expected a lot more material covered. It does have that extra page as I said to add in your own notes but why pay £18 to do that when you could summarise your course providers notes in a similar style for free. As I said, it’s a good book with a great way of revising but for £18, I’d love to see an updated version with more material added.