Naples ATPL Groundschool

[1/2rhoVsquared]

Looked through the archive and couldn't find anything on postings about this topic. Question: Is there anyone out there who has attended the full time JAA ATPL groundschool? If so, any information would be gratefully received. Would like to know any experiences 'warts and all'. Thanks :D

[Squak2002]

Hello,

I'm out here now at the moment, 4 weeks into the first half of my ATPL groundschool. I think that the set up is top class and the instructors are excellent, they all have a great deal of experience between them.

The notes are on par with alot of the other schools and there is ALOT of feedback questions to keep you busy! Most of the couse is completed via computers (one on each desk). All in all, everything is going well, but it is only week 4, so I guess things will get harder. :ugh: :ugh:


This is just my opinion, so I hope that it helps.

Any more questions just give me a PM.

Bye,
john

[1/2rhoVsquared]

John, Slainte !

[1/2rhoVsquared]

John
Check your private messages!

[little-paddy]

Have to agree. It is a good school with a very relaxed atmosphere.

Got them all within 9 months plus a PPL to boot. No complaints and all the best with the study :ok:

[captain_rossco]

Hello All,

I'm off to Fort Myers on Holiday in a fortnight and although there's a UK school with "Rossco's ATPL groundschool" written all over it, I thought I might pop down to Naples just to have a curious little look at what their groundschool has to offer. The web page looks good enough, but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone that has enjoyed/hated their experience of the above, as we all know that in this old game turds are often polished!

Regards


Rossco
:ok:

Answers appreciated as this thread is not very up to date!

[flyboymurphy]

Hey everybody,
any one got opinions about schools offering distance learning for the jaa fAtpl in the USA?
Need to get on it soon !
Oh and if i can help anyone out with info. based on my experience , just let me know.
Presently Faa commercial , multi engine instrument, flight instructor with instrument instructor and atpl written ,2500tt. From Ireland, did everything in the US and now work as a Captain for a fractional .

[itsbrokenagain]

In me humble opinion be very very very careful with whats on offer from the one and only JAA ATPL DL course currently here in the USA, from conversations with students its going down hill and most have opted for other schools now after forking out lots of $$ . Do your research, and not just based on what the school sells you. Also anyone can use the exam center in florida, your training provider will help you get in touch with the person who handles that center when you get there.

A quick search of the pprune forums will tell you which ATPL DL school to choose I think.

PS how are you a Captain on a fractional on a Commercial?? All the big USA fractionals need ATP's just to apply, or are we talking a Cirrus fractional operation ( that one just dawned on me..sorry)

[flyboymurphy]

I hear ya ...its just so damn difficult to take extra time off work to head to England!

[Pilotadler]

Distance Learning Advice to New Students - Bristol GS vs. others
Hi,
I am an FAA licensed ATPL and Instructor. I work as a freight pilot flying Twin Otters and am a former owner of a California based flight school which was very successful. I am starting this thread to share my experience and advise those interested in JAA distance learning courses.
Currently, I am in the process of converting my licenses to a JAA ATPL (F). Like many others, the cost of training was my foremost consideration. Approaching the training with this consideration has, however, resulted in costing me more time and money. (approximately an additional 1500 GBP)
Choosing a quality ATPL Distance Learning school should be an aspiring commercial pilot's first consideration for the following reasons.
The JAA standards of theoretical learning are much higher than those of the FAA. The 14 tested subjects of the ATPL are highly extensive and time consuming to study. Ground instruction for the FAA written subjects can be accomplished in a time frame of less than 90 hours; whereas, the JAA requires 720 total hours. The possible number of FAA questions for the Private, Instrument, Commercial and ATPL range between 2500-3500. Those for the JAA 14 written exams are over 16000 exceeding the FAA by approximately 80%.
Any newly established JAA groundschool (6-8 years old) will not have enough years of experience in which to standardize and catch flaws in their own written material. The written material for each subject is developed at the classroom level and not at the distance learning level. A subject's material may consist of nothing more than instructor notes without written, detailed explanation. These types of materials are handled best by instructors during oral explanation in a classroom environment. Explanations of formula's are needed for thorough student comprehension - obviously.
As an example:
Distance = 60 x COSIN Latitude x Number of degrees in Longitudinal change
A distance learning book, on this General Navigation question, should provide a layman explanation of each part of the formula.
In my experience, I had participated in Naples Air Center's JAA Distance Learning program. The program sent me classroom notes as materials on each of the 14 JAA subjects, and I spent countless hours trying to understand formulas such as these. Because the books were so ill-written, I was forced to purchase additional reference material. So I purchased a CD from Bristol Groundschool in the amount of 350GBP. It was an organized CD that helped me to understand things clearly. The CD included all of Bristol GS self written texts.
At Naples Air Center, the head of ground training understood his school's material was not well written and switched to Jeppesen.
Jeppesen material is very detailed; however, it contains too much information that is not necessary to learn and will not be, otherwise, tested on the JAA exam. Each Jeppesen text ranges between 350-500 pages. These texts are excellent because they are full of information and detailed explanation. For the distance learning student however, the Jeppesen texts contain too much information making the student easily overwhelmed and confused about what information is necessary to be retained for the exam. As classroom material, the Jeppesen texts are a valuable tool to both the instructor and student on an interpersonal basis in a classroom environment. For the distance learning student, the abundance of material is daunting.
In conclusion, I have been impressed with Bristol Groundschool as a Distance Learning provider. I will be leaving the stateside school and continuing my JAA studies with Bristol as well as using the Jeppesen texts as guides of supplementary reference. Bristol Groundschool offers a free sample CD and I suggest it. It provides examples of end-of-chapter quizzes with questions straight from the JAA exam as well as sample 3D animations for easier comprehension.
Do not skim on costs. It will bite you in the end. It bit me.
Good luck. Feel free to write anytime.

[BlueRobin]

The present Jepp books are the Mk1 version written by AFT at Coventry. It's true some areas do need revising - having just done full-time at AFT we have had the benefit of a living revision service - thus the problem has been realised and the Mk2 books are soon to be published. I understand they are much better.

[Pilotadler]

That wasn't the point though I appreciate your reply.

The Jepp books are great for a classroom environment - not Distance Learning. For a Distance Learning Student, these books involve too much unnecessary reading. At approximately 325 pages per book, that's uncalled for. On the average, Bristol GS has 100 pages per subject and LOTS of illustrations as well as interactive simulations. The Jepp books are a good reference to studies with ground schools such as Bristol GS. This is very important if you are studying the JAA on your own as I had explained in a previous posting.

Naples Air Center does not know what they are doing. They had lousy self written study materials then recently switched to Jeppesen 2 months ago. They are NOT a proper distance learning training organization and I would not recommend them.

As a business man, NAC is ONLY very good at marketing their school with cheap prices.

[EIDW RJ85]

QUOTE: <NAC is ONLY very good at marketing their school with cheap prices.>

Mr Taddler,

What flight school isnt???:ugh: They sure as hell aint in it for the passion of teaching people to fly!! :ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

[747dieseldude]

Need your help:

What is the fastest way to convert FAA or ICAO ATPL into JAR-FCL ATPL?

Take into account:
5000TT
3000 heavy SIC
2000 light and medium PIC.

Thanks.

[Pilotadler]

747dieseldude - Bristol GS just came out with a new CD for distance learning. I just received it two days ago and I highly recommend it. If you have heavy time, you'll only need to study 7 subjects.

It's not like the FAA training. You can't pick up a Gleim and answer questions. The learning is in depth so there isn't a fast way to learn. There is only an effective thus efficient way to learn.

As far as the flight training portion, I don't recommend doing it in the states. I was recommended a flight school in Bristol called Bristol Flying Centre. www.b-f-c.co.uk A friend of mine, who is a captain at BA, attended their training 17 years ago and he says it's pretty top notch. Comparatively speaking, to other UK schools, the prices are really good too.

I was going to mix and match the flight training with Commercial in the US and IR conversion in the UK but I heard about all the horror stories of adapting to UK airspace. I also considered the expense in travel time going to Florida then to the UK. Wasn't worth it to me.

Good luck

[Pilotadler]

EIDW - It's easy to write what you wouldn't talk up in person

[EIDW RJ85]

?????? Dont really know what u mean by that but all im saying is from my experiance with different flight schools ... there a business, like every other business, they want your money? You just have to be careful how much u want to give them. Your the customer.........

[finallyflying]

Hi guys,

Has anyone here enrolled in the JAA ATPL Distance Learning Theory course offered at Naples Air Centre in Florida?

If so, please PM me and I might ask you a question or two if thats OK ...

Many thanks,

FF.

[flyasthesky]

Hello, has anyone attended NAC fulltime atpl course recently such as past or present classes. I've searched quite a bit on pprune about them but a lot of the info is quite old. I realise every school has their own problems and that you can never satisfy everyone but what seems to be the general consenses on this course.
Thank you for your time.;)