About to start ATPL course - any advice?

[Rishy]

Hi All,

The first module of my distance learning ATPL with BGS was delivered on Friday. (Thumbs up to them by the way, they've been excellent so far :ok:).

Have read plenty on here over the last few weeks but wondered if anybody had any advice for me at this point.

Cheers

Tim

[TheBeak]

Work hard and learn what they tell you and you'll be fine. There is no excuse to get less than the 90s if you have the right motivation. There will be things you don't understand initially but BGS teach things very well from what I hear inside and outside of PPRUNE.

[annita]

Personal experience, buy also a pupplement to Navigation like OAT Nav. book as I personally found the BGS book not very clear on some points.

[thetimesreader84]

A piece of advice I was given before starting Distance learning, and one that I would pass on to anyone, is to create a day-by-day planner.

i.e. something personal to you (i used Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for mine, but you could do it on the back of a fag packet if you wish) to see how much work you are doing Per Day, and how that compares to what you should be doing, to meet your target (i.e. completing the exams by whenever).

that way you cannot lie to yourself and say "well, i've had a good week, i'll go out on the beer / to the cinemas / watch telly / fart around on PPRuNe / whatever tonight" unless you really are ahead!

:ok:

EDIT:

Oh, and don't just learn the question bank. Actually read (and undestand) the books, a lot of it is a lot more useful than you might think...

[igarratt]

Hi Tim

hope the GS is still going well, cant offer any more to you other than the one thing every single pilot thats done it has said to me and thats learn the subjects but hammer the question bank until you know it like you wrote it !

I wondered if you could give any feedback on the BGS pack, the books look mighty, I've seen the presentation dvd from them, I wondered how good this week by week planner is, does it numb the mind with one subject or scatter them about a bit ? is it practical ?

Your view of it from the real life situation and any hints or tips be welcome.

Also do they give you any nice easy sit back and let it play type presentations, I saw 2 or 3 from OAT (Oxford) and they helped get a good over view / bigger picture before getting to the nitty gritty.

Oh last thing was are you starting from scratch or do you have ppl, imc etc ?

Cheers Ian

[Whirlygig]

Another tip is to get a pocket notebook and, as you're going through the notes, make a note of any useful formulae, mnemonics, facts etc. Then you have a condensed form of the subjects for quick revision. I also did a similar thing with the question banks.

Ian, the OP is likely a modular student with a PPL since Bristol only does distance learning and not ab-initio integrated courses.

Cheers

Whirls

[igarratt]

Ian, the OP is likely a modular student with a PPL since Bristol only does distance learning and not ab-initio integrated courses.

arr yes I'd have known that... if my brain had been in gear that is oops :ugh:

[A and C]

Take a look at this website for a very interesting read from some one who is well down the road to the fATPL.

index (http://www.zerotoatpl.com)