Is it possible to do a PPL exam a day?

[viktor121]

Basically what the title says, i'm short on time at the moment and i need to get the exams done asap, anyone think its possible to get them done one a day or one every 2 days? i've got the dvd's and the confuser :O

[flyingman-of-kent]

It is a bit like saying how long is a piece of string!

It will all depend on things like how much you already know, how much time you can dedicate each day, how fast a learner you are, how good you are at studying, how good you are at reading multiple choice questions.... and a lot more.

Some exams are pretty obvious and common sense after doing the learning, some need a lot more practical learning such as Nav and RT. If you are also flying at the same time you are gaining this practical knowledge as well but there is a difference between the doing and the passing of the exam.

I suggest that you allow enough time to learn each subject properly, so you are confident in being able to pass the exam. Why waste money on exam fees if you keep failing due to poor learning? Then, once you have prepared for each exam just take the exam and pass then move onto the next one. Don't bother trying to race it, you will end up taking more time at it.

One thing I would be interested to know is if you are actually doing any ground school at all at the moment? This is one thing that you should be doing rather than just reading a confuser and expecting to pass - don't forget that you actually need to know some of this stuff and not just be able to select correct answers in the exam!

[viktor121]

Yeah fair point! and nope no ground school, i've got the ppl dvd's which i'm going to learn from its just my instructor wants me to do all my exams before i start any flying..but i would ideally want my PPL done by september...possible or ambitious? :rolleyes:

[stevelup]

What possible point is there in doing all your exams before you start flying?

It sounds nuts to me... I'd find another instructor!

[viktor121]

Hmm I agree, i mean i dont know much about it at the moment but i would have thought it would help flying at the same time to get the knowledge to relate to the practical part? but yeah this place is my only choice and they want all the exams done first to prove students are really committed which i guess is fair enough really, just so so much to learn in such a short time! :ugh:

[kilo sierra]

I don't agree.
It's lot easier to understend all the theoretical stuff when you got some flying experience.
I'm in France, I don't know your british exam. I'm near to the end of practical instruction, near to solo cross country flights, I did the theretical two weeks ago, all in one day and I got it.
A lot of it became easier having it already done in flight.
And sure, it more fun.

I'd look for another school too.
Why do it the hard way?
Flying is leisure and fun! (I hope for most private pilots)

Kerstin

[znww5]

I don't suppose these jokers have also suggested that you should pay for the whole course up front as well - just to 'show your committment'? If they have, don't do it, there are plenty of people who have lost large sums of money when their flying school went bust.

I would strongly urge you to find another school, I'm in north Bucks (Milton Keynes to be precise) and I can think of at least four flying schools at this end of the county and several more at the southern end. There are plenty of flying schools, all of which will be hungry for business.

I have honestly never heard of anyone being asked to do all the exams before they start to fly, it's a ludicrous idea.

Walk away!

[riverrock83]

It would be interesting to know why they think you need to show your commitment - is this a sponsored course?

To me - if you try to cram all of the exams in that quickly, you will forget it again just as quickly. The information you learn is designed to be essential knowledge that is needed for flying. You need to internalise much of it to be a good pilot - not just use the confuser to blindly pass.

I think that anyone would have difficulty reading through and understanding all of the information in the appropriate text books (or DVDs) in that time scale. I think many people would be able to pass the exams with the confuser and ignore the text books in that time scale if they worked pretty hard full time at it, but then you would be passing the exam, not knowing the material. I haven't done them all yet myself though, so I'm not the best person to answer.

If you really need to do this (and I doubt it) then make sure you properly know the material afterwards - revise everything again over a more reasonable time scale.

Your other question: PPL by September? It depends how much time/money you have, whether you pick things up quickly and if you are lucky with the weather. You can do intensive PPL courses in a month (probably somewhere outside the UK) or spread it over a much longer period. If you are at a small flight school, an aircraft going "tech" could stop lessons for weeks (or longer). Experience by recent people on this forum (including myself) with weather is that one in two lessons seem to be weather affected - cancelled or curtailed.
Today the plan was to do a couple of circuits with my instructor, then for him to jump out and for me to continue to do some more on my own. However the wind increased and moved to be coming across the runway so we did a couple of circuits
Generally, if you do a more intensive course, the total instruction time is slightly shorter as less re-learning is required.
So its really up to you how long you want to aim for, but make sure your instructor is on the same page as you are, and get him to keep you up to date how far you are through the course. They will be able to tell you whether your aim will be possible at their school / on track and / or likely.

[J.A.F.O.]

I have honestly never heard of anyone being asked to do all the exams before they start to fly, it's a ludicrous idea.

Walk away!

On the face of it, that sounds like fair advice. Why is it your only option?

I'd tell them that I was taking my money elsewhere, I wouldn't pay to be bullied.

[suraci]

"It would be interesting to know why they think you need to show your commitment "


Nobody said they did - read what the OP wrote

[suraci]

"The only reason why completion of exams might be done ahead of time might be if you were then coming to the US on a 4 week compressed training course so that the focus can be on the flight training"

That's what I did. Don't know what the big fuss is about the PPl exams, I did the 6 in 3 weeks from receipt of textbooks to last exam, while working full time running a company.

[mad_jock]

Welcome to the land of the PPL sausage factory.

yep loads of folk have done an exam every other day.

Its the only way you can do a 21 day ppl.

Read the book for a day between flights and do a morning of confuser and then sit the exam and then onto the next subject.

If you fail it never mind because it won't be recorded in your training file.

Hundreds of PPL students who have got there license in FL have done it this way. You won't remember much of it a few weeks later but.... such is life.

[BEagle]

If you fail it never mind because it won't be recorded in your training file.

So are you saying that the infamous sausage machine doesn't even bother with the CAA's examination administration procedures? No FCL252 for failed exams??

Perhaps (real) EASA will change things?

[stevelup]

It would be interesting to know why they think you need to show your commitmentNobody said they did - read what the OP wroteThat's exactly what he wrote:-
they want all the exams done first to prove students are really committed

[FleetFlyer]

I did mine in pretty short order but I had plenty of prior exposure to flying. I did two per day whilst flying but did all my study at home over the previous weeks. probably equated to about 1.5 days of study per exam.

You'll find that your best study is done by fuelling your brain properly (it uses glycogen) by eating bananas and sipping Lucozade whilst studying. You'll find that more information sticks that way. The other study tip is to frequently need to recall information by testing yourself regularly and often throughout your period of study. This means not just by using the questions at the end of each chapter but also checking the confuser for questions on a part of a chapter you may have found difficult to 'get'. Its having to recall information that makes it stay in your brain.

Good luck.

[Shez74]

Hey mate,
I'm about to start flying lessons (GFPT) and work my way up. Most of the schools (reputable with proven history of success) I've been to in Melbourne have a pay as you go policy and also all of the make sure you're ready to sit for the theory / flying exam. Safety first!!
This place asking you to prove your commitment, sets the ole spider sense to tingle mode.

[md 600 driver]

i would tell them your comitment is in your wallet thats all you should need

[viktor121]

Yeah i agree, get what you guys are saying but then again, i was told its because they don't actually make any profit on it (apparently) its £38 an hour on a motorglider..so they want to know students are actually in it for a ppl not just messing around?

[stevelup]

That now makes a bit more sense, except I don't think you can do a PPL on a motor glider can you?

Are you doing an NPPL (SLMG) then?

[viktor121]

Yeah that's it :) my main concern really was the exams rather than the fact i need to get them done, they gotta be done anyway sooner or later, might aswell get them out of the way, but any study tips?

[stevelup]

I used airquiz.com to revise and found it extremely useful. It's inexpensive too.

[flyingman-of-kent]

Regardless of what type of license you go for, you will show good commitment by turning up early, being ready for your lesson, prepared to learn etc..

If you happen to have also passed one or more of the exams then yes I can see that this also shows commitment but I am not sure exactly how much commitment you can really show by having done all the exams in a few days! I would also surprised if a decent training organisation doesn't see something wrong with just rote learning to pass and exam a day, as you will know next to nothing at the end of it.

If you are really committed, start by getting the books, start at Air Law and read the book. Then do some groundschool (can just be sitting around with a PPL or instructor for a few hours) so you know that you have learnt and understood the book - there will be loads that you don't understand just by reading. Then, once you understand the subject do the exam.

It is a very pleasant feeling looking at the exam paper and mentally ticking off all the questions you know the correct answer to (from someone who did exams in school at 16 where I hadn't got a faintest clue what the answers were!!)

Then move on to the next one etc.. The whole aim is that each subject builds on each other, and when you have finished you have a thorough understanding of the whole subject. I am sure if you do it by this method you will more than convince any school of your commitment!

[bingofuel]

Why do people persist with the attitude, minimum study to gain minimal knowledge to barely pass an exan to try to gain a licence in minimum time at minimum expense.

What happened to learning a subject properly, and training to be the best you can at whatever skill you are learning, and if that takes longer than you thought, well the benefit is you actually know your subject and are more than just barely adequate at your chosen skill.

[BWBI]

I did my PPL exams at Bournemouth in a week with the exception of Air Law which I had done before. This was with a well advertised Instructor / Examiner. There was three of us in total and we did the studies in the day and sat the exam in the evening and it worked fine for me all be it very tiring, but at least they were done!

I was finding before this that I was coming home from work in the evening sitting down to study and promptly falling asleep! This lack of exam progress was meaning that I could not undertake my QCC and I was just flying around with an Instructor basically wasting my money to a certain extent! I was also getting very frustrated with my lack of progress!

So I took a week off work booked into a medium priced hotel with my Partner, she went shopping or to the beach in the day whilst I went Studying at the Instructors house. After sitting an exam each evening I came back and we went for a meal and it worked great, but like I say very tiring!

Two of us passed the exams ok in the week but the third guy who was Hungarian struggled a bit and had to come back the following week at no extra cost to complete them.

As far as I was concerned it was the best thing I ever did and took the pressure off and allowed me to concentrate on the Practical flying when I got back home. My Partner was also happy because she enjoyed her week in Bournemouth!