ATPL Distance Learning: Pointers Appreciated.

[clearpr0p]

Hi all,

I have 2 questions would greatly appreciate any pointers on:

1) To distance learn or full time groundschool? I know this is a tough one as how does one compare without having done both-unlikely. I guess the question should be are there any DLs out there who could share their experiences- In hindsight would you have gone full time or were you satisfied with the support, the materials received, and pleased with your exam results?

*Am still in the process of organising funds but want to keep the momentum going until I sort out the finances which is why the distance learning (full time) seems like a reasonable option to save some money and ensure I use my time productively.

2) Oxford Versus Bristol?
Again appreciate unlikely anyone has gone to both. I've seen older threads circa 2009 heaping praise on Bristol. Can anyone give me an idea regarding their recent experiences in 2012. Am particularly interested to hear from any OAA DL chaps, in particular, as an OAA DL
-did you receive the same materials/handouts/study & revision aids as the full time groundschool people?
-Did the Oxcel/CBT/Scheduler help plan your daily work routine effectively?---Were you guys happy with the quality of service you received and your exam performance?

Thanks very much for any pointers all :}

[The500man]

1) Distance learning requires self-motivation and can be conducted at your own pace. Full-time is classroom based and on a fixed timetable. Think about how you will motivate yourself and whether you want to work while studying. DL can be harder in that it takes longer to get answers to questions that may arise and I would also say that good training manuals are more important than if you are on a full-time course.

2) Why have you chosen Bristol or OAA? As I said above consider which training manuals they use and where they are based as there is a full-time element to every course.

[Graham@IDC]

Hi Clearprop

As the former designer of all Bristol's learning software since it first started using it and as an author of several ATPL manuals I think I can add something to this thread!

Both Bristol and Oxford provide very good DL materials and you would not go far wrong in choosing either of them. However they are not the only game in town. There are some very good smaller schools which arguably might be able to offer you a more intimate teaching experience and a solution which is more closely tailored to your learning style.

Equally there are some really poor operators out there who make up for the lack of comprehensive teaching material by heavy reliance on exam databases.

Unfortunately too many DL students have fallen into the trap of thinking that passing the exams by hook or crook is all that matters. In consequence some have spent rather too much time learning exam answers rather than learning the underlying concepts. The result has been a much increased failure rate in type rating courses. In the words of one very experienced training captain "they just don't seem to have any basic understanding anymore".

At times, when ploughing through some of the more obviously esoteric and irrelevant stuff, it can become very tempting to ditch trying to understand and instead go for the quick kill (aka AtpOnline). I urge you not to fall into this trap.

Whichever school you choose, set yourself a realistic timetable based on the number of hours you can reasonably expect to devote to study each day. The emphasis is on realistic. If you set yourself too high a target you're likely to fall behind and become disheartened. Allow extra time for going back through previous material to make sure you keep it in memory.

When you open the very first book on the first day it will seem like you have an impossible mountain to climb. I certainly felt like that when I began. But if you just keep plugging at it you'll get there.

As for which school to use. I suggest you sign onto their own forums and ask their students directly.

[allsaint]

As a current DL student at Bristol, I thought I'd share my experiences.

Prior to enrolling on the course, the general advice I was given was to learn the question bank, there was far too much information to retain and it wasn't always obvious which parts would be most relevant. When I recieved the study material I found that they had changed the way the course runs and now they'll only sign your exam application when you've completed every lesson (approx 140 of them) and gained satisfactory results in the progress tests.

I was disheartened at first but I've enjoyed the course the way it's structured, the learning experience was relaxed and at a manageable pace. I have a much better understanding of the concepts, how they all fit together, and am using this theoretical knowledge every day in my hour building. My flying, and confidence has improved vastly as a result.

I've completed the course and have started to focus on the question bank, with quite pleasing results. The only downside to distance learning, in my opinion, is the lack of support, or should I say the time taken to resolve queries. There's a good forum and my questions have always been answered, but I'm a bit impatient, if there's something I want to know, I want to know it NOW! But don't take that as a negative, the more effort you have to put in to truly understand something, the more likely it is to "stick".

I've just had confirmation from the CAA of my exam dates in December, so I'll probably be able to give you a better idea then, if DL is a good idea!
Good luck in whichever route you decide to take. :ok:

[newguy24]

Hi,

I have just started dl with bristol, I am looking at these huge books and think its a mountain. I was getting mixed up with the way the lessons go from one subject to another and then back. I decided to just stick at one subject at a time and since the first one was a Nav I have stuck with this. Man there is lots to learn.

How have you gone about it. Have you any tips as I have just started. Im trying not to get roughed up with it. How many hours a day is needed do you thinnk is needed to do mod one in 3 months.

Thanks

[Transsonic2000]

G-Nav is probably the most difficult subjects of all - a lot of Maths and formulas to remember! Requires regular repetition, otherwise the stuff is easily forgotten!

Based on my personal experience, I started off with the "easier" subjects and did the more difficult subjects at a later stage, this way the material is more present and hopefully "easier" to recall during the exams.

Sequence of subjects:

1. Human performance (nice one to get started)
2. Air Law
3. Operations / ATC Procedures
4. Meteorology (slowly getting difficult)

5. Systems (Airframe/Engines)
6. Instruments & Electrics
7. Mass & Balance
8. Performance

(tough stuff at the end!)
9. Principles of Flight
10. G-NAV
11. R-NAV
12 Flight Planning

Bristol's QDB contains about 9000 questions, theoretically if one manages to do about 33 a day (~ 1000 questions per month) it'd take about nine month to go trough all of the questions/subjects. But as I said, this is theory, and each individual is different. It also depends on how much time you (are able) to put into the studies, in average I'd say expect about 4 to 5 hours a day, there are days where it's more and days where it's less, and certainly everybody needs a brake every once in a while! If you search the forum you'll see that anything from 10 to 24 month is possible! I'd say the average time is about 12 month for the ATP theory. But be advised, do not underestimate the time and work you will involve yourself in to pass the examinations!

Good luck!

[allsaint]

newguy24,

I started the course at the end of July and I must admit, like yourself wasn't keen on the chopping and changing between subjects. I stuck with the original course structure because I could see the benefit of tackling the more difficult subjects in bitesized chunks and then having a breather with the simpler topics. I think you'll find that as you go through it, a lot of the lessons overlap and compliment each other.
I set a target of 4 months for mod 1, spent 8 weeks with the course material, then picked 1 subject, reviewed it and tested myself with the QB. When I was satisfied with consistent good scores, I moved onto the next subject, reviewed, tested and then tested on 2 subjects. I repeated the process until I'd done all 8.
At this present moment in time, week 15, I'm happy with 6 of the subjects, but struggling with marginal passes in Met and Instruments. I'm going to Bristol in 3 weeks, so hopefully, the brush up will get me up to speed.
The 4 month target has been quite manageable, I give up trying to study when my brain can't take any more. I don't work, and do this full time alongside hourbuilding, but I'm also a single parent, so have quite a lot of distraction!
Hope this gives you a better idea of how to guage things. I know it seems like a lot of work at the start, but keep at it, it'll all make sense in the end.
Good luck, and enjoy it!