Bit of a pickle

[TheFirstDohrnPilot]

Hi everyone.

Has anyone here ever passed the ground exams without reading all the material that you should? Right now, for instance, I have 5 mahusive books in front of me. So far I've read about 300 pages of the ~1,500 pages (all the books together).

I have less than 3 weeks to read the rest. It's just not gonna happen, honestly!

I've been doing online mock exams on PPL Cruiser. They're OK, but I'm not sure how pertinent they are to the real thing.

The place I'm going to - EFT in Florida - want me to do half the exams in the first week I'm there, so it's pretty much: off the plane (hellish jet-lag likely), buy all my stuff that I need, do my FAA medical, get TSA fingerprints done and then off to work.

Any advice? Anyone accomplished something like this before? What are my odds? haha

Thanks :)

[mad_jock]

Pretty good

Try reading the books with your thumb up your bum it concentrates the mind more.

[Torque Tonight]

Good grief! What you're basically asking is can I cuff it with cheat sheets. How about you delay your exams or course and prepare properly. If that's not an option get your arse in gear now. You can achieve a lot in 3 weeks if you put some effort in.

You or someone who cares about you is paying ridiculously big money to give you the opportunity to gain a qualification. If that doesn't focus the mind, what will? How would this sound coming from a doctor, engineer etc. You probably wouldn't want to use their services, would you?

Answer to the question is yes, you probably can just wing it by blitzing the question bank, but then you'll be one of these desparate hopefuls whose shallow level of knowledge is immediately obvious. Good luck with the tech interviews.

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

It might even be just a PPL course, but no matter you should delay your departure...

[Dak Man]

Why not, I did.

[TheFirstDohrnPilot]

Yes, I forgot to say it's a PPL licence I'm doing. Delaying my departure isn't really an option at the moment.

Dak Man, were you doing a PPL course, too? How did you pass the exams without reading all the books?

Thanks for the feedback and advice everyone

[763 jock]

Please don't bother trying to get a licence if you are always looking for a short cut or easy way of doing things. History is littered with accidents caused by poor preparation. Get your head down or get out.

[giggitygiggity]

If your aim is to continue towards your CPL/IR etc you're going to struggle if your either not prepared to put in the work or manage your time effectively. You're 18, what was the rush to get out to Florida without adequate time for preparation?

[TheFirstDohrnPilot]

Ah, 18 is the new 25 these days you see haha Na, but seriously, I wouldn't say I rushed into anything. Before I decided to go to Florida I spent nearly a year researching and struggling to decide where to go and when. I considered so many different places and options and the hammer finally fell on EFT. They didn't have many places available for later in the year, so I had to make the call.

When I eventually continue on to do my CPL/IR/ME, I will leave myself faaaar more time to be ready, because going commercial is serious and you can't afford to be ill prepared when other people's lives and equipment are at stake. So, to answer your query, when I do go for my bigger licences I will definitely approach them differently and learn from this little pickle! lol

Cheers.

[Torque Tonight]

As you posted the question on the Professional Pilot Training forum I assumed that you were going for a professional licence rather than a PPL, although the same principle applies just with less cash invested. As it's a PPL you can definitely nail the theory in 3 weeks, if you make the effort, so get stuck in now.

The PPL is the foundation of all your later flying, and especially as you plan to continue to professional licences, you need to make it count. If you say you'll just make a half-arsed effort on this occasion, but at the next stage you'll do it properly, that will become the story of your life.

Get studying. Now.

[rayfill]

"When I eventually continue on to do my CPL/IR/ME, I will leave myself faaaar more time to be ready, because going commercial is serious and you can't afford to be ill prepared when other people's lives and equipment are at stake. So, to answer your query, when I do go for my bigger licences I will definitely approach them differently and learn from this little pickle! lol"

Since when is flying an airplane 'not serious'? Even flying PPL, in a SEP, other people's lives are at stake. The friends you take a long, the houses you fly over, the other aircraft in the air.

Starting a PPL thinking its not serious isn't the best mind setting. Neither is not studying your books and learning the database.
However, you can do it. At a cost.

As one of my teachers always said: "its not a mopet"

[mad_jock]

The ppl is the foundation to all the other licenses and ratings.

The first lesson 3-12 are the most important ones. If you don't understand them it may cause heaps of issues in years to come.

[TheFirstDohrnPilot]

I didn't say flying a plane isn't serious, what I meant was that the stakes are higher when going commercial. But yes of course, even flying a SEP is serious, you're right.

Also, I know that I'm not leaving myself enough time, and I will learn from this, is what I mean!

So the general vibe I'm getting here is that it is possible, as long as I do as many mock exams as possible and get as much reading done as I can. We'll see how it turns out. :yuk:

[Torque Tonight]

I'm talking about proper studying and learning the material, not must hitting tne question banks and past papers. 3 weeks is enough time to learn the PPL theory properly. The workload is tiny compared to the ATPL theory. Over to you.

[rayfill]

so that's sorted out then:cool:

I'd say don't only focus on the database. Read and learn as much as possible from the books, then cross check with the database to see what you understand and what you don't.
I've seen classmates studying just the database and run into trouble when flying.

Good luck!