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big.al
18th Oct 2001, 21:58
I am taking my PPL in April in a 3-4 week intensive course in the USA. Assuming the FTO is still operating that is....

I've had my head in the Jeremy Pratt books for a few weeks and also invested in some PPL ground school software on CD-ROM. My intention is to get as many of the exams passed as possible before leaving the UK, so I can concentrate on flying and hopefully be done in three weeks rather than four, so I can have a week's holiday too!

So a question or two for those who have been there, flown that, worn out the teeshirt so to speak.

Is it possible to take ALL the ground exams without having actually flown? Is this impractical, for example for the Nav exam? If not possible (or practical) to do them all without flying, which ones would you guys and gals suggest I concentrate on to reduce the study burden whilst abroad? Burning the midnight oil to study is ok in principle, but not necessarily safe if I'm planning on being up flying early next morning.

In theory, can I go to any UK flying school and just ask to sit the exams? I'll probably invest in an hour or two of flying experience before I go anyway, if the savings will stretch that far. Many people have taken this route successfully so advice from those people regarding the best way to tackle this would be appreciated.

Big.al

avrodamo
18th Oct 2001, 22:25
The best thing you can do, is get the vast majority of the studying done here, and then get the exams out of the way when you get there. I studied air law, met, human factors, aircraft technical, and communications before i got there. Took 3 exams on first day, and passed them all, and then another 2 during that week.
Left Nav until i knew what the hell i was doing.
Get yourself a confuser as well. Know yourstuff, work through the confuser and you will be fine.

leading edge!
19th Oct 2001, 03:29
A/d is absolutely correct. The more exams that you can pass before you depart, the better. I was at Naples Last year and planned to do everything plus beach etc in 4 weeks. I was lucky that I had booked 6 weeks! It is fun, but to get the 45hrs in plus exams, requires quite hard flying allowing for crappy days etc, Drop me a line if you wish and I will assist you more!

johnnypick
19th Oct 2001, 13:58
I wouldn't think you need any flying experience to do Met, Airplane Tech and Human Factors. Get those out of the way and the rest shouldn't be too difficult. I used the PPL confuser for some of the exams and it was very handy. Better than the Trevor Thom books I'd been conned into buying by my FI in England. The only one you can't rely on it for is Nav, you need something else, like Trevor Thom.
Also, I did the last 25 hours of my PPL course in San Diego (Anglo American) there were people there finishing the whole lot, exams as well in 3 weeks. So it can be done! :) :)

Clouded Yellow
19th Oct 2001, 15:20
You can do all the exams without even seeing a Cessna.

All the schools round my way will let you come in, pay your £20 and take the exam. I am learning at one school, and have taken my exams at 2 others just because they are near work, and I can pop out at lunch and do a quick exam.

Get some evidence that you have taken and passed the exams, your FTO will almost certainly require the LAW exam before they let you solo, and all the rest before they let you do the skills tests.

Dont forget the RT theory and practical exam.