Bristol ATPL- Too concise?

[Adam S]

Hello everyone,

I'm about to finish my ppl soon, and after reading about different places to do the atp's (distance only!) I decided to go with Bristol, after having a really hard time finding even one person who has a bad thing to say about them.

In the meanwhile, I am done with all of the ppl exams, and with nothing better to do I managed to get my hands on one of Bristol's folders, which contains met, comms and m&b.

As met is done on the first sitting at Bristol, I figured that would be a good one to start with. I also knew it was one of the longer ones and was expecting more then 600 pages.

To my surprise, met only had 200 and some pages.
comms (both V and IFR) has no more than 150, and mass and balance has only 58!
The folder is as concise as it gets, to a point it makes no more sense than a shut-your-mouth-and-memorize list.

I asked one of the instructors at the place I do my ppl, who's also done distance with Bristol, and he said he needed to buy all of the Oxford books as well so that things will start to make some sense.

I gave Bristol a call to ask if their pc programme has any more information than does the folder, but I was told it is pretty much the same thing.

I am very confused now.
Any thoughts?

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

Bristol is perfect and I'm using also another book (EASA Professional Pilot Studies) which meteorology section would be around the same page if printed on A4 paper sheets.
A website like Boldmethod and the popular YouTube will be of great help.
Oxford books are alright but they go way too much into details though their CBT are very good. By coincidence, the Meteorology CBT is by far the best. Get this one.

[keith williams]

The question of what level of detail is appropriate depends entirely on the attitude and ability of each individual student. Some students enjoy study and want to dig deeply into the subjects. Others simply want to pass the exams and move on to the flying. Some students find that going into the details enables them to understand the subject more fully. Others are overwhelmed by anything beyond the most superficial coverage.

All of the schools are likely to provide sufficiently detailed material to pass the exams, but only you can decide which level is best for you. BGS students use their online forum to point out errors in the material and to ask questions of their instructors. If you look through some of these questions and the responses provided you may get a better idea of whether their system is best for you.

[Martin_123]

I find the content excellent. The material is there to cover learning objectives, not to make you a meteorologist. I prefer it being condensed, it was a fresh and welcomed change comparing to pooleys PPL books which kept going on and on repeating itself endlessly.. large volume doesn't always represent quality you know.

There have been a couple of things that I didn't understand right of the bat, the forum is there, you can ask and fill the missing bits. Also youtube is full of very good videos that explain most topics

[MaverickPrime]

I for one appreciated the Bristol material. Its concise, well laid out and to the point. They've cut the fat which is great for me. Don't get me wrong, I like the odd challenge in trying to get my head round something, but endless amounts of pages when I'm studying something really puts me off!

[hobbit1983]

If you want more to study more into the subject, go do exactly that.

The Bristol stuff teaches you what you need to know. Why would it go into more detail than it needs to?

[Adam S]

Hobbit1983, I understand where you're coming from, let's say, air law, for example, i'd sure like to keep as simple and as short as possible. But as Amauri said, some things are hard to get your head around, especially if the book won't go into detail about them, it could happen in met, or other subjects.

I understand that if I'll memorize the books I'll probably pass, but I will not understand half the things I've read.

Some of you guys said that you used supplementary stuff to help you.
I guss I want to know if there's a place who's books are good enough to leave you with a good understanding of things without having to look up answers elsewhere every 5 minutes.
Is Bristol as good as any other place? Is that the place to go?
If it matters- I will do my best to not only pass, but to get good marks.

Thanks for the answers everyone

[hobbit1983]

-I did BGS way back when. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever.

-I've been working as a professional pilot for seven years or so now. Half the stuff in the ATPLs I've never had to use, and half of the rest was retaught or taught differently when I did various bits of training anyway...

Go do Bristol and don't worry.

[alb92]

I'm currently doing the BGS material, with module 3 coming up soon. I'll have it all completed in 6 months, and that includes working full time, and having a month gap to renew an IR (that expired nearly 2 years ago).

I did have some background, holding a CASA (Australia) CPL, so it wasn't all new to me.

The fact that the material is so concise is what I love about it. When things drone on, that is when things start to blur. All the material that Bristol covers is relevant for the exams. Their revision week is good as well. They go through just about all the material quite quickly, while skipping the easier or less tested stuff.

So far, all passes, with no real difficulties.

[Adam S]

Amauri and hobbit1983, it's reassuring to read that you both agree that Bristol is the way to go even though you thought differently about how easy it is to understand.

I guess it's settled then.

Thanks everyone

[jamesgrainge]

Originally Posted by Martin_123

I find the content excellent. The material is there to cover learning objectives, not to make you a meteorologist. I prefer it being condensed, it was a fresh and welcomed change comparing to pooleys PPL books which kept going on and on repeating itself endlessly.. large volume doesn't always represent quality you know.

There have been a couple of things that I didn't understand right of the bat, the forum is there, you can ask and fill the missing bits. Also youtube is full of very good videos that explain most topics

Totally agree. Pooleys PPL occasionally seemed to be a ground school in how to be a good human being and live a healthy life, let alone flying an aircraft well 😂

[mftx7jrn]

BGS are nothing short of outstanding. Their notes are easy to understand (even for a thickie like me) and their support is 1st class, should you require it. I still use their notes to brush-up now, nearly 3 years on. Their QB is also a must. Good luck.

[IAskYou]

Originally Posted by hobbit1983

If you want more to study more into the subject, go do exactly that.

The Bristol stuff teaches you what you need to know. Why would it go into more detail than it needs to?

Knowing the answers to the exams is usually fine. I was unlucky and sat one of the exams which had new questions in. That sucked.

[Gordon Bennet]

"Why would it go into more detail than it needs to?"

It might be useful if you want to pass a tech interview. Saw one recently. It was painful.

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

And some of the new questions are not even covered by the current LOs. Let alone the wording of some of the questions that add unneeded complication.

[Parson]

I went to BGS 2000-2001. Nothing on-line, or computer based in those days - just the manuals. Quite apart from the technical content, I know Alex went to the lengths of considering font size/type, line spacing, page layout etc. to make using the manuals and revision as easy as possible. Anyone going into that much detail is not going to leave out anything relevant.

Go for it - best ground school there is.

[paco]

Only some questions will have direct input - it is already happening in Germany.

[paco]

It will only concern questions that need numbers - there are too many variables to input language directly.

Otherwise known with reference to de;livery.