In the days when one usually had a CPL some years before the ALTP exams, I sat next to an Oxbridge physics graduate at Cass College. He was stressed. "It's not that any one thing is very complicated, just that there is SO much of it."
The ALTP was a traditional Town Hall venue, with invigilators taking their jobs very seriously. I still hear them. "Pens down gentlemen please." Hah, I recall one glancing at my Met where I'd moved a low pressure area over a bit. "Sometimes the first ideas are the best." Aaaaaagh. I still passed.
My CPL had been weeks of crisis. I'd left a post war Secondary school at 14 with no exams passed whatsoever. There were so many add-ons. Lighthouses! A room full of chaps clicking stopwatches. RT licence. IR simulator, an upgraded D4 Link trainer in Shell Mex house. This had to be passed before one could turn up at CAFU Stansted. Law. I'd forgotten Law. Thank goodness I passed that as it was out of the way forever. Type rating. Performance A. 2 1/2 hours. I wonder what I've forgotten.
Some years later I needed an ATP for a 727 operation. 6 hours, finished in 1. I spent 30mins checking and writing a note saying their performance question, carrying 2 points, had no correct answer. I got 98 points. A bloke at Braniff said 'That's why no one ever gets 100% in the ATP."
I'd love to know if I was correct.
When Eagle went bust I was reading the Sunday Times, and spotted an ad with a lovely picture of a Trident. My heart sank as I realised I didn't come close to qualifying. It sank even further when I noticed the ad was for cleaners.
Last edited by Loose rivets; 1st Oct 2023 at 01:40.