PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Deciding between Bristol and Oxford groundschool
Old 3rd Feb 2012, 20:46
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jamesaidan
 
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Graham, I'd like to ask whether you operate in a non teaching environment for your career? If so, I cannot imagine how you could say that most of the ATPL course information is relevant to a flying career. Most of the subjects are so irrelevant as to make the matter a bit of a farce. Take the Gen Nav. What do I and other jet pilots do when we fire up our avionics? We type the route into our FMS. How about Principles of Flight? Those are so far away from anything a pilot needs, and even an engineer would scratch his/her head at the balderdash. The stuff in that exam is important only to an aircraft designer. This is true for most of the crap the JAA serves up. I think there is an argument for saying that the only relevant bits are about Human Perf, Air Law and some of the stuff on weather. Mass and Balance needs to be done for its practical aspects.

To the original enquirer, just get through this load of junk. It's only in Europe where the sanctity of the JAA exams are hallowed. The rest of the world places sensible emphasis on flying skills. I know at least one JAA ATPL holder who can't land in a crosswind. How useful is that!
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