Agree with you regarding AFT. When I completed my last few ATPL subjects I was working overseas so the distance learning course was my only option. Returned to Aus twice a year to sit for the exams and passed first go, except flight planning. That one took two goes.
The content wasn't hard at all, but the time limit and the number of questions in the exam meant that you're under pressure right from the start. I've been through uni and have both a bachelor's degree and a post grad diploma, but have never worked so hard during an exam as I did to pass flight planning. But now with an ATPL in the hand, and a nice FMS in the aircraft I fly to calculate my PNRs, ETPs, and TODs, I now think WTF was all that about?
