PPL(A) Groung Exams - Self Study

[Fake Sealion]

I am considering embarking on a PPL or NPPL (A) course in the capacity of a (long!) lapsed Military Pilot, both fixed and rotary qualified.
Want to get the ground exams out of the way first, assuming I can re-organsie the aviating brain cells in the right order ! However, can anyone give a steer on which is the best home study media ?
The Market, ie Transair etc, seems to be dominated by Trevor Thom's 7 volumes with other "add ons" like Flight computer CDROM's and the less bulky but more expensive new breed of "paperless" CDROM packs such as the Oxford Air Training and Teach Me products.

Can anyone (student or Flying School) give me an "objective" guide as to which method they recommend and why?

I suspect the answer is a combination of the two!!!
Oh well ....would still like to hear from some of you with recent experience of home self study for the 'zams
:confused:

[c-bert]

I used mainly the AFE books (can't remember the authur) with a couple of Thom.

The AFE books are very well written and easy to understand. Thom on the other hand provides a bit more depth but is much more like a Physics text book.

I didn't find I needed any sort of CD or other training. However the PPL confuser (example questions book) is a must as it gives an insight into the sorts of questions to expect.

Hope that helps.

[AerBabe]

I only used the books. You might find, given your experience, that you don't need to do much revision. Why not sit the exams now and see how you get on? Your instructor will then be able to point you towards the areas you need to cover. It is possible that you will learn all you need to from the actual lessons and save a fortune on books and CDs.

[Whirlygig]

Even as a long-lapsed mil pilot, you will find that it will all come flooding back to you. I would recommend the Trevor Thom books as you might find the AFE series (Jeremy Pratt) a bit "warm and cuddly". Admittedly, Thom series can be a bit dry but all the information is there. The AFE series are beautifully laid out and presented but personally, didn't find them as good as Thom.

Another book to recommend is Questions and Answers for the Private Pilot by (Holden & Brett???). The standard of their questions is slightly higher than the real thing IMHO.

As long as you cover the information in the books, you should have no problem in passing the exams. At least with books you can take them anywhere, whereas the CD-Rom method is a little less portable!

Cheers

Whirlygig

[Aussie Andy]

1) buy Trevor Thom - do the questions at the end of each chapter
2) get the Confuser - then, when you get 95% right in the Confuser...
3) sit the exam.
4) repeat for each paper

Andy

[J.A.F.O.]

After 10 years away from military aviating I used the Trevor Thom books (bought 2nd hand on eBay and then re-sold for about the same money) to do some self study and passed all of the exams without too much trouble.

If you want to find out what level your brain is currently at then may I suggest that you try www.airquiz.com - for just a few quid you can find out what level you're at and get an idea of what you need to do.

Any questions PM me - all done this year so still fairly fresh.

[G SXTY]

All good advice.

I used the Thom books, then once I'd covered everything I bought the PPL Confuser. Once I was happy with the exam 'style' questions I sat the exams, and Bob's your aunty's live-in lover. :)

With your experience level it should just be a question of brushing off the cobwebs, so you probably wouldn't need any extras (or extra expenses).

[Fake Sealion]

Thanks for the prompt replies folks !

Looks like Mr Thom will be selling some more books soon !Although must try ebay first !
JAFO - I like the airquiz website !
Excuse my ignorance but - What is J A F O ?? :D

[AerBabe]

What is J A F O It's when someone steals your orange/chocolate sponge biscuit half way through eating it. :sad:

[Fake Sealion]

;) Thanks AerBabe, I think I understand . . . . . . . ???

[J.A.F.O.]

I couldn't possibly explain on open forums what JAFO means, suffice it to say that I'm Just Another one, I think I'll stick with Aebabe's explanation to save embarrassment.

Airquiz is very good, though. I'm not involved so it isn't advertising to say that for just a few quid it's the best service you'll find, even swift response to email if you really don't understand a question.

There's still plenty of "Thom's" on eBay under the everything else category.

Try it out and good luck.

[nigelisom]

After 30 years of not learning anything waking up the grey cells took a bit of doing, but what worked for me was the AFE books read through each subject once, then again one section at a time answering the questions at the chapter ends, then going through the questions for the subject in the ppl confuser, then revising the ones I got wrong before taking each exam. It seemed tedious at the time but it was worth it in the end as I passed all the exams first time and best of all passed my final skills test Tuesday.
I eagerly await my license from the CAA so that I can finally take the wife out to France for that dinner I have been rashly promissing her for all these months I have been training! Anyone know how long they are taking at the moment?
p.s. I also looked at the Teach me to Fly cd and found it to be very superficial.
Hope this helps

[IO540]

Aussie Andy is 100% right.

I am sure some books are better than T/Thom for actually learning the material, but the CAA exam paper questions are based on people swatting up the TT material, warts and all.

[J.A.F.O.]

I'm assuming Groung exams are like Ground exams. :p

[Fake Sealion]

OK OK....well spotted, but it did take someone 10hrs 40 minutes to notice it !

End of thread I think ? ! Thanks again for the help.

;)

[DRJAD]

I used, for PPL, the Thom books, supplemented by some older texts, like the Alan Bramson book which used to be used for the UK PPL.

Though I work some of the time in the IT industry, I find CBT very limiting, since it does not allow easily for followup of lines of thought which arise on the spur of the moment, and which are out of sequence for the order presented in the CBT.

Persoanlly, I cannot see the point in the Confuser or other quiz-type facilities, there was more than sufficient in the Thom books to gain an idea of one's retention and understanding. It is all striaghtforward anyway.

[Whirlygig]

I found the Q&A book and PPL confuser very useful because, never having sat CAA exams before, I had no idea what to expect, what sort of style etc. that the questions would be written in.

Although I studied my little socks off, I did get into a bit of a tizzy before I sat my forst one as I didn't know what to expect and it is to this end that the "quiz" type books are useful.

Cheers

Whirlygig