PPL theory (CAA) books. Witch ones?

[Aviatore]

Hello Guys! I'm going to buy the book set for my PPL ground theory.
I was looking to 2 different options:
Oxford PPL books set
Thomas Trevor set

I didn't see them so i don't know witch is better.

I can buy both. Your experience?
Thank you so much!

Regards
Roberto.

[MagicTiger]

If you plan to do ATPL later, then the Oxford ones are the best.

[paco]

On the same basis, try this:

JAR Private Pilot Studies (http://www.electrocution.com/aviation/#JARPPL)

It's the only one based based on an approved JAA ATPL(A) course.

You will find the Oxford ones difficult to read because of the poor choice of font for the body text. The Trevor Thom ones were updated by Pete Godwin at Bonus, so are pretty good as far as the content goes. You might also like the Jeremy Pratt ones, as they are easy to read as well, though no colour.

Phil

[Shiny_Pants]

I've recently started my PPL and bought a few of the Oxford PPL manuals. Although they are very good, in my opinion, it should be known that they don't have any of the actual flight exercise illustrations in them. I believe it's only the Trevor Thom (and possible Jeremy Pratt) manuals which have these in them. As a result of this i've also bought the Trevor Thom Flying Training (Vol 1) manual so i can prepare for each lesson beforehand and gain a basic understanding of the flying exercises which i'm going to be completing.

[Aviatore]

Thank you for your answer guys!

it should be known that they don't have any of the actual flight exercise illustrations in them

I was thinking that Oxford books had a lot of pictures... So in this case, if they don't have images to explain the subject, i think that the best choise in this way is Thom Trevor....

[Nasty_Nick]

I've just started learning and have bought the set by Jeremy Pratt which has quite a few pictures in and is easy to understand. The flight training one has a theory and a flight exercise section for each lesson which shows the position of all the controls and the position of the aircraft. The other sets of books probably have them as well, but this set also have mini quiz's at the end of each chapter.

[cats_five]

<snip>
witch
<snip>


That brought up an image of supernatural help... Which witch are you asking for help?

[IO540]

My ex wife would be a good start :)

Also, on the CAA exams, you lose 1 point for each spelling mistake. That is the one thing which the CAA got right :ok:

[Aviatore]

Also, on the CAA exams, you lose 1 point for each spelling mistake. That is the one thing which the CAA got right http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gifYeah of course it's which... hehehe ... One single word? So the CAA is "a witch"...

I've just started learning and have bought the set by Jeremy Pratt which has quite a few pictures in and is easy to understand.

The Jeremy Pratt set seems to be cheaper... I will think about it... If they're the same...

[matt999]

It must be tricky because each person will normally only use one set of books and find it hard to compare.

I'm reading the oxford books before starting my flying, and they seem (to my limited knowledge) to go deeper than strictly necessary for a PPL. I would say that is a good thing though. I've seen some old ATPL manuals, and from what little I saw, they seem pretty similar.

They don't cover the actual flying exercises though. I know that one flying school I'm considering use the APM manual for that.

Good luck with your training....

Matthew

[Whopity]

In the good old days there were two books by Birch and Bramson known as the Pitman's or Longman's Syllaubs depending on which publisher it came from. One book for flying and a single groundschool book contained all the material necessary for the PPL theory. Then came Trevor Thom an entrepreneur and book seller who produced 5 books to cover the same ground. The HPL book is twice as thick as the book authored by the two doctors who wrote the syllabus!

AFE then got in on the act with a similar set of 5 books covering the same ground; I find these better than the Trevor Thom set. Either way, 5 books to do the job of one is an overkill.

Oxford have not taught PPL for a number of years so their notes are probably part of their very good ATPL Course but that's 700 hours compared to 40-50 hours of self study required for a PPL. Try to avoid swamping yourself with too much material. Quite frequently candidates just bone up on exam questions and fail to learn some of the basics.

Cessna used to produce a very good book and matching set of videos called the Cessna Pilot Training Syllabus.