PPL Theory Structure?

[JetMouse]

I've just started revising for my PPL theory and I feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment seeing 7 thick books in front of me and therefore I would like to ask for a bit of advice...

For those of you who have completed their PPL - which subject did you start on and did you make thorough notes or just skim through the books?

I've bought the confuser but I think I should really know the subjects rather than just the answers! ;)

Thanks for any advice...

JM

[PPRuNe Dispatcher]

I started with Air Law because it's a club requirement for going solo.

Then Nav & Met as they are club requirements for solo nav exercises.

---Mik

[GAF4139]

Hello, I am just in the middle of preparing for the PPL ground exams myself. I would recommend you do one exam after the other.


I am now preparing for the aviation law exam amd that's how I am doing it: Currently I am working through the chapters in the Trevor Thom book. I read through the whole book in one go and now I am revising chapter by chapter and work through the questions. When I have done this I will do all the questions in the PPL Confuser. Where I can't answer a question I will revise the relevant parts in Trevor Thom again. When I have done this I will do the PPL Confuser again. When I get enough questions right I wil then read through all the questions and answers in the Confuser again before I sit the exam. I did the same for the human performance exam last weekend and it worked fine for me.

Do the human performance exam first. It is fairly easy (provided you have done your studying)and it gives you a boost of confidence when you have passed it. Then do the aviation law exam (At my flying school these are required to be able to fly solo).

Then go for the meteorology exam - not too much to study - before you attempt the navigation exam which is quite a bit to take in. Both of these exams you probably need to have passed to be able to fly solo cross country.

After these I will probably do the flight planning exam before the aircraft general exam which seems to be another big chunk to digest. The order in which you take these two exams is entirely up to you, so do them in whatever order you are most happy with.

When you have mastered all the above exams, don't worry, the fun is not over yet. There are still the written and the oral radio telephony exams to be passed before you can do your PPL skills test.

Have fun, and good luck.


GAF4139

[BEagle]

As an Examiner, I would advise that you tackle Human Performance and Limitations first, then Air Law and Operational Procedures and Communications - PPL (Theory) before going solo. Then do Meteorology, Flight Performance and Planning and Navigation and Radio Aids before planning your first navigation exercise - things will then make more sense to you. Do your RT Practical before your 150nm navigation exercise - you should have had plenty of practice by then and it'll give a lot of confidence. Finish off with the fairly easy Aircraft General and Principles of Flight just before the PPL Skill Test as the oral questions from your Examiner will then be much easier to answer! Conduct your self-study using the text books and their end-of-chapter questions as hasd been recommended and then use the 'PPL Confuser' (if you must) only for revision. You will not pass if you just question-spot from the PPL Confuser!

Good luck!!

[ 07 October 2001: Message edited by: BEagle ]

[FNG]

You might also try supplementing the textbooks and confuser with some readable and thought provoking materials such as "Stick & Rudder" and "Flight Without Formulae", readily available in flying shops and from Amazon etc. There's also an interesting internet book called "See How it Flies".
On Met, I found the book "Pilot's Weather" clearer and snappier in its communication than the standard textbooks, and there's a good website about Met theory run by the University of Illinois: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu
At the risk of being accused of running before walking, you might have a look at some on the writing on decision-making in American books such as "Be a Better Pilot" and "CRM for single pilots". If you read these, either before or after getting the license, be prepared to deal with a certain amount of US management-consultant-style -self-improvement-what-have-we-learned-today-children-blah-speak, but on balance I think that they're worth a look.
Of course you can't learn either hand and feet skills or sound judgment from books, but they may at least set you thinking about the processses that we go through when making decisions in the cockpit, which is one of the most fascinating parts of flying.

Good luck with the course.

[ 07 October 2001: Message edited by: FNG ]

[Julian]

Jetmouse - I felt the same and was put in touch with a guy called Ron Hayetr down at Bournemouth Airport. He runs a 3 day groundschool and gives you the exma as well, well except the RT! He used to charge £300 for the whole thing, afraid dont have his number any more but shared his ofice with Bournemouth Helicopters so that may help track him down.

Julian.

[JetMouse]

Thank for the help guys...

Julian - is it really possible to cover all the PPL theory in 3 days or does he just help you pass the exams?

[Saab Dastard]

Jetmouse,

I haven't quite finished (2 to do) but here's a tip if you use the PPL confuser:

Photocopy the answer sheets and save your answers when you do the PPL confuser questions the first time, then when you do them the second time you can compare them and see those questions you are consistently getting wrong, so single those out for additional study before taking the exam.

Works for me :)

Good luck

SD

[captaindeakin]

It's interesting on individuals thoughts on the paper exams, the only requirement I had was to do air law before first solo and then complete the remaining exams before the test.

One of the last exams I did was the Nav (not my favourite) and that was two months after doing my Qualifying Cross Country. After passing the GFT I then did my RT practical. I did the RT written the morning of my test (2nd attempt - dare I say).

I only failed air law and RT first time around.

I spent ages and ages studying for all the exams following my failure of the first exam. Granted most ended up close to the 100% and even now I feel happy doing them again and passing if necessary. When you have your licence you have to rely on what you have learn't and new experiences.

In hindsight, I wish I had done all the exams before started to learn to fly. Helps with the understanding along the way and your not tied to having to cram in at the last minute.

Good luck with the exams.

EX DGR