Which books for B licence self study?

[banditb6]

Hello I am wanting to self study for the 13/14 exams for the B licence, without the need of buying an expensive course and instead just using the books, problem is with so many Maintenance books around I don't know which ones to choose? Anyone got some reccomendations? Something like this? Airframe & Powerplant Handbook: Airframe (http://www.transair.co.uk/sp+Aircraft-Maintenance-Books-Airframe-Powerplant-Handbook-Airframe+7036)

Thanks for any advice

[TURIN]

The Jet Engine-Rolls Royce.

Flight Without Formula-A.C.Kermode

Assuming you are doing a B1 and not the cone head equivelant. ;)

[lovegroove]

It would cost more to buy all the books you need for mod 13 than it would to go and sit a course. If you plan on going to sit your exam at a CAA test centre then you have no idea what books they take the questions from and as far as i'm aware the CAA don't publish a list of suggested reading.

[munster]

The A and P books are good because they're written for Americans. Pallets book; aircraft electrical systems is good for the fairy stuff. As are the likes of club 66 for revision practice.
If you PM me I'll send you some notes to get you started.

[banditb6]

Im aware they dont publish a list but the theory is the same in all of the books, the basics of aerodynamics etc will be the same throughout the range of books on the matter im sure? The books are not so expensive, £5 for the book I mentioned above.

[Capot]

To give yourself the best chance, select a Part 147-approved school that offers places in examinations to all-comers, and runs reasonably frequent sessions at which you can sit any Module. You will have to do some research on this; start with the CAA list of Part 147 approved Basic Training providers and talk to them. There are only a dozen or so in the UK.

Then buy that school's Module Notes and use those as the basis for your studies. Their exam questions will be drawn from those Notes.

Do not believe anyone who suggests that because the syllabus is the same for everyone, all Part 147-schools in the UK, (or EASA-land for that matter) teach the same stuff and examine to the same standard. They do not, and there is no attempt to harmonise examination marking and standards among approved schools. Avoid UK CAA exams if you can.

Supplement the reading with well known text books if you want to clarify things.

One of the problems is making sure that both what you learn and the examination you take are up to date with the new Part 66 pubished in ED 1149/2011. Getting the material and the exams from the same provider should eliminate the difficulty, but watch out for exams being updated after you buy the Notes.

[shumway76]

This is where the FAA is better, in the sense that to obtain your A&P, all you need to read is the FAA General, Airframe, Powerplant handbooks & the ACs & FARs, all issued & controlled by FAA themself.

If it's not in those handbooks, it's not supposed to be in the exam.

[mitzy69]

local library and childrens school books for physics when studying for
B1 mod 5.

[aeromech3]

Had a set for my 21st B'day and and kept them updated for years, reviewing for each of my 5 type licences but those where the days when you had to know how to jury rig a plane to fly out of the ARB desert :(
Doubt they are publicly available now or anything similar British.

[TURIN]

Avoid UK CAA exams if you can.

That is an interesting point of view Capot, please explain.



For the OP, if you just want to pass the modules then the numerous websites offering mock exams is the way to go. Just practice the exams and eventually you will know all the questions/answers.

On the other hand, if you want to actually learn the subjects then courses and book study are the only way to do it properly.

Good luck. :ok:

[Capot]

Hi TURIN,

I'm not sure if your irony about learning the exam answers came through! There are still people who think that this is the way to do it, and I hope they don't see your post as encouragement.

For their benefit, please be assured that learning the answers to old exam questions is a total waste of time. They might be out of date, and indeed are on some of the websites you can find them, and it's actually easier to learn the material than to learn between 10,000 and 15,000 possible questions in all the Modules. Even then, the questions have slight variations, and if you don't understand the question you will never get the right answer with a greater than 33.33% probability.

My comment about UK CAA exams has 2 reasons, neither, as it happens, my feelings about the UK CAA. Firstly, they are writing questions based on the entire syllabus, quite rightly, and without reference to any paticular set of notes. So you are more likely to find questions coming right of of the blue, which are perfectly fair but not necessarily set in a way that you understand. It's perfectly arguable, from the point of view of having top-class engineers, that this is how it should be. But I think that my suggestions would still lead to good engineers but the exam is more likely to be passable than the CAA's. Until the CAA actually does something about harmonisation, of course.

The second reason concerns Essay examinations only. From my knowledge, the CAA takes an extremely hard view, and I have heard it said that everyone needs to fail once. So again, while harmonisation is still round the corner, it is my tip to avoid the UK CAA.

[TURIN]

No irony intended Capot.

I know several people who have passed modules by studying the question banks. Admittedly, they have several years experience in aircraft maintenance but even so...

Oh, and before you ask, they took CAA exams. :eek:


Your second point about essay exams may be one of the reasons that the UK Licence is deemed to be, shall we say, 'more desirable' than others by employers. :ok:

[banditb6]

Ok so forgive my ignorance here but are there two diiferent sets of Exams for the EASA B licence? CAA and other 147 approved schools own versions? This would seem daft but again I am new to this area. My plan was to gain the 3 years hands on experience required to gain the B1.2 licence whilst self studying towards the 13 modules of the B licence syllabus to get the B1.2 licence, taking an exam every other month or so as I gain more practical experience? Why do I need to go and do classroom based study also? Not trying to sound difficult just actually wondering if it is necessary to fork out for a course!?

I want to learn the subjects not the answers to the questions, thats cheating and will be costly to my future career prosepcts when I have no knowledge of the subjects I am trying to work with.
Thanks again for the replies, I am only interested in doing EASA/CAA training not FAA.