Full Time PPL Theory course

[SenZubEanS]

Hi All, Recently passed GFPT. I know I am not great at self studying and feel I learn better from communicating with somebody, so believe that I would be suited to complete a theory course for PPL (as will likely be the case with the rest, down the track)

I have sent off a few emails and am continuing to dig around, lots of schools in the Melbourne seem to offer a part time 2-3 days a week for 2-3 hours, however I am located 2 hours from Melbourne so this is not really feasible and so i am after something that will just be 2 weeks (assuming) of full time classroom study and then it's done.

Anybody with any recommendations from experience etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all, happy flying

[Jack Ranga]

Where is the 2 hours from Melbourne? West East or North?

[VH-XXX]

North... Bendigo.

[SenZubEanS]

Right you are VH-XXX. I live in Bendigo Jack Ranga.

I have heard nothing but good things about Ground Effect Aviation, but transiting to Melbourne and back on a monday, thursday and saturday for 3 hour classes is really not feasible. I have emailed them to see if they ever run a full time ad-hoc 2 weeks version of their course but am not expecting to get the :ok::ok::ok: on that query.

[the_rookie]

Are you planning on doing your CPL? If so have you thought about skipping your ppl and go straight onto cpl. They do full time at ground effect

[SenZubEanS]

My intentions are to then proceed to CPL. This is something that has gone through the old think tank in between my ears. I just figured that there would then be the chance of the CPL stuff being a bit over my head if I didn't have the perceived prior knowledge and understanding that would have been attained at the PPL level.

Any thoughts on this point are also welcomed however.

[Diesel Pilot]

I agree with the_rookie, if you're going towards a CPL I'd skip the PPL stage entirely. Save yourself some time and money and head straight into the CPL theory and training. Most good flight schools should offer a CPL theory course.

Out of interest which book(s) did you use to study for your BAK? As someone who has self studied everything whilst working full-time I started out using ATC but found them very difficult to absorb. I switched to Bob Tait's books and it just suddenly all made sense. They were much more geared towards teaching you what you need to know rather than exploring things to a great depth. I used BT all the way through my BAK, PPL and CPL exams and passed each exam in the high 90s. The whole ATC vs BT thing is a matter of personal preference but I'd highly recommend them. To give you an idea of the workload I studied for my PPL exam from scratch around one hour each night after work and four hours spread over the weekend for 3 weeks and passed with 95%.

Good luck! :ok:

[SenZubEanS]

Thanks for the info Diesel.
Yeah, I am in the same boat as you. I purchased the ATC BAK and as somebody who isn't much of a reader, it was like getting hit in the face with a brick sometimes.
I had a flick through BT's BAK just before sitting my BAK test and like you, lots of things were a lot clearer then. So I now have purchased the BT PPL book.

I believe I will need to start some NAV training before sitting PPL exam as otherwise I need to do the 200hr CPL as opposed to 150hr. Is there a similar situation in relation to CPL exams?

[Jack Ranga]

Sen,

MFT @ Moorabbin run the occasional full time course, excellent standard, PM me for another school you may be interested in that's west of Melbourne :ok:

[SenZubEanS]

PM coming.
Also I emailed MFT and they advised they discontinued offering theory courses.

[AusFlygal]

Talk to Lionel Taylor who runs a range of full-time courses during the day and part-time evening courses as well. His knowledge is second to none and he always has an amusing story to tell. I did all my CPL subjects and IREX with him and passed them all first go and with scores all in the 80% plus range, as well as one 100%. I couldn't recommend him highly enough.

Lionel is based at the Bini Advanced Flight Training building at Moorabbin but is independent of them.

[Debby Nair]

Absolutely agree about the legendary Lionel Taylor - there is nothing he doesn't know, he's been doing it for more years that he cares to admit to, and he has a never ending supply of great stories to bring out when needed. I did both PPL and CPL theory with Lionel and you can't go past his knowledge and experience.

[SenZubEanS]

Thanks again for the suggestions there. I sent an email off to bini's last night as the website isn't up to date with course dates etc.
Hopefully one of the well recommended places has a solution that will be able to fit my requirements!

[AusFlygal]

The best way to contact Lionel is via his mobile, the last number I had for him was 0413 012 330.

Best of luck!

[smiling monkey]

Absolutely agree about the legendary Lionel Taylor - there is nothing he doesn't know, he's been doing it for more years that he cares to admit to

I did my CPL theory with Lionel way back in 1990 and he was around well before then as well. Yes, agreed he's a legend when it comes to teaching CPL theory. He must know that Echo Mark IV better than anyone else (do they still use that fictitious aircraft for CPL theory these days?) I had private lessons from Lionel back then since I wasn't able to attend any of his classes due to work commitments, so you might be able to do the same as well. Anyway, good luck with it all.

[peterc005]

Lionel Taylor is a legend.

[Col. Flagg]

Lionel Taylor is the way to go. I did CPL, IREX and ATPL with Lionel and loved it. I now work for one of the major 4 airlines and have Lionel to thank for getting me there. On the contact front he has his own website. So google him and you'll get his website.

[SenZubEanS]

Well Lionel is getting a great wrap here, so i've just sent him a text seeing as there ws no reply on the email from the other day. Hopefully he gets back to me :ok:

[the_rookie]

Lionel doesn't do PPL courses. Only CPL and upwards