Good news for all you wannabee ATPLs..

[StevieTerrier]

I have heard that somebody has nicked copies of the JAR written exams and is advertising copies "somewhere on the Internet" at $1,000 per set.

Anybody know any more??

[B412]

If buying stolen exams is good news for wannabees, then the industry is in for massive problems in the future. We do not need cheats or people with no integrity in Aviation.
Study hard and you will pass, there are no shortcuts in helicopter flying.

[Tokoloshe]

sounds like what happened in South Africa recently; people bought some exam papers from the CAA and conveniently got their ATP's. :(
Saddest part is the whole fiasco was eventually swept under the carpet, agh politiek......(so called lack of evidence!)
One of the characters in this saga gained some notoriety recently as his named cropped up with old Bin Laden and his gang of tuffies. Seems like he was busy doing a US licence at the time.

:confused:

[StevieTerrier]

B412 - I agree with you entirely, of course.

But..ask yourself this. Putting aside the fact that the source is somewhat er..dodgy, what is the difference in principle between buying the questions to the JAR exams and going to the US and buying (for about $30) a book containing the questions, answers and explanations for any FAA exam? Perfectly legally.

So you see, there ARE some short cuts in helicopter flying...

[Red Wine]

Helidrover.......

Sorry Buddy.......having studied hard......very very hard for months for the CAA [UK] and then the CASA [Australia] ATPL......and then on the 14 hour 747 flight for the FAA ATPL minus sleeping, movie and drinks.......with a 96% Pass........

Don't knock it....!!!

[StevieTerrier]

To Helidrvr :

Well that might have been your experience. Mine was two weeks sunning around the pool learning the CPL exams, (I admit I got one question wrong, but hey I was happy with that), a 20 minute flight test where the examiner did the radio work, and a max 10 minute oral all concerning the R22. And that was that. The flight school had told me the route I would take, where I would be getting a PFL, which car park I should aim for etc etc. The examiner didnt work for the school by the way, he roamed around doing flight tests all around the area.

Now maybe it was because I was foreigner and the examiner knew I would just take my ticket and go home to Blighty, but thats the way it happened. I guess the trick is to pick a busy school full of Japanese / Swedish / German / Spanish students.

Of course I then came home to the UK and the real fun began.

[StevieTerrier]

Helidrvr - no doubt thats the case.

But then again our "cheating wannabee ATPL" would be caught out over here, as the CAA give you a three-part flight test before issuing your CPL, and you would have to have OPC / LPC checks before flying for an AOC operator.

But thats digressing. The point is that you CAN take your FAA writtens after buying the exam answers. Which is exactly what you can (apparently) do with these "stolen" JAR exams. The only difference is in the ethics of the thing. I'm not condoning it, buddy, just pointing it out!

And I'm certainly not knocking the FAA system as it is saving me a fortune now on not having to keep my all UK licence types current under the wonderful new world which is JAR.

[RW-1]

Don't mean to butt in, but you cannot just go take an FAA exam after purchasing any study materials.

One of the things you need to take the test will be a CFI endorsement stating you are ready to take the written.

I know, I'm nitpicking.... but it's true. :D

As to the rest, I'm not not commenting either way.

[Aesir]

The FAA ATPL (H) is not something that is handed out in cereal boxes, I know my oral test was 7:30 hrs (Incl. lunch break!) and the flight test 2:20 hrs. The thing I liked about the FAA CPL/IR CFII & ATPL training and test was that everything on the tests was applicable to real world flying and now 13 years later I am constantly reminded how good the training was in the US compared to what I have to live with in Europe with complicated and not a really good "Real world" theoretical training. 90% is not applicable and you will never use it.

I am an FI & FE and am constantly surprised by students that have completed the gruelling JAR ATPL exams but they still can not tell me which documents are required to be carried aboard the aircraft, a question any solo student in the US can answer! (Ever had a ramp check by FAA inspector?)

And anyway if you search the internet you can find a lot of the JAR questions for free and I do not consider it cheating if you know the answers to the questions on the ATPL exams, its impossible to learn them all anyway, there are over 10.000 questions in the JAA question bank in Brussel.