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Qviator
20th Apr 2015, 14:37
Hi all,

I've been studying for my PPL theory exams here in the UK for a couple of months and plan to complete them by September which is when I'll go abroad(USA) to complete the flight training. However, I feel with full time work etc it will be difficult to do so in time. Now I'm thinking about doing what I can here and leaving the remaining exams for the school abroad. But I can't imagine that even say 4 exams can be completed within the space of 4-6 weeks. Am I missing something? Self study at the moment is giving me 2months per exam :ugh:

Any words of advice would be welcome. Or primarily anybody who has completed all or most of the written exams within short space of the course.

Thank you!

RichardH
20th Apr 2015, 16:51
Back in 1977 did all of mine in 2 days after a couple months of self-study. I know things have changed somewhat but 2 months for a PPL exam is dragging it out about a bit. A friend of mine recently did all his PPL exams in about 4 months.

BigGrecian
20th Apr 2015, 17:11
Pretty normal to see people take all 9 over 2-3 days at PPL level.

Content isn't overly complicated and material is not huge.

You should have around 40% by common sense around 10% with a basic interest in flying and the other 15-40% is from the studying IMHO.

If your going to the USA check the approval status of your ATO first - several have been misrepresenting themselves as EASA approved for their customers to turn up in the USA and be told their not approved.

Here is the approved ATO List :

https://easa.europa.eu/easa-and-you/aviation-domain/commercial-aviation/approved-training-organisations

Mach Jump
20th Apr 2015, 17:35
Pretty normal to see people take all 9 over 2-3 days at PPL level

Love to know where this is normal.


MJ:ok:

BigGrecian
20th Apr 2015, 17:46
Quite often I get people who have done intense study (and then hit pplquiz.co.uk) then completed their min training and then they get them all banged out quickly.

Mainly for the same type of market Qviator is going to where they want to go to the USA after and just focus on the flying.

Makes sense if you ask me as long as they understood the content.

I think Qviator biggest risk is the ATO he's booked at is no longer approved but will keep telling them they are - he/she needs to check!

Contact Approach
20th Apr 2015, 17:59
Get a question bank and smash out the questions using the books as reference. Then pass the exams and learn it all later!

C.A

Prop swinger
20th Apr 2015, 19:29
You have to take all of the exams "under the responsibility of one Member State" (FCL.025.) US EASA flight schools are supervised directly by EASA so I don't think you can do some here & some in the US. All of the exams must be done before the skill test so you either do them all here now or all in the US.

Qviator
20th Apr 2015, 19:47
Thank you all for the responses.

@BigGrecian I haven't yet booked anything. I've always been looking at a particular school not far from San Diego(not sure if I should name names), which is in fact EASA approved. Thanks for the heads up though.

@Prop Swinger, I have read that somewhere but didn't quite read it as having to do all exams under the same state. I guess that makes sense.

I'll have a good think about what I need to do and how to go about doing it.

Thanks

dagowly
20th Apr 2015, 19:48
I managed to do all mine in a fortnight after buying and reading all the pooleys books. it is possible.

thing
20th Apr 2015, 20:18
Seem to remember doing mine pretty quick as well. Looked at the book for a couple of days before hand, hammered the online questioner thing (can't remember what was now) and did them one at a time like that. Took me about a fortnight I think. They used to be vote for joe, don't know what they are now. Some of them only take ten or fifteen minutes. The nav one is a bit long 'cos there's lots of faffing around on it marking routes up and such like.

I managed to do all mine in a fortnight after buying and reading all the pooleys books.My instructor wrote the books, which I suppose helped a bit...:)

loggie1983
20th Apr 2015, 21:01
I passed Air Law and Comms today; the Air Pilots manual couples with Robert McPhee App was all I needed. Rather than just 'answering the questions', I feel I have learnt the subject by self studying. Each topic took me a week to get through, reading and completing the questions at the end of each chapter is best, the app was great for testing knowledge in an 'exam type' afterwards.

Rhino25782
20th Apr 2015, 22:17
Hey,

As my setup was VERY similar to yours (if you want to stick to not mentioning names, let's say it's the only EASA-approved school at Gillespie Field in El Cajon...), here's my feedback:

I did 4 exams in the UK before venturing out to the US and I couldn't get the others out of the way due to "rest of life" committments. It was a great help to get them done beforehand. Doing all of the theory exams while being in the US for 4-5 weeks is a lot. Really - it's a lot. You need to give yourself some rest, too, and it should be enjoyable.

I squeezed the remaining 3 (at the time) exams into the time spent in California and completed them there. I have to say, I scored much better grades on the ones completed calmly beforehand than on the ones I completed between actual flying lessons, even failing NAV on the first attempt.


US EASA flight schools are supervised directly by EASA so I don't think you can do some here & some in the US.Interesting. When I was there in 2013, it was still supervised by UK CAA and I imagine it still must be? What state will issue the license upon completion? Surely not the US or EASA itself (they don't have the authority to do that, AFAIK)?

I suggest to discuss this with the Head of Training of the flying school, too - he'll be on top of current regulations.

Good luck and have fun!

ChickenHouse
21st Apr 2015, 14:15
In the certification of theory classes there is a setting given to the school for a minimum time to spend. EASA PPL remote learning theory can typically be done in 4 weeks, assuming 36 hours per week learning and including 10 hours front face class. If you focus, it can be done. But, if you are doing this besides regular work, it will take much longer in total hours! I did my theory while working full time and it took me about 6 month to pass all in one. The key is, as always, focus, focus, focus.

BEagle
21st Apr 2015, 14:34
The times, they are a-changin'!

1. Before you take any PPL exam, you have to be 'signed off' by a qualified person.

2. New PPL exams are under development; the old nonsense questions will be binned and only questions which are relevant will be set.

3. Gone are the days of the nonsense in the Nav exam of one incorrect answer rendering the next few answers wrong.

4. UK PPL questions will ultimately go 'online'.

....and for the cheats who put the known questions into an 'app', expect your collars to be felt.

The new era will mean that students will need to study the topic and answer reasonable questions. Gone will be the days of simply memorising answers to utter rubbish - when the online system is up and running it well randomise the questions for each section from a master database and the answer sequences will also be randomised - so 'c. is always the right answer' and other myths will no longer apply.

BackPacker
21st Apr 2015, 18:16
When I did my intensive PPL in the US, I studied the theory beforehand (took me more than two months, 2-3 hours in the evenings, 2-3 evenings per week) but I passed all but one of the exams in the first week there, on the first attempt.

The only exception was nav, which I deliberately postponed until after I had done a navex or two. I passed that one on the first attempt too, but only at the end of the second week.

It's not the exams themselves. They're only 90 minutes or so, so they can easily and comfortably squeezed in between your flying sorties. (Due to instructor scheduling, there will be at least two hours, and more often four hours between flying sorties.) What is going to kill you is the study for the theory. That is something you definitely should not postpone until getting to the US. Ideally, you should be ready to take *any* exam on the first day of arriving in the US.

BillieBob
6th May 2015, 14:38
When I was there in 2013, it was still supervised by UK CAA and I imagine it still must be?The competent authority for all 3rd country approved training organisations is now EASA., although the day-to-day oversight is sub-contracted to an individual member state. This means that whilst an individual ATO may be 'supervised' by the UK CAA (or another competent authority), the approval certificate is issued by EASA.

FCL.025 states, "Applicants shall take the entire set of examinations for a specific licence or rating under the responsibility of one Member State" - note that it doesn't refer to a single competent authority. In practice, this means that, provided there is a 'Ground Examiner' at El Cajon, you may sit UK PPL theoretical knowledge examinations there notwithstanding that the UK is not the competent authority for the ATO. However, as the ATO is subject to the provisions of Part-FCL, they will need to provide the minimum approved classroom training and make a formal recommendation for the particular subject(s).