should i buy the manuals now?

[Pilot16]

Hy Guys,

Like a lot of people here, I am a keen wannabe.
I am 16 at the moment and am absolutey sure that this is the career for me as I have been for most of my life. I have spent a lot of money buyig and reading aviation books including ground study books on PPL.
I am now planning to buy the full set of 15 JAA ATPL manuals by Jepessen as I have got some good feedbacks on it and have also had a look at the online amendmends which to me, looked pretty impressive. I will buy them as soon as I've got the dosh in hand. They are obviousy for the ATPL ground studies at 18, but also I can study them during college years (I really cant wait :( )
My question is: how likely is it that the manuals may be revised and updated by the time I do my Atpl studies in two years time? ? which will leave me with manuals that need updating at time of the actual course :confused: if so, i may be better off buying them later. i look forward to your advise :) .

Thanks very much in advance.

[redsnail]

There is a good chance that they will be revised in the 2 years between now and when you start the course. It won't be too much but you never know with JAR....

Personally I wouldn't bother. If I were you and had the time on my hands I'd become friendly with the local engineering workshop/hangar and get to know the aircraft well. It doesn't matter if it is "only" small piston aircraft you get to know. There are exam questions on pistons and superchargers. This is a very good way to understand the various systems in an aircraft. You'll get to see how the controls are rigged, the instruments and how they are fitted (and the inputs!!) and how the various bits and pieces are fitted to the engine. In 2 years you'll learn a lot. Not only will this give you a very good grounding for the "techs" it will certainly help you when you are learning to fly.
Think about this, if an interviewer asks "what have you done so far in aviation?" and you have about 200 hours. What will sound better, "oh I read Jep manuals" or "I spent as much time as I could in the local hangar learning about aircraft"
If for some reason you decide to fly in Africa etc, you'll have a much better chance of surviving because you'll know your aircraft well.
Other things to do. Start watching the weather (6 o'clock news) and noting what is going on around the world climate wise. This will help you to figure out climatology. Note what the ITCZ is doing.
Get yourself to aviation museums. Seek out the ones with cut away turbine engines. A "real" one makes a lot more sense than some pictures in a book.
My ideas are to make the next 2 years of learning fun. Wading through text books aimed at the JAR exams isn't always fun.

Have fun.

[tonyblair]

Pilot16, redsnail's advice is good. The other thing to consider is that you may elect to do your training with someone other than Oxford. If you have the Oxford manuals, you may well end up buying another set bundled with another school's course.

Besides that, most people dread doing the ATPLs once. Doing them twice smacks of dubious preferences ;)

[jonathang]

would not bother buying them.. I bought them too early and have gone out of date. They are a pain to update.

[leading edge!]

I think that the general advice is good. I would not start buying the manuals yet. What I would do, is to find related books, such as books that have Topics re Principles of Flight, and perhaps Aircraft General knowledge. The more of a background you can get now, the better!! The syllabus is destined to change, albeit, probably not that much. Good luck with your studies..

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Pointless.

I wouldn't buy the Jepp books anyway. There is much better product out there imho.

If you were mad dead keen then there is nothing stopping you getting hold of the ATPL groundschool books/CD's and just reading them through endlessly.

The subsequent modular or integrated groundschool should then be a breeze.

Good luck,

WWW

[pugzi]

The new edition of the Jep manuals will be out before the end of the year, so you might as well wait. All ammendments and additions on the web will be included plus anything else that has come up that you need to know about. So buy them just before you need them to make sure you got the "hottest" gen!.
Good luck you keen bee!.

[jjdlavender]

Best advice I can give you at the moment. Put all thoughts of being tempted by the RAF out of your mind. It is a much better pay and lifestyle outside.

[Tinstaafl]

Wot Reddo sed.

[Pilot16]

Hi guys

thanks for replying.

If I were you and had the time on my hands I'd become friendly with the local engineering workshop/hangar and get to know the aircraft well. It doesn't matter if it is "only" small piston aircraft you get to know.

redsnail, I live in inner London. Can you please advise me to how i can get involved local engineering workshop/hangar? Id really appreciate your reply or email me at : [email protected]
thanks.

[FlyingForFun]

Pilot16,

Where do you live, exactly? You could certainly give White Waltham (http://www.wlac.co.uk) a call - they often hire kids your age part time to help with cleaning aircraft, moving aircraft in and out of hangars, refuelling, and so on. Not too difficult to get to by train from Paddington. They also give staff discounts for flying. I'd imagine that most other airfields would be similar - find any that you think you'd be able to get to, and give them all a call. Good luck!

FFF
--------------

[redsnail]

Pilot 16,
I don't know the airports around London too well. I'd take FFF's advice.
Before commiting an awful lot of money and effort to an aviation career. I'd do a trial lesson or something just to see if you like it. My apologies if you have already done this. This way you'll also find an airfield that you can get to. Grab a magazine and see where the clubs and so forth are.
good luck.

[Hard Cache]

pilot16

I agree with redsnail's advice. Get hold of a copy of flyer or pilot mags. They've always got loads of schools listed. Also worth having a look at the flyingzone site at. Loads of schools, airfields, museums etc listed for aspects of aviation.

[URL=http://www.flyingzone.co.uk[/URL]

I defininatley would not waste valuable training dosh on extra manuals. Let the school provide and save the cash for the fun bit behind the controls.

Remember: Have fun whatever you do...:D

[Jinkster]

Hello,

I am 19 and was in the same shoes as you. Concentrate on the studies you have at the moment (GCSE/A-Levels) and join the air cadets.

Read the flight international magazine, go to seminars at diffrerent flying schools etc.

and KEEP focused - many people may say "You'll never be able to do it" but prove them wrong. ;)

Keep at it.

Jinkster