Time to prepare first ATPL session

[inabw]

Hi guys,

Soon I'll start with my ATPL exams, and I want take my first session, maybe in March/April.
I would like take these subjects : Air Law, Instruments, Agk, Meteo and Comm VFR-IFR.

What do you think about it? It's too much for the first session?
How long time did you take to prepare 1 session?
Do you think that 4 months are enough?

Share you experience, thanks in advance.

[rudestuff]

I studied hard, fast and aggressively for one week per subject. I took them in groups of 3 and 4.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Personally I’d recommend taking your time if you can afford it. I did them over about a year, so I’d say four months to do the first block is probably about right. Mind you, you have included the two Comms ones which are a bit Micky Mouse.

Do not underestimate the importance of “bashing the bank”. Yes, of course you need to study and understand the subject, but you could easily flunk the exam if you’re not accustomed to the questions, even if you know the subjects well.

Everyone’s different though. For me, cramming each subject into a week wouldn’t have worked. But presumably it did for rudestuff.

[cavok_flyer]

I would drop Meteo and do OPs since Air Law has a lot of overlap with OPs.

[Officer Kite]

I studied hard, fast and aggressively for one week per subject. I took them in groups of 3 and 4.

You did AGK in 1 week? GNav too in 1 week?

Are you sure about this or was that an average you gave?

[rudestuff]

Yes. I found it nearly impossible to get motivated to study after working a 60 hour week. I can only learn if I'm under pressure. Putting them off indefinitely was as good as not doing them at all, so I set myself a challenge - I took 4 weeks off work and booked my first four exams.

I smashed every question bank until I could get 100%, accepted every 'rote' answer and googled or YouTubed everything that required a technique or explanation. Some subjects required more than a week some less than a week. VFR and IFR comms for example took about a day. I booked two exams for Monday and two exams for Thursday, giving two full extra days study time. The hardest thing is booking the exams. I got a 95% average, I understand it won't work for everyone.

AGK and GNAV no more than a week, AIR law and HPL slightly more. If you want a sound understanding of the subject, work longer and harder. For me it was just a technique to pass the exams. Some people will say that you need to really understand this stuff - that is very true for some subjects, not so much for others - in my aircraft packs are off or Auto - and that is as much as I need to know.

[Black Pudding]

How and with who are you planning to use as a school