PPL theory

[Dylan Longman]

I am currently 14 almost 15, and just started flight training for my PPL (A) in a DV-20. I live in the Netherlands, but my native language is English, so I’ll be doing the theory in English. I was wondering when a relatively good time would be to start (I would like to do my 1st solo at 16). Should I wait till next year to do it l, or should I start as soon as possible? My goal is to pass every PPL exam on the first try, and I hope I am capable of that at 15.

[Genghis the Engineer]

So if you are going for the full PPL, you need to give some thought to which jurisdiction you want to do it in. If you do a Netherlands licence, that is valid throughout the EU, but it's not valid in the UK or the USA. There are schools that will do UK+EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) licences side by side, and it's easy enough as both the flying and theoretical knowledge syllabi are basically identical (the reasons for the split are political, and frankly not worth worrying about, they just are).

If you want to take the exams in English then your obvious countries are Ireland or Malta, both of which have a good reputation as aeronautically sensible places. I'd look to schools there, and maybe Spain (Fly In Spain in Jerez is one I happen to know that do UK and EASA side-by-side) who can arrange the exams and flying training this way. (I'm guessing you're a British citizen or joint citizen, if that's incorrect say, and I'll provide some further explanation). That way you can study once, just take two sets of very similar exams, one flight test with a joint rated examiner and get two licences.

I would certainly recommend starting the theoretical study now - find a suitable groundschool provider and get signed up with a correspondence course. Look to where and when to do your flying training however: you probably don't want to get constrained to only being able to fly in the EU if your nationality isn't an EU one.

Assuming that, say, you can talk your family into a holiday in the right place, you could probably do the full PPL course in 4-5 weeks - wrapped around your 17th birthday would be the ideal period if you have the patience to wait a bit. The issue with doing it slowly, for you, may be doing it in the Netherlands, but so far as I know there are no schools there who can train for anything but EASA licences.

G

[Dylan Longman]

I am South African, but I do have a Dutch past so I do currently have a Dutch passport and therefore I can get an EASA license. I found a ground school that does them in English, but the only thing is that there I have to do all 9 exams in one singular day. If that is my only option for English theory, I will certainly do it.

[Jhieminga]

Hi Dylan, based on your location and the aircraft type, I'm guessing you're doing your training at WoH? There are a lot of very good instructors and examiners there who I'm sure are also good sounding boards for questions like these. The only caveat is that flying schools don't get a lot of 14/15 year olds through their doors so experience with your particular situation is not that common. I think that the best comparison would be to look at your high school records and results, are you able to take up a new subject and get good grades for that within a reasonable time and with a normal study load? The exams for the PPL are not all that difficult, but it's a lot of information and taking them all on a single day is quite a big challenge. I think aspiring pilots twice your age would still find that a challenge. I would try to find a way to spread those exams over more than one sitting, as that would give you a lot more leeway in dealing with them. Try one or two easy ones and then spread the rest over two sittings perhaps. That's a lot better for your study pace and peace of mind. I'm not sure who you found to do the theory with... are you able to share the name of the school here?

[Fly-by-Wife]

Be aware of the validity period for the theory exams - in the UK it's 18 months from passing the first to passing the last and then 24 months from passing the last exam to completing the flight training, passing the skill test and having your licence issued. I assume that there will be a similar requirement wherever you decide to train.

Doing all the exams in a single day is a big ask for anyone. You will almost certainly have to pass certain exams before going solo (e.g. air law), so if that then means you have to pass ALL of them before going solo, it starts the clock on the validity period at an unnecessarily early point in your training. I'm not saying it's unachievable, just be aware of the additional pressure that you would then be under.

Taking exams individually as you progress with your flying trying is a lot easier, as you can relate the theory to the practice, particularly with RT and navigation.

[Dylan Longman]

I am doing my flight training at Aeroclub Hilversum - Amsterdam located at EHHV (Hilversum Airfield), but my ground school will be Orbit groundschool.

[Discorde]

Hi Dylan. I've sent you a PM about training manuals. Good luck with the course!

[Genghis the Engineer]

So you're almost certainly not going to be able to combine EASA and South African training anywhere, disregard my incorrect assumptions that you might be after a UK licence.

9 exams in a day sounds brutal and unachievable to me, quite frankly - I certainly don't know of any regulation that requires that. I'd challenge that.

G

[Jhieminga]

Right, I've been chatting with someone who knows this stuff and it's not as bad as it sounds. You get six sittings but you can have a go at all of the subjects from the start. Each subject is covered in approx. 12 multiple choice questions at the exam, so doing all of them is certainly possible in one sitting. It's been done in 1.5 hours but if you take your time you can expect to take 3.5-4 hours. If you pass three of the subjects, the rest can be done in the second sitting and so on. If you pass eight subjects during the first sitting, you only have one left to do in the next sitting. By doing this all in one go you actually get the chance to link stuff together a bit more than when doing one subject at a time. It may not be everyone's choice to do it this way, but you've picked a good set of training facilities who can help you with this.

I would have a good chat with your instructor and the people supporting the theory side as they will be best placed to advise you on when to do what. There is a reasonable period within which to take part in those six sittings for the PPL theory exams, and from there you've got an additional 24 months to get the practical side buttoned up. Any advice we would provide on this would be no more than a guess, while your instructor(s) can see where you are, how you're progressing and what would fit your needs/capabilities.

And remember: it's supposed to be fun!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Some quite misleading advice in Jhieminga's reply above, in my opinion.

Firstly let's look at the exams...

1 - Meteorology - 16 questions - 50 minutes
2 - Navigation - 12 questions - 45 minutes
3 - Flight Performance and Planning - 12 questions - 20 minutes
4 - Human performance and limitations - 12 questions - 25 minutes
5 - Air Law - 16 questions - 35 minutes
6 - Operational procedures - 12 questions - 30 minutes
7 - Aircraft General Knowledge - 16 questions - 35 minutes
8 - Principles of flight - 12 questions - 35 minutes
9 - Communications - 12 questions - 20 minutes

So that's 4hrs 55 minutes actual exam taking time, allow 10 minutes between exams, that's around 6½ hours if you shoot straight through, take no breaks, eat no meals.

But also there is a LOT of material here - it is not a short and easy single exam session like the American PPL written, each of these topics is between half and one substantial volume of material to learn. And, this can't be emphasised enough, you need to KNOW these subjects - not just question spot to scrape through a minimum pass in each. This knowledge is important to your safety and future career.

So it's absolutely right and proper to group the exams, but to try and do all nine on a single day is a very bad idea.

Talk to the people who'll be training you, agree a strategy, decide what you're going to study first (Air Law, and Operational Procedures is a fair bet), identify the teaching material you're going to use - there's quite a lot of choice now, and start studying. Fortunately most of it is actually very interesting. Try and understand well all of the material you have to learn.

And good luck!

G

[BEagle]

The '6 sittings' restriction was deleted forLAPL/PPL exams several years ago now.

Also the LAPL/PPL exams are left to national authorities to write, provided that the learning objectives are covered. So information about the exams in the UK won't necessarily apply elsewhere.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Thanks for those corrections BEagle, although I think that most countries are still doing more or less the same thing on length and number of questions for EASA PPL TK aren't they?

G

[Jhieminga]

I got this stuff pretty much straight from the horse's mouth as it were... the Dutch training provider is doing this based on extensive experience with distance learning and with candidates from various backgrounds. They group the subjects into three different modules, each of which can be studied individually or together and the distance learning bit is supported by live evenings where they do revision and brush up before setting off on the exams. These are done in-house as they are an exam centre for Austro Control. See here: https://orbit-groundschool.nl/private-pilot-ppl-a/

It's a different approach compared to some other countries/training providers but the school has been around for a while and, in this particular situation, is a pretty good match for what Dylan is trying to achieve: an EASA PPL in The Netherlands but using English language materials and exams.

[kaninte]

If the 9 exams have to be done in the same day and it's your biggest concern don't worry so much for it, in Hungary is the same and didn't feel like an impossible task, read the theory and put 100h of QB studying the 14-10 days before and should be fine, I started at 9am and walked out after completing the 9 exams around 12.15 just having 2-3 very short breaks to visit the bathroom and eat a chocolate bar. Perfectly doable.

You will find exams where you get 30' to complete it but 18/20 of the questions are from the bank and you will be done in 5 mins anyway, is quicker than planned.