ATPL preparation?

[CommanderBlonde]

I've was recently browsing through pooley's catalog and came across the OATS ATPL notes (comprising of 15 - inch thick - binders!) which can be bought for a mere £600.

I was wondering, once i've got my PPL, is it worth buying these (i'm not starting groundschool till jan 2003) and doing some solid revision? or is the information likely to become out dated? And would i be able to make sense of the information without an instructor helping me?

[FatFlyer]

Oxford notes look better than lots of the others so I asasume these will be quite good, however, before you can take the ATPL exams(unless you hold an ICAO ATPL) you need to complete a course with an approved learning provider who will provide you with their notes as part of the package.

[prob30]

I wouldn't bother. I have started at Cabair recently and they give loads of hand outs. It is better to write your own notes in your own words so that you understand it. There is also word of JAR changing the course to a "needs analysis" sylabus rather than the current mish mash of stuff they think you should know. Probably won't affect you in 2003 ut it would be a pain to have £600 of notes to an outdated sylabus.

Get algebra sorted before you start and with a bit of PPL knowledge you will be laughing.

Which school you going to?

[Captain-Ireland]

How difficult is the ATPL course. Like i have no problem with algebra and most of the PPL stuff seems straight forward to me. Is there any realy difficult parts. I did to alevel physics maths and computers if thats revelant

[foghorn]

Your A-levels will give you all the academic knoweldge you need for the course. The main problems with the ATPLs is the sheer breadth of the syllabus. They don't go into great depth in most subjects but they require you to know a massive amount of stuff that is often not related. It's all that learning and re-learning that takes the time (by the way I've got a Masters Engineering degree from Cambridge and I found it hard!)

[CommanderBlonde]

Ok so it seems this course is fairly demanding - to give it my best shot would you recommend a school with small classes and concepts explained using computer illustrations (OATS & PPSC) or would a more mass produced course suffice (London Guild)?
Or does it not really matter where you go it's the notes and revision you do which will help you pass?

[foghorn]

There's a lot to be said for doing it full time as you will be more focussed. What you must be prepared for is that this is more like being at university than being at school - no-one will spoonfeed you - it is up to you to read around the (huge) syllabus to get the full picture in your head.

The schools can help you focus your studies based on their feedback from exams, and of course can assist with assessing your progress, but no-one is going to offer the exam knoweldge on a plate. It's not the FAA ATP's sadly.

IMHO they should make it so that once you unfreeze your ATPL you should be awarded with a bachelor degree, becuase it's the same level of achievement.

cheers!
foggy

[CommanderBlonde]

Foghorn

Thanks for the advice! I keep coming back to the idea of buying these binders and making notes, as in my mind i have a year to play with and i want to give myself as much chance as possible. Even if they do change the syllabus would it not stand me in good stead having spent a year with my head in these books?

[You Aint Seen Me. Roit!]

For all those preparing to do ATPL.

It is very hard, but not impossible. I havn't got any O levels let alone A levels, but with a lot of hard work and committment, I got through, only dropping 1 subject at the first attempt.

As long as you are prepared for lots of hard and what sometimes seems irrelevant work, then you can do it.

Good luck.

[MANDA]

YOU AIN'T SEE ME.ROIT..
A very positive message posted, I to didn't make the grade at school, however 16 years on and now in Florida doing PPL/IMC/HOUR BUILD etc. Starting Coventry in October. What topics of mathematics do I need to brush up on before the course.
Regards,
Paul.