£17,000 or £5,000 ?

[nunos]

Hi all pruners,
I'm so undecided about my next step, ppl/70 hrs and class 1 Med. Want to sit atpl exams asap (35years old ,I mean young)Will cost me £17,000 to go by the ground school route and around £5,000 by distant learning way,any advice please?
P.S. reason for the £17,000 for g/s is unpaid leave from work, and digs/living expenses and still have to keep supportive wife,kids and mortgage etc

[Blindside]

Why 5K for distance learning?

Bristol is only 2k isn't it? & distance learning would only involve 2 1/2 weeks holiday from work.

www.bristol.gs/Home.html (http://www.bristol.gs/Home.html)

cheers

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Half man, Half jalfrezi.

[This message has been edited by Blindside (edited 08 April 2001).]

[trolleydollylover]

Similar situation except for wife and kids, I have my own buisness and I do find distance learning a struggle, but I cannot get the banks to support me all of the way and I hate the smarmy gits, so sponsorship or distance learning seams the way to go. I am with Atlantic Flight Training at Coventry, they are excellent give them a call on 01203 307566. Their ATPL notes are far better than Scabair and their CFI is better than the miserable Coffin Dodger at PPSC. Although they are a little bit more expensive they give a personal service. Also try Bristol my best mate did their distance learning package and he said the 2 week refresher course was PFM...Pure FLuckin Magic.

If you need anymore let me know

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Whoa there bigfella, whoa!

[Flypuppy]

It's all horses for courses, I guess.

Personally, I don't think I would be able to make a great success out of Distance Learning, holding down the day job and being (pleasantly) distracted by the wife and child.

With the relaxing of the rules on partial passes, this makes life a little easier but what you save on the Distance Learning you might be making up for in resit fees etc.

Also, from a personal perspective, I find that having a bod in front of you to answer all your dumb questions and the camaraderie that builds up in the classroom is worth its weight in pies for helping you through the inevitable "what the hell am I doing this for" moments.

If you can negotiate a leave of abscence from your employer and you can persuade the wife to go out and work while you totally immerse yourself in the wonderful world of JAA Theory, that will probably give you the biggest chance of success, for a first time pass.

These of course are just my humble opinions, but it is how I am going to organise my training in the coming months.

[nunos]

Reason for £5k
All the following must be x2 (mod 1+2)
£200- return flight across the water
£150- digs for 2 weeks
£200- drinking money ( I mean food )
£100- CD rom for mod 1
------(x2)
£1300
£800 for all exams (most schools don't quote this)
£2000 for the books
-------
£4100 - £900 remaining for possible resits etc

Hope you can make sense of this lot, and thanks for the replies !!!!!
PS. Don't want to start about the £17,000 figure!

[Delta Wun-Wun]

I am in exactly the same boat as you,with wife and kids.I would say the best way would be a full time course , as there would be less distractions.However there is no way I can attend a full time course and still support my family.So I have enrolled with Bristol Ground school.I am only two weeks into the course,and so far am very impressed with the quality of the notes.BUT,it will certainly take me more than 15 hrs study a week.At least 4hrs a day I would say and any days off are virtually full time study days.As I have said I cannot do a full time course,so I will just have to get on with it.If you have the chance,then do full time.
Good luck.

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GET THE BLOODY NOSE DOWN!

[nunos]

delta wunwun
thanks for the reply, I'm also going with Bristol for distant learning, as like yourself lots of other commitments etc.My already understanding wife is going to have to be even more understanding and it WILL put a big strain on the whole family.As much as I would love the g.s.(class room,time to study, no distractions etc)it would work out too costly.
Out of interest D11 how old are u, and what are your plans next?

[Delta Wun-Wun]

I am 36.The long term plan is CPL/IR.But at the moment studying each small section of the course.Lots of little goals rather than looking at the big picture.It would be nice to complete the course in 6 mths,but I am no rocket scientist,so it will take as long as it takes.Still manage to fly about once a month to keep my hand in.

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GET THE BLOODY NOSE DOWN!

[nunos]

Thanks for the reply D11, NOW GET BACK TO THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!WILL BE DOING THE SAME THING MYSELF VERY SOON,(CAN'T WAIT) NOT!