QSP --> ATPL
 

Hello all,

It would be terribly useful to have a thread (maybe a Sticky, mods?) about jumping through the various hoops to gain the holy green book for us current military guys....

Bristol have recently changed the course to a 3-module crammer vice the old 2. Has anyone completed this recently? Any tips for aircrew-esque efficiency? Is the question bank still effective as a means of study or is the full theory package essential reading?

Thanks in advance!

:ok:

^^^
Seconded.

Whilst I appreciate other forums have Professional Training threads; the unique perspectives of a Mil-Civ transition would be well served with a sticky.

Thanks in advance.

The question bank used for the actual exams is now getting routinely updated and amended. I know a guy who is extremely highly qualified in the military who just used the question bank and was defeated completely by the trivia that was asked in a recent exam. He wasn't alone. Unfortunately I think you've got to learn the stuff (even though you will dump 90% of the knowledge later). The mandarins in Brussels have taken some dumb decisions on whatvto include in their gold-plated version of the actual ICAO syllabus. For example for PPL nav, why does the guy need to know about great circles?

Having been through process with licence in hand, but staying in, I'm happy to advise by PM. I have done rotary and nearly finished FW before changing my path.

Just learn it, if for no other reason than you see how little the military actually teach you. I did it in the 90s and had to do all of the gazillion exams; I actually learned a lot

JT,
The examinations are changing rapidly. EASA are filling the QBs at pace to make "learn and dump" increasingly difficult. I did all 14 last year and was appalled by the standard of some of the questions; rather than being used to elicit essential information there were dozens that were deliberately phrased to be obtuse and ambiguous. Some were also clearly translated from another ICAO language. The value of the QBs was recognising these shockers if they turned up in your exam. Overall, several of the RW papers were lazy recasts of FW papers. The Met paper had loads about upper winds and jet streams and almost nothing about, for example, mountain effects. I also learnt a lot doing them, but the balance needs to be struck between a reasonable examination of expected essential knowledge and a growing perception that EASA are both raising revenue through resits and driving training down some very narrow routes for future commercial pilots.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm completing the exams in extremely short order, so advice on the most effective way to study for the exams is appreciated. I have, of course, booked the crammer courses through Bristol and I'm banging through the question banks just now with a view to concentrating my revision on my weakest areas.

For those of you who find this through the search function, don't forget to send off form SRG 2133 to the CAA to apply for military accreditation...it means you don't actually have to do any official groundschool.

I'm quite surprised I've been allowed to fly an EASA aircraft through civilian airspace to civilian airports for years without doing any of this...hey ho, British officer coming through, what!

E8ter,
Agreed! Can't believe any mil pilot does the two RT exams in more than 12 minutes!!! Cheers easy cash for someone.....

No longer green - a horrible blue plastic folder with pockets and a bizarre prohibition on cutting up the A4 licence page - with its 6 pages per side - to fit the different sections into the pockets!

RTL,
Indeed - we started the VFR Comms paper (£68) 3 minutes early and I was actually walking out before the formal start time.......

Good luck with the exams . It was bad enough 44 years ago and now as a PPL ground examiner ; I would not like to do even PPl !
With tongue in cheek , hat , coat , door , car running ..............I've never seen the question asked ... What credits does an ATPL holder have towards becoming a QSP ?

rgds condor .

The medical. As QSP now VR AEF pilot, my ATPL class 1 medical gives me a by on the service medical.

Before the previous LASORS military accreditation was in place, the absurdity of QSP accreditation meant that, on one occasion as a PPL examiner, I had to conduct an RTF theory exam for a military FJ pilot.

He was on exchange with the Luftwaffe and flew over from Germany to Brize Norton in his Tornado via airways, somehow managing to cope with the RT :rolleyes:. His WSO had a coffee in the club room whilst he did the exam - which of course he passed. Cost? There and back in a Tornado plus a couple of bottles of Bitburger for yours truly.

But the LASORS accreditation was lost when 22Gp revised the agreement with the CAA, despite EASA having said that all existing accreditation could continue....:mad: 22Gp then actually raised an internal briefing whinge asking people not to complain about this via social media....:rolleyes:

The LASORS accreditation was a recruiting and retention incentive. As that no longer exists, is it any surprise that pilots aren't hanging around for their 2000TT, 1500 as PIC.....