PPL Theory Exams - My experience
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I would agree with the above, although strangely for me I did not find Air Law too much of a slog. I actually found it relatively interesting, especially when I got to learning about Flight Levels, the Quadrantal Rule etc etc, but then I am an Electronics Engineer by trade (although I have been a sales manager for the last 3 years) and so my mind is technically and mathematically biased. I enjoy having things to work through and work out as it were.
Although I am off to Cambridge to get Flight Planning, Aircraft General, and Nav completed this weekend I have started reading up about Aircraft General, and so I make no apologies for the following generalised comment about all of the subjects:
Quite simply if you put the time in, and study the material thoroughly you will do very well in the exams. Unfortunately nobody really likes exams, me included, but there are 7 that have to be passed, and if you want to be a pilot you just have to do them. I do not believe that this flying hobby should be taken lightly as it is unique and privileged skill (I think I read somewhere once that only 0.2% of the population have a PPL) and is heavily dependent on many rules, regulations, and safety considerations.
There are many people who just want to scrape and rush through the tests as quickly as possible to get their license done but ultimately this might lead to less knowledgeable and less safe pilots in the skies. I would say if you are serious about flying you will have the drive to put the require time in to the study side of things. I know it's difficult and painful at times, and that some people pick things up much quicker than others, but persevere and put the required time into the theory and you will have nothing to worry about in the tests.
P.S - I was sent an email by a fellow PPRUNE member which I have inadvertently deleted. If you sent the email please send me a PM or another email.
Although I am off to Cambridge to get Flight Planning, Aircraft General, and Nav completed this weekend I have started reading up about Aircraft General, and so I make no apologies for the following generalised comment about all of the subjects:
Quite simply if you put the time in, and study the material thoroughly you will do very well in the exams. Unfortunately nobody really likes exams, me included, but there are 7 that have to be passed, and if you want to be a pilot you just have to do them. I do not believe that this flying hobby should be taken lightly as it is unique and privileged skill (I think I read somewhere once that only 0.2% of the population have a PPL) and is heavily dependent on many rules, regulations, and safety considerations.
There are many people who just want to scrape and rush through the tests as quickly as possible to get their license done but ultimately this might lead to less knowledgeable and less safe pilots in the skies. I would say if you are serious about flying you will have the drive to put the require time in to the study side of things. I know it's difficult and painful at times, and that some people pick things up much quicker than others, but persevere and put the required time into the theory and you will have nothing to worry about in the tests.
P.S - I was sent an email by a fellow PPRUNE member which I have inadvertently deleted. If you sent the email please send me a PM or another email.
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Right peeps. Got back from Cambridge tonight. Went there for 2 days to get some of my PPL theory exams out the way. The place I went to can be found at the following link:
pplgroundschool.com
I wanted to put the link up as all in all I thought the whole experience was spot on. The instructor, Ash, was excellent indeed. Very very knowledgeable, has a superb way of teaching and really focuses on the key aspects of the subjects which are geared towards making you a better and ultimately safer pilot. I would highly recommend Ash if you're are looking for PPL ground schooling or are struggling with some subjects and need some guidance.
However, I need to make a few things clear so will give you a run down of my overall experience, what we did in the time I was there and how I coped with it all.
Firstly, as you know, I was only there for 2 days and was attempting to get 3 subjects done, Flight Planning, Navigation and Aircraft General. An awful lot in just 2 days I can tell you!! As you might also know from reading my posts I am a pretty committed, hard working bastard so before I went to Cambridge I started studying my way through the Aircraft General book as I knew that it would be a tall order to expect to pass all 3 exams in the 2 days so gave myself a head start. Also, before I went to Cambridge I had a long chat with Ash on the phone and it gave him the chance to assess my 'Academic level' shall we say, as he didn't want to tell me I could get through all 3 exams if he didn't think I was capable or up for the challenge.
So when I arrived, 8:30 on Sunday morning (after a 2 hour drive) we went into the club and got right on with things. We started with Flight Planning and worked through this relentlessly up to about 2:30, the only break being for toilet stops, making a coffee, and lunch which was about 25 mins. HARD WORK, and tiring. Ash was moving at a rate of knots but has an excellent way of teaching to make sure that things are going in while keeping it interesting but also to the point. He clearly has a strong interest in ensuring you properly understand the material before moving on, rather than just soaking up or memorising the details. I sat the exam at about 2:45 and passed with 90%.
At about 3ish we started on Navigation with the view of putting in some hours, and then picking up where we left off the next morning. We worked right through to about 6:30ish and I was sent away to my B&B with lots of homework. I got to the B&B at about 7:15 and after settling in got straight on with the homework, working through this all slowly and methodically right up to 9pm, and then once completed I sat for another hour or so studying the chart to try and familiarise myself with this massively complex 'thing'.
Next morning we kicked off at 9 right back into the Nav and Ash went through the homework bits to check that I had picked up what he had taught me. This was all fine so we cracked on with Radio Navigation for about 2.5 hours up to about midday. I sat the exam and got 100%! Woohoo, finally a 100%er.
After this we got right into Aircraft General. Remember that I had already studied a lot for this exam beforehand, and thank God I did as we really motored through this, working mainly on the more important key topics right up til about 4:30ish. I sat the exam and got 88% which I was very pleased with bearing in mind this is the largest exam of 50 questions. Also after each exam Ash spent good time going through the questions I had failed on making sure I fully understood where I had gone wrong and what the correct answer was and why.
Now, what I would say at this point is don't just assume that you can pop in to Cambridge for a couple of days and leave with 3 exams completed. I really worked my ass off from start to finish and so did Ash. If you are not fully prepared to focus, work hard, listen hard, and learn hard you would struggle to get 3 done in this short time frame. It was a very tiring couple of days but a great experience and Ash was superb.
I think really in summary, having completed 6 exams in just over 4 weeks, I can say that if you are dedicated, work hard and put the time in you should find the exams relatively straight forward. If you are lazy and not taking them seriously I think you will struggle and find yourself failing and retaking some exams. At the end of the day if you want to be a good, safe, and competent pilot the theory stuff is just as important as the practical stuff.
I hope my thread has been helpful to some of you out there in a similar position to me. Best of luck with your exams and keep working hard.
pplgroundschool.com
I wanted to put the link up as all in all I thought the whole experience was spot on. The instructor, Ash, was excellent indeed. Very very knowledgeable, has a superb way of teaching and really focuses on the key aspects of the subjects which are geared towards making you a better and ultimately safer pilot. I would highly recommend Ash if you're are looking for PPL ground schooling or are struggling with some subjects and need some guidance.
However, I need to make a few things clear so will give you a run down of my overall experience, what we did in the time I was there and how I coped with it all.
Firstly, as you know, I was only there for 2 days and was attempting to get 3 subjects done, Flight Planning, Navigation and Aircraft General. An awful lot in just 2 days I can tell you!! As you might also know from reading my posts I am a pretty committed, hard working bastard so before I went to Cambridge I started studying my way through the Aircraft General book as I knew that it would be a tall order to expect to pass all 3 exams in the 2 days so gave myself a head start. Also, before I went to Cambridge I had a long chat with Ash on the phone and it gave him the chance to assess my 'Academic level' shall we say, as he didn't want to tell me I could get through all 3 exams if he didn't think I was capable or up for the challenge.
So when I arrived, 8:30 on Sunday morning (after a 2 hour drive) we went into the club and got right on with things. We started with Flight Planning and worked through this relentlessly up to about 2:30, the only break being for toilet stops, making a coffee, and lunch which was about 25 mins. HARD WORK, and tiring. Ash was moving at a rate of knots but has an excellent way of teaching to make sure that things are going in while keeping it interesting but also to the point. He clearly has a strong interest in ensuring you properly understand the material before moving on, rather than just soaking up or memorising the details. I sat the exam at about 2:45 and passed with 90%.
At about 3ish we started on Navigation with the view of putting in some hours, and then picking up where we left off the next morning. We worked right through to about 6:30ish and I was sent away to my B&B with lots of homework. I got to the B&B at about 7:15 and after settling in got straight on with the homework, working through this all slowly and methodically right up to 9pm, and then once completed I sat for another hour or so studying the chart to try and familiarise myself with this massively complex 'thing'.
Next morning we kicked off at 9 right back into the Nav and Ash went through the homework bits to check that I had picked up what he had taught me. This was all fine so we cracked on with Radio Navigation for about 2.5 hours up to about midday. I sat the exam and got 100%! Woohoo, finally a 100%er.
After this we got right into Aircraft General. Remember that I had already studied a lot for this exam beforehand, and thank God I did as we really motored through this, working mainly on the more important key topics right up til about 4:30ish. I sat the exam and got 88% which I was very pleased with bearing in mind this is the largest exam of 50 questions. Also after each exam Ash spent good time going through the questions I had failed on making sure I fully understood where I had gone wrong and what the correct answer was and why.
Now, what I would say at this point is don't just assume that you can pop in to Cambridge for a couple of days and leave with 3 exams completed. I really worked my ass off from start to finish and so did Ash. If you are not fully prepared to focus, work hard, listen hard, and learn hard you would struggle to get 3 done in this short time frame. It was a very tiring couple of days but a great experience and Ash was superb.
I think really in summary, having completed 6 exams in just over 4 weeks, I can say that if you are dedicated, work hard and put the time in you should find the exams relatively straight forward. If you are lazy and not taking them seriously I think you will struggle and find yourself failing and retaking some exams. At the end of the day if you want to be a good, safe, and competent pilot the theory stuff is just as important as the practical stuff.
I hope my thread has been helpful to some of you out there in a similar position to me. Best of luck with your exams and keep working hard.
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Evening Ladies +Gents;
Can I take the exams before becoming a member at a club?
Can I just ring up a flight school near me and book a date to sit the test... and so I don't get mugged off.. what should I be paying per exam? is it set by the CAA?
Many thanks
Can I take the exams before becoming a member at a club?
Can I just ring up a flight school near me and book a date to sit the test... and so I don't get mugged off.. what should I be paying per exam? is it set by the CAA?
Many thanks
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Hi tombell777. You can indeed sit the exams at any club. I took my first 3 exams at the Sussex Flying Club in Shoreham, and did not have to pay any form of membership fee to do them. The exams cost me £42 each which according to my research seems to be about the typical going rate (between £40 to £45 per exam is what I was being quoted by different FTO's).
I then sat the remaining 3 exams at RFC in Cambridge, and once again did not have to join or pay any form of membership fee. Best bet is to call your local aerodrome, or visit the website, and then ring round the local FTO's at that aerodrome. Pick the cheapest and do your exams there.
I then sat the remaining 3 exams at RFC in Cambridge, and once again did not have to join or pay any form of membership fee. Best bet is to call your local aerodrome, or visit the website, and then ring round the local FTO's at that aerodrome. Pick the cheapest and do your exams there.
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Do take care to keep evidence of your exam passes. It is not unknown of exam passes to get mislaid if somebody leaves a school and goes to another one. They can be mislaid accidentally, or less than accidentally. I had to do a resit of one lost exam.
Schools also go bust regularly so if you sat some exams at one school, and complete the PPL a year later at another, the original one may have gone bust in the meantime, with the likely loss of all records.
Schools also go bust regularly so if you sat some exams at one school, and complete the PPL a year later at another, the original one may have gone bust in the meantime, with the likely loss of all records.
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Thank you so much for this thread! 
It has been invaluable to me as I too will be taking my theory exams at Shoreham this summer, my intention is to complete them before I go off to Uni in October.
A couple of questions: Where did you get the Jeremy Pratt Q&A simplifier from? As everywhere I have looked it is sold out. Also, I have the Trevor Thom series, do you think it would be better to get the Jeremy Pratt series? And, finally, how much flying experience did you have when taking these exams as I have only had a few hours - I am hoping to go to America next year for a few weeks to do the flying but I need a while to save up all the money.
Thank you again
It has been invaluable to me as I too will be taking my theory exams at Shoreham this summer, my intention is to complete them before I go off to Uni in October. A couple of questions: Where did you get the Jeremy Pratt Q&A simplifier from? As everywhere I have looked it is sold out. Also, I have the Trevor Thom series, do you think it would be better to get the Jeremy Pratt series? And, finally, how much flying experience did you have when taking these exams as I have only had a few hours - I am hoping to go to America next year for a few weeks to do the flying but I need a while to save up all the money.
Thank you again
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Hi GemmaMichelle
The standard Pratt series of books were perfect for me. I needed no confuser/simplifier - just read and re-read the books and used the QA sections at the back as an indication as to my understanding.
I found that doing some simple dual nav's helped the nav no end and get your instructor talking about met whilst up there so you can relate the theory to real world situations. This is one I struggled with the most!
Comms written also is easier once doing nav work (especially if there's a Class D near you or a MATZ to work through).
Performance and Gen tech for me I did the week before my actual flight test
The standard Pratt series of books were perfect for me. I needed no confuser/simplifier - just read and re-read the books and used the QA sections at the back as an indication as to my understanding.
I found that doing some simple dual nav's helped the nav no end and get your instructor talking about met whilst up there so you can relate the theory to real world situations. This is one I struggled with the most!
Comms written also is easier once doing nav work (especially if there's a Class D near you or a MATZ to work through).
Performance and Gen tech for me I did the week before my actual flight test
