Studying and flying dilemma
 

Hello,

I need sonme advice on a difficult situation. I recently turned 18 this year. I m due to take the Singapore-Cambridge A level exam end of october this year.

Problem is my lattest test results(academic) shows that i am really far behind in my work... Since the past 1 month i ve been taking a break from flying.The Singapore PPL syllabus is quite similar to the UK PPL syllabus. we have 5 theory papers, 1 RT practical exam and the FHT, to date i have only taken the R?T theory.. i passed it but it expired before i could take the R/T Practical

Currently i have about 29hrs, doing Circuits and PFL. I'm not sure if i can afford to squeeze in 1 hr a week till late august. THen i ll have to continue after the A Levels which ends early November. Next problem is i have to finish By december cos next year i have to serve national Servcice int he army...i worry that the beak between august and november is too long tt i will lose my skills and that i might not finish in time... maybe i should give up all together... i know the final decision lies with me... i just need opinions...

MAny thanks in advance

I need some advice on whether i should carry on as planned(4hr a month taking no exams but just building the hours till late august, then stop to mug for A levels, Continue after As trying to finish PPL by december)

Are you kidding? One hour a week is nothing. How long do you spend doing other things: in the bathroom, watching TV, travelling to work, breaking for lunch? I find it difficult to believe you can't save yourself 10 minutes a day somewhere.

You do need to strike a balance between study and 'other' though. Too much study and you'll find it difficult to learn. Fit your flying lessons in as a break. Be wary of the 'four hour lesson' though - spending 3 hours sitting around for one hour in the air. Be strict with yourself, or take some revision to the airfield and make sure you do it.

At the end of the day you can always come back to flying later, you will find it difficult to motivate yourself to retake your exams.

BTW ... I got my PPL while studying for a PhD, so it can be done. ;)

Some can be found on the back of a packet of Kellog's

;)

Joking apart, get the A levels and a good job. Pays for a lot of flying.

I'm in the thick of my degree finals and I find time to go flying. It's my little break once a week that I really look forward to. And quite frankly I'd prefer to knock off 20 mins of sleep a night to do it.

There is not a vast amount of material in A-level (frankly there isn't a great deal at undergraduate degree level either) it's all about how you use the time. 5 hours in the library doodling is far less useful than 1 hour of serious exam practice. Quality not quantity.

Get a timetable sorted and stick to it, make yourself feel guilty for sitting there and watching tv for too long. Best of luck

:ok:

Thanks for yer replies, although one hour a week isnt really much, it takes me about 2 and a half hrs each trip to the airport, all my weekdays are pack with school stuff till 7pm+ I am not sure about other countries but school here starts at 7.30 am with some lessons up till 7pm. can re real exhausting some times so squeezing in 1 hr is all i can i guess... i just need to know is 1hr ia week sufficient/beneficial for ppl by end of the yearr

LondonJ,

Which A levels and degree did you do?

I must have done the wrong ones!

Seriously though, education is far more important than flying, even if you intend to persue it commercially.

Realistically 1 hour per week is probably a half day, but it should be affordable, but you need some break from study or you'll go mad.

Bin something else - stop watching TV, playing video games, going out with your friends - all of those are less important in the long run than either study or flying (but study must be more important in the short term).

Also have a chat with somebody experienced in such things about planning your study life, in my experience most people behind on full-time studies need to sort out their planning, organisation and study methods rather than find more time per-ce.

And best of luck with your A levels.

G

I studied for my A-Levles and did my PPL at the same time - and in the long term regretted it.

I found it was a great stress releif, and provided an excellent change from studying - but, I firmly belive that I would have performed better in my exams if I wasn't being so focused on my flying. I spent more time in the liberary thinking through my down wind checks when I should have been doing A Level statistics.

As for A-Levels are that much work - looking back, they wern't. Looking back I could plan better and probably perform better -but at the time they were the hardest exams possible.

I got good grades, but could/should have got betters. Its sad case of society but 7 years on, undergraduate and postgrade degrees later and applying for a job recently I got rejected on the basis of my A-Levels.

You have a long time to learn to fly. Put it on hold for a couple of months, but keep saving the cash as if you were flying. Then when you are done, go and do and intensive week with the money you have saved up. THis will be more productive than once a week as you will not need to keep refreshing - plus you get a week of flying which is immense.

In summary - there is no right and wrong answer,

but hope that the comments from the other guys, and mine - help you make a good decsion.

Thanks - FW

I know what I'd do....

1) Sit down, make yourself a realistic study plan, and stick to it. It has to be realistic, or you'll fail to keep to it, and failure is not what you need.

2) Include the one hour flying a week in your plan. You will need one day off studying a week, or you'll go mad. Your brain needs that rest too. I'd make that day off your flying day. DON'T take A level work to the airfield with you; have a complete day off from study, and I guarantee you'll get more done than if you keep at it non-stop.

3) OK, 5 days a week at school. Make sure you actually study in study periods, and do a little when you get home. But make sure you take regular breaks, and eat and sleep enough. And go for walks or take regular exercise too. The exact details depend on you, but if you can't study for more than half an hour without your mind wandering, then don't. Build in breaks and food and so on, and use your time productively.

4) Make the day you have left a study day, unlss you need to do personal stuff or whatever. But no-one can study all day, so again, build in breaks for whatever you need. And make that the ONLY day you watch TV, go on PPRune, or do other timewasting stuff. (OK, five minutes a day on PPRuNe if you have to!)

5) In the summer, by all means cram for your A levels. But you'll still need breaks. Maybe an hour's flying a fortnight to not let your skills degrtade too much? But if that's not possible, you can easily get up to speed before the Skills Test by spending a few hours with an instructor.

7) A month to get your PPL ground exams in Nov/Dec is plenty.

8) Now, sit down, and make yourself a timetable. The reason it all looks like too much is because you're not planning it; you're going, "Omigod, there's all this stuff, I can't cope". Plan it, write it down, take the pressure off yourself. Once you do that, you'll calm down and be able to both study and fly more productively. Really! Trust me. It'll work. :ok:

I agree with those who have suggested that formal education is more important, and that bravojs would do well to focus his time and energies on studying for his A levels.

There is truth to the argument that one needs periodic breaks from studying; but I would respectfully suggest that such breaks should be many and short (e.g., two one-hour breaks each day) rather than few and long (i.e., one day flying every week). Additionally, break time is probably best spent doing something relatively mindless (going for a walk, etc.), rather that flight training (which requires a reasonable amount of effort, including preparatory reading, if one is to get much out of it).

IMHO, I don't think that it is quite fair to encourage him to go flying based upon anyone else's history of obtaining their PPLs during university. For one thing, university programmes (especially Ph.D. programmes) tend to be considerably less structured than secondary education. For another, bravojs says that his "latest test results(academic) shows that i am really far behind in my work ...". It may be that he is not particularly gifted academically, or is challenged by language difficulties or other individual circumstances ... he should not feel pressured to live up to other people's successes.

In any case, as bravojs is looking ahead to a lenthy and mandatory break in his flight training (during national service), it might be best to simply put the flying on hold. One way or the other, there will be a significant re-learning period when he resumes flying; there's no point in potentially shortchanging his academic work, simply to enter hours in a logbook.

In my respectful opinion, the 'bottom line' is that one can complete a PPL at pretty much any age, and there is no shame in taking a while to do so. On the other hand, there's no pleasure in re-writing A levels or similar examinations in one's late 20's or whatever. Best to make a solid and focused effort now, lay the groundwork for a successful and reasonably lucrative career, and there will be plenty of time left for flying later.

I started working towards my PPL while studying for my MBA and holding down a full time job, not to mention starting our family.

If you have the motivation, it can be done. I would agree with Whirly absolutely about planning as a tool. However, plans are there as a guide and external influences will always require you to plan, monitor your performance against it and take corrective action (now there's a skill that pays off in the cockpit!). That doesn't invalidate the process. Planning encourages you to structure thinking about your activities - as you have started to do by asking the question.

I didn't get any spare time for TV and other time wasting activities though:O

HH

Thank you guys for all your inputs, it really means alot to me. Anyway after much consideration i have decided to put my flying training on hold till my A level exams are over. many thanks to flyingwelshman for sharing his experince with me,i'd like to learn from his experince as i feel its really valid,to Whirlybird and Hampshire Hog thanks very much for your detailed advice and a big thank you to MLS-12D for reaffirming my decison to put flying on hold.

Once again a BIG THANK YOU TO ALL!

Regards,
j.s