JAA ATPL Ground Exams
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
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From: Northumberland
I'm just anxious to get going and thought i could make a start on the exams before i got everything sorted out. A quick visit to the BGS site did confirm what you have just said though.
How much are a set of notes for all 14 exams these days? For some reason, £700 sticks out in my head?
How much are a set of notes for all 14 exams these days? For some reason, £700 sticks out in my head?
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: London
I'm sure Bristol list prices for their notes on the site somewhere. OAT's books are available through Transair - they're around 35 quid a pop, times 14.
I honestly don't think you're gaining anything by doing this though - if you want a head start, start on PPL theory.
Just out of curiosity Sicky, have you had a trial flight to see if you even like flying??
I honestly don't think you're gaining anything by doing this though - if you want a head start, start on PPL theory.
Just out of curiosity Sicky, have you had a trial flight to see if you even like flying??
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
Likes: 0
From: Northumberland
I'm just waiting for the better weather before i book it, but it is my next thing on the list. It's not worth paying that much for, was just looking at a way to start getting my head into the whole thing.
I'd have started my PPL a few years back if i could have afforded it
I'd have started my PPL a few years back if i could have afforded it
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: London
There are plenty of cheaper ways to start getting a taste...
You could sign up for aviation forecasts on www.metoffice.gov.uk, they have pages on there about decoding weather forecasts etc. That's something that would be worth starting to get your head around.
Also have a dig around http://www.ais.org.uk/ (again, you'll need to sign up). You can find the full details of all UK airports (look under UK AIP > UK AIP > AERODROME DATA), and lots of other interesting stuff under GENERAL.
On the CAA website find the document CAP413, the UK Radiotelephony manual, again lots of useful stuff to start learning.
There you go, a month's worth of bedtime reading for free
You could sign up for aviation forecasts on www.metoffice.gov.uk, they have pages on there about decoding weather forecasts etc. That's something that would be worth starting to get your head around.
Also have a dig around http://www.ais.org.uk/ (again, you'll need to sign up). You can find the full details of all UK airports (look under UK AIP > UK AIP > AERODROME DATA), and lots of other interesting stuff under GENERAL.
On the CAA website find the document CAP413, the UK Radiotelephony manual, again lots of useful stuff to start learning.
There you go, a month's worth of bedtime reading for free
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: London
You're welcome - it's hard to know where to start looking for things if you don't even know what's out there to be looked for!
Noticed a lot of frantic questions from you Sicky - so a few other bits of advice from me (a fellow wannabe currently on ATPL studies)...
- Age is on your side. There is really no panic whatsoever for you to be rushing into flying training right now. As a general guideline, I recall that when BA still had their cadet scheme the cutoff age was 26. That's the youngest cutoff I've seen for any cadet scheme, and even that would still give you 6 years to play with. I believe CTC is 30.
- Talk to some real live people about this! I think I remember reading that you're studying in Leeds? A quick Google turned up http://www.leedsflyingschool.co.uk/ who offer all the modular flight training - why not just drop in and have a chat to them? Flying types are usually more than happy to spend time talking about flying stuff and you'll probably find you get a lot of really good help and reassurance from them.
- It would be worth finishing your degree if you can stomach it. Engineering is certainly a useful subject to have in your back pocket, both for aviation and for finding other work in general, not necessarily specifically in engineering.
- Definitely get that trial flight in ASAP - even if your aim is big jets, you're going to spend a lot of training time banging around the skies in a little tin can with a lawnmower engine strapped to the front, navigating visually, dodging clouds, shuffling paper maps. It would be good to find out now if you're not going to like it.
Alright, enough from me!
Good luck
Neil
Noticed a lot of frantic questions from you Sicky - so a few other bits of advice from me (a fellow wannabe currently on ATPL studies)...
- Age is on your side. There is really no panic whatsoever for you to be rushing into flying training right now. As a general guideline, I recall that when BA still had their cadet scheme the cutoff age was 26. That's the youngest cutoff I've seen for any cadet scheme, and even that would still give you 6 years to play with. I believe CTC is 30.
- Talk to some real live people about this! I think I remember reading that you're studying in Leeds? A quick Google turned up http://www.leedsflyingschool.co.uk/ who offer all the modular flight training - why not just drop in and have a chat to them? Flying types are usually more than happy to spend time talking about flying stuff and you'll probably find you get a lot of really good help and reassurance from them.
- It would be worth finishing your degree if you can stomach it. Engineering is certainly a useful subject to have in your back pocket, both for aviation and for finding other work in general, not necessarily specifically in engineering.
- Definitely get that trial flight in ASAP - even if your aim is big jets, you're going to spend a lot of training time banging around the skies in a little tin can with a lawnmower engine strapped to the front, navigating visually, dodging clouds, shuffling paper maps. It would be good to find out now if you're not going to like it.
Alright, enough from me!
Good luck
Neil
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
Likes: 0
From: Northumberland
Chocks - done that 
Neil - again, thanks so much, you've been more than helpful. Unfortunately i wasn't able to finish my degree. i wasn't enjoying it, but my mums redundancy has meant that if i want to go to university, it would now have to be somewhere i can travel to from my home. This has given me the chance to find a job and start saving though
Let's just hope this weather clears up soner rather than later, as frantic is the word because i just can't wait!
Neil - again, thanks so much, you've been more than helpful. Unfortunately i wasn't able to finish my degree. i wasn't enjoying it, but my mums redundancy has meant that if i want to go to university, it would now have to be somewhere i can travel to from my home. This has given me the chance to find a job and start saving though
Let's just hope this weather clears up soner rather than later, as frantic is the word because i just can't wait!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
Likes: 0
From: Northumberland
No not any more, i'm back up near Newcastle. Was just looking at their websites though, but couldn't see anything about trial lessons. I'm vsure the weather down there will be better so it may work out better to do it there lol.
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: London
Every flying school will offer some sort of trial introductory lesson. Cleveland Flying School at Teesside were good to me when I was at home, they're part of Northern Aviation who I believe have a school at Newcastle too. Just ring up and book something, let the school make the weather decisions!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
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From: Northumberland
I'd been looking on those experience websites, and things like lastminute.com, just to get an idea of where to look. I gather that the school in Newcastle only does 30mins of flight, whilst Teeside is 60mins. The CFS site is about £50 or so cheaper than the experience sites, which is what you would expect.
I'll give thme a ring tomorrow and see what they say
Thanks again Neil
I'll give thme a ring tomorrow and see what they say
Thanks again Neil
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: London
Believe me, if you ring them up saying you want an hour's flight, they'll happily take your money and give you an hour's flight! Besides, what you really want is a lesson, rather than what gets labelled as a "trial flight" to sell as a birthday present for dad's 50th etc. Tell 'em you're planning to do your PPL and they'll probably run it as Lesson 1, so you get to do some real stuff, possibly even the take-off.
Yeah, don't bother with the "experience" companies.
I'm getting quite excited for you myself - it's all bringing back my first flight a few years ago!
Yeah, don't bother with the "experience" companies.
I'm getting quite excited for you myself - it's all bringing back my first flight a few years ago!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 369
Likes: 0
From: Northumberland
hahaha you'll know how excited i am then!
Will definately take your advice and try and get it as a first lesson. If possible i'll do it up here at Newcastle rather than travel the hour or so to Teeside
Will definately take your advice and try and get it as a first lesson. If possible i'll do it up here at Newcastle rather than travel the hour or so to Teeside
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: UK
ATPL Exams Timeframe
Hi everyone
Probably a silly question but I sat my first set of exams in Feb 2005, then didn't sit the final set until April 2006. Unfortunately I failed 2 so am resitting them on in June. Just wondered for the worst case scenario if I were to fail them again is the last chance I have July or August? August is 18 months from Feb but does it have to be inside the 18 months, i.e making it July?
Cheers in advance!
T1
Probably a silly question but I sat my first set of exams in Feb 2005, then didn't sit the final set until April 2006. Unfortunately I failed 2 so am resitting them on in June. Just wondered for the worst case scenario if I were to fail them again is the last chance I have July or August? August is 18 months from Feb but does it have to be inside the 18 months, i.e making it July?
Cheers in advance!
T1
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,114
Likes: 0
From: UK
I would discuss this with your ground school provider ASAP and see if they have any pull with the CAA. Reason is....As far as I know you can't enrol for a set of exams until you have received your results. So at worst if you fail 1 or 2 of the resits in June and the results are delayed in arriving then you wouldn't actually be able to enrol for the July sitting within the required time frames. Hence you would lose all your credits.
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: P3X-25578
JAA Practice Exams
Hi there,
Could anyone out there please tell me where i could find past JAA FCL exams. Both CPL and ATPL. Either for free or to purchase (And I'm not talking about the books and CD's that offer questions that are 'similar' to JAA. I'm talking about actual past exams issued by JAA).
Thanks,
Sholva.
Could anyone out there please tell me where i could find past JAA FCL exams. Both CPL and ATPL. Either for free or to purchase (And I'm not talking about the books and CD's that offer questions that are 'similar' to JAA. I'm talking about actual past exams issued by JAA).
Thanks,
Sholva.
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
From: easyland
At present they are not available. The original idea once upon a time was once the question bank reached a certain number of questions (10,000?) it was to be released publically like the way the FAA does things.
The best way to test yourself and really see how bad the JAA questions are is to either use the school you are studying at's feedback or bristol.
Oh an example of a bad JAA question while I'm on the subject: What is oil/fuel heat exchanger for in a jet engine?
a) to cool the oil
b) to heat the fuel
c) something else
d) another option
Jamo
The best way to test yourself and really see how bad the JAA questions are is to either use the school you are studying at's feedback or bristol.
Oh an example of a bad JAA question while I'm on the subject: What is oil/fuel heat exchanger for in a jet engine?
a) to cool the oil
b) to heat the fuel
c) something else
d) another option
Jamo
