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JAA ATPL Theory - most difficult subjects

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JAA ATPL Theory - most difficult subjects

Old 25th Apr 2013, 23:34
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JAA ATPL Theory - most difficult subjects

Hi there,

here are my top four:
  1. General Navigation
  2. Flight Planning & Monitoring
  3. Performance (hate the charts)
  4. Aerodynamics (also known as Principles of Flight)
I'm doing the distance learning thing, and those who are in the same boat know that it can be pretty frustrating at times, especially if you are a lone warrior like I am (have been exempt from ground school).

Officially started the course apround December last year (started hitting the books in Jan) and so far I'm satisfied with my progress, completed about 75% of phase 1 (besides working a part time job), the course will be completed after phase 2 (which appears to be the "less extensive" part).

To those who took the exams or are in the process of preparing for the exams, what was/is your strategy?

Personally, I'm thinking of splitting the exams into two sittings, sparing my "four favorite" subjects (see above) for the second sitting (hoping to pass all the other subjects at the first sitting) this way I'd have time to review my "favorite" subjects and hopefully pass them at the first attempt - that's my battle plan for now (with an uneasy feeling in my guts)!

To all fellow distance learning sufferers, would be great to hear from you, hang in there and good luck!

Last edited by Transsonic2000; 25th Apr 2013 at 23:49.
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Old 26th Apr 2013, 06:37
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Meteorology was my least favourite subject.

The exam was made more difficult by the candidate sitting adjacent to me. He had a really annoying face which proved to be an unwelcome distraction.
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Old 26th Apr 2013, 17:28
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Im on the same boat here! Distance learning struggling with GenNav. Next exams will be next month. Already done 5 of them on January (Air Law, Ops, Comms and Mass and Balance).

My least Fave until now:

1- Performance
2- GenNav
3- Instruments

Good luck for all!
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Old 8th May 2013, 22:39
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I also started my atpls in January 13. Working 6 days a week, and studying in the evening is a tuff going for me. Half thinking of leaving my job so i could put more effort into studies.

I find Gen nav interesting , but hard. Lots of formulas, techniques,etc that can be easily mixed up or forgotten if your not keeping up with it.

Im on my 4th book now, hope to sit exams soon and hopefully find more time to get this done and dusted.
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Old 9th May 2013, 08:09
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Hey I finished my ATPLs in Feb this year and did them in 2 sittings over 5 1/2 months which I thought was quite a push, seeing as there is so much to learn.
People in the past have said that the best method is to hammer the question bank, but that is becoming a less favourable tactic as the questions are being changed. I would say that for certain subjects, question bank hammering is quite favourable, for example I found it very useful for Comms, Air Law, Ops, HPL and even Rnav. By that I mean, it was my main source of revision for said subjects.
I then found that for subjects such as Gnav, M & B and Flight Planning where there isn't particularly a large pile of information to handle, but a very good understanding of how to carry out tasks is required, it was best to go over your material so as to understand the facts (Variation, Grivation, winter solstice, moments, c of g movement etc) and then use the question bank to practise answering questions so that you can improve your speed and focus on how you got the answer rather than what the answer is.
Then for other subjects I used the question bank to supplement what I learnt from the material, I would make sure not to dive straight into it and learn the content beforehand. Believe me, its much easier to answer a met question when you know exactly why it happens. Though, once I had gone through all the material I would just hammer the question bank and if the banks explanations were not sufficient, I would just consult the CBT I had.
I found that the four hardest subjects were Instrumentation, POF, Air Law (Yes I know....but it was just sooooo boring!) and maybe RNav?
The moral of the story is: Stay on top of things, work in manageable chunks, disregard clearly irrelevant facts to passing the exams(You can learn all those once you have passed your exams) and approach with an open mind.
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Old 9th May 2013, 13:13
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I'd advise splitting the exams a little more evenly, I did mine like the poster above in around 6 months and 2 sittings, splitting the subjects into 8 and 6 (1st and 2nd sittings respectively).

As has been said many times on here before, use the QB as much as you need, but learn the subject as a priority. My strategy was to read and learn the material as best I could then take a handful of practice exams to identify weak areas, then head back to the CBT/books to re-read. Having done that I would begin sitting smaller exams from the QB based around the areas identified, using books as necessary until I was perfectly happy in those areas. Then repeat the whole process from the full practice exams.

The need to know the subjects was highlighted on my CPL skills test when out of the blue the examiner was asking q's on air law during the briefing, and how the trim/balance tab on the arrow moves in different situations during the walkround. Needless to say had I learned the QB instead of the material I might not have passed!

Last edited by packo1848; 9th May 2013 at 13:15.
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Old 10th May 2013, 13:35
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I seem to remember I spread mine over three or four sittings...it's been a while though. I prefer to focus on a small number of things at one time and was doing it lone warrior style like the OP while working full time. I only had weekends free (work ran well into my evenings at the time) and used to go into the office to study....quieter than home. I felt like I never left work for almost a year!

Break it up into manageable chunks if you can. I remember that I just couldn't get to grips with one part of Gen Nav. It was only worth three marks so I elected to ignore it completely and focus on what I was better at. Guessing would likely have given me at least on point!
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Old 10th May 2013, 13:39
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All of you went through the 14 exams with Bristol?
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Old 10th May 2013, 14:27
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Oxford.....I found distance learning OK but got a huge amount out of the "brush up" courses I went in for. It would have been so much easier to have done it full time.
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Old 24th May 2013, 01:29
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For me:

Hardest:

-GNav
-Instruments
-POF

Easiest:

-Comms
-Mass and balance
-Flight planning and monitoring
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