no problem, good luck! :ok:

Is it the IR where you need a certain number of hours?

From JAR-FCL 1.190 :

An applicant for an IR(A) shall hold a PPL(A) including a night qualification or CPL(A) and shall have completed at least 50 hours cross-country flight time as pilot-in-command in aeroplanes or helicopters of which at least 10 hours shall be in aeroplanes.

Cya, MC

i was recommended to do the hour building (100hrs P1, 150 total) first before the atpl ground school after i had done my ppl. As then as soon as youve finished the atpl exams your into CPL and IR and no worries about the exams validity running out.

Ive done it that way around and seems to be working well, about to start the atpl exams next month.

Scottie.

i did it the other way, ppl straight into atpl groundschool then hour building practising then straight into cpl/ir, better for me as then i knew i could pass the exams before wasting money on hourbuilding and also having done the exams i could just concemtrate on the fun part and had better continuity from hour building to cpl/ir

fair point, depends entirely which way round you look at everything in the long run, either way it all gets done! :)

i did the hour building first to make the most of the weather to go into the groundschoolover the autumn and into the winter, seemed the best way to work round, especially doing the hour building over here in the UK

Scottie

absolutely, everybody keeps looking for a right or a wrong way instead of a way that suits them, all down to personal circumstances really.

Short JAA ATPL theory course?
 

Hi everyone, I have a frozen ATPL in Oz and also want to get a CPL in Europe/UK. Does anyone know of anyone running shorter ATPL courses for people who already have some theory background. Maybe even correspondence courses.
Thanks! :)

As far as I know there aren't any short cuts for people in your position. Pilots converting who have 1000's of hours in multi crew aircraft may find that they are exempt of the classroom element of the ATPL groundschool but that probably wouldn't apply in your case. Instead you are left with 2 options. First one is a residential course which will take you about 6 months of being at school 5 days a week sitting the 14 exams over anything from 2, 3 or 4 sittings depending on the school. Second option is to do it distance learning or correspondence as you refer to in your post. I would say the majority of us do it distance learning. Generally speaking you work at your own pace and then when you feel ready book yourself into a brush up course a few weeks prior to the exams. All 14 of the exams run every month so again it is down to personal choice as to when you do them. You get 6 sittings in total, 3 attempts at each one and 18 months to pass all 14 from the date of the first attempt at the exams.

Below is a link to LASORS which is a hefty UK CAA publication. Section J has information on the ATPL exams. In the other sections you will find the requirements for converting your ICAO CPL and IR to JAA as well.

The CAA website has a list of the approved ground school providers. A search here on pprune will give you weeks of reading as this topic is generally debated on an almost daily basis. Bristol tends to get most peoples votes and they have an online database that you can access for a fee that has questions that are remarkably like those found in the actual exams. No wonder then why they get so many punters through the door.:)

LASORS

Thanks for your advice potkettleblack. Looks like correspondence is the way to go for me. :)

Which ATPL(A) Study Books?
 

I intend to self-study and take the 14 ATPL(A) written examinations. :ugh:

Any recommendations on which books/notes are best for the self-study route?

Any feedback on the Atlantic Flight Training books (a.k.a. Jeppesen JAA ATPL training books)?

Cheers.

Its not clear from your post if you are exempt from attending an approved course or not? If not you need to enrol with the likes of Bristol, Cabair, Oxford et al and they will provide you with a full set of notes. Then when it comes time to sitting the exams you attend a 2 week brush up course to prepare you and then you sit them at one of the CAA examination centres.

I would recommend Bristol whether you are exempt or not and when you are ready sign up to the Bristol database (50 quid for 3 months access) which you will give access to a question bank that looks remarkably similar to the real questions you will come across:)

Do a search on the above and read the sticky at the top of this forum to find out all you need to know.

Yes you cannot "self study" and sit the exams, you must sign up with an approved provider and complete the course work required. There are approved JAA providers in both Orlando and Naples FL.

I think I qualify for self-study using "LASORS G1.5 Note 1". :ugh:

I understand this exemption will allow me to sit all 14 ATPL(A) exams without attending a formal course and take a type rating skills test on the aircraft I’m currently flying.

Being a typical pilot I am just looking for the least expensive way to study for these exams.:)

PS: There is an examination centre in Florida that Naples and the other US approved schools use although I understand there is an agreement with the CAA that it is for their students sole use. You might be able to sit your exams there although no doubt they will want some cash off you and save some cash on flights back to the UK. Also the exam centre will only be running when their students are due to sit their exams so it might not suit you very well.

My ATPL course uses Atlantic ATPL notes in some subjects, they seem ok but are not the best notes that I have ever used!

Yes some of the AFT Jepp still needs revision, not sure about Bristol comparitively but I bet they aren't perfect!

Drop the Personnel Licencing people at Gatwick a line about your exemption to double-check.

Just to quote the relevant sources

LASORS

On the CAA theory exam application form, in lieu of no FTO, you have to sign off you are exempt under JAR 1.016(b) hence

http://www.jaa.nl/licensing/licensing.html

I'm probably going to go with Bristol for the ATPL distance learning. They have a very good package of traditional manuals, online question bank and computer software with animations etc which should help more with those more technical subjects.

JAA ATPL theory content
 

Hi All
Just wondering if the content of the ATPLs' stays fairly constant i.e if I start studying now would the study be out dated (or partially outdated) if I sit the exams in 18months to 2 years time?

The question being, does the CAA change the content of the exams on a regular basis or does anyone know if there an intention to do so?

Cheers

It would be partially outdated. Regulations change as do the questions, however some things remain the same...

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question.../lift/eq01.gif

:8 :ok: