Flight School Preperation, No good maths/physics quals yet?
 

I am 22 in University studying Computing. I plan to graduate, get a job, and save up for flight school. Or hopefully find a sponsorship/scholarship/airline cadet program to help fund flightschool.

In my school years I did not know this is what I wanted to do, so put little effort into maths and physics and didn't do maths and physics at A-Level, I done a computing diploma to get into university. I have a C in maths at GCSE but no Physics GCSE.

My question is, as a student already studying a degree, how can I best prepare for flight school to really learn mathematics and physics again, do I need to privately study A-level maths and physics before flight school? Or what other learning platforms can I use to get me up to speed with maths and physics relating to Aviation.

Just looking for advice as doing physics at GCSE and then maths and physics at A-level again ontop of doing my current degree seems unrealistic but if it's possible I would do it.

Thanks.

Don't worry about it. Lots of people (who have no idea about aviation) will tell you that you need a PhD in maths and a separate PhD in physics to be a pilot...

As long as your maths is half decent and you have a understanding of physics you'll be fine.

I did my ATPL exams with Bristol and before you even crack on with the subjects you have to complete a number of maths and physics lessons just to brush up your skills. It's nothing complicated, though and in fact for someone like me who finished school years prior it was quite helpful as you tend to forget these things for not using them.

Ah, that's a big relief, factoring in 5 hours of maths/physics study a week while i'm in uni and a bit longer when off uni will be a breeze. I'll be happy to just re-do the gcse and physics topics on revision sites in my own time. That's not hard atall so thank you for that.

Had a little look at you're other posts and congratulations on clearly being well on your way to CPL with ME & IR... If you don't mind me asking how old are you currently and when did you begin your training? Also what where your reasons for going the modular route? I can't wait to start.

I've applied to the honourable company of air pilots at airpilots.org for a scholarship to train for a PPL over this summer! I'm hoping and praying I get an interview for that I couldn't think of a better way to spend the summer.

The technical level of the ATPL exams is really quite low. The maths and physics content is only at times edging on GCSE standard. The thing about the ATPLs is the quantity of information not the technical level of it.

So if you are doing a technical degree (which I assume Computing is the tech side of computing coding, networking etc) then you shouldn't have any issue with level of the ATPL exams.

As said above you only need to be able to do basic trigonometry, transposition of formulae and arithmetic to get through the ATPL's.

If you want to brush up your skills just work through the maths and physics sections of the BBC schools website.

Best of luck!

Very easy math. I had never studied trigonometry at school and had only one year of physics almost 10 years ago.
Nothing that BBC Bitesize or a website like "maths is fun" can address. It's very easy stuff. Elementary stuff.

I'm the grand old age of 29 now. I got my PPL at 20, night rating shortly after and slowly built up hours over the years. I worked as an aircraft engineer between then and now but knocked that on the head to complete my training as was always the plan.

As for going modular, it was the best option for me. I was working and I didn't have that sort of money available to go integrated. I have very supportive parents but there was no way I'd even entertain the thought of asking them to fund that which would be the only way I could do it.

Modular is great, though. You can go at your pace, choose where to do each module, when to do it and you'll save a huge amount of money in the process. We all pass the same exams to the same standards so in theory there should be little difference between modular and integrated students/graduates.

But everyone has their own set of unique circumstances so what works for one person won't work for others. Just do your research, talk to people (as you are now), visit potential schools and all will become clear.

It all boils down to your attitude and the amount of work you're willing to put in. Just by posting on here you're already showing a good attitude I'd say so the best of luck to you!

Hey Paul, I'm actually on a very similar boat to you. I'm also in Uni studying Computer Science and plan on saving up a few years after graduation before committing to aviation.

If you're going to get a 2:1 out of your degree I wouldn't bother getting GCSEs/A levels. I don't think an airline would care if you don't have GCSEs or A Levels when you have an actual degree, you would have proven yourself enough.

Also, most of the ATPL material is of GCSE level so I doubt you'll run into problems.

A minimum GCSE requirement is set on both the BA and the Virgin cadet schemes, not sure about any of the others.

Hi,

I did my ATPLs back in 2001 and I can't remember the maths being too tricky. Just basic stuff really. All you need on the line is your 3 times table!

Good luck

How about this. I'll give you 10 seconds to answer this...what is five eights of fifty six?

If you can manage to answer that correctly in the time allotted then I doubt it will be much of a problem for the recruiters that you can integrate Y + (4x cubed).

Just concentrate on your current course, get the very best degree that you can.

Council Van you have way too much free time! Get on that allotment