Study CBT or FCOM to start with?
 

Trying to get prepared for my Type Rating (320).
Is the CBT enough to cover the basic principles of systems, or do I have to get into the FCOM 1 aswell?

Why I ask is not because i'm lazy to read the FCOM1, but because I have lots of others things to read (OM A, FCTM, SOPs etc)

Any advice is welcome, and thank you..

I found the CBTs to be sufficient initially. But it is important to know where to find stuff in the manuals, even if you don't fully read, be very familiar with the contents pages.

Sciolistes,

Yes I do understand that.
I have been lurking around the new FCOM which I only have a soft copy of at the moment.
I can find pretty much everything through the FCOM 1 if I were given a hard copy though i'm sure.

Would the CBT itself be sufficient enough for me to get through my TR and line training?
I can always read in depth about the systems once I am done training, but while training there is still a lot more to focus on.

Thanks again.

The way I studied for the type rating was to do the CBT first and review the relevant FCOM1 chapters before a sim session. (e.g. If you have a sim session regarding HYD failures, review that chapter in the FCOM1)

And if something is not clear in the CBT, look it up in the FCOM for more information.

Sorry Kahlid, I just noticed you're talking about A320. The irony! I'm Boeing and as the Airbus manuals are organised completely differently please ignore me :O

It's important to remember that the CBT is only and aid to study. It replaces classroom instruction. It doesn't replace the FCOM/AOM. You are expected to learn the book.

To answer your question, YES, the CBT is good enough to start with to build up "basic knowledge only".

However as your knowledge increase, you will soon realise the CBT is :
- too vague
- not enough detail
- does not answer all your questions
- does not have all the information you need
- might even have mistakes in it :eek:
- is generic only
- is old and out of date (perhaps the original CBT from over 20 years ago)
- and does not reflect the actual company aircraft, regarding updates/modifications/upgrades

Build up your basic knowledge through the CBT then move across to the FCOM.

Curious
 

Who are you doing your type rating training with? They should provide you with a Training Manual that acts as a guide to the source documents. Trying to just dive into the FCOMs without any guidance can be overwhelming.

Which AFDS mode can control thrust, pitch and roll ??

If you don't know the answer to this then start reading the Fcoms.

:confused:

I got through the A320 suck-squirt course by first doing the
module on the CBT then opening FCOM1 on the same subject
(ie after doing CBT electrics I'd open Electrics in FCOM 1 and
study the crap out of it). Then I take pen and paper and draw
out important diagrams and write out notes underneath for my
future reference, then start the next CBT subject. It works!

During sim training I "invent" reasonably hard tech questions
likely to be asked on the final check. These would include any
flight on batt power, loss of all hyd, all intimate knowledge of
RAT and EMER GEN, loss of both FMGS, etc.

Not to counter any of the previous posts, but if you lack glass experience, I'd say you initially need to get very familiar with "the box", when you get to the full flight portion of training, you don't want to be wasting any of that time due to unfamiliarity with the box. Other time wasters are the very slow initial set up, find or make posters of the FD and you and a colleague or GF practice the set up using your company flows in the comfort of your kitchen or wherever.

Of course on the scarebus, understanding the flight control laws is one of the big items, other than that, you should be able to look at the overhead panel and be able to identify all of the conditions that will illuminate each one of the warning lights, if you can do this, you will have a good grasp on systems.

Good luck, D.L.