The only other point which I am slightly dissatisfied about is that I am very much a “paper” person. I don’t own an iPad (although I do of course have a computer) and I feel that paying an extra £600 for the reading material is rather steep!
In their ATPL course, I think there used to be an option to opt out of the iPad app. The discount was three, maybe four hundred pounds. It was available even after they pulled it from the website from what I heard. You just had to ask for it (tell them you don’t have an iPad). It might still be possible, even for other courses.
Interestingly, prices, as published on their website, for ATPL and CPL courses are the same. Books will probably be the same too.
As someone who got through the 7 JAA IR exam revision in 2011 (content ~ 90% complete bollox) by lying on one of these with an Ipad2 which was bought specially for that purpose, I would think this “learning method” is well worth paying for – unless you value your time as worth close to zero.
If you are into GA, and if the material was reasonably relevant to actually flying somewhere, I would have sympathy for someone who wants to learn from “books” rather than learn from prepared answers in an online question bank (which does teach you the material pretty effectively, despite everybody describing it as “cheating” 
) but there is so little practical value in learning the theory that I think one makes a better use of one’s life doing the online QB, and then flying with an experienced pilot who does this for real.
And if you want to go for a commercial career, well, pop yourself into one of the cheap hotels in Bournemouth or Coventry for a few nights and see how the entire ATPL sausage machine works totally completely unashamedly on hammering the online QB… and their homework is done collectively too. 10 years ago they used their own custom QBs but now the whole thing is totally in the open and nobody gives a damn.
That brings me to the homework… you have to get that high pass mark to get signed off for the CAA exams, and I found that quite difficult with the printed GTS material. If one is to do the homework from the printed material alone, it is really hard work. I have a degree in electronics so clearly not completely stupid, but I found a lot of it, especially Met, very hard to absorb from the ring binders which contain mainly very dry prose lifted from training manuals discarded by the RAF in the 1950s/1960s.
Personally, I would also opt for a tablet or laptop. I like hard copies, but they are not all that practical. The iPad app is not all. They also have a web app. Question is whether all courses have as bad books as yours did, Peter. For one, Phil Croucher’s book comes well recommended (as something useful even after passing the exams). He managed to cram the entire ATPL syllabus into about 700 pages (A4).
He managed to cram the entire ATPL syllabus into about 700 pages (A4).
I would rather die than read 700 pages of that stuff
700 pages of Tom Clancy (his average book, when he was writing properly) is something else 
And this is from somebody who was reading the then brand new Z280 programming manual on Shoreham Beach on his 30th birthday, which should qualify me for the Anorak title
Question is whether all courses have as bad books as yours did, Peter.
There is some variation, from what I have seen, but the FTO I did it through used material from a guy who brought it with him from the RAF and then died (of advanced old age I assume). He had managed to position himself as the only approved provider when JAA was coming in and did well out of it. I think most ground school FTOs here in the UK were using the stuff. Last time I came across it it was marketed by PPSC.
Compared to 6500+ pages of Oxford’s books… :-) Given how many hours you should spend preparing for ATPL exams, I think 700 pages is easily manageable. I read a bit of it and it seemed easy to read (he has rather extensive sample of the helicopter version online – about tenth of the book). But who knows how is the rest.
I know of several study material providers from the UK but I have no idea what is their market share (in the UK and abroad) and quality. Oxford’s certainly has a good reputation but reportedly goes to unnecessary depth (which might not be a bad thing if the information is relevant).
For people with prior engineering or scientific background, Phil Croucher’s books are definitely a much better alternative to the usual textbooks, be it Oxford’s ATPL or Trevor Thom’s PPL. And if you already know the fundamental principles and only need an overview of facts to be memorised, there are still shorter (just 60 pages) notes by Rob Groothuis.
John Anderson’s Introduction to Flight is a useful background book which introduces most of the calculus in Principles of Flight and Performance; but also provides useful historic and design context. It reveals how simplified the Principles of Flight course is at the CPL/ATPL level, despite the typical ATPL text book on PofF running to a 1,000 pages.
There is also a good RAF PofF flight manual which runs to around 200 pages, and also has most of the relevant equations.
Fortunately, the ATPL exams only require very basic physics and maths.
Peter: did you drive this to conclusion already?
I also want to do the CPL with FI as its sole purpose, and I want to mimimise time to be fully allocated (ie minimize classroom session time). Any further update would be interesting!
Thanks.
I haven’t found out any more other than what’s been posted here.
The CATS route is probably the shortest but requires three hotel stays (at Gatwick or Luton) of 3 nights each.
The ex-ATPL-QB syllabus is sure to be 90% total crap.
You just have to find some other activities to make it bearable
Thanks Peter.
Here is another idea: as these darn classroom sessions are the main limiting factor (assumed to be during workdays and workhours), has anyone tried to find a school who is willing to give these obligatory hours after workhours or during weekends? If necessary in 1-1 paid sessions with a FI?
Any further throught from anyone?
Thanks.
