Balliol wrote:
It’s a total red herring to be honest. I’ve lost count of the number of people who willingly rant on about ‘how they’d be an FI if it wasn’t for the CPL exams’ yet these are the same people that are barely keeping their PPL current due to life, family, money, time etc.. and squeeze a flight into a two hour window between other commitments.
I plan to get the FI at some point – probably when I retire. :-) I’d not balk at the CPL exams, but of course I’d really prefer not having to do them.
It is 13 exams now.
Was it ever possible to sit the CPL or IR exams at weekends, anywhere in Europe? I can’t imagine the power holders to ever trust a “simple flying school” to safeguard the question banks 
Even in the US, they have some security around the QB, but they implement it by having multiple authorised exam centres and they do work on weekends, via online facilities (with supervision). Europe has never allowed such a system for stuff beyond the PPL.
Peter wrote:
Was it ever possible to sit the CPL or IR exams at weekends, anywhere in Europe?
Yes, any day you like, any place you like, guess the country 
@Dimme please tell us how (much) you got yours for the IR ;)
Peter, CAA does setup exams with their representatives on request for some high profile schools inland or overseas (at least in US and Spain), it is just that setup is more for “fulltimers”
I don’t think how exams/qbs gets administred has to do with EASA? there is sheer difference between how UK CAA and Autro Control samples their questions from the big QB (always available +/-400 questions), but yes unlike FAA, there is a huge reluctency in EASA-land to have “field examiners” who roam free…
@Ibra It was not only the IR so I don’t know to be honest. But there are many schools around here that would be happy to do CBIR with you or anyone, and the Swedish CAA has “roam-free” examiners. In fact you can study the theory let’s say with Bristol and then write your exams with a Swedish examiner, and your exams should be valid anywhere in EASA-land.
PS: Here is a prime example of a free-roaming examiner (sorry I could not refuse):
Good to know, another misconception on my side :)
Ps: I couldn’t stop laughing on that picture, I bet that examiner does weekend outings (tough by the look he does seem more afiliated to the French DGAC)
Peter wrote:
Was it ever possible to sit the CPL or IR exams at weekends, anywhere in Europe? I can’t imagine the power holders to ever trust a “simple flying school” to safeguard the question banks
You have a lack if imagination.
Power holders in Sweden do. I did my renewal IR exams at my local club school at the same time as our students did their PPL exams – on weekends. It is not technically the school that runs the exams but free-lancing invigilators appointed by the Swedish CAA. But we have a local invigilator who handles all the exams for us. AFAIK, she can do not only the PPL and IR but the CPL and ATPL as well. In fact she doesn’t have to know what exam you are taking as all exams are done online by computer. Your school gives you a userid and password and you log in to the CAA exam system and there are your tests.
That sounds a bit like the FAA system.
What no CAA seems to want is the possibility of somebody unsupervised grabbing a copy of the current QB.
I always found it strange why the UK has managed such a dominant position in “professional pilot” exams, despite its archaic approach (the crazy timetable restrictions etc). It is probably the use of the English language. When I was doing the JAA IR in 2011, Athens offered the exams for €5 each.
Probably because its such a cash cow.
Although that may change as you can now sit the Austro Control exams in the UK. You get the results on the same day and the exams are only 45 quid a pop compared to the CAA price of 71 pounds. If we stay in EASA I can’t see anybody using the UK CAA for any TK.
Probably, the UK CAA run one set of exams per month for all centers and strict time tables, this will not suit exam format being administered by local schools
In other NAAs (Sweden, France, Austria), you probably get a random sample as you login to each exam, this works with free-examiners? (are exams in local language?)
So this is probably the reason, the other being “easy cash making machine” ;)
