The Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) is the highest level of aircraft pilot certification. However it is the next stage of the course untertaken by PTC students after the PPL. Those certified as Airline Transport Pilots can act as pilot-in-command of an aircraft. Of course you also need your commercial license CPL.
The ATPLs are all theory exams based around 14 subjects broken up into 3 modules.
Week 15 Ireland started 12th May2008
I arrived home from Vero Beach on Saturday morning and my wife collected me from Dublin airport. It was great to see her again and to arrive back in the emerald isle. The week was spent doing all the DIY jobs that accumulated and gardening as well as going for a few pints of Guinness.
Week 16 Ireland started 19th May2008
Monday I arrived in Waterford Airport for a PTC introductory course to module 1 of the ATPL (airline transport pilots license). There were 4 of us attending.The introductory course was basically going over the ATPL website and briefly going through the books showing us which parts were most important.
Wednesday I made a start at the ATPL program. The PTC ATPL website lays out the chapters to be studied each week and there is a weekly quiz after each subject is studied to see your progress. The results are instantaneous and are automatically sent to PTC in Waterford for them to check your progress.
I completed the revision end of week exams for the above study. I was finding it difficult to get into a routine of study at home because there was always something outside to distract me. I purchased the Bristol question bank which cost 70 Euro for 3 months. It doesn’t help much yet as I haven't enough knowledge of subjects to be tested. It will be more useful once I have studied for a few weeks. I am currently spending an average of 3 hours studying daily. The subjects are as follows: Module 1 General Navigation Performance VFR Comunications IFR Communications Meteorology Instruments Priciples of Flight
Week 17 started 26th May2008
Monday I started studying again after the weekend break. I went to Cardiff to watch Munster lift the European Rugby cup. I purchased the OAT media DVDs which were a great help. They were much the same as the book content but explained better and it was a change to look at a DVD rather than read from books. There was more content in the second week than the first so more hours had to be spent studying. I am now spending an average of 4 hours studying daily.
Week 18 started 2nd June 2008
Monday we had a bank holiday and so I took it off to play some golf. My brother was home from Italy and I hadn’t played in a few years so we decided to give it a go. Unfortunately the online course does not allow for bank holidays so I fell a long way behind my study during the week. By Friday I still hadn’t studied Instruments or Meteorology for the weekly quizzes. I received a phone call from PTC asking me which subjects I planned to take for the midterm week in Waterford which was coming up next week. I was finding it difficult to keep up with all 7 subjects so they suggested dropping one. I would have been fine if I was away in Vero Beach studying but when I am at home there is always something to be done. I was also trying to run a guesthouse at the same time which required a half days work. My amended subjects for module 1 are. Module 1 General Navigation Performance VFR Comunications IFR Communications Meteorology Principles of flight
I got on fine with all quizzes except the communications quiz. I wasn’t too worried about this one though as everyone I spoke to who had finished the course said the communications exam is based entirely on the Bristol question bank.
Week 19 started 9th June 2008
Monday I arrived in Waterford Institute of Technology WIT for a scheduled mid term revision week. It involved revising what we completed to date and giving us hints on what to study or not to study as some of the material in the books is never questioned in the ATPL exams. I stayed in the PTC housing in Waterford. The accommodation is free for PTC students and is in the form of semi detached new houses purchased earlier in the year by PTC. The houses are a 5 minute drive from the college and a 10 minute drive from the airport.
Week 20 started 16th June 2008
I spent the week studying. It was a very productive week where I did at least 5 hours study a day. I used the books reading the assigned chapters and also used the OAT DVD tutorials. I also started using the Bristol question bank as I felt I was beginning to know enough to attempt a good portion of the questions. At this stage I was able to repeatedly pass both the VFR and IFR mock Bristol exams.
Week 21 started 23rd June 2008
Again this week I did on average 5 hours a day and felt I progressed well. According to the online ATPL schedule I got all of week 5 complete and part of week 6. It is the first week that I was able to do more than was scheduled. I need to do the same next week as I am slightly behind due to the mid term week in Waterford and the consolidation week which is also in Waterford the week before the August exams.
Week 22 - 24 - started 30th June, 7th July, 14th July 2008 Panic time. I had no time to update the diary due to being so behind with the course material. 3 weeks ago I realised I had 3 weeks left to do 5 weeks of study so I really knuckled down and did a few 8 hour days. It seems to have paid off. I am now at the stage where I am getting close to the pass mark on the Bristol question bank for all subjects. Hopefully with a bit more revision and study I should be able to get the marks up a few more percent before the exams. I have only one week left at home after this week. After that I spend a week in Waterford for a consolidation course followed by the exams. I would prefer to have had the consolidation course earlier and have the last week at home for study. However I’m sure PTC have their reasons.
I am completing most of the online quizzes that PTC set out after each week of study. I am just about passing them but I am not too worried about these quizes. I think concentrating on Bristol from now on is the best step forward especially since I have the course more or less complete for my chosen subjects.
Week 25 - 27 - started 21st, 28th July and 4th August 2008
Again the diary has been put aside for the last few weeks as I was busy studying. Last week I attended consolidation week in Waterford IT. It’s a revision course where you have an opportunity to ask any questions which popped up over the previous study weeks.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday were spent studying for the IAA exams which were held in Dublin the following Tuesday.
The exams were held in the Gresham Hotel O’Connell street Dublin and I stayed in the Comfort Inn close by as it had free internet access and a reasonable room rate. I had 6 exams in Four days 3 of them scheduled for Wednesday. The first exam was Principles of flight. I felt it didn’t go very well which was a surprise as it was a subject I liked. Fingers crossed I passed it ! The second day I had General Navigation, IFR Communications and Performance. The second two went well but Gen Nav was a bit of a struggle and again it will be a close call if I passed it or not. I found the time of 2 hours very short as there were a lot of calculations, whizz wheel and map reading to be carried out in the exam.
Thursday I had Meteorology which went pretty well and Friday I had VFR Communications which also went well.
Results are due out in 14 days so we’ve a couple of weeks of anxious waiting.
Week 28 started 11th August 2008
Taking the week off !!!
Weeke 29 started 18th August 2008
Monday I was still waiting for results from the first set of exams. It is difficult to start studying again without knowing how you got on in the exams.
Tuesday and Wednesday no sign of results.
Thursday finally the results arrived after nearly 2 weeks of anxious waiting. I was delighted with my results. I passed all 6 subjects with a lowest score of 85%. I went through the remaining subjects to decide on which ones to tackle in Module 2. The subjects I picked were as follows:
Module 2 Human Performance and Limitations Radio Navigation Air Law Electrics and Electronics
When I picked my initial subjects for module 1 it was like picking them out of a hat as I didn't have any knowledge of the subjects or course. I ended up studying far too many subjects and I also ended up having 3 exams in 1 day. This time I made sure to have only 1 exam per day according to the IAA exam timetable and I also made sure I picked 4 subjects with a varied difficulty level.
Friday I started study proper with renewed vigour. The results were a great lift and will give me confidence forward into the next module.
Week 30 started 25th August 2008
The week was spent studying a few hours a day but I had a lot of distractions with work going on around the house. We are currently finishing an extension and I am doing much of the DIY myself.
Having said that I completed week 2 of the online PTC course. I was hoping to complete more but hopefully next week will be different.
I have not been in an airplane now for nearly 4 months. I hope I haven't forgotton how to fly ! I have a gift voucher which was given to me a few years ago for Christmas and I may use it soon before I forget what a plane looks like.
Weeke 29 started 1st September 2008
This year is really flying by. September already and I feel like we didn’t have a summer. 2008 will have to go down as the wettest summer of all time in Ireland. At least it is easier to study when pouring rain outside.
I worked through the lesson plan provided by PTC Monday and Tuesday and everything seemed to be going well until Wednesday I got a bit of a shock. I suddenly realised one of the subjects which I was calling Electronics was in fact a larger subject called ‘’Aircraft General Knowledge – Airframes and Systems, Electronics and Power Plant’’
To cut a long story short I was studying one book when there were in fact 3 books. This is really a typical situation with the ATPL home study. You are left in the dark to figure things out for yourself. You are more or less given the books and dates of exams with a consolidation week in Waterford just before the exams.
For the first module we had an introductory course, a mid term course and a consolidation course all held in Waterford. For this module we only have a consolidation course. The four revised subjects (after my mistake) are as follows:
Module 2 Air Law Aircraft General Knowledge – Airframes & Systems, Electronics and Power Plant. Radio Navigation Human Performance and Limitations
Week 30 started 8th September 2008
This week I went over the various lesson plans provided by PTC. Currently doing about 4 hours study a day. I will probably finish the module before going to Waterford for the consolidation week which would put me in a good position to take in as much as possible throughout the week and leave me with another week before the exams to revise.
One of the books I am studying is Electronics and since I have previous experience with Electronics it is a great benefit. Air Law and Human Performance and Limitations are also relatively easy as it is mostly learning off questions and answers. Overall I am in a much better position going into the final few weeks of this module than the last one.
Week 31 started 15th September 2008
I set up an office at home which I am finding a great help. It’s a lot easier to study when you can eliminate as many distractions as possible.
I haven’t tried many questions on the Bristol question bank yet but instead I am concentrating on finishing the entire module before consolidation week. At least this way the questions and answers from the Bristol question bank will make sense rather than just learning them off. Near the end of the first module when I knew I wouldn’t finish the remaining chapters of the books for the six subjects I decided to concentrate on the Bristol question bank. It got me through the exams OK but I’m sure I’ll forget a lot of the knowledge over time. Hopefully this time I’ll get the full course finished in time.
Week 32 started September 22nd 2008
Consolidation week was put forward by a week. I traveled down to Waterford Monday for 4 days. The consolidation week is essentially a revision course to prepare you for the ATPL exams. It helps to explain better some parts of the subject which you found hard to grasp.
It’s good news that it’s brought forward in one way as there is more time to revise between the consolidation week and exams. However once again I do not have the books fully finished for each subject.
Monday we had Human Performance and Limitations HPL. We briefly went over the important parts of the book. It is a relatively easy subject and I am hoping it won’t require much study.
It was good to meet up with the other guys on the course. Some of them I hadn’t met since Vero Beach. When you meet them you realise you are not the only one buried in books for an entire summer which helps a bit. Tuesday we had a full day covering Aircraft General Knowledge, Electronics and Powerplant. There are 3 books for this subject which means a lot of material but most of it is practical aeroplane knowledge which is not too difficult
Thursday I had Air Law which again like HPL is not too difficult but requires learning off various Laws of the Skies. The Bristol question bank is relied upon a lot for this subject
Week 33 started September 29nd 2008
This week I decided to leave the books aside and start revising by doing Bristol mock exams. The mock exams take random questions from the question bank and you have the same allotted time to complete all questions as in the IAA exams. The questions in the question bank are more or less the same as the IAA exam. I set up an excel spreadsheet for storing questions I answered incorrectly for later analysis. I generated another spreadsheet keeping the scores òf my mock exams. This seems to help as generally you can see results improving every day which gives a sense of progress.
I repeatedly passed all four mock exams every day for the week. If the exams were similar to the mock exams I would have no problem passing. The trouble is you don't know when the IAA decide to change a few questions around which means you need to be getting close to 90% in the mock exams to give yourself room for error. The exams are starting Monday week which gives me one more week to revise.
Week 34 Started October 6th 2008
Another week of doing mock exams on the Bristol question bank. I did a mock exam for each of the 4 subjects twice every day. By the end of the week I has getting over 90% in each subject.
Week 35 Started October 13th
Traveled to Dublin Monday and stayed in the Maldron Hotel Parnell square which is a 5 minute walk from the Greasham (where the exams are held) Tuesday I had the Airlaw exam. It went well and hopefully I did enough to pass it. Wednesday I had Radio Navigation and Aircraft General Knowledge. Thursday I had Human Performance and Limitations. The one exam I am worried about is the Radio Navigation exam but I was not alone. After coming out of the exam everyone seemed to be worried. Usually the Bristol question bank covers most of the questions that come up in the actual exam but this time 30-40% of the questions were never seen before which meant a good knowledge of the subject was needed to do well.
Week 36 Started October 20th
Took the first half of the week off to take a break from the books and computer. I did so many mock exams from the Bristol question bank on the PC during the later stages of module 2 that my eyes were sore ! Thursday I decided to get back into it. The final 4 subjects to be completed are as follows:
Module 3 Operational Procedures Flight Planning Instruments Mass and Balance
Week 37 Started October 27th
Once again back to the books for another module. It is tough looking at the remaining 4 books knowing the amount of knowledge that has to be obsorbed in the space of a few weeks. I studied Monday Tuesday and Wednesday but the rest of the week I was away on holiday in Achill Island. I received the results for module 2. Lowest score was 87% so again I was delighted and it gave me a lift going into the final four exams study.
Week 38 Started November 3rd
Back from Achill and now the serious study has started. Exams are in 4 weeks and we have a week in Waterford 17th Nov for consolidation. I put the head down and did a few 6 hour days (with more than a few breaks) and at the end of the week I felt I was beggining to get the grasp of the 4 subjects. I am about 25% through each book.
Week 39 Started November 10th
Closed the books for the last time and started on the Bristol question bank. At the start of the week I was getting mock exam results in the 50s but towards the end of the week I was up somewhere in the 70s. I closed the books early in this module basically because it was such a short time period between exams. By doing mock exams repeatadly I hope to learn the subject without having to read through pages of unnecessary content.
Week 40 Started November 17th
Attended Consolidation week in Waterford. Problems encountered over the preceeding weeks are explained by a lecturer in class. At times though I wished I was home studying for the upcoming exams but it is compulsary to attend ATPL consolidation according to the IAA. (Irish Aviation Authority). The lecturers in PTC are a mixture of good and not so good. I suppose everyone will have a different opinion. At least the more experienced lecturers usually teach the more difficult subjects.
Again we were given accommodation in the PTC housing near the Waterford Institute of Technology WIT where the lectures were presented.
The exams are set for 1st December to 4th December. I am hoping to go to Vero Beach as soon as possible after the exams to complete my hours building. I am looking forward to it after spending the last 6 months stuck inthe books.
Week 41 Started December 1st
Booked into the Maldron hotel Smithfield in Dublin on the Sunday night. I had two exams Monday and one exam on Wednesday and Thursday. Monday I had Flight Planning and Monitoring in the morning and Instruments in the afternoon. Both were tough exams and I was not too confident with instrumentation but fingers crossed I passed it. Tuesday I went to the Mater Hospital to renew my Class 1 medical. Afterwards I spent the day doing mock Bristol exams for the exam the following day. The exams Wednesday and Thursday went well so at least I finished on a good note. We get results in 14 days so we have a couple of anxious weeks ahead.
Week 42 Started December 7th
For the 1st time in 6 months I have nothing to do only wait for results. I was hoping to go straight out to Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach for hours building but there is some problem with visas between PTC and Flight Safety. Hopefully it will be sorted in the next couple of days as I am anxious to make a start with the next stage of the course.
Week 43 Started December 14th
At last finished the ATPL exams. I received the results on Friday a week after finishing which was quick compared to the previous two modules. To my relief all subjects were passed. Lowest score was 79%. I didn't do as well in this module which I put down to there being only 6 weeks between exams and the fact I only went through circa half the material before leaving the books aside to concentrate on the Bristol question bank. It just goes to show you need to know the subjects thouroughly before attempting ATPL exams regardless of how you score in Bristol mock exams. Having said that I would have been lost without the question bank over the past 6 months.
I am now waiting for the call from PTC for me to travel to Florida for hours building. We received an email during the week outlying how PTC are changing flight schools in Florida. They were associated with Flight Safety International FSI in Vero Beach for the last 3 years and are now changing to Florida Institute of Technology FIT in Melbourne North of Vero Beach.
ATPL Course Summary
VFR Communications Difficulty level 3/10 This is a relatively easy subject and the questions in the ATPL are nearly all covered in the Bristol question bank. I've met students who didn't open the Communications book and still achieven over 90% in the exam by using the Bristol question bank.
IFR Communications Difficulty level 3/10 Again this is similar to IFR communications which doesn't require much work to pass.
Principles of Flight Difficulty level 8//10 This subject covers flight aerodynamics and high speed flying (Mach numbers). I found the exam fairly difficult. The Bristol question bank does help but you definitely need to understand the subject well as there are many questions that are not in Bristol.
General Navigation Difficulty level 10/10 This subject covers a lot of material. Watch out for the time limit in the exam as it is very tight. There is a lot of map reading and work on the whizz wheel which takes up most of the time. There is nothing I can say is extremely difficult but it's just the quantity of material involved.
Performance Difficulty level 7/10 This subject isn't too difficult but requires a good understanding of the different aircraft safety speeds and there are also many questions which require graph work. The OAT media disk is a good help for this subject. It helps to understand and remember this subject well as parts of it pops up in other subjects.
Meteorology Difficulty Level 8/10 Again there is a lot of content in this subject and will take a lot of time to cover the entire book. I used the OAT media DVD which was a great help. It is a subject I enjoyed and found very interesting. This is probably due to the fact I am Irish (we like to talk about the weather)
Air Law Difficulty Level 6/10 This isn't a difficult subject to get a good mark in but requires a lot of learning. There are no difficult calculations, work with maps or graphs but involves learning off pages and pages of the different rules of the sky. Not a mice subject. Definitely the Bristol question bank is very useful.
Human Peformance and Limitations Difficulty level 5/10 This is a subject which covers the effects of flying on the human body. A lot of the content is common sense. I enjoyed this subject as you can relate to it and it is interesting to learn how the body works and its limitations. There are something like 900 questions in the Bristol bank so you'll be kept busy !
Radio Navigation Difficulty level 7/10 VORs, NDBs, GPS, ILS, Localisers etc. These are all the means of Navigating around the world using electronic radio equipment. You will learn all about these along with the different frequencies they use. The Bristol bank didn't cover all the material so unless it is updated I would not rely on it.
Airframes and Systems Difficulty level 7/10 This covers the workings of the aircrafts mechanics, electrics, pneumatics, hydrualics and aerodynamics. Interesting subject if you are in to engines/cars etc. or just mechanically monded. Bristol is OK for this one.
Instruments Difficulty level 7/10 A lot of the material for this subject is already covered in the PPL but here it goes into more detail. Alot of the exam was on autopilot and GPWS so make sure you cover them well. Again the Bristol bank needs updating as a lot of the material in the exam was not in the question bank.
Operational Procedures Difficulty level 6/10 Similar to Air Law it is a case of learning off all the rules of the sky. Bristol all the way and to be extra safe cover the Italian bank of questions also. It is another subject where a good mark is easy to obtain to bring up the average score.
Mass and Balance Difficulty level 6/10 I was told by many prior to the exam this was a difficult subject as there are only 22 questions which doesn't allow much room for error. I was also told the Bristol question bank should not be relied upon and to make sure you know the Italian bank. However I found this subject very straight forward and straight out of Bristol. If you have the basics of maths you should have no problem.
Flight Planning and Monitoring Difficulty level 8/10 I scored this with a high difficulty level mostly due to the quantity of material in the exam. The exam takes 3 hours but you need every minute of it. You also need a lot of space during the exam due to all the maps that have to be used. The Bristol mock exams had many PET and PSR questions which took up about 20% of the exam content but in the actual exam there was only 1 question.
The Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) is the highest level of aircraft pilot certification. However it is the next stage of the course untertaken by PTC students after the PPL. Those certified as Airline Transport Pilots can act as pilot-in-command of an aircraft. Of course you also need your commercial license CPL.