Elsewhere On profpilot.co.uk



Have You Seen?

JAA Private Pilot Licence (PPL) Theory Exams

How to pass those seven minor annoyances (and that one RT practical exam)


Seven exams. 75% Pass Mark. Three attempts each. And with profpilot, they're dead easy!*

The exams

(see main article; passing your PPL theory exams)

The exam content is not all that hard, although there is quite a lot to learn. You will probably find you can do all of them just using the books, hassling your instructor only occasionally with a question. They are also really thrilling.

Well used Cessna
Subjects
  1. Air Law: Learning about airspace, rules of the air, aircraft markings etc.
  2. Aircraft General and Principles of Flight: How the aeroplane is built and how it goes fly fly.
  3. Flight Performance: Again, it's a recession - learn how to calculate how efficient your aircraft is being.
  4. Human Factors: Humans aren't designed to hurtle blindly through the air; see what horrific effects it can have.
  5. Meteorology: Basically stay away from thunderstorms. Will make you the local weather guru to everyone else though.
  6. Navigation: How not to get lost and close Manchester Airport to arrivals.
  7. Radio Telephony: Teaches you how to speak on the radio. Also will leave you annoyed anytime a radio conversation between pilots on TV occurs, at it's lack of reality.


Time limits and special cases

You must pass Air Law before you can go solo.

You have 18 months to pass all seven exams from the date of your first exam pass. Otherwise - take them all again!

You have 24 months to pass your practical flight test from the date of your last successful exam pass. Otherwise - take them all again!

You get three attempts at each exam. If you fail a third time, it's Gatwick time to see the friendly CAA!


Taking the exams

You have to take the exams at an approved centre, which is usually your flight school. They are all multiple choice, 4 options per question, and quite often two of the given answers are ridiculous, which is nice.

One resource I recommend is the PPL Confuser (google it), as many of the questions in it are, almost word for word, identical to the real exams. Hooray! I hear you shout. But these exams are there for a reason - make sure you know the content too!


RT practical exam

This is where you and an examiner get to put on your headsets in a classroom and look like numpties.

Basically, it is testing your knowledge of how to both initiate and adapt to situations over the radio in the air. There will be run-of-the-mill stuff, like take-off clearance, requesting a MATZ penetration and clearances, as well as more abnormal events, like a pan-pan if you see a large pile-up on the motorway or equally interesting scene.

Not too hard, especially if you have been flying for a while and are pretty comfortable on the radio anyway.

*lie



Sponsors