It took 6 weeks to get my results the first time, they lost them in the mail. Quite common they told me. 2 week cut off to sign up for next batch. Gatwick always seems to have places and if you go there you can ask the CAA about what else you need to do too.

I was offered a job before I even finished mine. With a quick up grade to Capt. So was another ex United guy I know.

 

hey, I can't speak for bristol, but here in the US, I'm with Gulf coast training academy, the benifet is that it's in FL, and Steve (who runs the corse) is a local call away and apparently an open encylopedia (so it seems), if you are confused with any of the material. He usues the Oxford books for the corse, but what i found out is that the books are more for just general knowledge, not really to be used for study material (unfortunatly the exams seem to be made by a bunch of beuracrats who fly desks with no sence of reality, at least my opinion). the answers consist of multiple choice with usually 2 correct answers, and you have to choose the better of the answers according to the eximiner, that is why it is vital to study the question bank, and use the books as just a general knowledge. If you get one thing out of this, just know, the books will not get you to pass the exams, I have not meet anyone or herd of anyone who passed using the books alone, you need the question bank, bristol offers it, as you know, but if you are looking for a more local corse, gulf coast offers it all and everytime I've been confused (many times I've been lost with it) steve has always answered my calls and explained it to me right away.
if you have any other questions about that place or just the process (I'm still doing it) let me know, I'll be happy to help, oh and here's the link to his site...

FAA to JAA Conversions

 

Another vote for Bristol here. Fantastic notes.

 

I'm going over to Belgium first half of November to visit a woman , but how much do the books cost and am I able to self study before I need to attend classes?

 

JSFBoat, there are several different providers for the JAA books. Low end of the cost spectrum is CATS for I think £999 for only the computer version of the books (they charge more if you want paper manuals too).

Bristol is £2140.

You can start studying whenever you want and take as long or as little as you need. You can also buy used books for cheaper on the Internet but they don't do you much good when you are finished studying because you actually have to sign up for a course with a training provider (unless you have an ATP with a type rating on it)

Another issue is that there is a new syllabus so old books will probably be under the old syllabus.

Two other training providers that I can recommend checking out are pad pilot and Oxford Aviation. BCFT might be a possibility too (I did my CPL conversion with them and they had some distance learning students).

I went with Bristol and you can't go wrong with them. Plus it is easier to get to Bristol (compared to Bournemouth) and there are no nightclubs in Cheddar village (where Bristol Groundschool's brushup courses are held), just a couple of pubs so less distractions. Bournemouth is kind of a party town.

Good luck in Belgium!

PS. Distance learning is all self study. You need to finish all the required quizzes and reading material before going to the brushup classes. In-residence learning wouldn't require self study before the first day of class.

 

Could always try FAA to JAA Conversions - they are based in Florida - saves the trips across the pond. They've got a good set up there after their move to the East Coast.

 

Passed all 14 on the first try myself, lowest score I got was 92% (enough bragging).
I got all the 14 Oxford books, and studied them for about 5 months, and used the Bristol (atpl.gs) question bank a lot as well to find subjects to read up more on.
Btw it's total bull**** that you need a CRP-5 (crap 5), I used an E6B and didn't find anything I couldn't solve (only thing I can think of will be airspeed corrected for compression, and specific gravity questions, but these can easily be solved on a calculator as well. Especially SG).
Only thing you need to make sure of is that your E6B has a high speed wind side, otherwise there are some nice, more advanced flight computers you can get in the US for a fraction of the price of a crap-5.

Good luck, and send a PM if you have any questions

 

Any good Android apps with an up to date question bank?