jsfBoat

Looking for a source for JAA study books. I'm getting my German Citizenship back, and am going to do the licence conversion starting next May when I'm out of the Army Reserves. WOuld like to know if I can order the books and start to study for the 14 exams to convert. Is there a website that has the books available so I can order and start studying on my own? Then next summer I'll do the ground and take the checkrides.

zondaracer

Hey JSFBoat,

I highly recommend Bristol Groundschool. I used them and you have the option to have them send you all 14 subjects from the beginning or you can just have them send you the first 8 and you can get the other six later, either in person or by royal post.

You can get the books and then you can sit their brushup course and take the exams whenever you are ready. I bought my books in June of 2009 and didn't actually start studying until September of 2010, sat the two week brushup and exams for the first 8 exams in November/December 2010, with mod 2 only a couple months afterwards. If you already have your FAA ATP, then you don't have to sit the brushups and you can self certify for the exams. There were a couple guys in my brushups who already had FAA ATPs and didn't sit through all of the brushups or switched between mod1 and mod2 subjects.

There are two other really good providers in the UK, Oxford which is the most expensive, and CATS which is the cheapest of the three but split up the subjects into three modules, but I've only used Bristol so I can't say if the other two are good or bad, but I haven't heard anything bad about them.

Also, these three are distance learning providers. If you wanted to do the learning in-house, I could give some references but I can't imagine you want to spend 8 months in ground school with PPL holders trying to get their CPLs. If you look anywhere else, avoid anyone using Nordian books, I've heard they are atrocious.

The one advantage of doing CATS is that they have a brushup ground school location in Florida, and there is one UK CAA testing center in Florida, so if you are going to do the conversion from the states before you move, that might be to your advantage. The CATS system uses three modules, each module has 1 week of brushup followed by one week of testing, so six weeks in total if you sit through the whole brushup. Bristol uses two modules, each module uses two weeks of brushup ground school followed by one week of testing, so also six weeks in total. Their Brushup course is held in Cheddar Village, near Bristol UK. Lots of RAF and Royal Army pilots using the Bristol groundschool. There were several in both of my modules.

All three distance learning providers do the ground school on your computer. With Bristol (the one I have experience with), you can read the material on your computer (it is identical to what is in your books), and then there are quizzes and progress tests. Once you are finished, you go to Bristol for your two weeks of brushup, then to one of the testing centers for taking your exams. The UK CAA only holds exams once a month, each exam costs 68 GBP.

Your your licence must be issued in the same country as your initial medical (revalidation of medical can be done in any JAA country), and your exams must be done in the same country as your licence issue. so basically, you have to do everything in the same country unless you get an agreement from the different countries (UK and Ireland already have a standing agreement, and Greece accepts the UK Exams. France will accept the UK exams for a fee and paperwork). The UK CAA allows you to do your initial medical in another JAA country, but you have to do paperwork and pay a fee, and I have a friend who did this after getting his medical in Rome, and he is ON A WAITING LIST for the UK CAA to process his medical.

I don't know about any distance learning providers in Germany, but I heard that the ATPL exams there are fill in the blank. If you get a UK JAA licence, you can transfer it to Germany after 180days of residency in Germany (JAA/EASA rules).

But overall, I can't recommend Bristol Groundschool enough, the only ones who don't get first time passes in all subjects are the ones who didn't put in the effort. Let me know if you have any more questions. I just went through conversion process recently.

Lastly, several companies within the Lufthansa group are hiring, I don´t speak German (one of their hiring requirements) or else they would be on my most desired list. If you get your license in the UK, the Lufthansa group still requires a JAA Class 1 Initial medical completed in Germany in addition to one you got in the UK.

LostInAsia

I used the Oxford books and supplemented that with the online Bristol CD and question bank.

The Oxford books are very in depth and thorough and cover a lot of stuff deeper than what is required to pass the exam. The Bristol CD was a much more condensed package, very user friendly and easy to understand.

If I had to pick one, I would probably go with the complete Bristol package. Oxford is way over priced.

When you can start to study depends on how much experience you have. If you have enough time to qualify for the self study option, then you can get them at any time and go at your own pace. If you are going to have to do the correspondence course or even the full ground school, I would contact the training provider and ask them directly.

Good luck with the conversion. It took me 18 months from start to finish and will cost a lot of money.

zondaracer

The minimum requirement to start Bristol Groundschool by correspondence is to have a PPL.

Also, almost everyone uses the Bristol questionbank. Aviationexam is also a pretty good question bank if you want one with really good explanations.

zondaracer

You will also need a CRP-5 from Pooley's. Buy the one WITHOUT the wind arm. It is kind of pricey but unfortunately the E6B won't do.

olympic

The BRISTOL QUESTIONS DATABASE IS A MUST!!! Once you finished studying the books start doing ALL of the QUESTIONS .. a lot of the questions are found on the exams, but were not talking FAA each subject has over 1000 questions .. so dont try to memorize, you'll fail miserably.

unitedflyier

I'm 2/3 way through the subjects. I memorised them. 8,000+ so far. Some subjects if you don't you will run out of time. Bristol is the way to go. But I have the Oxford on CD. Expensive but if there is something you don't understand then I just read that part.

You can also take the exams in Orlando. i'm only doing self study no ground school as I have enough time in Part 121 jets not to do the school. But Bristol do 2 week crammer courses too. Everyone at Gatwick at the exams recommended Bristol over 99% pass rate.

My plan after 2 furloughs is to stay over here in Europe. They treat you better and you can get a job offer even before you finish the exams!!

Good luck.

olympic

Good luck .. fyi they always put a bunch of new questions in each exam.

scumby

I was in the process of studying all 14 books to get my licenses, but it was a hastle so I decided not to. If you really decide to get the EC license then buy the CD and study the CD's only. Take all 14 test at one time. you'll pass approx. 3/4 of them on the first try. The ones you fail you can take in about a month. Otherwise, you have to wait until the next testing cycle. I personally know 3 pilots who did this and they all have passed the test. If you need more info, PM myself. Good luck !!

zondaracer

The only problem with this is that in the UK, they take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks to give your exam results. There is also a cutoff date to sign up for the next month´s exams, and this cutoff date occurs before you usually get your exam results. As a result, a failure will typically force you to book your exams two testing cycles after. I do know one guy who passed all 14 exams in the first try all at once just a few months ago, so it can be done.