PPL(H) Ground School
Before you are granted your PPL licence you will be subjected to a total of eleven, yes, eleven, examinations. There is your practical skills test which takes place in the air and demonstrates that you really can fly your aircraft and navigate over land, and your qualifying cross country flying test. You will also be subject to a medical examination - note that you MUST have your medical certificate BEFORE you can fly solo so plan this in with your flying training schedule to avoid any unnecessary down time.
There are seven ground school examinations which consist of multiple choice papers with varying numbers of questions and duration. The pass mark in all these ground exams is 75%.
The seven examinations, in alphabetical order, are:
- Aircraft General Knowledge and Principles of Flight
- Aviation Law and Operational Procedures
- Flight Performance and Planning
- Human Performance and Limitations
- Meteorology
- Navigation and Radio Aids
- Radio Communications
The final part of the jigsaw is your radio telephony (R/T) practical examination.
Note that there is no particular order to the examinations, except your final skills test. You can choose to do them in any order you see fit. However, you must have passed all the PPL ground school examinations before taking your practical skills test.
All the examinations are based on multiple choice questionnaires, some having more questions than others and an accordingly different time limit. You will only be allowed to use tools of the trade in the navigation examination. Your flying school will provide the appropriate navigation chart to work with. Use the same strategy for all multiple choice questions: work out the answer first, then remove the obviously wrong options on the sheet. If you still are unsure then go back to the question and work things out from first principles.
The pass mark for all PPL examinations is 75%, note that marks are not deducted for incorrect answers. If you fail any exam you will have to wait at least two weeks before resitting, if you fail a second time you will have to wait four weeks before resitting, if you fail a third time then you will have to wait at least three months before sitting any further PPL examinations and these will be taken at the CAA offices at Gatwick or a regional examination centre!
In addition to your PPL ground school text books there is at least one more type of book that you need to buy: The example question and answers for your PPL exams. The PPL Confuser is a must have. This excellent book lists literally hundreds of questions similar to those that you will face in your PPL examinations. Additionally, it provides the answers and the explanation of why an answer is correct. The amount of documentation provided with the answers means that the PPL Confuser also serves as an additional reference book to help you during your studies. Before making your purchase please ensure that you have selected the latest edition, at the time of writing the fifth edition published in 2003 is the most up to date. This is the edition with the green cover.
I personally used the PPL confuser, however if you can't get hold of a copy of the PPL Confuser there are alternatives as shown on this page. The Jeremy Pratt Q&A book which is billed as the most comprehensive exam revision guide published for the Private Pilots Licence written examinations. With approximately 1000 questions, arranged in the style and manner of the JAR PPL and NPPL written examinations papers, using the same number of questions, time limits and pass marks as actual papers.
At this point you will realise that there is more to learning to fly than being able to pilot an aircraft. You have to be able to display knowledge and understanding of a whole range of subjects. The effort and study required is not to be underestimated in order to successfully complete the ground school aspects of your PPL flying training. An overview of each of the subject matter areas is given below.
You will find the following references invaluable resources during your PPL ground school studies. The are freely available and I strongly recommend that you download, print and read these documents from cover to cover:
*Note that LASORS contains the official PPL syllabus which was formerly published as CAA document CAP 053: The Private Pilot's Licence.
Perhaps books are not your favourite way of studying. There is a lot to get through in the PPL and you may find that books are too dry. Therefore I would highly recommend the PPL Exam Tutor and Groundschool Examiner Fixed Wing Bundle Offer from TeachMe Interactive Ltd. The bundle also includes Navigation Computer Tutor and Radiotelephony Tutor.
These interactive tuition guides are a unique and easy way to pass your PPL, using carefully designed interactive tests, animation, sound and music, video, simulation, full colour graphics and easy to understand explanations, this software makes complex procedures and data easier to absorb and learn. The PPL Exam Tutor covers every major element of the Ground School Course for the PPL, including carefully explaining the Syllabus and what you must learn.
The PPL Groundschool Examiner has been carefully designed to simulate CAA Exam conditions, offering you multiple choice exam questions with a number of options, often similar in nature, to ensure you understand the meaning of each topic. It essentially helps prepare you for your exams in advance, helping avoid exam failure! Over 1000 Questions and Answers are presented in CAA type Multiple Choice format, allowing you to interactively test yourself in each of the Key Ground school Topics.