Modern Training Aids a Boon To Climbing the Licence Ladder

I largely learnt using the tried and true CPC system.

CPC is based on a very well-put-together primary text book and backed up with a locally modified audio visual system of cassettes, each dealing with a particular situation to basically parallel the flight sequences that you are presently undertaking. I found the system excellent in that I could review any cassette at any time and often watched each cassette at least twice before going onto the next. This certainly made the textbook study easier.

Another method that got me past the dreaded exams was to buy up every trial exam paper on the market (these are on sale at most aviation shops, flying schools and aero clubs). The idea being to tackle them all when you feel you are good enough. You then usually average around a 60% pass rate which is, of course, bad news. So you then review the questions you got wrong, restudy the whole thing and try a fortnight later. If you are then consistently scoring eighties and nineties then it is time to sit for the DofA paper and you guessed it, you get back into the seventies but that is a pass so it’s well and truly time to have a beer! For most of us life without the trial exams would certainly be harder.

There are of course a number of well-researched publications and manuals on the market for both PPL and CPL study. One that we like, and also used, was Capt Trevor Thom’s range from his Aviation Theory Centre. These books cover everything from basic PPL study to CPL work and one that I particularly liked was dedicated solely to radio transmissions, often the bane of many a young and not-so-young pilot.

DH Training Systems also produce a wide range of books dedicated to achieving passes in everything from PPL to ATPL. DH head, Val Dyson-Holland has been in the training game for over 31 years now and this experience shows in his wide range of products.

We might also add that the greatest aid to learning is invariably the spoken word. Don’t be afraid to approach your flight instructor if you are stuck on a particular problem. There have been times when something has troubled me no end, I just haven’t locked on, and yet a three minute discussion on the matter with an instructor has solved the problem entirely. Most instructors are also available (usually for a small fee) for private tuition, we thoroughly recommend face to face contact in this fashion, particularly if like me, you are not in the Einstein class!

So you have your PPL, are gaining hours and are now into the world of the CPL. A real benefit of modern technology in this arena nowadays is the use of specialist training videos. Avscan, a division of Moorabbin’s Peter Bini Flying School, have produced a number of videos on VHS and Beta which specialise in a particular aspect of endorsement. We have viewed the multi engine rating and IFR procedures videos and have found them to be good value. This form of training virtually brings the text book alive and helps the student to be pre-familiarised with his objectives prior to burning up expensive twin engine time that he can ill afford to waste.

The P S Film Productions (nee Beyond Video) group have also produced several videos on pilot training and these are also well worth watching. Indeed, I imagine that every flying school should have a complete range of these aids in order to assist their students. If yours doesn’t, then ask why not?

Once you have your hard-earned ratings, you naturally have to maintain currency. This is easier now that the Department has come into the twentieth century and revised its IFR requirements to the point where simulators can really begin to come into their own. These marvellous devices not only enhance pilot safety through a better familiarity with the task in hand but also save the pilot money, meaning more people gain IFR ratings in the first place and less let them lapse. A better situation indeed than existed before. Budget Air Services at Mascot have an excellent system tailor-made specifically for this task as does John Hindmarch at Flight Simulators. John’s operation is Bankstown-based and uses a squadron of multi-axis Link simulators which, I might add, are quite fun to fly.

OK, you have a CPL and are now busily building up the hours flying night freight runs, the odd charter and instructing poor individuals like yours truly! Why not upgrade the lot with a rotary wing CPL endorsement? In the ever-changing world of GA (your inevitable stepping stone) a rotary wing licence can save the day and with a little luck could open up a new career that you may not have previously considered. Certainly worth thinking about if you like helos and no doubt any of the numerous helicopter training schools will be glad to oblige you with information.

This short guide has hopefully shown you that there is more than one way to skin a cat and that learning can be easier, more beneficial and also more productive if a number of avenues are pursued as to the advancement of Aeronautical knowledge. Good flying.