Aptitude test

MightyDucks

I'm attening a pilot aptitude test with oxford avaition soon. Any advice

yaeger

I've attended countless types of these tests and in general you cant prepare, however depending on the tests I can advise you to ....
Go over your times tables, some maths may be involved and quick mental arithmitic may be useful, also know your conversions , Ibs>kgs> etc etc
When doing the tests as they are usually timed work fast and do not linger on one particular question, Q20 may be impossible and cost valuable seconds where 21>30 are easy...get the drift.

I am one of those people that despite being told that you cant prepare ! I did and used online tests, library books, old maths books etc etc
So get the brain working in your run up to the test.

On a slight tangent, You should be testing oxford not the other way around, its alot of money your investing.
Plenty of other fine schools in the UK and generally cheaper if your going the full course, so shop around and do not fall for the glossy mags.
Good luck

diverdriver

The Oxford test isn't difficult if you have what they're looking for. If you 'fail' it don't worry. It doesn't mean you can never be a pilot, merely that you failed they requirements for that particular course. They tend to pick only the most 'suitable' candidates for their integrated course. On the one hand it will inspire confidence in your potential abilities. But remember this, the test they give is to filter out really unsuitable candidates so that their graduates end up with passes tests easily and achieving good exam results. It's cherry picking. It makes them look good. Which to be fair they are. But even a good school can't make some trainees into safe competent and employable pilots. So Oxford filter them out.

donkey balls

why spend 80/90k on a intergrated course when you can do the whole lot depending on your ability for around 65k(including MCC/JOC).
dont be fooled by the glossy website/information packs dont get me wrong Oxford is a great school most instructers are ex RAF/BA captains and they know there stuff,my mate got his full fATPL last month and has no job.
dont rush into it do the modular route(pay as you train) there is people coming out of oxford/ptc like my mate with no jobs to go to and they still have a 90k loan to pay the bank back unlike my mate who owns them nothing.

MightyDucks

donkey balls wrote: »

why spend 80/90k on a intergrated course when you can do the whole lot depending on your ability for around 65k(including MCC/JOC).
dont be fooled by the glossy website/information packs dont get me wrong Oxford is a great school most instructers are ex RAF/BA captains and they know there stuff,my mate got his full fATPL last month and has no job.
dont rush into it do the modular route(pay as you train) there is people coming out of oxford/ptc like my mate with no jobs to go to and they still have a 90k loan to pay the bank back unlike my mate who owns them nothing.

I was told that doing the intergrated course would give me a better chance of getting a job when im fininshed

donkey balls

MightyDucks wrote: »

I was told that doing the intergrated course would give me a better chance of getting a job when im fininshed

was that by the flight school? there is allways going be arguments about which is better intergrated/modular, seemingly some airlines prefer people from intergrated schools(dont know why)as you get the same licence at the end.

I worked for an airline dealing with the flt crews on a daily basis i know two captains flying for Ryanair they did the modular route,at the end of the day by going modular your saving about 30k which you could use for an TR with Ryanair etc.

diverdriver

That's partly true, British Airways and Aer Lingus prefer to recruit inexperienced pilots from integrated schools. One or two others the same. But as neither are taking on pilots like that at the moment so it's irrelevant.

But that only applies to pilots straight from flight school. They don't care later on with experienced pilots.

But the reality is that if you're Irish, you're probably going to work for Ryanair, Cityjet or Aer Arann. Most likely Ryanair. They don't care which flight school you went to. Ryanair and Aer Arann ask you to pay for your Type rating up front. That means more money.

By all means if you have plenty of money, go integrated. It may indeed give you a slight advantage if you think Aer Lingus or BA will be recruiting soon but it probably won't. You'll end up alongside modular trained pilots and no one will know the difference. Five years down the road, no one will even care where you did your training not even you.

However it is worth pointing out that you can do a modular course full time almost as seamlessly as an integrated course and save a packet which you can use to pay Ryanair for your job.

MightyDucks

diverdriver wrote: »

That's partly true, British Airways and Aer Lingus prefer to recruit inexperienced pilots from integrated schools. One or two others the same. But as neither are taking on pilots like that at the moment so it's irrelevant.

But that only applies to pilots straight from flight school. They don't care later on with experienced pilots.

But the reality is that if you're Irish, you're probably going to work for Ryanair, Cityjet or Aer Arann. Most likely Ryanair. They don't care which flight school you went to. Ryanair and Aer Arann ask you to pay for your Type rating up front. That means more money.

By all means if you have plenty of money, go integrated. It may indeed give you a slight advantage if you think Aer Lingus or BA will be recruiting soon but it probably won't. You'll end up alongside modular trained pilots and no one will know the difference. Five years down the road, no one will even care where you did your training not even you.

However it is worth pointing out that you can do a modular course full time almost as seamlessly as an integrated course and save a packet which you can use to pay Ryanair for your job.

What is the difference between integrated and modular course?

diverdriver

Mightyducks, can I politely and respectly suggest you put off any decisions about pilot training until you have more thorougly researched the subject?

In a sense you doing the right thing by asking questions here but to be going forward for an aptitude test with OAA without actually knowing what's involved really demonstrates you need to look into this subject in greater depth. In any case the breakdown is there on the Oxford website.

But broadly the difference is about €20 - €25k, that is integrated is more expensive. Essentially it's a full time course at one flying school leading to a CPL/Multi IR with a 'frozen' ATPL. There are fewer hours involved as well. Only very few flight schools provide this course, none in Ireland.

Modular simply means doing it in stages. You start off by getting your PPL, following by hour building until you hit the two hundred hour requirement. Meanwhile you are studying for the ATPL writtens. Hopefully you will complete all the exams and hours around the same time. Then you train for the CPL and Instrument rating in separate modules usually with twin training. It can be done part time spread over a number of years if the money isn't available up front or full time often in CAA approved schools in the USA or elsewhere.

Oxford allow for it in their 'Waypoint' programme. Modular is always cheaper and allows more flexibility for people who don't have the money up front. The majority of pilots come down the modular route. Not everyone can go away for a year and half to train nor can afford the big money involved.

Go to this thread in PPRuNe and read through it.

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/131649-archive-reference-threads-posting-guidelines-read-before-you-post-question.html

yaeger

Mighty Ducks..

Everyone has to start somewhere, but as so eloquently put by the meatbomber or diverdriver as he likes to call himself ! you should be doing alot of research so as to when you pitch up at oxfords door or some other school you are testing them on whether you would like to hand over all that cash to them or another.
Keep asking the questions, but get reading the websites and pilot forums and contact at least 20 flight schools in the UK and others from mainland europe and the states and start to browse through their brochures and prices..
If you go down this route its as good as starting a business considering the money your investing so take it slow and calculating and plan plan plan.
O and if you live near a flight school drop down for a chat, and if you have a spare few hundred quid go get a class one medical in the mater private cos without that you aint gonna fly commercially.

Now go search pprune.org/flyer.co.uk/flyinginireland.com/ppjn.com
Google....oxford/bristol/atlantic/stapleford/aeros/PAT/exeter/triple A/cabair/naples/oft/oaa/atp/ctc just for a start and then keep googling and reading.

You need to know every flight schools pros and cons, sucess rates , costs , training type/ aircraft type/ industry prospects, whos hiring and when and how etc etc then go visit the schools and look some more.

You might think its excessive, but believe you me this has always been an extremely competitive industry even in the good times so its best be clever with your approach.

Now thats way too much time from my internet time to be yapping away.
So all the best and dont rush into anything.

One final bit of advice mate, when you read up on it... Train Modular.

MightyDucks

yaeger wrote: »

Mighty Ducks..

Everyone has to start somewhere, but as so eloquently put by the meatbomber or diverdriver as he likes to call himself ! you should be doing alot of research so as to when you pitch up at oxfords door or some other school you are testing them on whether you would like to hand over all that cash to them or another.
Keep asking the questions, but get reading the websites and pilot forums and contact at least 20 flight schools in the UK and others from mainland europe and the states and start to browse through their brochures and prices..
If you go down this route its as good as starting a business considering the money your investing so take it slow and calculating and plan plan plan.
O and if you live near a flight school drop down for a chat, and if you have a spare few hundred quid go get a class one medical in the mater private cos without that you aint gonna fly commercially.

Now go search pprune.org/flyer.co.uk/flyinginireland.com/ppjn.com
Google....oxford/bristol/atlantic/stapleford/aeros/PAT/exeter/triple A/cabair/naples/oft/oaa/atp/ctc just for a start and then keep googling and reading.

You need to know every flight schools pros and cons, sucess rates , costs , training type/ aircraft type/ industry prospects, whos hiring and when and how etc etc then go visit the schools and look some more.

You might think its excessive, but believe you me this has always been an extremely competitive industry even in the good times so its best be clever with your approach.

Now thats way too much time from my internet time to be yapping away.
So all the best and dont rush into anything.

One final bit of advice mate, when you read up on it... Train Modular.

Cheers everyone,

I have been doing a good bit of research, reading books, pilot forums, talking to pilots, atteneding seminars and to be honest i thought i had a good idea of what i was doing. however im greatfull for the good honest kick up the ass.back to more research.

p.s do ye think i should cancel the aptitude test? i would like to no if oxford was an option.

diverdriver

It's probably worthwhile doing the Oxford test, there are other test which are not worth the money and as much as anything are a marketing scam. But the Oxford test will give you an insight to your abilities. Another more neutral test is the GAPAN one. Go to their website. Oxford's tests are designed to filter out candidates who might make their training look poor by needing revision and retraining. It doesn't really tell you whether or not you are capable of being a pilot. GAPAN on the other hand have no commercial interest. They'll tell you like it is.

The only aptitude tests for flying. I've ever done were for Aer Lingus. Presumably I failed to meet their standards whatever that is. So I did it all by myself, passed most of my exams with little or no ground school or help other than books designed for the British exams. I only failed one flight test and that was the Examiner's fault because he was new and asked me do something not required.

So aptitude tests only tell you so much.

dannyman2010

there is a bit of a smell of dirty farmer of mightyducks isn't there

andy_g

dannyman2010.

Banned for a week for trolling and insulting members.

Continue to do so i cant see you lasting here long.

Necro thread locked.