ATPL FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Q. Am I able to just do part of the course?
A. Yes. If you already have a PPL or a number of hours already then you just do the course from the ATPL Groundschool phase. The price of the course will be tailored to suit your needs. Or if you just wish to do the ATPL Groundschool, this can also be arranged.
2. Q. Does the price include accommodation?
A. No the price does not include accommodation or living costs.
3. Q. Do AST provide accommodation?
A. AST do not actually provide accommodation, but there is plenty of accommodation in the surrounding area, in Perth itself, and on the Airport site at Scone.
4. Q. How much does accommodation cost?
A. There are a variety of differing levels of accommodation in the area. Anything from £19/night at the nearby Skylodge, £530/month to hire 2 room apartments (good if you can share with another student) to £650/month for Studio Apartments.
5. Q. What is a Frozen ATPL?
A. A student that has successfully completed each of the training steps will have met the requirements for a frozen ATPL (A) - the Licence needed to fly commercially in a multi-crew environment. This licence remains frozen until 1500 hours total time has been flown. Of these 1500 hours, a minimum of 500 hours must be in a multi-crew, turbo-prop or jet aircraft. Once the time requirements have been met, the licence then becomes unfrozen and a full ATPL can be issued. Airlines do offer First Officer positions to Frozen ATPL holders.
6. Q. What does the cost of the course include?
A. The cost of the course includes:
a. Private Pilots License - a total of 45-50 flight hours in a minimum of 8 weeks, all ground school subjects with study materials.
b. ATPL Theoretical Knowledge - Includes a total of more than 900 hours in 30 weeks using a combination of Instructor-lead lectures, computer-based lessons, access to a large bank of practice questions and all study materials .
c. Structured Hour Building - Includes approximately 100 hours of solo flight time and a further 5 hours of dual instruction to bring the student's total number of hours to 150.
d. Commercial Pilots License - Includes a minimum of 25 flight hours in 6 weeks with at least 5 hours in a complex single engine aircraft and the aircraft for the CPL Skills test.
e. Multi-Engine Rating -Includes a total of 6 hours in a multi-engine aircraft with ground training and exam with course materials, the test flight and aircraft for the test flight.
f. Instrument Rating (ME) - Includes a total of 50 hours with up to 35 done in a simulator using a multi-engine aircraft and aircraft for the Skills test.
g. Other - AST Student Uniforms, a CPL Starter Kit including a flight bag, CRP5, charts, log book, rulers/protractors and a flight board.
7. Q. What else would I have to budget for during the course?
A. The following items would also need to be budgeted for:
a. Medical Certificate costs - A category 1 medical is advised. (initial medical can only be conducted by the CAA at Gatwick (See CAA website for information and current fee.))
b. CAA fees and PPL/ATPL exam fees, the Radiotelephony test and the PPL skills test fee to issue a PPL.
c. Landing fees at other airports and Instructor fees for additional dual flight time. (All landing fees at Perth ARE included in the course cost.)
d. Any hours required beyond the minimum quoted, the CAA CPL Skills Test fee and the CAA fees to issue a CPL, the CAA fees to issue an ME Rating, the CAA IR Skills Test fee and the CAA fees to issue an IR.
e. A radio headset, scientific calculator, CAA License Fees, student accommodation, meals and transport.
8. Q. What would be the total amount for these extra costs?
A. Any question on additional monies required is difficult to answer with any accuracy because the costs are based on minimum required hours, generally students pass within, or close to, these hours but sometimes a student will require more. For the costs of away landings and exams and skills tests a further £2000 should be budgeted.
9. Q. Do AST provide financial help or sponsorship for the cost of the course?
A. Unfortunately, AST are unable to offer any financial help or sponsorship for the course.
10. Q. What experience do the Flight Instructors have?
A. The Flight Instructors have years of experience taking raw students from zero flying hours to fully qualified in a few short months. Some of the instructors have specifically taught flying to students throughout their careers where others have flying experience with civil and military organizations.
11. Q. What aircraft do I learn to fly in?
A. The training fleet consists of Cessna 152 and Piper Tomahawk for PPL training and hour building, Piper Arrow for CPL training and the Piper Seneca for multi-engine training and IR. There is also a 4-seater Piper Archer available for hour building but charged at a higher rate than included in the course cost.
12. Q. Who conducts the ATPL Groundschool training?
A. There is a mixture of operational and mechanical/avionics lecturers teaching on the course. Their knowledge and experience is vast and no lecturer has less than 20 years of aviation and aircraft experience.
13. Q. What other facilities are available?
A. As AST is also an engineering training organization we have a hangar full of aircraft on which to conduct lessons. So we can talk about various elements and parts of an aircraft in the classroom and then go and look at the actual subject of the lesson in real life. We also have a fully operational static cockpit simulator which runs MS Flight Simulator X on which to practice and demonstrate systems.
