CPL exams done

[Chang739]

Phew! Self study ended up being a year and a half too slow, but I got there in the end!

The CPL exams definitely required a lot of pre-work and reading but I didn't find them as scary as people made them out to be. By far the 'hardest' was PERF in that I submitted the final answer with 1 minute to go on the clock. The easiest was AERO for me but im told thats not normal and it should be LAW that's easy.

All in all I thought the CPL(H) content was excellent, lots of good stuff to learn and I really hope it doesn't atrophy away over time... Next up, the last 30-odd hours of flying until (hopefully) the flight test.

To anyone who's just starting out: everyone says it, and I didn't listen, but I'll say it again - do your theory exams first! Get a couple of hours under your belt to get a working practical knowledge of the basics but don't get addicted then find yourself near the end having to take a massive break...

On a side note, I recommend the AFT self-study pack. Huge quantity of practice questions as you go through the chapters to check your own knowledge base goes a long way.

Cheers,

Chang

[Icefather]

To anyone who's just starting out: everyone says it, and I didn't listen, but I'll say it again - do your theory exams first! Get a couple of hours under your belt to get a working practical knowledge of the basics but don't get addicted then find yourself near the end having to take a massive break...

This is definitely true I sat all mine before flying and it took a lot of stress out of the practical side.

However, if you’re in NZ, just be sure that your exams don’t expire before you get to your flight test. I know a few guys who have done them prior and wether cashflow has slowed their flying down or circumstances they end up having to resit them.

In saying that, in Australia once all exams have been sat you’re good, but there is that 2 year ‘window’ to get them sorted

Good luck with your flight test Chang,
Keep it in the green,

IF

[Wannabe60Driver]

Anyone you know got a job in the last ten years with the bare minimums?

[SpecialGray]

Congrats on the exams mate. Well done.

Don’t worry about minimums. We all started somewhere! Expect to be hard worked, poorly paid for long hours and maybe somewhere else to where you are now. If you’re anything like us, you’ve love it and learn heaps!

Lots of places prefer pilots straight out of flight school. You are current, the knowledge is fresh in your head and you are less likely to have picked up nasty habits.

If you’re willing to move and take the opportunity presented to you, you’ll get something. The first job is the hardest to get, but you’ll not regret it.

[Wannabe60Driver]

Anyone you know got a job in the last ten years with the bare minimums?

To clarify my comment: It’s great you’ve passed your exams and have 70 or so hours in the bag.

Unfortunately a CPL wasn’t enough to get you a job in the pre-COVID world unless you or your family had contacts in the cow chasing game. Now it’s even worse.

The one thing that COVID hasn’t slowed down is the number of newly-minted pilots the system is turning out each year. All of them have 105 or so hours and most have a 44 endorsement if not 20 plus hours on one. Most jobs though require 200 hours if not 500 due to insurance, contract requirements, etc.

Today more than ever, if you only have 110 hours or so, it’s about what else you can bring to the table. Nautilus for example hires one or two entry-level pilots a year, but there you’re a fishing guide that can fly, not the other way around.

Just some food for thought.

[Chopper Guy]

Hey Chang

Congratulations on finishing the exams. They really are the hard part of the license!

Bit like you, I self-studied and actually enjoyed the theory. Unlike a lot of required employment training I’ve done since leaving school, I actually felt the majority of the content was valuable and not just knowledge to pass an exam.

In regards to your first job, if you’re prepared to move and prepared to do your time on the ground you’ll get a start! In this covid / post-covid world it may take a while, but it’ll happen…

Many people (including myself) started their careers at Sea World Helicopters as a hangar rat (in a non flying role) and then used the experience and the connections made to move onto a full time flying role elsewhere. (To quote Bill Gates - Flipping Burgers is not beneath you, your parents saw it as an opportunity... or in helicopter terms, loading passengers into an aircraft whilst somebody else fills their log book is not beneath you, it's all part of the journey!)

On a final note, I’ll bite…

I didn’t think that getting your first job has ever been about ‘having a license’.

I thought it’s always been about what else you bring to the table… Did you grow up on a cattle station, do you have customer service experience and would you be good with customers, are you mechanically minded and handy to have in the hangar.

CG

[Chang739]

Cheers guys, I'll figure it out - she'll be right

Also for anyone else starting out, these texts were absolute gold:

BOM Manual of Aviation Meteorology for MET
ASA Principles of Helicopter Flight - AERO and AGK

Great reads, I won't be selling these. On a related note, my AFT long distance learning pack will be going up for sale if anyone's interested, its all untouched (no marks on the paper) and all up to date except Air Law which has seen a few updates to 48.1 since I started.

[Gasket18]

Heyt Chang congrats.. Well unlike you I'm finding law the hardest, which I thought would be the easiest as you look in books.. however, half of the things I can't find and then some I can never remember where I saw them. I still have perf and nav to go. hopefully be sitting law next month. Hope you get flying soon. Maybe we can catch up soon and i can pester you over law lol..
This thing about having to move etc to get a job has me worried. especially now im almost 50 only just trying to do my dream job now with less money than whe i was 18.. Oh and that 2 year thing, I thought that was purely for the theory side, and thats what others have told me not the theory and flying.. tho there is a 6 month extension on at the mo due to covid.

[Chang739]

I believe the 2-year limit is for the exams only; if not them I'm screwed because my first lesson was Sep 17!

Hit me up with any questions you have, the earlier the better while its still fresh!

Law ended up being a big memory game but honestly your best bet is to either print off the Bob Tait extracts or do what I did and make your own and learn them like your own personal bible.

FYI I had numerous people tell me I couldnt make my own extracts, but nothing in the rules said I couldn't - I'm taking in the CAR, CASR, CAOs, etc after all which is allowed, just sans all the unnecessary chunks and the exam invigilator had no issues with it. Just dont put page numbers on or anything as you cant add notes of any kind, so you'll need to learn from memory approx how far through the pages the section you're interested in is.

Doing practice exams and only allowing yourself to use that bible is a great way of forcing you to memorize where to look.

My extracts ended looking very much like the Bob Tait ones; i used it as a guide but made sure to either remove irrelevant fixed wing info or add helicopter specific sections that he had omitted. The main additions to the bob tait extracts off the top of my head were:

Making sure the CPL heli related sections are present under CASR 61.570
Making sure the heli VFR instruments are included in CAO 20.18
Making sure the heli related sections of CAO 40.1.0 for endorsements (and for that matter check CASR 61.1040,1090 and make sure nothings omitted)
Adding CAR 90.B.115 for helicopter specific occupant restraints
Adding info on Slung Loads from CAR 92.D.165
Adding CAO 20.10 regarding hot refuelling helicopters

You cant take it in but make sure you memorize CAAP 92-2(2) guidelines on HLS.

CAO 48.1 was a long slog of a read and most of it is for commercial tube drivers. I would recommend reading and fully understanding the definitions, Appendix I: Basic Limits and Appendix V: Aerial Work Limits. If you get a question on 48.1 (I only got 2) then it will tell you which appendix to refer too and you can use your base knowledge of I and V to quickly absorb any other appendix mid exam, should you get asked about it. I only got questions on Appendix V. One of the questions was a tricky one: How many extra hours can a pilots FDP be if he is given a split duty rest period of 5 hours in suitable resting accommodation? The key word was resting, not sleeping accommodation, which meant the FDP could be extended by 2 hours as per Appendix V 2.2. Almost caught me out but I realized my mistake and fixed the answer before submitting.

Cheers,

Chang