<p>Last month I discussed the application and entry process involved in securing a place at Alpha Aviation Academy UAE. Having been formally accepted onto the cadet course, it wasn’t long before I was ready to start the first phase: ground school.</p>
<p><img alt="Jieun" src="/getasset/f44f0aba-f3d4-4484-b367-16b5c4938cc6/" /></p>
<p>Ground school is almost always the first part of any future pilot’s training journey. It is the classroom-based aspect of the training, focussing on all the aeronautical theory and knowledge required before a cadet can step into the cockpit of a physical aircraft.</p>
<p>In total, ground school involved 14 different ATPL subjects, based on EASA standards, across eight months. Subjects range from meteorology and principals of flight to operating procedures and flight planning.</p>
<p>At first, it was strange being back in a classroom environment. I had been working as Cabin Crew at Emirates after university, and so it took me a little time to adapt to full-time studying and textbooks (or rather - academic tablets these days) again.</p>
<p>There is no two ways about it – ground school is hard work, and it can be frustrating. Over the course of the eight months, you digest a huge amount of information. You are required to study and memorise every single day, including doing some extra learning outside the classroom.</p>
<p>It was tempting at times to want to put my feet up, but my advice to other future cadets would be: don’t allow yourself to relax too much, because even at the weekends you need to be focussed.</p>
<p>Although the course involved a lot of work, the cadets had the full support both of the tutors and of each other. I had approximately half a dozen teachers across the different modules. They gave plenty of advice, and if we cadets didn’t understand something technically or theoretically, we would discuss the reasons behind different things together, or watch recommended YouTube videos that could help.</p>
<p><img alt="Pilots" src="/getasset/3f7e68a0-a522-4feb-9092-a6b7993de78f/" /></p>
<p>Almost every week you have a progress test; they were extremely useful, as they indicated to us what areas we needed to improve upon for the exams. At the end of the module you have mocks, and then your exams.</p>
<p>If you fail your exams more than four times, you have to leave the course. If you pass them all, you then have a GCAA theoretical exam which – again – if you fail more than four times means you leave the course.</p>
<p>The exams were also tough, with 75% being the pass mark. Depending on the module, you are assessed in different ways – be it drawing or identifying diagrams, answering multiple choice questions or undertaking competency-based questioning.</p>
<p>I was lucky that, having worked as cabin crew, I already had good knowledge of some of the ground school content. For example, AGK (aircraft general knowledge) I already had a good understanding of. Areas such as meteorology and the principal of flight (how planes lift, land and take off) were newer for me.</p>
<p>Having progressed through ground school, the next stage of my training will be the core flying phase – which will finally get to see me flying! I will be moving to Australia for this part of my training, which will primarily be undertaken in a Cessna 172 training aircraft; more about this next month.</p>
<hr />
<p>Did you miss out on the first two blogs from Jieun Kwon? No worries, you can easily find them below: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/article/jieun-kwon-my-journey-to-becoming-a-commercial-airline-pilot-episode-1/">Jieun Kwon - My journey to becoming a commercial airline pilot - Episode 1</a></li>
<li><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/article/jieun-kwon-diary-2-the-application-process-/">Jieun Kwon Diary #2: The Application Process</a></li>
</ul>
<p><img alt="Jieun" src="/getasset/f44f0aba-f3d4-4484-b367-16b5c4938cc6/" /></p>
<p>Ground school is almost always the first part of any future pilot’s training journey. It is the classroom-based aspect of the training, focussing on all the aeronautical theory and knowledge required before a cadet can step into the cockpit of a physical aircraft.</p>
<p>In total, ground school involved 14 different ATPL subjects, based on EASA standards, across eight months. Subjects range from meteorology and principals of flight to operating procedures and flight planning.</p>
<p>At first, it was strange being back in a classroom environment. I had been working as Cabin Crew at Emirates after university, and so it took me a little time to adapt to full-time studying and textbooks (or rather - academic tablets these days) again.</p>
<p>There is no two ways about it – ground school is hard work, and it can be frustrating. Over the course of the eight months, you digest a huge amount of information. You are required to study and memorise every single day, including doing some extra learning outside the classroom.</p>
<p>It was tempting at times to want to put my feet up, but my advice to other future cadets would be: don’t allow yourself to relax too much, because even at the weekends you need to be focussed.</p>
<p>Although the course involved a lot of work, the cadets had the full support both of the tutors and of each other. I had approximately half a dozen teachers across the different modules. They gave plenty of advice, and if we cadets didn’t understand something technically or theoretically, we would discuss the reasons behind different things together, or watch recommended YouTube videos that could help.</p>
<p><img alt="Pilots" src="/getasset/3f7e68a0-a522-4feb-9092-a6b7993de78f/" /></p>
<p>Almost every week you have a progress test; they were extremely useful, as they indicated to us what areas we needed to improve upon for the exams. At the end of the module you have mocks, and then your exams.</p>
<p>If you fail your exams more than four times, you have to leave the course. If you pass them all, you then have a GCAA theoretical exam which – again – if you fail more than four times means you leave the course.</p>
<p>The exams were also tough, with 75% being the pass mark. Depending on the module, you are assessed in different ways – be it drawing or identifying diagrams, answering multiple choice questions or undertaking competency-based questioning.</p>
<p>I was lucky that, having worked as cabin crew, I already had good knowledge of some of the ground school content. For example, AGK (aircraft general knowledge) I already had a good understanding of. Areas such as meteorology and the principal of flight (how planes lift, land and take off) were newer for me.</p>
<p>Having progressed through ground school, the next stage of my training will be the core flying phase – which will finally get to see me flying! I will be moving to Australia for this part of my training, which will primarily be undertaken in a Cessna 172 training aircraft; more about this next month.</p>
<hr />
<p>Did you miss out on the first two blogs from Jieun Kwon? No worries, you can easily find them below: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/article/jieun-kwon-my-journey-to-becoming-a-commercial-airline-pilot-episode-1/">Jieun Kwon - My journey to becoming a commercial airline pilot - Episode 1</a></li>
<li><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/article/jieun-kwon-diary-2-the-application-process-/">Jieun Kwon Diary #2: The Application Process</a></li>
</ul>