The ATPL Podcast question bank explained

We’ve received many questions about the origin of our ATPL Podcast app question bank. Here is an explanation of where it comes from. We have always been 100% honest with our community, so no secrets.

Step-by-step what we have done:

Step 1: We have taken known questions from the old EASA ATPL syllabus (up to July 2020). These are publicly available in various databases which everybody uses.

Step 2: We have removed all questions related to the learning objectives which are not part of the new EASA ATPL syllabus (everything that is crossed out).

Step 3: From the remaining questions, we have created short statements covering the questions and the correct answers to them.

Step 4: Then we have looked into the new ATPL syllabus, taken all the new learning objectives which have been added by EASA (everything that is highlighted in light grey), and created short statements covering these new learning objectives.

Step 5: Wherever possible, we have created rules from all these statements. By understanding the rule you can answer various questions based on this rule, so even if EASA change the wording or conditions stated in the original question, you can still answer the new one based on the rule.

Step 6: We have recorded all the statements and rules into audio files – podcasts. Each podcast represents a logical part of the syllabus grouping related learning objectives.

Examples of the process

To better understand the process described above, here are a few examples:

Example 1: How we created statements from the known question bank?

The original question was: “In a typical commercial transport aircraft the landing gear operating system is usually…?”.

With the correct answer: “hydraulically driven”.

No rule is possible here, so we have created the statement: “In a typical commercial transport aircraft the landing gear operating system is usually hydraulically driven”.

Example 2: How we created statements from the new learning objectives?

The new learning objective was: “State that basic RAIM requires five satellites. A sixth one is for isolating a faulty satellite from the navigation solution”.

No rule is possible here, so we have created the statement: “The basic RAIM requires five satellites. A sixth one is for isolating a faulty satellite from the navigation solution”.

(Note: The actual CAA question may differ in wording, but it has to be based on this learning objective.)

Example 3: How we created rules from the known question bank?

The original question was: “The validity of a medical certificate for a pilot, 45 years old, engaged in single-pilot commercial air transport operations is…?”.

With correct answer: “6 months”.

It is possible to create a rule based on the fact that the validity of a Class 1 Medical Certificate for all pilots who have reached the age of 40 and are engaged in single-pilot commercial air transport operations is 6 months.

So we have created the rule: “The period of validity of a Class 1 Medical Certificate shall be reduced to 6 months for licence holders who are engaged in single-pilot commercial air transport operations carrying passengers and have reached the age of 40.”.

Based on this rule, you can answer many variations of the original question. For example, if EASA change the age of the pilot in the original question from 45 to 40, you can still answer the new question.

To summarize, the ATPL Podcast question bank consists of:

• Statements based on the wording of known EASA questions, but only questions which are part of the new ATPL syllabus.
• Statements based on the new learning objectives which have been added as part of the new ATPL syllabus.
• Rules based on the statements above, wherever possible.

The ATPL Podcast should not be the only way you prepare for your ATPL exams. It should be used as a brush-up tool together with other study methods. Cross referencing with approved ATPL books and computer based-training is necessary to gain deeper knowledge. We can recommend Padpilot or Bristol Groundschool study materials.

Notes:

• Our question bank (statements bank) does not cover calculations or questions with an appendix (e.g. jeppesen chart), as these types of questions cannot be explained with audio only. To help you with calculations, we have introduced the Awesome ATPL Formulas.
• Considering we have removed some of the outdated learning objectives and added new ones, our question bank still reflects approximately 80% of the old syllabus. So, if you have started your training according to this old ATPL syllabus, the app could still be beneficial to you.

We will constantly add and update new questions (statements) based on students’ feedback after they have sat the exams. The form to send us your exams feedback is here.

If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding the ATPL Podcast app, please leave us your comment below.