HMA | Ground School Training-Phase 1 Review, Tips + Notes

Ground School is not as easy as you think. The subjects are pretty hard and your course period is short which adds up to more stress.

That’s our instructor, Capt Md Nor, for electrics

To give you some insight; a little explanation on how the theory is structured at HM Aerospace, Langkawi. It takes 9 to 10 months and is divided into 3 phases. The subjects differ batch by batch

• Phase 1: Principles of Flight, Aircraft General Knowledge (Power plant, Electronics, and Airframe & Systems), Communication.
• Phase 2: Mass & Balance, Performance, Human Performance & Limitations, Instrumentation, Meteorology.
• Phase 3: Air Law (CAAM), Operation, Flight Planning, General Navigation, Radio Navigation.

For Phase 1, we sit for 4 papers which are; 1 for Principles of Flight, 1 for Aircraft General knowledge & 2 for Communication. Personally, I feel Principles OF Flight and Engines are considered as the challenging subjects where you will need a full and thorough understanding to score well.

During Phase 1, we had almost 6-10 Progress Tests (PT’s) for each subject. After each of the phases, we had school finals, internal examinations in order to assess our knowledge on the lectured subjects and therefore to evaluate our ability to pass the EASA exams.

The instructors here are all ex-air force pilots.

Now lets venture into the academic journey;

After completing each syllabus you are required to sit for a progress test whereby the instructors will analyze your level of understanding. But honestly, compared to final tests the progress tests are much harder to score because we had to explain for every objective answer that we gave. Even though the circled answers are correct but the explanations are wrong, the answer is considered wrong. So failing in the progress test or not being able to surpass the passing mark is a norm.

This is my progress test and trial result. Passing Mark 75%

Scroll down to compare with my final results. During the first phase, we didn’t know how to do study and we were still in a null shock.

First of all, let’s start with:

Principles Of Flight

Out of all other subjects in Phase 1, POF is considered one of the toughest subjects. As a student, you will need a full understanding of how the plane flies. It’s not just about lift, weight, drag & thrust. As a responsible cadet don’t mug up. Mugging up means that you just memorize all the answers given in the app and attempt for the test without understanding the contents. Therefore, I strongly suggest my fellow friends, make good use of the Oxford textbook or pro pilot videos. This is very important as the diagrams and graphs will help you understand the topics better. POF is a very interesting subject as you start getting in deeper and deeper so getting a grasp on this subject is highly recommended as this will help you in other phases.

Utilize the Oxford book to the maximum and try to draw every diagram & graphs.

A total of 44 questions and one hour will be given. Don’t prepare last minute

Aircraft General Knowledge

80 Questions, 2 Hrs

Combination of Airframe, Electric & Engines

Airframes & Systems

In my finals, I got about 49 Airframe Questions. Straight forward questions.

Electrics

For my finals, I got 11 electric questions and 7 of them were busbar distribution.

Powerplant (Engines)

The engine is split into two parts piston & gas turbine. Most of the questions from the finals were gas turbine engine questions. Somehow you will find that piston engine questions are easier than gas turbine engines.

So the key is to master the gas turbine engine and as I say keep doing aviation exams, understand the graphs and explanations.

For Piston Engines focus more on – Turbocharger & Supercharger

Gas Turbine – All

In my finals, I got about 19  Gas turbine Engines and 1 Piston Engine Question.

VIFR Communication

VIFR is all about radio communication.

My Final Result:

Final results will be out an hour after your last paper

” Never let go off your question bank app, Don’t be too dependent on instructors, Try not to resit papers as each papers cost about 600 MYR “

Group Study & Moments before entering the exam hall

Last but not least. PRAY

Temple in Kuah, Langkawi. 30/9/2018