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Culhane Aviation Training Manuals

 

Frequently Asked Questions

I am thinking of getting my pilot's licence. Could you please tell me what flight and ground training is required? The starting place would be to complete a Recreational Pilot Permit or Private Pilot's Licence. Our training texts at the RRP/PPL level cover everything that is needed for these initial licences in terms of providing all required ground school and flight training subjects. For the RPP, a minimum of 25 hours of flight training is required, and for the PPL, a minimum of 45 hours of flight training is required, and as well, a written exam and medical will also be required. We recommend that persons interested in commencing flight training first obtain and read our texts so as to become fully familiar with aviation subjects and flight training standards that will apply to the RPP or PPL, and then make arrangements with a local flying school for purposes of commencing a flight training program, which we recommend be completed on the basis of hourly flying lessons. In-flight training will be far more effective for those having pre-read our training manuals in advance of commencing air lessons.

I hold a non-canadian pilot licence - what is involved in converting my licence for Canadian requirements in terms of written examinations, flight times, medical etc? These requirements vary depending on many factors - see the Transport Canada website, personnel licensing for specific requirements that apply to your situation.

I hold a USA ATP pilot licence. I understand that I can convert to a Canadian ATPL by writing a specified exam. What do I need to study to pass this test and do you provide dedicated training texts and sample exams for this purpose? If you have a valid FAA ATP that is current, you will need to sit the Transport Canada "FAAAA" written exam. This test essentially covers the differences between the FAA and TC licences. Details on FAA to TCAA licence conversion requirements can be found by going to the Transport Canada website, FAA Conversions. Basically, you will need to learn Canadian Air Law with some additional topics (e.g. CRFI, de-icing/anti-icing and winter operations, landing performance, factoring, Canadian charts, Canadian ILS systems, runways and runway markings etc.): this material is covered in our ATPL course text Airline Transport and IATRA Ground School Course and FAAAA sample exams are provided in our Airline Transport and IATRA Written Test Book. You can also complete our ATPL/IATRA/FAAAA Online Ground School and write the FAAAA sample online exam in our online course.

I hold a USA Commercial Pilot licence. I understand that I can convert to a Canadian CPL by writing a specified exam. What do I need to study to pass this test and do you provide dedicated training texts and sample exams for this purpose? If you have a valid FAA that is current, you will need to sit the Transport Canada "FAACA" written exam. This test essentially covers the differences between the FAA and TC licences. Details on FAA to TCAA licence conversion requirements can be found by going to the Transport Canada website, FAA Conversions. Basically, you will need to learn Canadian Air Law with some additional topics (e.g. CRFI, de-icing/anti-icing and winter operations, factoring, civil twilight charts, Canadian charts, runways and runway markings etc.): this material is covered in our CPL course text Commercial Pilot Ground School Course and FAACA sample exams are provided in our Commercial Pilot Written Test Book. You can also at your option take our Commercial Pilot Online Ground School and Commercial Pilot Online Exams.

I hold a USA Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument privileges. I understand that I can convert to a Canadian Instrument Rataing by writing specified exams. What do I need to study to pass this test and do you provide dedicated training texts and sample exams for this purpose? If you have a valid FAA that is current, you will need to sit the Transport Canada "FAACA" and "FAAIA" written exams. These tests cover the differences between the FAA and TC certificates/licences/ratings. Details on FAA to TCAA licence conversion requirements can be found by going to the Transport Canada website, FAA Conversions. Basically, you will need to learn Canadian Air Law and certain additional subjects: all of this material is covered in our CPL course text Commercial Pilot Ground School Course and FAACA sample exams are provided in our Commercial Pilot Written Test Book. Similarly, the relevant topics for the FAAIA are covered in our Instrument Rating Ground School Course and FAAIA sample exams are provided in our Instrument Rating Written Test Book. You can also at your option take our Commercial Pilot Online Ground School and Commercial Pilot Online Exams.

In addition to the Culhane ground school course and written test book, what other external references and/or publications will I need for the purposes of preparing for my written? None! Our materials are designed to be completely SELF INCLUSIVE so that you will not require any additional secondary reference material, regulations etc. to prepare for your written. This is the whole point of our training manuals: we offer a complete exam prep training program and users of our products have no need to source and purchase a host of separate, un-related texts such as texts for aviation rules and regulations, aviation weather, radio procedures, theory of flight etc.

Have your training manuals been accepted by a majority of pilots and flying schools in Canada, or are you new to this field? Since the release of our first training manual in 1988, our training manuals have been used by tens of thousands of Canadian pilots to succeed on their aviation writtens. Consolidated sales of our "Culhane" training manuals exceeds 150,000 copies sold. We are a leading publisher of aviation training texts in Canada.

I am aware that there have been many recent changes made to the aeronautics training system in Canada. Are your aviation training guides kept up to date and are they current for the present year? Yes! Culhane training manuals are constantly updated and revised as changes are made to the Canadian aeronautical training system. We pride ourselves in ensuring that each of our training texts is current for the present calendar year, and we post selected updates on our website for updates and amendments made during the current year. We work hard to keep our content regulary and continually revised and updated.

What are the key features in terms of the way that you present the required subjects in your training manuals that will assist me in preparing for and succeeding on my Transport Canada written exam? The key features of our training manuals that makes them useful (in our opinion!) is that we present only the current, relevant subjects needed to succeed on a given exam in an organized and user-friendly way and written in plain English. No extranneous or superfluous materials have been provided. In our view, private pilots should study only the relevant private pilot topics, commercial pilots should study only the relevant commercial pilot topics, helicopter CPL pilots should study only CPL-H topics etc. etc. As well, since all relevant subjects in our texts have been organized into a structured, subject-numbered format, our users can quickly cross reference between the questions in our sample exams to the applicable backgound subjects in our course manuals. Our user oriented, task-specific focus behind our training texts is the key to permitting our users to be able to quickly learn and master the required subjects, thus permitting success on the applicable Transport Canada aviation written.

Are the exam questions in your training manuals constructed from the actual Transport Canada questions or have you independently written your own questions? Excepting only the PSTAR exam, all of our content is our own since Transport Canada does not release its exam questions to the public. In total, we have independently authored our own proprietary database of approximately 10,000 exam questions, which have all been written to provide a realistic emulation of Transport Canada questions based on the structure, content, style, and level of difficulty used by Transport Canada in current government exams.

Why do you place such a strong emphasis on supplemental written tests and sample exams - surely one should be able to readily pass a Transport Canada written exam after completing a standard, lecture based aviation ground school? Any experienced aviation instructor will probably agree with us that the job of preparing for a Transport Canada aviation written can be divided into two key stages: STAGE 1 is to learn the applicable study subjects, via ground school studies, and this is an important and lengthy task. Equally important, and equally lengthy, is STAGE 2, which is to learn how to write an aviation exam. Those pilots that complete a standard, lecture based aviation ground school (focused on Stage 1) without devoting any extra time to develop test writing skills (Stage 2) will probably score poorly on their Transport Canada written. The best way to develop test taking skills is to write multiple sets of realistic, simulated tests, and to improve on any weak areas by carefully analyzing test results. Thus, our Ground School Course training manuals (and online ground school) will assist in preparing for Stage 1, and our Written Test Book series (and online exams) will assist in preparing for Stage 2.

Are the answers to the questions within your Written Test Books contained within the written test books themselves, or do I need to obtain the equivalent Ground School Course manual so as to have the answers to the questions in the written test book? All answers to the questions within our written test books are contained within the answer keys in the written test books (with cross references to our texts). Our ground school courses contain all of the required background subjects, while our written test books contain supplemental questions derived from the required subjects with answers and cross references.

Are the exam questions in your online ground schools/online exams unique and distinct from the questions in your written test books? Excepting the PSTAR and AME Regs exam questions, yes, all content in our online courses and tests is unique and distinct from our training manuals.


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