Last weekend I went on the Bristol Ground School Accelerator Weekend: General Navigation.
The accelerator is held at the Bristol Ground School in Clevedon which is around a 2.2 hour drive for me, I set of at 6am and got there in plenty of time.
I have gone about module one slightly differently from most, I didn’t get on with the switching of subjects so I have actually worked through them one by one. I have completed instrumentation, and I have just about completed Meteorology so I just have General Navigation and Human Performance and Limitations left to do. After seeing how involved general navigation really is I think I will do HPL next so I can then really focus on general navigation as it is going to take a lot longer than the others.
I would have taken a later accelerator but the dates didn’t line up so this was the only one I could take.
The class was a mixed bunch, around 70% were armed forces converting, there was 3 PPL holders and 1 US ATP holder converting to an EASA licence. The age range I would say was mid 20’s to early 40’s, with the majority being around 30 ish.
The class was taken by John Jones who really knows Gen Nav inside out. We did some work on the CRP 5 which is a lot easier to understand when somebody is explaining it to you.
We then went through questions around the CDMVT formula. Obviously these questions made more sense to the rest of the class who were a lot further through gen nav than I was.
On day two we went through solar, time, maps and charts.
Both days the class lasted from 9 till 5 with 1 hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks.
You get a lot of handouts during the two days which is really useful and you get tips and tricks around quicker ways to work things out. I would say go on the course when you are around half way through or at the end as it will help to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. Obviously I can’t upload them on here as they are the schools documents but you will get your own when you attend.
You will need to take the following with you.
- CRP 5
- Calculator
- Marker Pen
- Paper and Pen
When distance learning you are on your own a lot of the time so it is nice to be in an environment where you can bounce of other students and see how they are finding it also.
All in all I think it is a worthwhile thing and it is included in your course so why not do it? There are lots of cheap places to stay nearby with a list on the Bristol Ground School website. Food wise there is a Tesco just a few minutes drive away but apart from that I didn’t see much else.
Hi, I’m doing ATP distance at BGS, scheduled to take the revision course for Module 1 at the beginning of May. Due to different reasons I was not able to schedule the NAV acceleration weekend earlier than end of April so essentially 2 weeks before the revision course. According to your experience, how the NAV content is covered in the accelerator weekend in comparison to the revision week. Is it worth taking the accelerator weekend only two weeks prior to the revision course? Are these two complementary or rather overlapping?
Hi Rafal, personally I wouldn’t say it was worth it. The same things are covered on the brush up week just at a slightly more accelerated pace. Unless you live nearby I would just use the brush up week unless of course you are struggling and going through twice will help?
Thanks, really appreciated. I think I will skip it then, especially that it’s so close to the revision.