AME / AeMC
Aviation Medical Examiner, or an aeromedical centre. The only people who can issue your Class 1.
Study kit
Official pages, question banks, and the words you will live in.
The founder’s Facebook page is the living feed. These are the standing references: regulators, ATPL study, English, and a glossary so a briefing does not sound like code.
On this site
E6B flight computer
Density altitude, true airspeed, wind triangle, fuel, top of descent, cloud base, and 1-in-60 — the tools you will need on a navex, not a brochure.
On this site
Radio English drills
Sixteen readbacks: taxi, take-off, ILS, go-around, mayday. Level 4 is legal. Boards listen for 5.
On this site
VOR trainer
OBS, CDI, TO/FROM, DME, the cone of confusion, reverse sensing. Identify radials. Fly an intercept.
On this site
METAR / TAF decoder
Paste a report. Wind, vis, weather, cloud, QNH, TEMPO — in English you can brief.
On this site
Holding pattern
Direct, teardrop, parallel. Set inbound, turns, heading. The 70/110 split the examiner wants.
On this site
Mass & balance
Classroom 172 and PA-28. Seats, fuel, bags, CG envelope. Not an AFM.
Founder & content provider
Class 1 Pilot is founded by the aviation education Facebook page that publishes living guidance for aspiring commercial pilots. That page is the main content provider for this site.
Regulators
FAA — pilots
US training, medicals, and ACS standards.
EASA
European rules, ATO lists, easy-access regulations.
UK CAA
UK licences post-EASA. Do not mix the two up.
GCAA UAE
UAE medicals, ELP, and ATO approvals.
CAA Oman
Sultanate approvals and medicals.
PCAA Pakistan
Confirm a Pakistani club is actually on the current list.
DGCA India
Indian CPL, medical, and FTO status.
ICAO
The language, the annexes, the English standard.
Theory and question banks
FAA Airplane Flying Handbook (free PDF)
Start here if you will train FAA.
EASA Easy Access Rules for Aircrew
The actual rulebook, not a summary thread.
Aviationexam
Widely used ATPL question bank. Paid.
Bristol Groundschool
EASA ATPL theory provider many academies sit on.
SKYbrary
Operational safety library. Read it like a professional.
Glossary
Say the word correctly.
APS MCC
Airline Pilot Standard Multi-Crew Cooperation — the upgraded MCC many European airlines now expect.
ATO
Approved Training Organisation. If the school is not on the regulator list, walk away.
ATPL
Airline Transport Pilot Licence. Required to command a multi-crew airliner. Age 21 and, typically, 1,500 hours.
Bond
A contract that makes you stay, or pay, after an airline funds training. Read the break fee.
CFI
Certified Flight Instructor (FAA). The usual US hour-building job toward ATP.
CPL
Commercial Pilot Licence. You may be paid to fly. You still cannot command an airliner on this ticket alone.
Density altitude
Pressure altitude corrected for temperature. High DA means thin air: longer takeoff, poorer climb, higher TAS. Compute it before a hot-and-high departure.
E6B
The circular flight computer. Density altitude, TAS, wind triangle, fuel, and conversions. Learn the metal one; the phone is a backup.
CRM
Crew Resource Management. How two pilots use each other, the cabin, ATC, and the QRH. Airline interviews are mostly this.
Frozen ATPL
ATPL theory passed, CPL/IR in hand. You may act as a first officer. Unfreezes with hours and a skill test.
Groundspeed
Speed over the ground. TAS plus or minus wind. Navex fuel and ETA use this, not the ASI.
Hour building
Flying after the CPL to reach airline minima. Instructing, banner, survey, or club flying — not aimless circuits.
ICAO English
Six-level language scale. Level 4 is the international minimum. Level 6 does not expire.
IR
Instrument Rating. Fly in cloud, at night, and on airways using instruments and published procedures.
JOC
Jet Orientation Course. A short simulator course so a light-aircraft CPL does not meet a jet cold.
MCC
Multi-Crew Cooperation. How two pilots run one aeroplane. Required before most airline type ratings in Europe.
ME / MEP
Multi-engine piston class rating. Almost every professional job wants it.
MPL
Multi-crew Pilot Licence. Airline-tied, simulator-heavy route from zero to a specific right-hand seat.
PIC
Pilot-in-command. Hours as PIC are not the same as dual hours. Logbooks are forensic documents.
PPL
Private Pilot Licence. First licence. You cannot be paid. Minimum age 17.
SIC
Second-in-command. First officer time in a multi-crew aircraft.
Skill test / checkride
The practical exam with an authorised examiner. The course is not the licence.
STAR
Situation, Task, Action, Result. The only structure worth using for a CRM story in an interview.
Type rating
A licence endorsement for a specific jet family (A320, B737…). Often $20k–$45k if you buy it yourself.
TAS
True airspeed — speed through the air mass. The ASI lies with altitude; TAS is what the wind triangle uses.
WCA
Wind correction angle. Heading minus course. Crab into wind so the track stays on the line.