IAA class 1 medical is good with the CAA. Did mine recently on this basis. There's some kind of conversion process to go though, but it's doable.

I used the Thom books, found them very good. John Swan also produces a couple of books, they are more condensed and concise, very useful for revision. Since the Thom Air law book doesn't deal specifically with Irish air law, Swan's Irish Aviation Law for Pilots is a useful reference. Eirecopter gene...

On the business of the airfield, I don't think it matters too much for your PPL if you do it at a quiet field, at least in the first part of your PPL. As you progress it's likely you'll be brought to busier airfields anyway, and at that point you'll be capable of dealing with the extra workload. Ear...

The site is probably their online booking system.
Give Adrian a call or go see their setup. On the left in weston above eirecopter. Just make sure he's in and not out flying.

CFI is top notch, buckets of experience, good attitude and runs a tight ship from what I can tell. I did my heli ppl downstairs, he ran the ground school for the heli school.
Machines are grobs, relatively new. Can't help on price.

In the same boat myself. Talked to Bristol yesterday. Taking the class 1 in a couple of weeks then kicking off all going well.

As I understand it, both the ATPL and flying component must be completed in the same state. Once you have your frozen atpl and commercial flying course done and are qualified, you can do subsequent ratings, ME/IR, in another JAR state. But the first two have to be in the same. More in the www.pprune...

What makes you say there's a lack of airmanship from heli pilots? Bit of a sweeping generalisation don't you think? Speaking as a (student) heli pilot. What other incidents have you personally observed where helis have demonstrated this considerable lack of airmanship you speak of? I'm not belittlin...

Betwen 1200 and 1400 it's pretty much impossible to contact mil radar. In my experience.

My heli skills test is coming up. I know in general what to expect, if someone who has been through this recently can answer some questions I have, I'd appreciate it. How detailed are the questions on things like principles of flight, systems descriptions, air law, and questions on the other theory ...