Private Pilot Written Exam Approach

LAWYER2

LAWYER2

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LAWYER2
Hi all,
I know there is a sticky on Instrument written exam resources and some PPL exam recommendations peppered within, but I wasn't readily able to find a strong consensus on best approaches to studying for the PPL written exam. I see Sheppard Air and Sporty's are mentioned, but noticed Sheppard's PPL resource just links to Sporty's, so I'm wondering is that the best place to start? Any feedback on best practices or study time would also be greatly appreciated
 
Honestly just pick one that suits your style. They all work fine. I used Gleim for Private and had good success. I used Sheppard for Instrument and also had good success and I just started using it again for Commercial.
 
Yo Ryan, longtime, done with IR? I am still stuck on the Private, wrote the IR exam with success but it just expired this december, hopefully 2024 i'll do both IR and Commercial, at about 375 hours now.
 
KzSheikh said:
Yo Ryan, longtime, done with IR? I am still stuck on the Private, wrote the IR exam with success but it just expired this december, hopefully 2024 i'll do both IR and Commercial, at about 375 hours now.
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Hey man! Where you been? Yeah I finished IR last month. Very nice… git’er done!
 
Do you have the FAA books (free PDFs on the FAA website)? If not, go get them. Gleim, Sportys, etc are more to reinforce the material for the exam. The books are for learning and the checkride exam.

To start: https://www.faa.gov/pilots


Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)
Aeronautical Chart User's Guide
Airplane Flying Handbook
FAA Aviation Weather Handbook
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK)
Weight and Balance Handbook
 
You’re going to have to demonstrate two kinds of mastery to the FAA for the ppl: RECALL for the written, and APPLICATION for the practical.

When it comes to federal tests where the question pool is known in advance, RECOGNITION of the correct answer from rout practice tests is as important as cold RECALL.

Regardless of which study system you go with for the written, I highly recommend Sporty’s Study Buddy app for RECALL/RECOGNITION mastery. It drills you on the actual pool of test questions. This app offers you incremental tests on each section as well full blown randomized practice tests. (The sectional charting question is a little wonky on an iPad, since the scale is off, but you’ll get to recognize the correct response after awhile).

Your goal is to pass in the written, so you’ll get away with RECOGNITION. But remember that the DPE is going to have a summary of how well you did on each section of the written. And studying to “just get by” on the written will come back to bite you on The PRACTICAL application, regardless of your testmanship with a pencil. So drilling with your instructor on the ground to develop actual mastery of the material is as important as the flying lesson.

I came back to flying a few years ago & did the Sporty’s ppl as a refresh. As murphey said, just a collection of FAA produced written material when you buy the kit. However, the video components were excellent & have improved since then I hear. Practice tests were good.
 
RyanB said:
Honestly just pick one that suits your style. They all work fine. I used Gleim for Private and had good success.
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This.

There are so many ways to prepare for and pass this multiple guess quiz. Reading, local live ground schools, online courses, two-day courses where you drill and take the test. They are all effective, depending on you, your style, and your time commitment.
 
LAWYER2 said:
Hi all,
I know there is a sticky on Instrument written exam resources and some PPL exam recommendations peppered within, but I wasn't readily able to find a strong consensus on best approaches to studying for the PPL written exam. I see Sheppard Air and Sporty's are mentioned, but noticed Sheppard's PPL resource just links to Sporty's, so I'm wondering is that the best place to start? Any feedback on best practices or study time would also be greatly appreciated
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Just take the Sportys practice exam over and over until you only get above 80s. The higher the better. Then go take the test.
 
Disclosure, I used sheppard for the IR and did well, completely recommend them.

However, I think I'd recommend Sportys and that is because they have a Lifetime Update which means you can go back and review the material. Some pilots have had unexpected time off from flying, some longer than others. So being able to go back and brush up on basics is a good thing. Plus, if it has been a while, and things have changed, you will get free training on the new stuff. That is going to be worth the extra cost now.
 
I read the FAA books and then used online practice tests to determine which areas I still needed to study more. When I got consistent scores in the 90s, I took the test. It worked really well for me, but if you need more structure to your study program, Sporty's is a good place to start. My instructor had it and she let me use it some for checkride review and it looked really nice.
 
darthanubis said:
Just take the Sportys practice exam over and over until you only get above 80s. The higher the better. Then go take the test.
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I think the Gleim practice/study exams are very good also..

I also recommend taking practice tests to learn the material, this is much more relevant and interesting that just reading books. If you find a topic you struggle with then use the book as a reference to understand a specific topic better. It may feel like you are learning the test, But if the test covers the material you need to memorize then that isn't a bad thing and about about 90% of the knowledge test is memorization anyway. Also it is just a stepping stone to the knowledge you will need to pass the the Oral exam.

Good study software should have a Study mode where it tells you immediately after answering the question if you got it right or not, and then explain why they think each answer is the correct answer.
It should also keep track of your progress, and report on how you are doing.
So after doing a number of tests or questions, it should be able to tell you that you suck at weather and navigation (most everyone does). Then you can tell the software to ask you questions on weather and/or navigation until you start getting 80% or so on just those questions.

I recommend doing a minimum of 10 practice questions per day. Generally you can probably do 10 questions in under about 3-5 minutes. You will find if you do 10 questions you will probably do another 10, 20 or 60 questions and after a couple weeks you will have covered all 800+ questions.

The software should also have a mode where it either asks questions you have never answered correctly or questions you frequently get wrong. This will help you learn the material you tend to struggle with.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I used the asa app and took the test till i consistently got in the 90’s reviewing the question i missed. Currently in the 80th percentile range for my cfi
 
Be sure to sample the several excellent YouTube channels for good information, demonstrations, and motivation.

I particularly like Angle of Attack and The Finer Points. But FLY8MA was the one that finally got me over the new Airspace Rules. MzeroA is on day 2 of it’s 30 day safety challenge, explaining one topic in a short video. I’ve struggled with Kim getting her license on Barron Pilot.

It’s amazing what you can pick-up through osmosis watching instruction in an airplane where having an intellectual understanding is not enough. (Which is the reason the big flight schools have a student in the back of their 172s while another student and instructor fly).

Free Pilot Training (way, way better than it sounds. Guy is an active duty C-130 pilot and does GA instruction on the side).
FLY8MA
angle of attack
MzeroA Flight Training
LewDix Aviation
The Finer Points (unique camera rig gives you the student view from the left seat in several directions)
Airplane Academy
 
I've been working my way through the "PilotInstitute" ground school videos. It seems reasonable to get through, though I have found a couple of [very] minor inaccuracies.

Even if it's not perfect, it''s a heck of a lot less expensive and easier to schedule than in-person ground school, and nothing prevents you from working specific topics with your CFI in person, right?
 
LAWYER2 said:
Hi all,
I know there is a sticky on Instrument written exam resources and some PPL exam recommendations peppered within, but I wasn't readily able to find a strong consensus on best approaches to studying for the PPL written exam. I see Sheppard Air and Sporty's are mentioned, but noticed Sheppard's PPL resource just links to Sporty's, so I'm wondering is that the best place to start? Any feedback on best practices or study time would also be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
How about starting by studying something other than a test prep.
 
From what I heard those who used Sheppard Air usually got higher scores. (High 90s --> 100)

They (Sheppard) have a question bank that you just memorize.

I already bought my books (ASA prepware) so I just used those. I did not get high 90s. But I think all of my tests were 80-90%. I’m fine with that.
 
mandm said:
They (Sheppard) have a question bank that you just memorize.
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That's OK for getting past the test, but:
Clip4 said:
How about starting by studying something other than a test prep.
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This. There is a reason that we need to learn this stuff, right? Cramming for the test may get you the cert, but it won't help when something unexpected happens and you don't understand the big picture and basic physics behind the items the program is designed to teach.

Speaking for myself, I'd rather score 75 and really comprehend that 75% of the material than score 98% and forget it all a week later.

On a side note, I've noticed that every so often we'll get a new degreed engineer straight out of school who achieved a high GPA, but seems to lack a lot of fundamental knowledge of the basics. I wonder if these are people who are very good at retaining test answers just long enough to make As on the exams....hmmm...
 
Yeah that’s when some companies only look at GPA, I was never trying to be the best, just learn and have fun with it is my style. I liked my asa prepware books as I took notes from the materials and learned, I looked at the explanations for each answer choice as well so I would learn why this is correct or incorrect, whereas I know with Sheppard it would be only memorizing the questions.
 
Thank you for all the helpful input! I always like to get feedback on people's experiences and best practices. I don't think anyone mentioned just studying for the test and solely using test-prep material, rather just looking for best practices and personal experiences which folks provided and I'm grateful for that. In a former life, I taught bar prep for law grads preparing for the bar exam, and I would always stress that understanding the answers was much more important than just knowing the answers.
 
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