Best Instrument Written/Oral Prepware

E

epmcinty

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Nov 14, 2014
Messages
5
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Phoenix
Display Name
Display name:
Eamonn
Hello everyone!

I want to first apologize for making another one of these posts because I know I have seen tons of people ask this in the past! However, my goal is to not only pass the written exam with flying colors, but understand a majority of the concepts and get the most out of it. In addition, I want to prepare for the oral as throughly and early as possible, as I am just about to start my instrument training this summer (probably doing an accelerated course so have to be ready before hand). So these are the two prepare programs I am down to:

http://passfaaexams.com/all-in-one-instrument-pilot/

I do not know if you have seen this guy's videos on youtube, but he thoroughly explains concepts that people have trouble understanding. That is how his written prepare works. His claim is that they not only help you pass the written but help explain until you actually understand the concepts through these amazing videos. In addition his all-in-one package includes a check ride prep set of videos that is set out to fully get you ready for your oral, I am sure it is good as well. They are relatively newer, but have good testimonials and have amazing demo videos on their youtube. I want to hear what you all think.

http://www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/ifr.asp

The Dauntless ground school is the other written prepware that I have been looking at. While it does not come with videos explaining the concepts, it apparently has really good, thorough explanations to help you get the most out of it. In addition, they have software called RideReady that is an oral exam program that is said to be extremely intricate and prepares you better than most oral exam guides and other oral prep methods. They have amazing testimonials, most people claiming to 97's and 100's on the written, but then again I feel like they only use their good testimonials as there are VERY few compared to Lucas's website at passfaaexams above where he is more honest and posts almost everything (people get in the 80's and 90's.)

So this is what I am between right now. What do all you wonderful, experienced pilots suggest? How did you make sure you were over prepared for not just the Instrument Written but the Oral!? My goal is to be as knowledgable as possible and go into the check ride feeling confident and not iffy at all about certain concepts. Thanks a ton everyone, have a great weekend!

-Eamonn McIntyre
 
From what I can gather, Sheppard Air is excellent for getting the test passed and it's cheap.

But as far as video, passfaaexams does seem to be pretty legit.

I'm currently using Gleim IFR (came with the kit I had) and their online test prep is good. I used it for the PPL originally as well. It's basically their book in online format as well as practice tests and study sessions based on questions.

I'll probably get Sheppard though to go through right before going to take the test.
 
Bonchie said:
From what I can gather, Sheppard Air is excellent for getting the test passed and it's cheap.

But as far as video, passfaaexams does seem to be pretty legit.

I'm currently using Gleim IFR (came with the kit I had) and their online test prep is good. I used it for the PPL originally as well. It's basically their book in online format as well as practice tests and study sessions based on questions.

I'll probably get Sheppard though to go through right before going to take the test.
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Hey Anthony thanks for your input! I have looked at Sheppard Air but it seems all they do is help you rote memorize and do what it takes to pass the written without much explanation. It is definitely an excellent source if you want to pass with a high score, but I know so many people who did Sheppard Air and passed with high scores and did not know anything theory-wise to take home afterwards, making their oral preparation a lot tougher. I want to understand the concepts in further detail.
 
There are a lot of choices for written test prepware, but the only good oral prepware is an instructor who knows how DPE's actually conduct orals.

The best way to prep is for your instructor to give you a practice oral based on the way your examiner will do it. Those "Oral Test Guides" aren't really worth much any more. While there's a lot of good material in those "Oral Prep" books, the FAA guidance on practical tests no longer calls for those simple Q&A methods, but rather goes for "situationally based testing."

For example, instead of asking you what the VFR weather mins are in Class E airspace, the examiner may ask you whether or not today's weather is good enough to make your planned XC flight under VFR, and how you came to that determination. This will test, in a more realistic manner, not only your rote knowledge of 91.155, but also your ability to apply that knowledge to a practical situation, not to mention your ability to read and interpret all the available weather data, as well as determining from the sectional what airspace you'll be in so you know which paragraph of 91.155 applies along each part of your route. Those old-style Q&A books can't prepare you for that -- only a good instructor familiar with the concept of situationally based testing can.

So, for an IR test, the examiner may look at your flight plan, and ask you why the Alternate block is blank -- and have you justify that answer based on the regs and the weather. Or, if there is an airport there, ask you why you needed to put it there, and how you know it qualifies as a legal alternate today, which requires reference to weather, regs, NOTAMs, and the Terminal Procedures book. This is very different from the old days where an examiner would simply ask you "What's the required weather at your destination to not file an alternate? Can you use this approach as an alternate? What are the standard alternate minimums? Are the alternate minimums at this airport nonstandard?" and makes you think and analyze, not just parrot.

Now, there are still a few old-school examiners who pull out the Oral Test Prep book and start asking questions from it, but they are getting much fewer and farther between. Your instructor should be familiar with the testing styles of the local examiners, so s/he should be able to help you prepare, and give you a practice oral that reasonably accurately reflects that style.
 
epmcinty said:
Hey Anthony thanks for your input! I have looked at Sheppard Air but it seems all they do is help you rote memorize and do what it takes to pass the written without much explanation. It is definitely an excellent source if you want to pass with a high score, but I know so many people who did Sheppard Air and passed with high scores and did not know anything theory-wise to take home afterwards, making their oral preparation a lot tougher. I want to understand the concepts in further detail.
Click to expand...

That's why I'm going through the Gleim book first. That way I do have an understanding of the concepts outside of the questions. Once I'm passing via their test prep (I'm actually already there) then I'm gonna use Sheppard to make sure I leave plenty of room for error.

To me it sounds like a video course is your best bet for what you want. There's only so much you can learn reading about it. At the end of the day you need a physical person pointing at the charts and actually explaining things. There are several that are really good.
 
I'm sure you're aware of them, but I really think that the FAA's materials are pretty darn good if you want to learn and not rotely memorize the test answers. And, they're completely free in electronic form.

  • Instrument Flying Handbook (IFH)
  • Instrument Procedures Handbook (IPH)

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/

The FAA delivers the IFH as one large 400-page PDF. I divided it into bite-size PDFs for each chapter, put them on DropBox, and then read through and highlighted them whenever I could using my work and home PCs and my iPad. The IPH is already chapterized.

With the separate chapters, it's easy to change the name of the PDF and keep track of where you are and whether or not you have finished a particular chapter.

If you want my "chapterized" version of the IFH, send me a PM and I'll get it to you.
 
I too did self study at home from the same too books (IFH and IPH) and I used the free Sporty's practice tests to verify that I am not missing any areas.
I got 92 on my test.
 
epmcinty said:
Hey Anthony thanks for your input! I have looked at Sheppard Air but it seems all they do is help you rote memorize and do what it takes to pass the written without much explanation. It is definitely an excellent source if you want to pass with a high score, but I know so many people who did Sheppard Air and passed with high scores and did not know anything theory-wise to take home afterwards, making their oral preparation a lot tougher. I want to understand the concepts in further detail.
Click to expand...

I am in the process of studying with the Shepard Air Ipad product for my written. I guess you could memorize the 1000 questions and their memory aide to successfully pass the test, and I'm sure people do... however like you I am more interested in actually learning material than just passing the test. As you go through the questions if you get one wrong there's a 'explanation' tab to explain why the answer is what it is. I'm finding this very helpful in the learning process. I have however watched the Sporty's videos and read through the ASA textbook.
 
Look for videos by Andy Munnis & Leslie Menninger on YouTube, they're smart insights into what DPE's look for & expect. Clearly these are only 2 individuals, but they may help demystify the process & set the stage for a standard you'll likely be held to.
Your CFI is, as always, the best gouge on any checkered or DPE. We've done lots!
good luck..
 
I have been using many different training aids to prepare for the knowledge test. I do not have the Dauntless software so I cannot comment on that but I have used the passfaaexas software and found it to be very useful. I started studying on the Gleim book as it was part of the package I got from my school but was having some problems with some of the material so I purchased the ASA Prep Software which was quite an improvement to the book, but I am not so much of a good reader, I actually hate reading, and prefer to pay a little extra on ground with my instructor than to have to read and memorize all the material. My instructor is the one that introduced me to passfaaexams youtube videos. I really liked their VOR explanation so I downloaded their free trial. I liked it and ended up buying their software. Its not perfect, a couple of minor bugs here and there but so far I am enjoying the content,especially the fact that I do not need to read anything :goofy:
I guess the most important thing is does it work. Well I am taking the test next week, at which point I will let you know.
 
I took my written test yesterday and scored a 93%, so I guess my question was answered.

There were 3-4 questions I had never seen before but I think I got those right.

Now its time to get ready for the check ride but as I posted on a new thread the airplane I was training on went down for maintenance and will be down for over a month. The new one has a Garmin 430 and I need a simulator for my Mac but can't find one. Does anyone know if there is one available for Mac?
 
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