best material for ppl

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click5

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Click5
Just started for my ppl ,1.5 hrs in. What is the best for preparing for written and oral exams. learning at Tom Wood Aviation in Indianapolis. They sale the cessna kit , but have heard Jeppesen is better. which should i get? part 61 or part 141?
thanks for the help!
 
You'll get a lot of different opinions, usually based on what people used themselves. For your basic questions download the free 70-page ebook from www.FreeFlyBook.com. No sign up necessary.

Format and presentation varies a lot between the various online training options. Try to look at samples before choosing which you prefer.

My company operates the Gold Seal Ground School at www.OnlineGroundSchool.com. You can give it a thorough test drive including access to a third of the lesson modules and all of the quizzing engine for free. Just do the simple and quick registration and you're in.

Compare all of the ones you're considering before pulling the trigger.
 
I used the FAA airplane flying handbook and pilots handbook of aeronautical knowledge. My instructor adapted to what I had. I did use the free Sportys study buddy app to practice for the written. Save all the money you can for avgas!
 
Ask your instructor rather than some random people on the Internet, some of which have products to sell.

Your instructor is responsible for teaching you how to fly, and signing you off for your exams. It really doesn't matter which is "better," but rather which meshes with your flight instructor.
 
I'm sure some of us remember how limited study material was in the 1960's.
 
I'm sure someone will be along shortly to point out that a penny saved is a pound foolish. But realize that none of the complete kits available contain any earth shattering information. Like mike in Bama said, the Airplane Flying Handbook and the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowlede contain all of the information you need and are available online free. The paid books and packages present the same information differently and that works for some students.
If there is any information in the FAA handbooks that is not clear, google it and find it presented a hundred different ways.

This is the Information Age, the days of Jeppesen, ASA and Gleim having the market cornered on pilot training material are quickly passing.

Of course your instructor or school may require a specific text in which case this whole thread is moot.
 
The one advantage of the online courses is they will provide you with the sing off you need to take the written test. If your CFI is doing your ground school they can also sing you off for that. If you are required to get that sing off the $200 to $300 for the online course is likely cheaper than having a CFI doing ground school at $40 to $50 per hour. I personally used the Kings course, I liked it and did very well on the written.

As for written material, I used the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, which has 90% plus of the information you will need. I also had a hand me down Jeppsesen Text book that I read through.
 
When I did my private pilot written, I self-studied, and my instructor spent less than an hour spot checking. She already knew I knew my stuff because we had been flying…. Source material was initially FAA books, and then the Gleim test prep book.

$200-$300 is about what a classroom ground school costs, but there is no way a self-study course that you actually do is going to cost that much. Now, if your instructor is teaching you a private class, that's gonna be costly, but that's not what self-study means.

A sing off to my written might have been nice. All I got was a little endorsement in my logbook. I'd like a double quartet please, Gabrieli madrigals.
 
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To be complete. I had, AFH, PHAK, an AF/D, a sectional, a plotter, an E6b and I bought the information manual for the Warrior I was flying. That's it. My instructor told me what he wanted me to be studying as I went along. We would have some ground before each flight, half hour or so, then a quick debrief after the flight, ten minutes or so. I bought a used David Clark headset off Ebay and a bag from Spruce. That is the totality of my flight training supplies. Spend money on gas not stuff.

ps. I cant sing for $&!T
 
All my guys had great luck with the King program, you can search YouTube and find nearly all the videos, never had a guy fail a written or oral with the king program. If you get the online one it works with iPads, iPhones etc too.
 
Walboy said:
As mikeinbama said, I think the basic FAA handbooks along with the ASA published FAR/AIM gets you 95% of the way there. Maybe something from the manufacturer of the airplane you're flying to round things out.
Click to expand...

And reads about as well as a yellowpages.
 
This question comes up so frequently, we need to do a summary of available sources (and links) for the ground school materials.

For the OP, the FAR/AIM is super needed for many areas of primary training (and advanced ratings too). One of the best ways to get this is to spend $10.00 in the app store of choice for the electronic version from ASA. For iTunes, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/far-aim/id361784690?mt=8 Likely the Google Play store has the same thing.

Very easy to use, simple to do searches on keywords, and free updates to the text as soon as it's released into the wild.
 
James331 said:
All my guys had great luck with the King program, you can search YouTube and find nearly all the videos, never had a guy fail a written or oral with the king program. If you get the online one it works with iPads, iPhones etc too.
Click to expand...

+1 on the King material. It's hard to go wrong with John & Martha.
 
jimbilly said:
Mike, funny that you brought up the far/aim app, I was just wondering today if anyone used electronic versions of that for their oral. Or do dpe's expect you to have a hard copy with you? I hate to waste trees if I don't have to.

This is the android link to that app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asa2fly.faraimandroid
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone would object to your using an electronic version of the FAR/AIM during your practical test. There are some benefits to using a hardcopy version - you can dog ear pages, put tabs in, mark up important sections with a highlighter. But if you're mega-comfortable using an electronic version and finding stuff quickly, do it.
 
write-stuff said:
I don't think anyone would object to your using an electronic version of the FAR/AIM during your practical test. There are some benefits to using a hardcopy version - you can dog ear pages, put tabs in, mark up important sections with a highlighter. But if you're mega-comfortable using an electronic version and finding stuff quickly, do it.
Click to expand...

For work I have a copy on my iPad, for a non-company ride I use a hard copy tabbed out, that's what I would highly recommend, it also sets a tone with the DPE when you set down a FAR with tabs from top to bottom.
 
in my opinion, its best to do a good ground school, and I used dauntless software written test prep. Beyond that, the airplane flying handbook was pretty helpful and its an FAA publication.

I've got my ticket, so if you want, I'll ship you all my jeppesen material and some other stuff for the cost of shipping (which would likely be pretty heavy)
 
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