Best online courses for private test?

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drotto

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drotto
My flight school wants me to select an online training course, but has left it open as to which I pick. I have seen three different ones online: Jeppesen, Sporty's, and Kings (which may not technically be online). I have already read the Jeppesen text book, a FAA aeronautics stuff for beginning pilots, and the Oral knowledgere view book (forget the name). I am leaning towards the Jeppesen, but do like that Sporty's seems to have better offline and iPad support. Thoughts?
 
King Schools does have on-line versions of their classes. The advantages are that you can work from whatever computer you have available that day and they can update the material as needed and you always have the latest and greatest. The disadvantage is that if you don't have enough bandwidth in your internet connection it gets very slow. BTDT.

I can't say which is best for you. Each person's learning style is different. I will say that I used King for both my PP and IR written exams. 100% on the PP and 97% on the IR, so they work for me. YMMV.

Whatever way you go, best of luck and have fun learning to fly. :yes:
 
I studied from the Jepp Book for my private Test and used the King Schools DVDs for my IR. I thought the King Schools materials were fantastic! I highly recommend them.
 
I bought the Sporty's DVD's - they were good.

I took my test a few months ago. All you need is Sporty's Study Buddy (pay the $10 to get the explanations). When you can pass the 60 question tests with a 90 or higher consistently, you are ready to go. It's really not that hard. I would guesstimate that about 90% of the questions that I saw on the exam were verbatim off Sporty's bank of questions. The rest I'd seen elsewhere...nothing was 'new'. I missed a few...should have only missed one but I went back and changed two that were right to wrong answers. :mad2:

You'll know when you start banging through test questions where your deficient. It will help you focus your time on subjects that you don't understand well. I lost track of how many youtube videos/internet searches I did trying to find better ways to explain the concepts I had trouble with. The internet itself is a great resource.

My advice is - early on just start doing 10 questions a day off the Study Buddy. That way you're not cramming the week before - you've seen everything over time. I waited until I was close to my checkride to really buckle down and study and do the written. I know some folks suggest doing it early but for me I wanted to take advantage of all that written study time to apply it to the oral. I'm 43, have 3 kids, travel quite a bit for work, etc... and just don't have the time to re-study all the written stuff again for the oral. It worked out great for me.

When you get in the exam room they'll give you a book of all the diagrams, images, charts. You'll be able to use them so you don't have to put your ruler up the screen, etc..
 
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It sucks they want an online one. That format doesn't work for everyone.

I suspect the Study Buddy won't work, as the point is probably the online cert.
 
Sheppard Air
http://www.sheppardair.com/

If you want a product that is going to teach you the test, this is one of the better ones. It might not impart the depth of knowledge you really need to know (as the text books will) but it will help you get a good score on the written exam.

And at $40 it's a relative bargain. Trial version to explore how it works is available. Works on PC, Mac, iPad.

=========================

If you are more of a visual learner, I have the DVD set "ASA's Virtual Test Prep - Private Pilot: Widescreen Edition" for sale. See the link I posted last month: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64587

=========================

And don't totally ignore classroom settings (often offered at community colleges). Yes it is a commitment of your time to go to class, but having the instructor right there and listening to questions and discussions from fellow classmates might aid in increasing the depth of your knowledge.


Everyone learns different. You will need to find which method works best for you and your personality.
 
The school has actually left it very open on how I study. They kinda like the Jeppesen, because the instructor can follow your progress. My instructor is a fan of King's however, and he seems to be nudging me in that direction.
 
As someone who used Sporty's course, I don't really recommend it. Lacking in some areas IMO.

Gleim or King are what I recommend for online, Jeppesen's Private Pilot textbook is very good IMO, as well as Rob Machado's Private Pilot Handbook.

Does the flight school REQUIRE you to do an online course? I ask because while online courses are good, using the book works well too. It's weird that a flight school will stipulate a certain type of ground school. The FAA doesn't care how you obtain the knowledge to pass the test.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Does the flight school REQUIRE you to do an online course? I ask because while online courses are good, using the book works well too. It's weird that a flight school will stipulate a certain type of ground school. The FAA doesn't care how you obtain the knowledge to pass the test.
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Good question, especially if the OP is working with a Part 61 outfit.

IIRC, Part 141 will require that that the knowledge stuff is done a distinct way. But Part 61 is what ever works for the student and instructor.
 
It is a Part 61, so it is my choice, the school however encourages one of the online courses.
 
Check in to Bob Garner's Complete Pilot series of books.

It's a really good text. And he's a member here.
 
I used King and read Bob Gardners book. Listened to a gleim audio while driving. Got a 94%.
 
drotto said:
It is a Part 61, so it is my choice, the school however encourages one of the online courses.
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If I were you, I'd give your instructor's opinion a lot of weight, and the school's next to nothing.

What really matters is what works for you. Your instructor should know something about your learning style after a few hours. Your school, not so much.
 
I am leaning Kings, he has another student using that series also, and it is what he used for his private.
 
Contact Andrea Stought. Tell her Arthur referred you. She does good things for those I refer.
 
Andrea Stout provides great customer service. She works for King.
 
I have them all on VHS (yes, I have about 500 tapes) and have at least sampled most of them. Remember there are two somewhat overlapping types of home courses. Some, like Sporty's and Jepp, are Ground Schools. Others like King, as test prep. The ground school courses generally go into more depth and have more invested in production values like flying the airplane and sophisticated graphics. I think Sporty's does a great job for that. The Kings teach the test. They move quickly and have limited production beyond a talking head in front of a green screen graphic. The Kings also produce their "Take-Off" video series that has actual air time.
 
I used this online ground school (in addition to an in person ground school, an old set of VHS King videos, and the ASA book with test questions). Best thing about this ground school is the price.

http://www.ascentgroundschool.com/
 
ASA has an online ground school for $179.95 (ASA-GS-PVT). Go to www.asa2fly.com.

Bob Gardner
 
I have both King and Sporty's, as much as I find John and Martha's silly jokes a bit lame and the dated video graphics, King is much better at preparing me for the written (I missed 1 question on my written). Sporty's definitely has better graphics and the convenience of multi platform device support, however, I'm not a fan of their outline. To me the Sporty's outline is all over the place and you can't prioritize as to what's important and what's not.

Good luck.
 
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spdracer888 said:
I have both King and Sporty's, as much as I find John and Martha's silly jokes a bit lame and the dated video graphics, King is much better at preparing me for the written (I missed 1 question on my written). Sporty's definitely has better graphics and the convenience of multi platform device support, however, I'm not a fan of their outline. To me the Sporty's outline is all over the place and you can prioritize as to what's important and what's not.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I like Sporty's though I am not a huge fan of their over-reliance on Richard Collins.
 
I've been working on some of my own material (as if I'm a comedian or something)...

Seriously though, I got tired of giving speaches like "A Third class medical lasts 60 calender months if you're under 40 and 24 calendar months if you're over 40. The calendar month description means the medical certificate expires at the end of the prescribed month vice on an anniversary of when you received the medical certificate."

I couldn't see charging my students $50/hour for that kind of excitement, so I've started putting some of that stuff online. I'm hoping it will grow to a modern ground school.

https://www.udemy.com/private-pilot-ground-school/

Have a look. It's free for now (as long as it's incomplete). Feel free to ask questions or point out my errors (as I'm sure there are many).
 
Started the Kings program, and it is very direct and too the point. I am not finding it overly corny. The videos seem a little dated, as well as the interface, but the information has not changed much. The only thing I find funny is when the instructors will age and de-age within the same video segment, because the modified the content years later, but did not bother to re-shoot the whole thing.
 
The Gold Seal Ground School has a brand new version for 2014. You can register for free and access about a third of the course without charge. Your CFI can register and enroll for free and get full access, plus he can monitor your progress (and his other students) online.

The new quizzing routines are particularly robust. You can go back and review quiz summaries from any of your quiz attempts, and even print out lists of questions you've missed.

Check it out at www.OnlineGroundSchool.com

And for your CFI: www.GoldSealGroundSchool.com/cfi-access.htm

free-for-cfi.jpg
 
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