FOI/CFI/CFII - King or Sheppard Air?

CC268

CC268

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I've always used King with good results and I do prefer to learn the material rather than just rote memorization. That said, King is $558. Sheppard Air is $125.

Any feedback? Worth spending the extra cash on the King courses?
 
It’s always better to learn the material than just pass a test. That is unless it’s a drug test. ;)

I’ve never used Sheppard so I can’t say one way or the other about them. I do think though that Kings put out a real good product as does Sporty’s. You can also learn the material by just reading all of the texts and then go with a strictly test prep solution.
 
If you use Sheppard, you’ll have to use your own resources to learn the material. I use Sheppard, but only to pass the test. The knowledge you’ll gain from it is insufficient for other purposes. As long as you are organized enough to study from the multiple sources you’ll need, Sheppard is ok.
 
I used Kings as well and sometimes back it up with SA. I don’t know but I would assume the FOI and CFI is less about learning and more about rehearsing what you already learned. For that reason if I go that route I’ll probably just try SA first.
 
SkyDog58 said:
It’s always better to learn the material than just pass a test. That is unless it’s a drug test. ;)

I’ve never used Sheppard so I can’t say one way or the other about them. I do think though that Kings put out a real good product as does Sporty’s. You can also learn the material by just reading all of the texts and then go with a strictly test prep solution.
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Yessir...I will of course learn the material. As you said, Sheppard would fall into that "test prep solution" category. I will say the overwhelming majority of CFIs have told me to go with Sheppard Air for the writtens.
 
Grum.Man said:
I used Kings as well and sometimes back it up with SA. I don’t know but I would assume the FOI and CFI is less about learning and more about rehearsing what you already learned. For that reason if I go that route I’ll probably just try SA first.
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Yea good point.
 
The CFI written is almost the same as the commercial written. The CFII written resembles the instrument written even more closely. If you understand the commercial and instrument material you don't need the CFI and CFII King written test courses. Sheppard or a Gleim/ASA book should be fine and will fill in the missing pieces that you need for those specific tests. However I really like the King CFI checkride course. I won't comment on the FOI because it's been forever since I took it.
 
For the initial CFI I used Wikipedia for lots of the FOI, I used tons of stuff (FAR, from the ground up, google, etc) for the other material, did a online simple practice test for the written.

For the written just get a practice test and pass it.

For the real meat and tatters, go to whatever school you’re going to be testing with and than working for and tutor some PPL students and sit in on other instructors. The tutoring thing is a game changer, remeber you don’t need to know all the answers (however you should have a good batting average) but you NEED to know where to find the answers quickly
 
dmspilot said:
The CFI written is almost the same as the commercial written. The CFII written resembles the instrument written even more closely. If you understand the commercial and instrument material you don't need the CFI and CFII King written test courses. Sheppard or a Gleim/ASA book should be fine and will fill in the missing pieces that you need for those specific tests. However I really like the King CFI checkride course. I won't comment on the FOI because it's been forever since I took it.
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Yessir I used the King Courses for my Instrument and Commercial. I got a 92% on the Commercial and I believe a 93% on the Instrument. I think I will likely order Sheppard. I could certainly order the CFI Practical Test video, which I think is like $139.
 
I have used Sheppard for almost all of my writtens. It works. Yes it is only rote knowledge, they make no claims otherwise. But at the same time, learning the material doesn't always translate to good written scores due to how the FAA writes their questions. Use Sheppard to pass the test, then learn the material.
 
midwestpa24 said:
I have used Sheppard for almost all of my writtens. It works. Yes it is only rote knowledge, they make no claims otherwise. But at the same time, learning the material doesn't always translate to good written scores due to how the FAA writes their questions. Use Sheppard to pass the test, then learn the material.
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Yea...9 out of 10 people seem to recommend this route. Probably will end up with Sheppard. Then I can really spend the time on reading the AIH and lesson plans.
 
jordane93 said:
Sheppard Air for the written. Free FAA publications to learn the material. $500 is a little much IMO
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This....

And to add to level of comprehension of the FOI material, ASA has a really good book called "The Flight Instructor Survival Manual". Amazon has it for less than $15.00

For the writtens, Sheppard Air will get it done. But do be aware that for the CFI-A practical, you are gonna need to know how to interpret the material and apply it. The Aviation Instructors Handbook will be the best for that
 
AggieMike88 said:
This....

And to add to level of comprehension of the FOI material, ASA has a really good book called "The Flight Instructor Survival Manual". Amazon has it for less than $15.00

For the writtens, Sheppard Air will get it done. But do be aware that for the CFI-A practical, you are gonna need to know how to interpret the material and apply it.
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Keep in mind, for the Commercial I basically studied to a CFI knowledge level (because I knew I would be pursuing the CFI). I made ~1200+ electronic flash cards that covers all areas of the ACS (which after looking at the CFI PTS covers all those areas as well). I know the material very well, but of course I will continue to study. I really like ASA's "Lesson Plans to Train Like You Fly" - have that one on hard copy and on my iPad. Also have "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot" which is an excellent resource as well.

I already have the ASA Flight Instructor Oral Exam book, which I will make electronic flash cards from. I am going to make flash cards from the AIH as well.
 
I have always had good luck with gliem. However never used either of the other two.
 
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Is there any advantage to taking the AGI test as well?
 
CC268 said:
Is there any advantage to taking the AGI test as well?
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If you have your CFI, the ground instructor rating is kind of useless. Unless you just want to add certificates, I don’t see a point in doing it.
 
CC268 said:
Is there any advantage to taking the AGI test as well?
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The only reason would be if there is some chance you wouldn't get your CFI checkride done within the 24 months. Taking your AGI+FOI and turning it into a ground instructor certificate means you wouldn't have to re-take the FOI. You would still need the CFI written again though.
 
chartbundle said:
The only reason would be if there is some chance you wouldn't get your CFI checkride done within the 24 months. Taking your AGI+FOI and turning it into a ground instructor certificate means you wouldn't have to re-take the FOI. You would still need the CFI written again though.
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Gotcha - yea not too worried about making that timeline
 
frfly172 said:
I have always had good luck with golem.
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He was one really odd flight instructor... kept referring to the FAR/AIM as "my precious".

gollum.png
 
jordane93 said:
Sheppard Air for the written. Free FAA publications to learn the material. $500 is a little much IMO
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I used this approach, I highly recommend it. I used the free FAA stuff plus the ASA oral guides to study for the practical test(s). Sheppard air for the knowledge tests.
 
dell30rb said:
I used this approach, I highly recommend it. I used the free FAA stuff plus the ASA oral guides to study for the practical test(s). Sheppard air for the knowledge tests.
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Yea this is going to be my plan. Already got the ASA Oral Exam guide. Will probably order the written material from Sheppard today.
 
Sheppard will get you good scores on the writtens, that is it. It is pure Rote learning only.
 
ja_user said:
Sheppard will get you good scores on the writtens, that is it. It is pure Rote learning only.
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Yep understood. I’ll likely order the King course (FOI/CFI) just for learning the FOI material better. I will use Sheppard for the writtens. Of course I will read and memorize every line of text in the FOI and enroll in some local graduate level courses for teaching. I shall call it “CFI Sabbatical”
 
CC268 said:
I’ll likely order the King course (FOI/CFI) just for learning the FOI material better.
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I have the King material for the FOI... I find it lacking and not very good.... I would not recommend it.

So I found a local instructor who, for a long while, was the CFI ground instructor for American Flyers @ KADS. He put on a 6 session lecture (2 nights a week for 2.5 hours per session, and low cost). I got much MUCH more out of that for what I need to know FOI-wise for the CFI examination.

Helped to focus on the key points, get deeper understanding of the points, how to apply them, and what to expect from the examiner.

So before dropping all that coin on King Schools, see if there is a CFI-Initial ground school happening and determine if a live classroom session gets you the quality of detail you want.
 
I know this is a few months old but I was just about to start a new thread asking for basically the same information/recommendations having used king schools cessna program for PPL and IRA and king schools non-specific program for CAX.

For anyone else finding this thread, if you wanted to go with King, the Cessna Pilot Center Cleared for Instructing is only $369 and the non-specific CFI written and practical course without all the “extras” is $398 and King does regularly run specials (they are currently offering 20% off). Neither course appears to cover CFII though which is another $270.

CFII as an add-on though seems like it really wouldn’t be that hard to do with nothing more than the Instrument Flying Handbook and whatever other ground school you used preparing for your own IRA... teaching instruments in theory involves an already competent Pilot so there isn’t as much required.

dmspilot said:
The CFI written is almost the same as the commercial written. The CFII written resembles the instrument written even more closely. If you understand the commercial and instrument material you don't need the CFI and CFII King written test courses. Sheppard or a Gleim/ASA book should be fine and will fill in the missing pieces that you need for those specific tests. However I really like the King CFI checkride course. I won't comment on the FOI because it's been forever since I took it.
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I’d be real careful with this advise. I was given this advise and told to take my FIA test after my CAX test because they are “basically the same exam” and I went from a 92 on CAX to a 68 on FIA.

May have just been the version of the exam I was given but there were a bunch of questions about common errors students make (in terms of flying, not so much the type of error), when topics should be taught (in particular see AC 60-22 section 35 a1 on ADM; pretty sure this answer is scored incorrectly based on more modern teachings and what’s in the airplane flying handbook and Instructor’s handbook as there is a lot of debate about this question’s answer but the almos 30 year old AC has the answer they are looking for) and regulations regarding training/endorsements for other certificates (I even had one on recreational Pilot PIC). While there was quite a bit of overlapping material, there were significant enough differences that I would refrain from calling FIA “basically (or almost) the same”
 
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Sheppard air sells a pack for the similar exams. Pay the extra few dollars and knock them all out at once. If you’re going to just study for one, pick the higher level one.
 
apr911 said:
I’d be real careful with this advise. I was given this advise and told to take my FIA test after my CAX test because they are “basically the same exam” and I went from a 92 on CAX to a 68 on FIA.
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Thank you for reporting back, but just to be clear, that is not what I wrote—I didn't advise anyone to take the FIA test without studying for it. I said to get a test prep book or use Sheppard because the material largely overlaps and therefore is not worth spending $500 when much of that information is duplicated.
 
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dmspilot said:
Thank you for reporting back, but just to be clear, that is not what I wrote—I didn't advise anyone to take the FIA test without studying for it. I said to get a test prep book or use Sheppard because the material largely overlaps and therefore is not worth spending $500 when much of that information is duplicated.
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True. A valid point. I did not mean to imply you did as I did state “I was given this advice and (additionally) told (by my instructor)” but on 2nd reading it’s less than clear exactly what advice I was referring to or how your advice differed especially since I unfortunately did not have someone advising to get the test prep course.

My overall point is still valid though just as you saw my statement as implying additional advice not actually given by you, there are many who would hear “the exams are almost the same” and interpret it in different ways before and possibly without fully hearing and processing the final part to still study. In short, the opening part of your statement may create a confirmation bias that makes it easy to miss/dismiss the 2nd part of the advice and while I do agree the 2 exams have a significant overlap of content, I would stop short of calling them “basically” or “almost” the same exam.
 
I used Sheppards for the FOI and scored 98% this past month. None of the FAA FOI questions on my test were new to me, I had seen/studied everything by using Sheppards. Also I dont' think you have to use a 'Rote' method. I use the references (Aviation Instructor's Handbook, verions 9, 9A, 9B) concurrently with Sheppards so that I actually learn the material. I plan to do the same for the CFI/A.
 
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