Ground School

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mbrown009

Filing Flight Plan
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mbrown009
I am looking into going to ground school to become a private pilot. It is a dream of mine to be able to fly. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me in additional how expensive flight school can be. I did research a few years back but was not able to attend due to some work/family/school conflicts. Now I am gearing up to get back into the game.

Is it wise to go and find a local private pilot to go up once and see what it is all about?

Thanks for your help!
 
For the whole shebang, supplies, aircraft rental, testing, instructor rental, et. al., budget $10,000.

This is a general amount that appears to get everyone finished and have a few dollars remaining.

How much remains depends on many many factors. Including, but not limited to, how fast you learn, how frequently you train, availability of aircraft (scheduling or maintenance), weather, outside life issues, how prepared you are before each training hop, and more.

Don't get sucked into thinking you need lots of gadgetry. There are many items sold that are sorta useful, but really not, and will quickly eat into the budget like "death from a thousand cuts". The basics you need can be gotten for $300.00, tops. This includes a budget brand headset (more expensive headset can be gotten later once you get your license)

You mentioned ground school, there are many options for this, but most choose a self study course. Which course is going to depend on what your instructor likes to use. And it's best to use the one he likes so if he assigns homework, you are studying the right stuff and are well prepared before each lesson.


Doing a flight with a local private pilot can be fun. But caution should be exercised to ensure he doesn't demonstrate bad habits.

Tell us where you are located. Perhaps one of our long time members might be close to you and would take you up for a burger or breakfast flight.
 
I would recommend that you take a discovery flight with an instructor, not a chosen-at-random private pilot. Almost all flight schools offer discovery flights at a discounted rate.

There is no requirement that a prospective pilot attend ground school. Home study works just fine if that is the way you are wired...people learn in different ways. Ground training is required by regulation, but that is something that your instructor does on a one-to-one basis.

Take $10,000 out of your piggy bank and you should be just fine. The majority of students come in below that figure.

Bob Gardner
 
You have a lot of choices regarding your ground training. Some people prefer live class settings and attend programs at a local flight school or community college. These usually meet one or two nights a week for some number of weeks. Other people go the self-study route and learn the material using books, DVDs, software and online programs (and any combination thereof). You can download the standard FAA textbooks online in PDF format.

Your actual flight training will be the most expensive portion of the total package. You'll pay to rent the airplane and for the instruction given by a CFI based on hourly rates. In the long run, the absolute best way to save money is to do your homework and study! Learn the material at home so that you don't have to pay your instructor to teach you.

Download the free ebook at www.FreeFlyBook.com. It will answer just about any question you could possibly come up with. Plus, it's a primer for your basic ground school material.
 
Some information from AOPA that might help in selecting an instructor or flight school.

http://www.aopa.org/letsgoflying/ready/choose/howto.html

Discovery flights with potential instructors are well worth the time and money. Gives you a chance to "audition" the instructor to see how well you mesh with his personality and teaching style.

And it's not always a perfect fit. And if it isn't from the start, or becomes so later on, it's okay to try to address this by talking to the CFI first, but then ultimately voting with your feet.
 
For ground school I'd go with the King program.

It's worked well for all my students and you can find most of the videos on youtube if you want to test drive it.
 
mbrown009 said:
I am looking into going to ground school to become a private pilot. It is a dream of mine to be able to fly. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me in additional how expensive flight school can be. I did research a few years back but was not able to attend due to some work/family/school conflicts. Now I am gearing up to get back into the game.

Is it wise to go and find a local private pilot to go up once and see what it is all about?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

First post... Welcome!!

:cheers:
 
While I agree with the prices mentioned above for the full Private Pilot training program all the way to the license, a Private Pilot ground school usually runs about $400-500 including the books. They are given by many local flight schools and also many community colleges.
 
Find a local flight school and schedule a discovery flight with them, it will get your feet wet and you can decide to take lessons from there. As far as ground school, I would suggest studying on your own, it will save you money in the long run so you don't have to pay your CFI. Study the material and if you have questions you can always ask your instructor.
 
Since you're new to this board, please know that there are many and quite varying opinions on how to go about your primary training and how much it will cost. They are opinions and estimates and preferences (even if some people come across as adamant) and none of it is absolute except the need to accomplish the tasks required by the FAA. That disclaimer out of the way...

I'd probably go with the King vids if I had it to do all over again. I used a basic flight manual by Jeppesen Sanderson (this was 1995) but there are tons of books available - including several you should certainly download from the FAA for free:


There are certainly other books available commercially but these are provided by the FAA.

Yeah I'd imagine that budgeting $8k to $10k is reasonable. Plan on 50 to 70 hours of flying, depending on how often you fly and how soon it 'clicks' for you.

But the thing I'd suggest if you have the funds and inclination is to go fly.

Ground schools are great and passing a medical and written exam are required prior to flying solo, but there is no requirement to complete any ground training before going up with a certified flight instructor. So I'd say go have some fun while checking out a couple different instructors, schools and aircraft types while you're at it.

Single-engine, fixed-gear Cessnas and Pipers are probably the most common and cheapest trainers but there are certainly many other types available.

No need to wait... go fly and report back! :D
 
bobmrg said:
I would recommend that you take a discovery flight with an instructor, not a chosen-at-random private pilot. Almost all flight schools offer discovery flights at a discounted rate.

There is no requirement that a prospective pilot attend ground school. Home study works just fine if that is the way you are wired...people learn in different ways. Ground training is required by regulation, but that is something that your instructor does on a one-to-one basis.

Take $10,000 out of your piggy bank and you should be just fine. The majority of students come in below that figure.

Bob Gardner
Click to expand...
This.
 
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