Halfway through the FAA Handbook, couple of questions

[Alani]

I'm heads down studying the FAA handbook. It's been interesting but alot of it is very conceptual. Does it help with the test?
Are there specific areas to focus on in preparation for the Test / Exam? (not the check ride, just the test)?

 

[dmspilot]

There are a lot of FAA handbooks. You'll have to tell us which one you're reading.

 

[bobmrg]

I'm heads down studying the FAA handbook. It's been interesting but alot of it is very conceptual. Does it help with the test?
Are there specific areas to focus on in preparation for the Test / Exam? (not the check ride, just the test)?

Which handbook? There are several. You would be better served if you went to your local pilot supply shop and bought one of the many test preparation books for sale there. I realize that FAA publications are free, but for your purposes they are not helpful. Test prep publishers have a pretty good (but not perfect) handle on the test questions; most provide suggested answers and explanations. My publisher, ASA, is one of them.

Bob Gardner

 

[Alani]

Which handbook? There are several. You would be better served if you went to your local pilot supply shop and bought one of the many test preparation books for sale there. I realize that FAA publications are free, but for your purposes they are not helpful. Test prep publishers have a pretty good (but not perfect) handle on the test questions; most provide suggested answers and explanations. My publisher, ASA, is one of them.

Bob Gardner

This is the one I have

 

[Alani]

There are a lot of FAA handbooks. You'll have to tell us which one you're reading.

 

[SkyChaser]

Are you trying to just do test prep or learn the material so you actually understand the whys and hows of the questions on the test?

If you want to just take the test, you can get a test-prep book.

If you want to learn the stuff, that is a solid place to start. I would also get the FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, which, be forewarned, is even denser and more difficult to understand. However, pretty much everything you need to know will be in those two books. I used the online free versions, the free YouTube ground school from Fly8MA, and read the FARs (even worse than either of the FAA books) before I went to take lessons. It has served me very well so far. Unfortunately, pretty much everything in the books is pertinent to the test. Maybe not the maneuvers section so much, but I did have a question about that section on my written when I took it last month.

The good thing about those books is test prep is minimal. I took some online practice tests to see where I needed review and so my CFI knew I was ready. That was it, if you don't count freaking out for no real reason for the three days leading up to it.

 

[Alani]

Are you trying to just do test prep or learn the material so you actually understand the whys and hows of the questions on the test?

If you want to just take the test, you can get a test-prep book.

If you want to learn the stuff, that is a solid place to start. I would also get the FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, which, be forewarned, is even denser and more difficult to understand. However, pretty much everything you need to know will be in those two books. I used the online free versions, the free YouTube ground school from Fly8MA, and read the FARs (even worse than either of the FAA books) before I went to take lessons. It has served me very well so far. Unfortunately, pretty much everything in the books is pertinent to the test. Maybe not the maneuvers section so much, but I did have a question about that section on my written when I took it last month.

The good thing about those books is test prep is minimal. I took some online practice tests to see where I needed review and so my CFI knew I was ready. That was it, if you don't count freaking out for no real reason for the three days leading up to it.

Thanks for this!! Fly8MA has been on my radar for a while, I'm starting that today as well. I figure a combination of the book and the free lessons should have me prepared for the test.

 

[Jim_CAK]

The written test is based mostly on the “Pilots handbook of Aeronautical knowledge “. It is also free on the FAA.gov website. The print version of the book is about twice as thick as the airplane flying handbook. It covers a lot more than the private test material. It is a good foundation for the knowledge. When you get closer to taking the test you can get test prep software.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

I think that if you read those two books and then do a test prep program like Dauntless, which quizzes you on the actual or near actual questions, you will be quite well prepared. And you can know how well by taking the simulated exams they provide.

 

[write-stuff]

You can certainly study directly from the PIlot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. You'll also need to add the FAR/AIM in there. The big issue is that these publications cover a lot of ground, some (much?) of which won't be covered on the Knowledge Test, and may not even directly apply to a Private Pilot. It's kind of like trying to learn a foreign language from a dictionary. Try to use the ACS to see what sections in which publications apply, then drill down on those.

 

[bobmrg]

FAA publications hide nuggets of valuable information in a thicket of not-very-relevant information. As a newbie, you are not in a position to distinguish between what is important for the test and what is not. The handbooks are full of useful information, and I would not want to dissuade you from reading them....but they are a poor method of preparing for the knowledge exam. Get a test prep course.

Bob Gardner

 

[write-stuff]

Another point to consider. Many people assume that the only ground study you need is what's required to pass the Knowledge Test. But there is a world of other material that is NOT on the written exam, but you still have to know it. Flight maneuvers, flight planning, etc. Don't sell yourself short. Don't get into the mindset that you're only studying for the written test.

 

[unsafervguy]

another I recommend for later in your quest for knowledge, is aerodynamics for navel aviators. its really is not a lot of help for test prep, but for really trying to understand aerodynamics its very good. I would read it after you have gotten that "license to learn"

 

[Half Fast]

FAA publications hide nuggets of valuable information in a thicket of not-very-relevant information.

AMEN! And they state it in the most cryptic, hard to remember way possible.

For example, take temperature - dew point convergence and cloud height. The PHAK gives you three equations:

1) TDS = T - DP (temp/dew point spread equals temperature - dewpoint)
2) X = TDS / CR (CR is convergence rate)
3) Cloud base = X * 1000​

For Pete's sake, write one equation and simplify it! Cloud base = 1000(T-DP)/CR. CR is 2.5 Celsius, so with Celsius units cloud base = 400(T-DP). That's it! You can do that math in your head.

Yes, the PHAK explanation is correct, and perhaps illustrates the concept, but what you need to know is 400(T-DP). Even if the authors want to show three equations to illustrate how it works, they should at least refine it to the final (and more useful) simple equation.

And I suspect that if the authors were pilots they would have done so.

 

[Alani]

Another point to consider. Many people assume that the only ground study you need is what's required to pass the Knowledge Test. But there is a world of other material that is NOT on the written exam, but you still have to know it. Flight maneuvers, flight planning, etc. Don't sell yourself short. Don't get into the mindset that you're only studying for the written test.

Thanks for this. I'm absorbing alot but also with the reality that I need to pass a test. At the moment I'm spending my quarantine/social distancing time just reading through everything.
Then I plan to just focus on what's relevant to the test so I can get over that hurdle, since it's a lifetime journey I think some areas I can ramp up on and some areas I can absorb with time. There's SO MUCH information...

 

[Alani]

FAA publications hide nuggets of valuable information in a thicket of not-very-relevant information. As a newbie, you are not in a position to distinguish between what is important for the test and what is not. The handbooks are full of useful information, and I would not want to dissuade you from reading them....but they are a poor method of preparing for the knowledge exam. Get a test prep course.

Bob Gardner

I'm ramping up to that for sure. Absorbing everything I can while bearing in mind there are some short term and long term goals, and making adjustments as necessary. Right now the focus is the test, while I take in everything I can.

 

[unsafervguy]

here is the process i have used. the written test is a box that must be checked. a lot of what is on it makes no sense until you see it in action, such as the VOR questions. so, I have mostly gone through the test prep, getting the questions and answers down. then taking the test. then, as the subjects come into play with flight instruction, setting down and really studying and learning the material. then expanding on those even more as I go on.

 

[write-stuff]

here is the process i have used. the written test is a box that must be checked. a lot of what is on it makes no sense until you see it in action, such as the VOR questions.

Precisely why I recommend that people study for the written during the first third of their flight training. Things you must know become less abstract once you see them in action.