Prospective student with questions

[BooDaddy]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here, and I am not sure if its in the right place, so feel free to move it to the proper forum if needed.

I have wanted to fly since I was a kid. I live about 1 mile south of a pretty active Gliderport (www.chilhowee.com) and have watched sailplanes and light aircraft all my life from the ground. With my job, I do get to travel occasionally on commercial airlines, and even though I'm stuck in the back of the plane in a seat thats barely wide enough, looking out a tiny window, I still love it simply because I am getting to fly.

I have never been fortunate enough to have the cash to learn how to fly during my young adult life, but things have gotten better recently. I have went back to college to finish my Bachelors, and I am expected to graduate in the Fall of this year. For my graduation present, my wife and I are going to spring for flight lessons for myself. I am in my early 30's now, and am finally more stable in income to be able to afford it (after college of course). Recently, she found a pretty awesome coupon on Groupon for an "Introductory lesson" at a local airport. She bought it as a surprise for me, and I went for the lesson last week.

I absolutely loved it! The instructor was awesome, and really seemed like he love training folks to fly. I had talked to him over the phone before the flight for a bit, and told him I was really nervous and excited about it, and gave him my story. When I got to airport, he told me that he wanted to maximize the flight time we had, so he already had the plane pre-flighted and ready to go. Within 5 minutes of a little paperwork, I was sitting in the left seat of the Cessna 172, and starting the engine.

Heres the best part. He walked me through the whole checklist, and let me perform (with guidance of course) the entire procedure from starting the plane, to taxi, and pre-flight runup and the end of the taxi way. As we turned onto the runway, all I heard was him saying look straight out the nose, and give it full throttle easily. The next thing I realize is that we are going down the runway, and he is talking me through the whole take-off, and I am flying the plane. Once we got to around 3000 feet, he tells me to level off, and goes through some really basic stuff. We did a few very easy turns and spent about an hour in the sky. The whole time, he had his hands off the controls and was letting me control the plane. Then we went back to land, which was the exciting part. He kept a very light touch on the yoke, and walked me all the way to landing the plane!!!

Now, I know this is a long story just to get some questions, but I wanted to first express my appreciation as a new, and very nervous person to all the instructors who are as awesome as mine was. I wanted to say how important it was for me to experience the whole entire process, from starting to landing, to shutdown. Getting to do those things, even with close guidance, really answered alot of questions I have worried about over the years. Stuff like, "Will I really be able to land a plane" and "Will I be able to handle making turns and take-off?". When I exited the aircraft, I felt like I had really accomplished alot, and I really felt like I could actually learn to fly!

After talking with the instructor and telling him of my school and schedule situation, he said it would be best to wait till after graduation so I could focus 100% on flying and ground school. I can appreciate that. He suggested flying about 3 days a week to keep my memory fresh until it becomes engrained.

So, now my questions...
1. Right now I am still attending school. I will be taking one night class in the summer, and a few in the fall. I am graduating in December. I can't stop thinking about flying now!!! Its been over a week, and every day I just want to take lessons! So, what can I do in the meantime to prepare for my upcoming lessons?

2. Is there anything I should purchase ahead of time? Headsets? Flight bag? Any other gear?

3. Are there any type of grants or scholarships to help pay for the cost of training? My instructor said it could be between $7000 and $9000 depending on the student and schedules.

4. They use a computer based, online training and testing for the ground school. Any thoughts or comments from current instructors on this?

Thanks for reading my long-winded post and any answers provided. At this point, I am just excited to begin lessons, and a little overwhelmed.

 

[Geico266]

First and foremost, Welcome to POA
Sounds like you have a good instructor. Finish school and make sure you have enough cash to finish, then knock it out with the same study habits you used in school.

Wait on headsets until you have a chance to talk to other pilots, get the best one you can't afford.

 

[Henning]

The instructor is right on about 3 flights a week, less and you are wasting time and money in the relearning every lesson. The couple hour a month guys and those on the 3 year plan often take 70-120hrs to get done or even solo. If you can't swing that right now, might be better to postpone a couple months and put together enough of a nest egg that you'll be able to afford the extra hour or two a week. There is plenty of reading to do, the FAA gives you all you need to pass any test for free, you can start here: http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/ with the Airplane Flying Handbook. There are other pages of downloads as well as other student pilot resources on the FAA website, have a browse around.

If you can swing it, the sooner you buy a Bonanza the cheaper your overall aviation life will be.

 

[BooDaddy]

Fortunately, we have about $7000 saved up that I am hoping to use for lessons. College budget has already been set aside for the remaining semesters, so that $7k is what I should have available once I graduate.
The instructor mentioned that I might want to look at joining a "Flying club" that his FBO offers to take advantage of plane rental savings. There is a $400 up front fee, then $137 per month. With that, I can rent a Cessna 172 for $87 per hour (thats including fuel) instead of the standard $137 per hour for non-club renters. I am seriously thinking about doing that, as I can use the club once I get my certificate for cheap plane rental when I want to go flying. That would make it alot cheaper to get my 3 take offs and landings per 90 days.

That leads me to another question. Once I get my Private Pilot, can I take a friend up and we split the cost of the plane rental? Is it OK to split the plane and fuel costs as a private pilot? I wouldn't be charging them of course, and we could split the costs at the FBO, instead of them giving me cash for their half of the costs.

 

[EppyGA]

Fortunately, we have about $7000 saved up that I am hoping to use for lessons. College budget has already been set aside for the remaining semesters, so that $7k is what I should have available once I graduate.
The instructor mentioned that I might want to look at joining a "Flying club" that his FBO offers to take advantage of plane rental savings. There is a $400 up front fee, then $137 per month. With that, I can rent a Cessna 172 for $87 per hour (thats including fuel) instead of the standard $137 per hour for non-club renters. I am seriously thinking about doing that, as I can use the club once I get my certificate for cheap plane rental when I want to go flying. That would make it alot cheaper to get my 3 take offs and landings per 90 days.

That leads me to another question. Once I get my Private Pilot, can I take a friend up and we split the cost of the plane rental? Is it OK to split the plane and fuel costs as a private pilot? I wouldn't be charging them of course, and we could split the costs at the FBO, instead of them giving me cash for their half of the costs.

I would be careful about anything that requires up front money unless you don't mind losing it.

 

[BooDaddy]

I would be careful about anything that requires up front money unless you don't mind losing it.

Yeah and thats something I have to consider. The $400 bucks is the club's application fee I guess. Its a one time fee, and as long as you keep your membership you never have to pay it again. But, I would suspect that once you cancel your membership and want to come back later, you have to plop down another 400. But, from my math, if I flew about 50 hours, that club saves me about $2000 which would cover the $400 fee.
I would really have to be committed to flying the remainder of the year to take advantage of the membership savings.

Are anyone members of these types of flying clubs that can give recommendations?

 

[N801BH]

Yeah and thats something I have to consider. The $400 bucks is the club's application fee I guess. Its a one time fee, and as long as you keep your membership you never have to pay it again. But, I would suspect that once you cancel your membership and want to come back later, you have to plop down another 400. But, from my math, if I flew about 50 hours, that club saves me about $2000 which would cover the $400 fee.
I would really have to be committed to flying the remainder of the year to take advantage of the membership savings.


Are anyone members of these types of flying clubs that can give recommendations?

Welcome to POA....

What is the name of the airport and the flying club ?

 

[Henning]

Yeah and thats something I have to consider. The $400 bucks is the club's application fee I guess. Its a one time fee, and as long as you keep your membership you never have to pay it again. But, I would suspect that once you cancel your membership and want to come back later, you have to plop down another 400. But, from my math, if I flew about 50 hours, that club saves me about $2000 which would cover the $400 fee.
I would really have to be committed to flying the remainder of the year to take advantage of the membership savings.

Are anyone members of these types of flying clubs that can give recommendations?

Nothing wrong there, the warning was geared more to training programs where they offer a "Complete PP Course for $9000" and ask for it all up front, then close down owning a lot of students time and money. This is a sadly reoccurring theme in flight training, clubs, partnerships, and even $500-$1000 blocks of time at FBOs to gain a reduced rental rate is completely standard practice and of itself not a worry. You sound like you've come across a reasonable organization there.

 

[BooDaddy]

Welcome to POA....

What is the name of the airport and the flying club ?

The name of the company that runs the FBO's at a few of the local airports here: http://www.crystalaironline.com/

They have FBO's at:
CHA - Chattanooga, TN.
3M3 - Collegedale, TN.
HDI - Cleveland, TN.
UOS - Sewanee, TN.
DNN - Dalton, GA.

I flew out of Dalton GA. since the airport is about 10 minutes from my office. The good thing about the club is you can fly out of any of the locations, and if the plane you want isn't at the airport you want to fly out of, they will get it there for you with a short notice.

Nothing wrong there, the warning was geared more to training programs where they offer a "Complete PP Course for $9000" and ask for it all up front, then close down owning a lot of students time and money. This is a sadly reoccurring theme in flight training, clubs, partnerships, and even $500-$1000 blocks of time at FBOs to gain a reduced rental rate is completely standard practice and of itself not a worry. You sound like you've come across a reasonable organization there.

Thats good advice. As far as I know, they dont offer any flat fee based training. He mentioned the club since he knew I was going to fly 3 days per week and thought it might be a savings for me. He gave me some brochures and helped me figure up the costs, and it looked like it might be worth it. The only thing that I didnt like was having the $137 per month membership fee, and it not counting towards any flight time. But, flying isn't cheap, and I understand that I still can get the plane for $87 per hour any time I wish.
He said I could compound those club savings buy buying blocks of rental time in advance. They offered a discount of around %10 when you buy a $1000 block of time, and a %5 discount on a $500 block. The neat thing was it was based off the $87 / hour club rate instead of the "normal" rate of $137 so I get more flight time in my block purchase.

 

[N801BH]

Boo Daddy..... Can we call ya Boo ...

Your posts seem very well thought out and grammically (sp) well constructed so you are probably on the high side of the intelligence curve.. Remember, to get a Private Pilots license the minimum is 40 hours, so @ 87 an hour for the plane your cash outlay will be 3480.00, add in 20 hours of instructor time and you will still be under 4500.00... My suggestion is to....

1- get a 3rd class medical first,, just to make sure a medical issue won't haunt you later.

2- Do as much of your ground school as you can be studying on your own time, and have your instructor review your progress.

3- take and pass your private written test ASAP..

My point is.. you can become a Private pilot cheaper then you might envision...

 

[Henning]

Thats good advice. As far as I know, they dont offer any flat fee based training. He mentioned the club since he knew I was going to fly 3 days per week and thought it might be a savings for me. He gave me some brochures and helped me figure up the costs, and it looked like it might be worth it. The only thing that I didn't like was having the $137 per month membership fee, and it not counting towards any flight time. But, flying isn't cheap, and I understand that I still can get the plane for $87 per hour any time I wish.
He said I could compound those club savings buy buying blocks of rental time in advance. They offered a discount of around %10 when you buy a $1000 block of time, and a %5 discount on a $500 block. The neat thing was it was based off the $87 / hour club rate instead of the "normal" rate of $137 so I get more flight time in my block purchase.

Paying a monthly $137 assures the owners that their fixed expenses will be met. For that they give you a $50hr discount. This works out for both of you nicely during your flight training where you may fly 10 hrs in one week if things are going well. The problem that you often find with single plane clubs is getting on the schedule, but it sounds like they should have more than one aircraft. 10% for a $1000 block is a nice discount, $79hr isn't bad for a 172. Hopefully it's not a beat up old hag plane.

 

[BooDaddy]

Boo Daddy..... Can we call ya Boo ...

Your posts seem very well thought out and grammically (sp) well constructed so you are probably on the high side of the intelligence curve.. Remember, to get a Private Pilots license the minimum is 40 hours, so @ 87 an hour for the plane your cash outlay will be 3480.00, add in 20 hours of instructor time and you will still be under 4500.00... My suggestion is to....

1- get a 3rd class medical first,, just to make sure a medical issue won't haunt you later.

2- Do as much of your ground school as you can be studying on your own time, and have your instructor review your progress.

3- take and pass your private written test ASAP..

My point is.. you can become a Private pilot cheaper then you might envision...

Sure, you can call me Boo
My CFI said I could purchase the ground school materials whenever I wanted to, before I do the actual flight training. He said it was all computer and web-based training with really good videos and all the training broken down into modules. And the end of each module, you are tested, and whatever you miss or did poorly on, the software would go back and re-train you on it. He said once a module was completed, you can always go back to it and go over the materials any time, and even re-test. There were also a few practice tests to get you ready for the FAA test.
Now, given that I can buy this at any time, even prior to my flight instruction with him, would you folks suggest that I do that during this Summer? I am only taking once class at school during the summer semester, so I would have time to complete the ground school.
My only concern is, since I wont be able to do any flight training until after the Fall semester, would this be a waste of time? Do you think there may be any ground training that needed to be done concurrently with flight training?

Paying a monthly $137 assures the owners that their fixed expenses will be met. For that they give you a $50hr discount. This works out for both of you nicely during your flight training where you may fly 10 hrs in one week if things are going well. The problem that you often find with single plane clubs is getting on the schedule, but it sounds like they should have more than one aircraft. 10% for a $1000 block is a nice discount, $79hr isn't bad for a 172. Hopefully it's not a beat up old hag plane.

He gave me a list of planes and their hourly costs that they have available, but I left it at the FBO on accident. (DOH!!). We only really discussed the 172 since we would be training out of it. He said they had a couple of 172's and a 182.
The 172 we were flying in was a 2002 model, and it looked like it had been really well taken care of. The avionics looked modern, but coming from me, with no experience, they may not have been. hehe.

OH..I forgot to mention. The club membership includes free use of their IFR training lab at the Sewannee location. He said if I wanted to get IFR certified, that could save me some cash as well, and make training go a little faster.

 

[dell30rb]

Just to give you a comparison - my club is $900 to join, I pay $60 monthly and I can rent a nice warrior (similar to a 172) for $100 an hour. The FBO club sounds reasonable, you may want to wait a few weeks though just to get a feel for the scheduling and maintenance etc, if you are happy with them then spring for the club deal.

Three times a week is great but if you can only do two, no sweat. I did two flights a week and I finished in 6 months and 45 hours

Sounds like you had a great flight and a good instructor, best of luck to ya!

 

[Henning]

Now, given that I can buy this at any time, even prior to my flight instruction with him, would you folks suggest that I do that during this Summer? I am only taking once class at school during the summer semester, so I would have time to complete the ground school.
My only concern is, since I wont be able to do any flight training until after the Fall semester, would this be a waste of time? Do you think there may be any ground training that needed to be done concurrently with flight training?



He gave me a list of planes and their hourly costs that they have available, but I left it at the FBO on accident. (DOH!!). We only really discussed the 172 since we would be training out of it. He said they had a couple of 172's and a 182.
The 172 we were flying in was a 2002 model, and it looked like it had been really well taken care of. The avionics looked modern, but coming from me, with no experience, they may not have been. hehe.

OH..I forgot to mention. The club membership includes free use of their IFR training lab at the Sewannee location. He said if I wanted to get IFR certified, that could save me some cash as well, and make training go a little faster.

It sounds like you stumbled across one of the last good deals in GA. Don't sweat the ground school so much, if you have $7k and 12 spare hours a week (combined 3-4 hrs a week flying + study), you can have your PPL done before end of spring with money left over to take your wife on a trip this summer and start your IR training. If their 'IFR Lab' has a good simulator you get to use for free with your club membership, that can indeed save you considerable money when it comes to getting your Instrument Rating.

 

[JoeSelch]

...

1- get a 3rd class medical first,, just to make sure a medical issue won't haunt you later.

I'd modify that to "make sure you can get a 3rd class medical first" ... do your homework before you EVER sit foot in an AME's office for a medical. You want to KNOW you will qualify before you put yourself up for qualification. Failure to do so could shut you out of powered airplane flight (motorglider still an option).

 

[poadeleted20]

1. Right now I am still attending school. I will be taking one night class in the summer, and a few in the fall. I am graduating in December. I can't stop thinking about flying now!!! Its been over a week, and every day I just want to take lessons! So, what can I do in the meantime to prepare for my upcoming lessons?

Relax. Your instructor will tell you what to do when the time comes.

2. Is there anything I should purchase ahead of time? Headsets? Flight bag? Any other gear?

No. Dedicated flight bags are overrated (and overpriced) -- I use a cheap bag I bought in the BX about 25 years ago. As for the rest, use the school's equipment for now and buy your own gear once you're sure you'll complete the training. The only things you really need to get now are the flight computer and plotter which shoudl come with your training materials package.

3. Are there any type of grants or scholarships to help pay for the cost of training? My instructor said it could be between $7000 and $9000 depending on the student and schedules.

There are very, very few such grants or scholarships, and most of them are limited to upperclass students in collegiate avaition programs. IOW, don't count on it.

4. They use a computer based, online training and testing for the ground school. Any thoughts or comments from current instructors on this?

As long as that fits your learning style, that's a fine choice.

And welcome to POA.:wink2:

 

[murphey]

That leads me to another question. Once I get my Private Pilot, can I take a friend up and we split the cost of the plane rental? Is it OK to split the plane and fuel costs as a private pilot? I wouldn't be charging them of course, and we could split the costs at the FBO, instead of them giving me cash for their half of the costs.

You will learn all about this as you read the FAR/AIM book - parts 61 & 91 are the most important for you right now.

But no, don't split the costs at the FBO. You pay, and if your friend would like to share the expenses, then be gracious and accept no more than 50% of your expenses (pro-rata share).

 

[murphey]

He said I could compound those club savings buy buying blocks of rental time in advance. They offered a discount of around %10 when you buy a $1000 block of time, and a %5 discount on a $500 block. The neat thing was it was based off the $87 / hour club rate instead of the "normal" rate of $137 so I get more flight time in my block purchase.

[snide mode on]
And I wonder what benefit accrues to the CFI for introducing you to the flying club?
[snide mode off]

For an initial effort, the 10% discount looks very appealing, but go for the smaller chunk of cash if you insist on the upfront costs. Later on you may be able to re-negotiate when you plunk down another chunk.

Have you (not the CFI) done the cost-benefit analysis to see what the breakeven point is?

Assumptions
1. total of 60 hours
2. 3 months

Flat rate = 60 *137 = 8220

Club
Cost = 87*60 + 400 + 137*3 = 6031

So far, you're ahead of the game. There are fixed costs regardless of the approach:
$140-150 for the written exam
$300-450 for the checkride examiner
$?? charts, books, headset, whatever

 

[BooDaddy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Keep them coming

So its pretty obvious that the 3rd class medical is important to try to get first and foremost. Is that something I can do this summer before I start any training? Im in pretty good health and have no chemical dependencies of any sort.

What can I do in the meantime to help satisfy that urge to go flying?

 

[Henning]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Keep them coming

So its pretty obvious that the 3rd class medical is important to try to get first and foremost. Is that something I can do this summer before I start any training? Im in pretty good health and have no chemical dependencies of any sort.

What can I do in the meantime to help satisfy that urge to go flying?

You can do it tomorrow afternoon in an hour, but you don't need it until you're ready to solo.

There is nothing that satisfies the flying urge except flying, might as well go.

 

[DaleB]

I agree that if you can't fly at least 2-3 times a week you will be burning more hours (and time really IS money here) knocking the rust off each time you do fly. I sometimes have to go a week or more between lessons due to weather and/or other priorities, and I can tell when it's been too long.

Until you start actually flying, you can ge tthe medical out of the way and work on the ground material. All of the information you need is available for free from the FAA, as has been mentioned here. I bought the Sporty's DVD course -- just the first part, which they call their "Recreational Pilot" and solo course. Honestly... I kind of wish I hadn't. Gold Seal online ground school is really good for learning the knowledge test material, and it's not expensive. If you've got the time to do the study, start on that. You can have your knowledge test out of the way before you even start flying.

As for the "stuff"... no need to spend a ton on a student pilot setup. I use a freebie little gym bag style duffel to haul my stuff. The flight bags are nice, but not necessary. I did buy a 2012 FAR/AIM (cheap), a couple of nav plotters (cheap), and picked up a nice E6B used, which I haven't needed yet but will soon. After using the school's headsets a couple of times I bought my own. eBay is your friend; I got a very nice, imperceptibly used set of David Clarks for about $100 off the new price. No need to go hog wild. And you don't want to spend a lot on charts and stuff until you need them; they expire quickly. It's nice to have a "real" sectional on hand for study use, even if it's out of date. But most importantly -- buy logbook! Then have that instructor LOG that hour you flew. It all counts.

 

[denverpilot]

The "penalty" for not flying often enough during training is two-fold:

- Long term, it's more expensive. (Booo hisss). You have to fly often to retain everything between flights.

- You have to fly more to reach your goal. (Perhaps not a penalty at all, really!)

Follow the KISS principal. Get stuff you need when you need it. Buy from the used "rack"... eBay.

Let the CFI know you're buying as-needed so they can let you know when you need things. They'll prompt you.

Get a FAR/AIM book and a copy of the Private Pilot practical test standards (known as the PTS) and start reading. Don't worry about the written test yet.

You need some ground time (or a formal ground school class if you can find one inexpensively nearby) before a lot of the stuff will make any sense.

Decide if you want to concentrate your study in the airplane or drag it out. It gets a little cheaper once you hit solo time and can boot the CFI out of the airplane but they don't get out until they know you're ready. You'll get there quicker with flights more often but there's nothing wrong with a slower pace of you're progressing each flight. (And everyone plateaus. Just like physical workouts you'll hit a point where your brain is full and you need a little break to get it all unjumbled if you fly often.)

Ask any questions that come to mind here or of your CFI. Don't be shy. There are no secrets. Just stuff you haven't thought to ask yet.

Don't be surprised if the answer is a chapter number from the FAR/AIM. You're learning how to find the answers yourself instead of being spoon fed. You'll be a better pilot that way.

And most important of all... Go flying. Or at least write down a date when you will start.

Trying to convince yourself not to, is like trying to avoid a Snickers bar left on your desk when you're on a diet. I did it for 8 years. I missed a lot of easy, cheap ways to get aloft. Even if I wasn't Pilot in Command.

Talk to local pilots and tell 'em you're a student. Almost to a fault, we generally trip over each other to help out new folks. Rides to the $100 hamburger lunches, a chance to ride in some nice airplanes, etc.

And on top of all of that... Have fun.

 

[gprellwitz]

Boo, First, welcome to PoA! Sounds like you've found a pretty good club there. A little higher on the monthly fees than mine, but structured similarly, and with a lot more locations.

You've gotten a lot of good advice here. I just want to emphasize a bit of it now.

First, go ahead and get the 3rd class medical now, but do NOT fill in the FAA paperwork (called an 8500-8 or MedXPress) until you have gone through something like the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association) TurboMedical. You can also review their page on pre-solo medical certification: http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/presolo/special/medical.html You can get a free six-month membership, which I highly recommend. Note that the medical form has a lot of questions that say "have you ever", which can be problematic if your parents ever put you on ADHD drugs or something when you were young. If you even suspect you may have issues around anything when you fill out a TurboMedical form, everyone here will refer you to Dr. Bruce Chien (www.aeromedicaldoc.com). The third class medical is good for 60 calendar months for you, as you're under 40 and costs about $100. The reason we're all hyped about knowing you will pass before you take the exam is that, should you be denied, it locks out certain attractive alternatives that would still allow you to fly, such as sport pilot.

Second, you can get the knowledge exam (aka written exam) out of the way early. It is good for 24 calendar months, and costs about $150. All of the materials upon which the exams are based are available free from the FAA website in the form of handbooks, regulations, and the "AIM" (Aeronautical Information Manual). Go to http://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/ and you'll find all of the information, and much of it is surprisingly readable! You can buy a test preparation book from numerous vendors that will help you pass the knowledge exam. Know that the knowledge exam is a "rite of passage." There are a lot of things on it that have no applicability in the modern cockpit. You will be learning a lot more from your instructor that you will have the opportunity to demonstrate at the Practical Exam. So, if you are scoring well on practice exams, go ahead and get the knowledge exam out of the way!

Third, your instructor was right. Hold off on the actual flight training until you can dedicate yourself to it for a while. Get the degree out of the way! Then train as often as is practicable.

Fourth, hold off any significant purchases until you're sure you're going to pursue this. A disheartening number of students drop out. It isn't easy, but it is rewarding!

 

[jpower]

You can buy a test preparation book from numerous vendors that will help you pass the knowledge exam. Know that the knowledge exam is a "rite of passage." There are a lot of things on it that have no applicability in the modern cockpit. You will be learning a lot more from your instructor that you will have the opportunity to demonstrate at the Practical Exam. So, if you are scoring well on practice exams, go ahead and get the knowledge exam out of the way!

For my sport pilot knowledge test, the Gliem test prep book was extremely helpful. (Here's the private version) It has a list of pretty much all the questions that you might see on the exam and explanations for the answers. Because test prep is so inexpensive (free to $20 if you don't spring for a ground school course), I would highly suggest doing it right. I got a 98 on my knowledge test, and that's a great way to start off a checkride--showing the examiner that really high score.

In other words, don't say "Hey look, I got an 80! Time to go take the test!" Prepare as well as you can, because even though it is a "rite of passage," doing really well will show the examiner from the beginning that you know your stuff. Also, the examiner will see which questions you answered incorrectly and will be extremely thorough in those areas during the oral exam.