Returning to training soon. Need some advice

KeithASanford

KeithASanford

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After a super busy couple of months with travel and family, I'll be returning to the Part 61 school I started at back in January. I'm sitting at about 16 hours and haven't flown since late May. The problem is, I have no way to judge my progress. I'm wondering if I might need some sort of phase check. I'm going to talk to my CFI about it, but while I was training, I always felt unorganized because there was no syllabus that I could check off progress. I'm also struggling with the self paced study and I think I might need at least a ground school.

Is this level of structure too much to expect of a part 61 school or should I be considering a part 141 school with phase checks and such? I'm pretty comfortable where I am, but organizationally, I just have too much going on to proceed self paced.
 
A lot of part 61schools also provide phase checks.You should discuss it with your instructer and make sure your both on the same page.
 
And a lot of instructors also use syllabi. It's not required in Part 61, but it's best practice. Otherwise, it's disorganized and open-ended.

It's not a complete training regimen, but in a pinch, you could use the practical test standards as a phase check.
 
I haven't seen any training materials that didnt have an accompanying syllabus available. The Cessna and Jeppesen ones certainly do.

If you want to roll your own, the FITS one from the feds is a pretty good (if wordy) springboard:

http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/training/fits/training/generic/media/Private_sel.pdf

But there are hundreds of PPL syllabi just a google search away -- if you have a lazy CFI he needn't even do any work to choose one. :)

I'd definitely get on a syllabus. Anything else is just playing with an airplane and a bunch of "watch this!"
 
Did you have a bad experience with your CFI? If not, why aren't you asking him for input about what you should do next? Are you hung up on the syllabus thing, and if so, why?





KeithASanford said:
After a super busy couple of months with travel and family, I'll be returning to the Part 61 school I started at back in January. I'm sitting at about 16 hours and haven't flown since late May. The problem is, I have no way to judge my progress. I'm wondering if I might need some sort of phase check. I'm going to talk to my CFI about it, but while I was training, I always felt unorganized because there was no syllabus that I could check off progress. I'm also struggling with the self paced study and I think I might need at least a ground school.

Is this level of structure too much to expect of a part 61 school or should I be considering a part 141 school with phase checks and such? I'm pretty comfortable where I am, but organizationally, I just have too much going on to proceed self paced.
Click to expand...
 
KeithASanford said:
After a super busy couple of months with travel and family, I'll be returning to the Part 61 school I started at back in January. I'm sitting at about 16 hours and haven't flown since late May. The problem is, I have no way to judge my progress. I'm wondering if I might need some sort of phase check. I'm going to talk to my CFI about it, but while I was training, I always felt unorganized because there was no syllabus that I could check off progress. I'm also struggling with the self paced study and I think I might need at least a ground school.

Is this level of structure too much to expect of a part 61 school or should I be considering a part 141 school with phase checks and such? I'm pretty comfortable where I am, but organizationally, I just have too much going on to proceed self paced.
Click to expand...

End of the day 61 or 141 doesn't matter as far as quality of training goes, all comes down the way the business is run AND MORE OVER the CFI
 
If you got along with your CFI and want to continue to fly with him just tell him that your life is so busy that you need structure to help you complete your certificate. He may be able to point you to a syllabus he's already using or agree to work with you in line with one you choose together.

Really, I'm a CFI, and if you came to me with that concern then we'd work it out no problem. And he may know of a grnd school you can attend or some video tapes you can borrow or buy to help with the studying thing.

There are lots of different ways to skin this cat
 
Thanks for the advice.

Yeah, I have the Jeppesen syllabus and books. I'm going to talk to him about maybe using those study materials as a guideline. It doesn't have to be strict, but I need something to follow. I haven't had a bad experience with my CFI at all. I've just been sort of out of touch with the school because I've been so busy but I am coming to grips with my inability to handle this through self study. My professional certs were self study and I assumed I could keep up with this the same way, but it is truly a different animal.
 
Maybe you could meet another student and pair up to study together.. Kind of like running buddies but for school?
 
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