klh@inuxd.UUCP (Ken Harman) (08/08/84)
Has anyone out there had any experience with those two day seminars that guarantee you safe passage through an FAA exam? I am headed towards my private pilot exam and am trying to evaluate the cost/quality/convenience trade-offs between the cram (never say "crash" to a pilot) courses and the traditional route. Specifically, I am considering a seminar offered here in Indianapolis later this month by Aviation Seminars based in New Jersey. Any information you could supply would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Ken
psfales@ihuxq.UUCP (Peter Fales) (08/09/84)
> Has anyone out there had any experience with those two day seminars > that guarantee you safe passage through an FAA exam? I am headed > towards my private pilot exam and am trying to evaluate the > cost/quality/convenience trade-offs between the cram > (never say "crash" to a pilot) courses and the traditional route. > Specifically, I am considering a seminar offered here in Indianapolis > later this month by Aviation Seminars based in New Jersey. > Any information you could supply would be greatly appreciated. I took one of these courses when I was about 15 hours along toward my private license, and in general I think it was a good way to go. It is no substitute for actual discussion and practice with an instructor because (despite any claims to the contrary) in such a short time they have very little choice but to "teach the test." However, the benefits are 1) It provides a good introduction to a lot of areas which will be reinforced a second time when you have them from the instructor. After seeing everything twice, I tend to retain it much better for the FAA oral and beyond than I think I would otherwise. 2) The cost of the course is partially offset by eliminating the need for a few hours of ground school with your CFI. 3) If you work reasonably hard, and take the exam within a few days of the course, you will probably get a good score. I think this and the fact that I also did well on the oral exam tended to bias the FAA examiner in my favor a little and get me past a few mistakes on the flight test. 4) It is a very pleasant feeling to go into the written exam knowing exactly what it will be like and feeling confident about it. -- Peter Fales UUCP: ...ihnp4!iwlc7!psfales ...ihnp4!ihuxq!psfales Work: Bell Labs IW-1Z243 W: (312) 979-7784 H: (312) 355-4254 [ Send lawyers, guns, and money; Dad, get me out of this. ]
MHARRIS@BBNF.ARPA (08/10/84)
I took a 3-day CFI course from AOPA's Aviation Safety Foundation. Got over 93 on all 3 writtens (FIA, FOI, AGI), and still retain most of the material (I hope) after 4 months. Instructor was head of OSU's Aviation Department. Wonderful stuff. --mh
avsdT:roberts@avsdS.UUCP (08/15/84)
I took a <crash> course three days before the written IFR test and found that it really augments all of the home study and discussions with you instructor. The thing to watchout for is to make sure that the course is being offered by a reputable organization such as AOPA. Almost all of them offer refresher courses at a very low rate ( mabey 1/10 the cost of the initial exam study ) witch is very good for bone-ing up on things a couple of years from now. The outfit I went to offered the cheapest course (which I went for right away) however they later went out of business and now if I want a refresher I have to find an organization, pay the full course rate, and wait several years before I can use the lower rate refresher course.