ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (11/22/85)
> There's a fourth option: "home study" -- buy a bunch of books, set aside > some time, and read. Rather than explicitly setting time aside, leave the books in the john. By the time you have to take the written, you'll probably have absorbed enough to ace it.
dgb@mgwess.UUCP (Donald Beahm) (11/23/85)
having a former Navy Flight instructor living on one side of me and an airline Flight Engineer on the other. We spent many evenings going over the various aspects of the ground work plus the time I spent alone reading. When I was ready I breezed thru the test in about 1.5 hrs and came out with an 85 or 86 for a score. My son on the other hand took the night school route while in high school and scored a couple of points lower. (He was trying to beat the old man!) I highly recomend the FAA question and answer book as the final study guide whether you study at home or at a regular ground school. Happy flying, Don Beahm AT&T-IS
ahv@masscomp.UUCP (Tony Verhulst) (11/25/85)
In article <4604@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: >> There's a fourth option: "home study" -- buy a bunch of books, set aside >> some time, and read. > >Rather than explicitly setting time aside, leave the books in the john. >By the time you have to take the written, you'll probably have absorbed >enough to ace it. I also highly recommend the "home study" method. I took a ground school course at the local FBO for $135 and all I got out of is was a signature to be able to take the exam (a slight exaggeration - but not much). Even one of the "two day wonder courses" claims that (approximate quote) "you will have enough knowledge to be able to pass the test IF TAKEN WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME". I suspect that people who take these short intensive courses don't retain the material as long as others (I would like to hear from people with positive comments about this type of course). For ten dollars I bought a question and answer quide and over a period of 4 weeks or so I went thru each question in the book 3 times. Since the questions on the exam are identical to the questions in the study quide you can score yourself so that you know exactly where you stand. The test was a snap. I took 2.5 hours to do the test twice, and got a 97%. Good luck.
falk@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (11/25/85)
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I agree that home study can be very good *if* you have the discipline to do
it regularly. I bought the sanderson course for private pilots which included
a book on flying, a workbook, some flight charts and a flight computer (the
metal kind with dials, not the push button kind). I read the chapters and did
ALL of the workbook questions (I did not write the answers in the workbook, but
used a separate piece of paper- that way, I could review and not have the
answers written in).
I took the FAA written and got a 92- my flight instructor nearly fell out of
his cockpit when he found out (since I opted not to take his mucho-expensive
ground school course, I naturally was going to flunk the test, in his opinion).
Certainly, if $$$ is a consideration and if you can get yourself to study, I
would recommend a home course with a few *good* books (Sanderson or Jeppson were
names I could trust, this was a few years ago, but I think they're both still
around).
Connie Falk
(falk@uiucuxc.cso.uiuc.edu)lgl@cbosgd.UUCP (Lionel Lynch) (11/27/85)
In article <840@masscomp.UUCP> ahv@masscomp.UUCP (Tony Verhulst) writes: >In article <4604@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: >I also highly recommend the "home study" method. I took a ground school >course at the local FBO for $135 and all I got out of is was a signature >to be able to take the exam (a slight exaggeration - but not much). > >Even one of the "two day wonder courses" claims that (approximate quote) >"you will have enough knowledge to be able to pass the test IF TAKEN >WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME". I suspect that people who take these short >intensive courses don't retain the material as long as others >(I would like to hear from people with positive comments about this >type of course). > >For ten dollars I bought a question and answer quide and over a period >of 4 weeks or so I went thru each question in the book 3 times. >Since the questions on the exam are identical to the questions in the study >quide you can score yourself so that you know exactly where you stand. > I've found that the home study courses offered on tape and accompanied by a workbook to be just as informative and a bit less tedious than printed material alone. An instructor walks you through some basic theory but stresses the goal of passing the test. Many useful hints and key phrases are given and re-inforced verbally. Packages of this sort start at about $100 and go up from there. Even better though, once you're done with the package, you can re-sell it and recover part or all of the cost. Lionel
ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (11/28/85)
Lionel Lynch quotes Tony Verhulst as quoting me as follows: In article <840@masscomp.UUCP> ahv@masscomp.UUCP (Tony Verhulst) writes: >In article <4604@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: >I also highly recommend the "home study" method. I took a ground school >course at the local FBO for $135 and all I got out of is was a signature >to be able to take the exam (a slight exaggeration - but not much). (and so on). Anyway, the attribution is inaccurate. I never said that or anything like it. Someone else must have said it. I have never taken an FBO ground school course. I simply left a copy of the FARs in the john for a couple of months and then took the written, scoring in the 90s.
dbp@dataioDataio.UUCP (Dave Pellerin) (12/03/85)
I used the Jeppeson home study books for my private ticket, and found them very useful. There was (probably still is) a requirement for a sign off by a ground instructor with a minimum number of course hours, so I figured what the heck, and took a weekend seminar from Aviation Seminars for that requirement. I felt the course was very valuable not only for the test, but for remembering procedures and regs years down the road. Getting information from multiple sources seems to really help the gray matter remember things (ie: reading it and having someone explain it). I scored a 96 two days later, but I don't have any illusions about doing as well today.