Does anybody here (scratch that, I know at least one person does but couldn't remember who) have a pilot license that would be willing to share some advice?
I've decided to get my private license over the summer, if not sooner, and then ultimately end up with at least IFR and multi-engine ratings (3 kids... gotta have at least 5 seats). The first few of many questions are: is it better to do ground school/written exam BEFORE starting flight lessons, or is it better to mix the two? AND, is in-person ground school better than, say, Machado's online 40 hour class? AND, is there a better way to get to my "at least" goal that I'm not thinking about?
ANY advice, insight, and experience is GREATLY appreciated.
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Paging grummanhokie...
That's who it was!
I got mine too. I did ground school first at the local community college. It was a few years ago before the internet so can't comment about online. I enjoyed flying but life changes. Do whichever meets your needs and schedule. Don't rush it though. It is important to learn correctly. Sometimes online doesn't provide good feedback or someone to talk to. Maybe speak to your local flight instructor before deciding. Wish you the best.
Part of my predicament is that there are 7 airports within reasonable distance that have flight schools, and the only independent CFI I would really consider using is going home to Wisconsin next week (he's actually taking me up in his plane on Sunday morning). So finding a CFI has been.... interesting
I got my Commercial Multi + Instrument back in 2004-2007 at a Part 141, but stopped flying shortly after (lost my medical). Happy to answer any questions I can.
I would say having some experience in the plane before doing the ground exam helps put a lot of things into context and makes it easier to learn; this goes doubly for instrument. I did my PPL written about 1/2 through the flights, and instrument about 3/4 through.
For ground school, doesn't really matter where or how you do it, so long as you're able to absorb stuff you read, memorize it, and apply it. We were kind of left on our own by the school to handle our written prep, unless we specifically requested a tutor.
If you want to save money, especially for your instrument rating, pick up X-Plane flight sim with a yoke and rudder. You can shoot 25 approaches on the sim in the same time you can do 1 in the plane. And it connects to ForeFlight, so very realistic workflow.
My advice for ordering is to get your PPL, then instrument, then MEL. Instrument ratings (and ForeFlight) save private pilot lives.
Fun note: MEL training should be called
MSEL, because I spent 80% of the time flying with an engine out. My first flight was Orlando to Tallahassee and my instructor killed my engine on initial climb. Was a long, painful flight :)I've heard similar stories numerous times haha. Sounds like its standard practice!
What do you run X-plane with? I currently have an xbox one S and a Samsung cell phone. My parents did order an ipad mini for me for my birthday though, so I'll likely get Foreflight when I start ground lessons.
X-Plane runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.
You might also check if the local FBO has a sim trainer (Redbird, Frasca, etc); if they do it's certainly cheaper than the fuel for an actual plane, and you can log a few hours of time in your logbook.
One of them does have a Redbird. I think it was $60/$65 an hour
Nothing to add except a short story. My wife is afraid of flying, I am slowly trying to convince her though. The other day while talking about it she asked " How often do planes crash?" I said, "only once baby." I do not think that helped my cause.
Good luck!
lol Dad jokes FT
WL?Did you know that over 98% of plane crashes occur during the last 5 minutes of flight?
Funny this is the first post I see after logging on here for the first time in probably 2+ years. Last time I posted on TKP I was a full time flight instructor, now I'm on my second airline.
Anyways, to answer your question I don't hate the idea of getting your written out of the way early. When I was an instructor I likened the written to a box you had to check. When you get to your instrument written check out a program called "Sheppard Air." It's basically a way to rote memorize the test, 99% of professional pilots use it when they have to get a written done, but last I checked it was not available for Private.
HOWEVA, do not confuse passing the written with having the knowledge to get through a PPL checkride. A lot of those questions are outdated and don't really apply. Know that if you come in with your written done, it will be one less thing to worry about but you will still have to commit to a good amount of studying as the PPL checkride will begin with an oral exam of usually at least an hour and a half, and the written test does not do a good job preparing you for that IMO.
As for your question on online vs. in person ground schools, I have only worked with online ones. My school when I instructed used the King schools which worked fine. It was a means to an end to check the ground school box. Your instructor should be doing thorough briefs and debriefs to supplement all that. I can also give you some book recommendations which will really boost in your actual understanding of the topics being discussed.
Finally, a note I liked to add to all my students who were beginning their flying journey. This is not like golf or sailing, this is a hobby that demands respect and will kill you if you let it. Statistically speaking, flying light aircraft is about as safe as riding a motorcycle, i.e. it's reasonably dangerous. The difference being the vast majority of airplane crashes are pilot error, whereas the safest motorcyclist in the world can be taken out by an idiot on their cellphone. I don't mean this as discouragement, just as a bit of dose of reality. It was pretty common to see folks come in for their bi-annual flight review having flown maybe 5 hours a year with no realization of how dangerous they were. I remember one gentleman in particular who screamed at me when I wouldn't sign him off after he tried to kill us non less than five times on a one hour flight. I beg of you to not become this person, ESPECIALLY if you plan on flying your family.
Sorry this is a lot, I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have. Even though I haven't flown anything other than a jet in 5 years (I SWEAR next year is the year I'm getting my ass back in a Cessna) I love seeing people live out their dreams of flying. I'll try and make a mental note to check TKP more than once every two years now.
I'm glad you took the time to post this. I'm a retired Piedmont, US Airways, and American pilot and wanted to put my two cents in. However, it's been 44 years since I did any instruction and I have no clue what is involved with obtaining a PPL these days.
But I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts about the differences between flying and hobbies. After teaching at Embry Riddle, I spent another 9 months instructing at FBOs, teaching weekend warriors how to fly. I always asked my students if they played sports in HS, and many had. I asked them if they were better athletes if they practiced every day or once a week. It's the same with learning to fly. Fly every day you can and as often as you can. You'll be a better pilot, with the additional benefit of taking less time to get your license. Fly once a week and you'll spend half of your next lesson relearning what was taught in the last. It'll take 60 hours instead of 40 to get that PPL.
Good luck with your lessons and have fun.
Be very careful for sure. My coworker and 2 of his friends passed away flying back home to Chesapeake. They weren't able to clear some trees past a runway in West Virginia.
I was told I was paged...
I'm out at the moment and on my phone. When I get back home I'll try and be a bit more helpful.
I think live ground school is better because you can interact and people ask great questions that you didn't think of. You also hear their stories, which is fun.
That said, online is good for a lot of people, too, and is a lot more convenient. Either will ultimately work.
For me, getting the theory (ground school) down before flight training seemed like the right call. Depends on what kind of learner you are. As the flying is the expensive part, you want every hour to count there, and the focus is different. Then again, everyone learns differently. You can always go back and look at the ground school stuff.
With your family, time is going to be of the essence. Life has a habit of getting in the way of big projects, and this is a big one. Good luck.
So, first thing first. GO GET YOUR MEDICAL. Before you spend a single dollar on a flight lesson, get your medical done and out of the way. The FAA is archaic and something that you didn't think was a big deal can literally grind your medical to a halt. I've got a buddy who took some anti-depressants when he was going through his divorce and he's been in medical limbo with the FAA (not to mention having to fork out several thousand dollars extra for "tests" and "studies") for almost 9 months.
In case I wasn't clear...GO GET YOUR MEDICAL
Once you've secured that piece of paper, I would recommend taking an online ground school. I did both my PPL and IR through Sporty's and they are excellent courses. If you'd like to try them out first, email me (it's floating around on another thread). I'm sure the other courses are good too, I just preferred Sporty's way of presenting things. Regardless of the course and the material, the most important thing is the practice tests...Sporty's has unlimited. Take the practice tests until you can consistently hit high 80s and 90s and then go get your written out of the way. You can always get a refresher or clarification on topics by your CFI while doing the flying portion.
Then you're gonna want to find a good Part 61 school and find an instructor who you gel with. Don't mesh with the instructor? Move on to the next one if possible as it will make both your and their life better. Fly as much as you can, preferably at least twice, if not more, times a week. Keeps the lessons sharp, allows you to progress faster. Debrief thoroughly, study for the next lesson, go back and watch the ground school videos if applicable, watch YouTube videos, etc.
Flying is a whole lot of fun. It's also a tremendous responsibility that requires commitment and continuous training to stay current AND competent.
When you get to the point that you want to buy a plane, hit me up, and I'll let you know what I know. Light twins are a tricky beast and if you're looking for 5 seats a good airframe is going to set you back quite a bit.
I have definitely heard the medical horror stories from those I have asked. And from all over the spectrum of possibilities.
As far as ground schools, I definitely have to do online with our schedule. I have pretty much been bouncing between Sporty's and Machado's 40 hour. I'm hoping that I can find an independent instructor so that I'll have more freedom to call them and say "I can do today at 3" and it's set. A guy I talked to from Miami offered to be my instructor and fly 4 times on weekends (Saturday morning/ night, Sunday morning/afternoon). But that would require me to mess with my wife's work schedule to get there Friday, and then pay hotel. So that's a last resort, even though I liked him alot. I had a thought about using all my PTO this year to knock it out, but came to the conclusion that I might feel too rushed and not grasp everything correctly.
During the winters I wouldn't have a problem staying current as long as this owner stays alive. He's got a ton of friends with planes he can use apparently. Summer is a different story, although there are a few rentals available at MKY.
I kind of figured ground school first to get the basics down pat before I start flying. I would feel WAY more comfortable that way I think.
Definitely get the medical out of the way. You can do the ground school while you're waiting for it because the online course costs are peanuts compared to the overall license.
Hopefully your independent instructor works out. That would be the best vs. having to schedule through a school. That's how I got my IR and it was easy. Who would be providing the plane in that scenario? Him?
The PPL is a license to learn. There may be things you don't fully grasp by the time you get your license, but through continuous flying and research you'll start making that less of an issue.
Feel free to reach out (ross bril at gmail) if you have any questions and if you're ever in VA, feel free to give me a ring and we'll go flying. I finished my license in '17 so my experience is pretty fresh.
That was the one thing my ground school instructor emphasized. Get the medical first.
It's a lot of money if the medical stuff holds you up, plus you get stalled in the middle of your flight hours, and you forget things in the interim, which means more of those expensive flight hours.
Sorry to being this back to front again, but I was reading back through and missed this I guess. He would contact one of his friends and we would rent the plane from them at a vastly reduced cost (normal fuel rate obviously). He has a beautiful Beechcraft Bonanza (in which we had a great flying day 2 weeks ago, more down below), but obviously a 172 or piper tomahawk is the way to train, so we'd use one of those. He would charge me a "family rate" as he calls it for his CFI hours. But I'm planning on (wanting to) having PPL and IFR done by the time he gets back in Ocotber/November.
As for the flight he and I took, we left Marco Executive (MKY) and did a few laps around Marco island at 2000 feet, then flew north on the shoreline at 5500 past Naples, Ft. Myers, and turned inland just north of the RSW Charlie airspace. Flew over the south shoreline of Lake Okeechobee and turned back to make a stop at Sebring (SEF). Had a cup of coffee, emptied the bladders, and then flew back south at 3500 over Labelle (where my wife grew up), Immokalee, circled Ave Maria, and then slowed down over Everglades city and Chokoloskee on the approach back into Marco. Did about 3.5 hours in the air, not a single bump. Did have a closer-than-should have been miss with a Diamond near Immokalee. But it was a ton of fun and I learned a lot just in that short time uo there with him. I really wish he wasn't going home next week.
Plan to spend more $ than you initially expect.