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3 Answers

self-studying before applying flight school

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Private Pilot

[ This question was deleted and the poster banned because the original poster went out of his way to avoid site rules, including the use numerous hashtags (now deleted) that could only have had a "sneaky" third party advertising purpose, strictly forbidden on this site. The site admins have replaced the original text with the following in order to preserve the responses to the original post. ] The user's question was nominally about ATP test prep. The sponsors of this site, Dauntless Aviation, make an excellent ATP test prep that covers all FAA knowledge tests, including ATP Airplane Single-Engine, ATP Airplane Multi-Engine, Aircraft Dispatcher, foreign-pilot-to-USA/FAA-ATP and more at a reasonable price. It is available at www.FAAtest.com for the platform of your choice, including iPhone/iPad, Android, Mac, and Windows PC. Each features excellent ease of use, free lifetime updates, all charts and figures, and the best explanations in the business. Any ATP flightschool would be thrilled if you walked in the door with a massive headstart on your training by preparing for your app first and in fact several ATP flight-schools now recommend that their students arrive having studied with our app for several weeks. Dauntless provides test prep for essentially all FAA knowledge tests - Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Military Competence, Flight Instructor CFI, Ground Instructor, Flight Engineer (still used by some airlines), ATP, Sport Pilot, Sport Pilot Instructor, Part 107 Drone UAS Pilot, Aviation Mechanic - General, Airframe, and Powerplant. Our editors curate thousands of questions and keep our databases up to date - for example, we just finished adding several hundred questions to our databases and writing detailed explanations for them corresponding to recent FAA updates. There are, of course, also other ATP prep sources out there. Some are better, some worse. As you look at the expensive ones in particular, you might want to ask yourself whether paying $300 to watch 30 hours of video is really an effective way to learn or is it an effective way to sleep while fooling yourself into thinking that because you paid so much (Dauntless apps cost far less) that the information will magically fall into your brain?

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3 Answers



  1. ayavner on Dec 12, 2019

    Hi there – I absolutely believe in self-study and encourage that with my students. There *probably* will be a few topics that come up in your study that really won’t make much sense until you’ve flown some, or spent time with a CFI – but if you focus on the things you can, and work with a CFI for the rest, that will not be money wasted.

    Yes you will need to go to an authorized testing center, and you will need an endorsement from a CFI (or printed from one of the above sources) to show them that you are authorized to take the test. If you fail the test, you will need a second authorization confirming you’ve been trained in the areas found deficient.

    I have experience with Sporty’s and Kings, and of course don’t forget Dauntless – the sponsors of this website! I haven’t used the Jeppeson product, but I have heard that it is somewhat dry and difficult to follow. Others may chime in.

    The path you take depends on your goals – if you want to pursue the airlines, and in the least amount of time (but highest cost) then a school like ATP is probably the way to go. If you aren’t worried about time, and cost is a factor, then you may want to look for an independent (part 61) instructor. Once you find him/her then they will really be able to explain the specifics to you and answer any questions.

    good luck, let us know how you go! adam

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  2. KDS on Dec 12, 2019

    You have the books you need for a major head start. What you need is a little one on one guidance to show you what parts to read and what parts to skim or skip.

    Don’t even think about taking the knowledge test (written test / computer test) until you have soloed. You want to do more than just pass it. You want to get a good score on it. Plus, if you do fail it and have to take it again, it’s expensive (too expensive in my opinion).

    As ayavner wrote, the path you take depends on your goals and how deep your pockets are. But, without knowing the answers to those questions, I’d recommend going out to a friendly airport (if there is such a thing around San Francisco) and find a couple pilots and just ask them for their recommendations as pilots. Also, think about joining Civil Air Patrol. They won’t teach you per se, but you will rub elbows with a lot of pilots you can turn to for advice based on their knowledge of the local area.

    It’s possible that there is a pilot shop near you that rents Sporty or Jepp DVD’s. They might even be in your local library. You’ll also find a ton of stuff out on youtube.com. A lot of it is good and there is certainly a wide variety of it.

    Once you do connect with a flight instructor of your choice, be sure to ask him or her for their guidance on what to study and in what sequence.

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  3. Craig on Dec 12, 2019

    You can try this site to find a testing center http://www.catstest.com/index.html

    You’ll take the written private pilot AKT. The Practical Test Standards (PTS) for private pilot are actually now referred to as the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) and are the criteria for your exam with the DPE after you’ve done all your flight training and are endorsed by your instructor to take the practical test.

    FYI…. Beginning January 13, 2020, all applicants must establish an FAA Tracking Number (FTN) within IACRA before taking any FAA airman knowledge test. This identification number will be printed on the applicant’s Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR) in replacement of the Applicant ID number.

    Info on retaking the test:

    Acceptable forms of retest authorization for all tests listed above (except ADX and FNX):

    • Original passing Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR).

    • Original expired AKTR.

    • Original failed AKTR.

    NOTE 1: An applicant retesting AFTER FAILURE is required to submit the applicable AKTR indicating failure. The applicant must also present an endorsement from an authorized instructor who gave the applicant additional training and who has determined the applicant proficient to pass the test.

    This endorsement may be in the form of a signed written statement, a signed logbook notation, or by completing the Authorized Instructor’s Statement portion of the failed AKTR. (14 CFR 61.49(a)(2))

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