Recommendations for PPL study guides

Hi,

I am about to study for the PPL written exam and thought I'd ask what
others have found to be the best resource for studying?

For example would the FAA published "Airplane Flying handbook" and
"Pilot's Handbook of aeronautical Knowledge" be sufficient as study
guides? Would the kings or sportys full PPL training videos be best?

Just looking for suggestions :)

Thanks in advance,

- Trevor

Trevor,
The way I did it was to read the Jeppeson student pilot book cover
to cover the first time around. I didn't spend a lot of time working
the end-of-chapter problems, however, just skimmed them. It is pretty
interesting reading.
I then read through many of the appropriate sections in the FAR,
and the interesting parts of the AIM. Then, I went back and read
through the Jeppeson manual again, answering the end-of-chapter
questions to the best of my ability, and re-reading sections where I
was deficient.
About a week before the exam, I signed up for the FREE written
exams on the Sporty's web site, and took the exam 2 or three times per
day. This helped a great deal as well.
All told, I spent about six weeks of studying the material on my
own for the written exam. I was probably ready for it a lot sooner,
but spending an extra week working exams got the test-taking skills
and the confidence level honed a little bit better.
I only got an 87% on the written, but I got a few more of the
"where do you get this type of information" and "how many minutes from
point A-B" type of questions than I expected (32 minutes or 34
minutes?).
I also didn't stop reading after I passed the written. I
skimmed the books, FAR, AIM, and PTS a few times before my checkride,
and the Oral exam was a breeze.

Good Luck,

I don't think there are any real shortcuts, you really need to learn
this stuff.

WilyWapiti

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips on studying for the PPL
written exam. Seems to be a number of ways to study and is pretty
well much up to the individual on what seems best for them. I've
allready started reading the FAA "Airplane Flying handbook" and most
likely will end up getting the Gleim CD for the practice tests as well
as getting a FAR/AIM book.

Anyway I'll post on here how I go. My aim is to try get the exam done
by the end of August...and study hard!

- Trevor

You will continually hear statements like, "Learning the material for the
written exam is completely unrelated to learning to fly an airplane. . ." and
"Written exam study guides are a waste of time, because they encourage you to
memorize the material by rote, instead of learning the subject . . ."

While not entirely without merit, the above statements contain some hyperbole.
Clearly it would not be possible to "memorize" the entire contents of the FAA
test without "learning" something along the way! In fact, when it comes to
rules and regulations, memorization is an important factor. Similarly, the
written knowledge exams were not pulled out of the sky (!), and they really do
play an important role in learning to fly and manage an aircraft safely.

I like Gardner's books (from ASA)because he manages to weave the knowledge
exam material sensibly, and usually seamlessly into the main of the text in
such a way that you'll recall it more easily when the time comes, because you
learned it in the context where it made sense.

Oh yes, you can find a hundred examples of rules and FAA test questions that
don't appear to make much sense, but that won't change the fact that most of
it IS related to flying, and is moreover directly applicable to the type of
flying you'll be doing. If you read and re-read The Complete Private Pilot
until the covers fall off, you'll have a good handle on application of the
rules as you will be expected to apply them in practice - and the written
exam will be a cinch.

Of course all of this supposes that you are really "interested" in the
knowledge part of it - as I believe pilots should be. Thoses darned ASA
covers are pretty robust!

G Faris

FWIW, I've been reading several books (sometimes reading different
resources on the same subject helps me better understand the
material.) Personally, I'm finding the Jeppeson Private Pilot Manual
very well written and the diagrams helpful.

After completion of a chapter, going through the related questions in
the ASA test prep guide and trying to answer the questions in long
form (without looking at the multiple choices) is helping as well.

Good luck to you,
-Kay
email: remove the "ns" from aviation in posted address


trevj@portland.com (Trevor) wrote in message news:<12268804.0307301219.47d88c79@ com>...
> Hi,
>
> I am about to study for the PPL written exam and thought I'd ask what
> others have found to be the best resource for studying?
>
> For example would the FAA published "Airplane Flying handbook" and
> "Pilot's Handbook of aeronautical Knowledge" be sufficient as study
> guides? Would the kings or sportys full PPL training videos be best?
>
> Just looking for suggestions :)
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> - Trevor