Question on ground flight schools?

Discussion Hub Real-life Aviation
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Hi there, I was wondering if I can just take a course in ground school to learn all the basics of flying also Another question is what steps do I need to take to be able to get a PPL? Do I need prerequisites in my learning? Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA

P.s. Sorry if this has been asked before…

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Details will vary from country to country. Really your best bet is to contact a flight school in your area an ask them for the information. They’ll be more than happy to answer your questions, particularly if it ends up with you signing up for ground school.

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What country ? this is the Netherlands, recently I got a present from a friend… a trial flying lesson, you can sign in online for that… you pay, then pick a calendar date for it… just google “flying lessons” and put the ICAO code of some an airport near you.

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Hi guys,
Thanks for the replies… I am in the USA…

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There are a couple of options…

  1. Go to the local small GA airport, and book a ‘Discovery’ flight.
  2. Check local college, see if they have flight training. Just sign up for the ground portion.
  3. Airshow season is kicking off again, go to one. Local flight schools are usually there.
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Call up your local airport, take an intro flight and the instructor can fill you in on everything else about training, getting a medical, and all the other requirements involved. You have to be 16 to solo and 17 to get your license. The biggest pre-requisite nowadays is making sure the finances are in order to pay for training. My advice as a pro-pilot and former flight instructor, make sure the money is there or will be there to finish the license before you start. That way you can fly more often vs having lessons spread out weeks apart saving up for the next lesson. That ends up costing a lot more money.

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I actually had exactly what you’re looking for as an elective course in high school. The instructor was a retired USAF Lt. Col. named Jack Swaney, who flew just about everything the Air Force had from WWII through Vietnam. But what’s funny is that I knew him as “Jack” before I ever signed up for the class because he worked at the shop where I bough my models. When I walked in the first day, I said “Umm… Should I call you Mr. Swaney here?” He said He looked up and said “Hey! I didn’t know you were in this - just call me Colonel.”

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There are some free and a lot of paid options online if you just want to get an idea of what ground school is about. Sporty’s or King’s online video ground schools are one price (~$300) for lifetime access. So if you want to use it for sim education today and in-real-life sometime down the road, that’s an option. Others use a monthly subscription plan which may encourage you to finish more quickly.

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I’ve been giving the theory for years (PPL and most ATPL subjects). Flight school I worked for it was all classroom instruction, no e-learning. I know there are a couple of pretty good e-learning programs for ATPL theory, I’m not familiair with PPL e-learning, I’m sure it exists. It would be cool to set-up a “course” especially for people interested in aviation to learn the basics instead of following an official PPL / ATPL theory course, I think there is a gap to fill there. You could study those things yourself of course, but I know a couple of subjects which need to be explained properly with some simple examples in order to really “click”, its difficult to learn some things from a book.

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I recommend trying it at airports with control towers so you you could get used to doing all the atc conversation stuff as you go along

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Thanks guys for all your help and information. I really appreciate it…:slight_smile:

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Hi there,
Questions in the forums have to be about Flight Simulator. We don’t have a real-world aviation category right now. I will answer this as best as I can, but in fairness to the other real-world aviation topics that we’ve recently closed, I have to close this one, too.

In the US, the prerequisites are that you have to be at least age 17, possess a third-class medical certificate, be proficient in English, have a government-issued photo ID, and undergo training by a part 61 or part 141 school. (I’ll get to what that means in a second.) If you’re not a citizen, there are other requirements.
On medical certificates: Before you start shelling out money on any expensive flight training, I would recommend getting that medical certificate, because the last thing you want to do is go through some of your training and find out that you are ineligible for medical reasons. The kind of doctor that needs to examine you is an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). A list of them can be found here. If you have any medical concerns, first visit your primary care doctor before going to the AME. If you don’t intend to go beyond being a private pilot flying small aircraft, you can then do BasicMed. Please read about that here.
There are two types of ground schools: part 61 and part 141. Those two numbers correspond to the Federal Aviation Regulations corresponding to those numbers and the rules that govern them. I don’t know much about part 141 schools, but think Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Places with a rigid, FAA-approved curriculum where everything is done by the book. (But it doesn’t have to be big universities like that…that’s just an example. Little flight schools offer part 141, as well.) Part 61 is a lot less structured. If you want to do flight school at your own pace or do it online, part 61 is the way to go. [Edit: Maybe they can also do part 141 online, as well. I just don’t know.] Is one better than the other? No, although the required flight hours for part 141 is less, but in both cases, you are probably going to exceed the number of required flight hours, anyway.

What do you need to know? A lot. See this document. That document details the broad items you will be tested on.

Where to start?

  1. Take a discovery flight at your local airport, as suggested above. They’re usually 60-90 minutes and you’ll get a little taste. Evaluate your instructor and see if you like him/her. Ask questions and see if you can understand their responses. Ask follow-ups and see if you have good chemistry. If you don’t like them, take another discovery flight at another flight school. Keep doing that until you find an instructor whom you like, has hours that work with yours, and whom you think you’ll learn from the best.
  2. Before you spend hundreds of dollars on ground school, buy (or download for free) these books and make sure you’re comfortable with the concepts:
  • Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
  • Airplane Flying Handbook
  • Risk Management Handbook
  • At some point, you’ll have to buy a book called the FAR/AIM. But I suggest not starting with that, as it’s not an easy read like the other ones.
    • The FAR is the list of Federal Aviation Regulations that govern aeronautics and space. Specifically, it is 14 CFR, and is available online. You don’t need to know everything, but be familiar with part 91 as well as how to look up information.
    • The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) is a cut-and-dry awful read (in my opinion), but fortunately, a lot of the concepts in that book are covered in the handbooks, above. My suggestion is to learn from the handbooks and your ground school, then reference the AIM to further concepts you didn’t understand. Also, learn how to look up information in it because you will probably need it for your check ride.
  1. Get your medical exam and make sure you’re okay for your medical certificate.
  2. Ideally, you’d do a little ground school before going up. Probably most people do it concurrently with flight lessons, but I think it would be a lot cheaper if you learned a lot on the ground. Here are some online ground schools and what I think of them:
  • Fly8MA: Good explanations, and run by a very proficient CFI-turned airline pilot-turned CFI. He has a paid online ground school, and a free (!) online ground school that’s more limited than the paid version, but it will get you the endorsement necessary to take the written exam. Though, I’ve heard him say a few wrong things about physics that have kind of tainted my views. But overall, a very solid choice.
  • Gold Seal: Two great things about Gold Seal are that you can do ⅓ of their course entirely for free before you have to pay anything! Also, your flight instructor can login and see how you’re doing and help reinforce concepts you’re struggling with. I don’t know if any other ground schools offer that. Plus, they’re way cheaper than the next one…
  • King Schools: Probably the most recognizable name in aviation education. Run by John and Martha King. They are the only two people in the US (I think) to attain every rating and certification there is. Their videos are corny and look like they were filmed in the 1980s. I also find their videos sometimes disappointingly short and teach to the rote level instead of understanding or application level. And they’re expensive (which is probably how they can afford the Dassault Falcon that they own). But a lot of people love their school.
  • MzeroA: Run by Jason Schappert, a young rising star and now a DPE, himself. Has high-quality videos, but sometimes I don’t see the point in the cool videos. Also, he often takes forever to get to the point. If you like concepts being reinforced over and over again, this is probably a good one for you.
  • Rod Machado: I love Rod Machado because he gives more in-depth explanations of concepts. They may get more into the weeds than some people would like, but I personally love that. He also gave flight lessons in FSX!
  • Your flight school will probably do ground school, as well. The advantage of that is the in-person interaction and ability to ask questions in realtime.
  • Or go talk to Nijntje91! (Although since he’s in Europe, it might not help you get your American certificate!)

Those are only my opinions, of course. Each one of the above has a YouTube channel. You can check them out to see samples of their videos.

  1. Get an endorsement from your ground school to take the written test and pass it with at least a 70%.
  2. Fly with your instructor! Practice the maneuvers and get proficient, then fly solo and at night.
  3. Schedule a “practical exam” with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). There are two parts to that: The oral exam, which takes 1-2 hours, then the check ride. The oral exam is open book, but you can’t look up everything. Just some things.
  4. Pass your check ride and celebrate when you get your pilot’s license!

With that, I hope that’s all the information you need to get started on your private pilot’s certificate. Best of luck!

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