Gold Seal or Rod Machado for IFR Ground

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Murph

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Murph
Did Goldseal on PP....Rods seems interesting...
 
The Gold Seal instrument program is brand new. Over two years in development it has all the newest 3D animation and interactivity. As with all of our courses, your CFI can join for full, free access, including student monitoring. It's an excellent way to integrate ground and flight training. If you haven't been to the course page yet, please check it out. There are a lot of screen shots and an actual lesson on Localizers that you can take without even logging in. After that, take the free test drive and decide for yourself.

www.GroundSchool.com/instrumentpilot
 
I just went through this. I did the Machado course and if I had it to do again (almost did o_O), I would definitely look at Gold Seal . Plus probably add on a practice question/answer solution - the Machado test quizes didn't match up well to the actual test.
 
I have only good things to say about Gold seal. I used them for instrument, as well as reading the free faa publications, and got a 97%. That was 2 years ago; they were actively updating it even as I was going through the course, so I can only assume it's improved since then. I felt the quiz system they used worked very well. At the time they were the cheapest option to boot. IIRC, you can preview the whole course to see how you like it; paying for it unlocks the quizzes and progress meter.

Rod himself is pretty amusing, but the animation & voices his course uses really turn me off.
 
Write-stuff....hummmm, you look familiar :)..L.. your PP course worked great for me .
Its looking like this path to being instrument rated is going to be a long one. My plane currently doesn't have GPS. It does have all the required equipment though. I'm wanting to take a ground course to just keep the ole brain pipes open as much as anything, One point about Rods course that caught my interest was you have lifetime access. My intentions are to pretty much take a ground school on my own just as a mental exercise , then go through it all again if/when I start actual planning.

Adventure, Jim....thanks
 
Murph said:
Write-stuff....hummmm, you look familiar :)..L.. your PP course worked great for me .
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Hey there, Murph. Nice to hear from you. Gold Seal also has a lifetime option, so you're covered there. I agree that one pass through any ground school program, regardless of the type, isn't a reasonable expectation. You may find that one pass is enough for some topics, but most will require a bit more review.

I invite you to take the free Instrument Pilot test drive. We've massively improved this new course with more 3D animations and interaction. If you want to see a free lesson without even logging in, here's one on Localizers:

The Localizer (groundschool.com)
 
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I've not seen Rod's stuff in years, but he had a few inaccuracies in it back when I did. Nothing that should really make a difference in the long run, but it bothered me.
 
Well all I thank you for your input .
 
I used Gold Seal for the Instrument written twice and passed both times ;)
Russ was kind enough to let me beta test it early on before it was a full fledged program.

Watching it evolve has been incredible. Russ is a very smart guy and has some really talented people working for him.
I can't wait to see what's next.
 
I used Machado for my IFR ground school over the past few months. There is a LOT of content. I have my exam on Friday so I can follow up here afterwards, but I've taken 7 or 8 practice tests, 3 from Machado, a couple from Kings, and a few from Sporty's, and I've done very well so far.

I don't know anything about Gold Seal though.
 
Georia,
Hey man thanks! Best of luck on the test and Im sure you will do great.
 
Alright as promised, I’m following up here - I passed! I got a 92.

I think machado’s course is great, very comprehensive. He gets a little annoying at times though, but the content is great. The platform is subpar and the tests aren't* great, but I just used sporty’s free testing to take care of that and I’d say it worked out alright!
 
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Georgia way to hang! Happy for you ! How soon to the check ride ? :)
 
Have a friend who took the written three times, he let it run out...Work would get in the way
 
I got the Rod Machado instrument book and lost interest in it after trudging through half of it. Maybe it was me, but I just didn't care for his organization of information on the pages. Admittedly, I lost interest in the weather section and I know that is probably the section most people struggle with when studying.
 
Murph said:
Have a friend who took the written three times, he let it run out...Work would get in the way
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Yeah I've already got the CFI who did my PPL lined up to knock it out over a couple of weeks that I have for paternity leave next year, so I think I'm as set up as I can be. I'm determined to get this done ASAP!

Will Kumley said:
I got the Rod Machado instrument book and lost interest in it after trudging through half of it. Maybe it was me, but I just didn't care for his organization of information on the pages. Admittedly, I lost interest in the weather section and I know that is probably the section most people struggle with when studying.
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Yeah I watched all of his videos, I couldn't imagine reading all of that
 
Congratulations on passing the written!!

There is a huge amount of knowledge to have pounded into your head for instrument flying and passing the FAA written. I used King when I did mine, but it would be a very difficult task for anybody putting together a ground school (in person, online, etc.) to keep it interesting enough throughout to keep you from nodding off once in a while. :)
 
somorris said:
Congratulations on passing the written!!

There is a huge amount of knowledge to have pounded into your head for instrument flying and passing the FAA written. I used King when I did mine, but it would be a very difficult task for anybody putting together a ground school (in person, online, etc.) to keep it interesting enough throughout to keep you from nodding off once in a while. :)
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Haha thank you, and I agree!
 
Is it me, or is it impossible to discover the course prices at Gold Seal?
 
TCABM said:
It’s more difficult than I would prefer. Scroll to the bottom of this page.

https://groundschool.com/privatepilot
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Thanks. This explains it, as I was interested in the instrument course which has no such FAQ.

Maybe if enough others post some hand-wringing it will meet the F threshold required to make the AQ portion of that page. :D

I agree, why not be upfront with that?, $229 isn't expensive for a PPL ground school.
 
Am I the only one that did the Jeppesen course?
 
Found this info near the bottom of the page, using the link above.
Private Pilot Ground School
Lifetime Enrollment $299 $129

I'm helping my nephew get started on his PPL. If anyone has feedback (good or bad) on Gold Seal, I'd much appreciate it.
 
schmookeeg said:
Thanks. This explains it, as I was interested in the instrument course which has no such FAQ.
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Sorry for the confusion, but the pricing is absolutely there on the landing page for each course. Scroll to the bottom and they are prominently shown.

Private pilot - https://www.groundschool.com/privatepilot

Instrument pilots - https://www.groundschool.com/instrumentpilot

And for the flight instructors in the crowd, it is 100% free - https://www.groundschool.com/instructors

.
 
[QUOTE="JEB, post: 3346813, member: 39174"I'm helping my nephew get started on his PPL. If anyone has feedback (good or bad) on Gold Seal, I'd much appreciate it.[/QUOTE]

Suggest to your nephew that he simply sign up and take it for the free test drive. Then he can see for himself.
 
schmookeeg said:
Is it me, or is it impossible to discover the course prices at Gold Seal?
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The prices for all the courses are on the Gold Seal home page (groundschool.com) at the very top. They are also at the bottom of each individual course page (and the pages aren't very long).
 
If that was there at the bottom of the page before I posted, then someone should yoink my medical for blindness.
 
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