Just starting out

[Anymouse]

With regards to medicals...

From a legal standpoint, you won't really need a Class I until you're flying left seat in something big (more than 9 passengers). The company you work for could require one for their own reasons though.

That being said, you probably won't be flying anything like that from the left seat for several years. At least, not until you get out of the military.

So, what I suggest is that you go for the Class III, while you're in with the doc, simply ask if what he sees throws up any red flags for the Class I or II.

IIRC, the big difference between II and III is the vision requirements, but glasses can normally resolve that. As someone mentioned, if you're in the military, you're probably okay on that end. Class I gets a bit more involved with heart issues, requiring an EKG once you pass a certain age (40??). Regardless, you can look up the requirements in the regs.

One last thing. In case no one mentioned earlier, if you have been diagnosed with any kind of mental issue in the past (ADD, depression, etc.) there will be roadblocks. Talk with Dr Bruce (available here from time to time) before going for ANY medical.

 

[RussR]

If they are offering the discount because you must pay 100% of the expected costs up front, this is never never a good idea.
...
Never Never Never pay for the entire flight training program up front.
...
However, if they are offering a discount if you maintain a positive balance of about $500 to $1000, then this can be more palatable as you are only risking that much smaller amount should they shut down.

I cannot agree more with everything @AggieMike88 writes here. There are endless, endless stories about this.

You should be able to get your physical at the base hospital I think. When I was an USAF controller the Flight Surgeon office did our 2nd Class physicals.

Probably not anymore. My first one was in fact done by a flight surgeon (in 1993), but every time since then that I asked, I got anywhere from knowledgeable "sorry, we don't do that anymore" answers to "huh?"

Better to know he can hold a first class medical before he drops a ton of money and time. The requirements aren’t even that much stricter for a first class medical. I’ve never gotten another medical other than a first class medical. Is a third class really that much cheaper than a first class?

Last time I got a 1st it was about $50 more than a 3rd. I agree it's a good idea to get one early on, if the primary reason for learning to fly is to make it a career. After the first time, he can revert to a 2nd or 3rd as necessary until he needs it again. Small expense to avoid a potentially extremely large one.

 

[mscard88]

Probably not anymore. My first one was in fact done by a flight surgeon (in 1993), but every time since then that I asked, I got anywhere from knowledgeable "sorry, we don't do that anymore" answers to "huh?"
.

I see. I retired in '88 so that my well be the case. Worked for me as I was required to have a 2nd as an USAF ATCer, which was good for flying too.

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Hello all, I finally have the means available to start working towards my dream of flying. I am currently 12 years into my military career and have decided to use the next 8 to work towards becoming a professional pilot when I get out. I know this is not an easy dream but I want to do it.

So my question is about the way to achieve my goal. Should I just pick a school and start flying or should I look at a degree plan that includes flying? I live in Oklahoma and there are a few flying schools near by to just fly. There is also a professional pilot program at OU that has a business degree built into the program.

Thank you for any info you can give me

Welcome and thank you for your service. Good luck with you training.

 

[Anymouse]

I see. I retired in '88 so that my well be the case. Worked for me as I was required to have a 2nd as an USAF ATCer, which was good for flying too.

It got changed in the late '80s or early '90s. I believe the FAA decided that military controllers no longer needed to carry a Class II. The annual medical from the military would suffice.

I hated when they did that because I used to just simply ask the doc to remove the "For ATC purposes only*" statement.

*Or something like that.

 

[Jon Gunther]

Hello again, so I finally got around to getting my medical done. I passed and now hold a class 3. Only issue that came up is my right eye is 20/30 so I will need to look into that issue at a later date to get my class 1/2. However, I am currently looking into the local schools. I have 5 schools all about the same distance from my house, 2 at Wiley post, one at Sundance, one in Guthrie, one in Shawnee. So far I have only received an instructor rate from the Shawnee school which is $60 and hour. As for aircraft most have either 152's or 172's one uses piper Cherokees all within about $10-20 dollars per hour of each other. I will be calling the other schools soon and visiting them.

So for my first question, I have a flying friend that is moving to the area that is working on his CFI. (just needs a check ride I believe) He gave me access to the Cessna online ground school that he used to get his licenses. However, I can not get the endorsement to take the test using his account unless he gets his CFI and signs off on it, or I sit down with my instructor for a couple hours. I have been looking at a couple other online courses and have narrowed it down to: https://www.faa-ground-school.com/ and www.sportys.com. Both programs will give me a test endorsement after completion and I like the course style. Do any of you have experience with either course, or have a recommendation? Also should I complete the ground school before I start flying or do it in conjunction with flying? I plan on picking a school and talking to my instructor before I make a final decision.

Next question, As for aircraft I am leaning towards the Cessna family because there are more available. Is there a good reason to pick one over the other? My dad mentioned that the piper can be a little harder to land in a cross wind.

Thank you all for your information and advice

 

[exncsurfer]

Hello again, so I finally got around to getting my medical done. I passed and now hold a class 3. Only issue that came up is my right eye is 20/30 so I will need to look into that issue at a later date to get my class 1/2. However, I am currently looking into the local schools. I have 5 schools all about the same distance from my house, 2 at Wiley post, one at Sundance, one in Guthrie, one in Shawnee. So far I have only received an instructor rate from the Shawnee school which is $60 and hour. As for aircraft most have either 152's or 172's one uses piper Cherokees all within about $10-20 dollars per hour of each other. I will be calling the other schools soon and visiting them.

So for my first question, I have a flying friend that is moving to the area that is working on his CFI. (just needs a check ride I believe) He gave me access to the Cessna online ground school that he used to get his licenses. However, I can not get the endorsement to take the test using his account unless he gets his CFI and signs off on it, or I sit down with my instructor for a couple hours. I have been looking at a couple other online courses and have narrowed it down to: https://www.faa-ground-school.com/ and www.sportys.com. Both programs will give me a test endorsement after completion and I like the course style. Do any of you have experience with either course, or have a recommendation? Also should I complete the ground school before I start flying or do it in conjunction with flying? I plan on picking a school and talking to my instructor before I make a final decision.

Next question, As for aircraft I am leaning towards the Cessna family because there are more available. Is there a good reason to pick one over the other? My dad mentioned that the piper can be a little harder to land in a cross wind.

Thank you all for your information and advice

I'll just chime in on one of these, If you have access to the content for ground school study, I would not purchase additional content JUST for the the endorsement. As you said your CFI, once you get one, will endorse you once he thinks you're ready for the test. This doesn't mean he has to teach you ground school, just that he thinks you've learned enough to pass, you could show him your free practice test scores for example. You could also purchase a $12-15 ASA test prep book which comes with a written test sign-off.

If you feel you need the additional content that the online ground schools offer, go for it, but don't just do it for the sign-off.

I did mine with the FAA free publications and the $12ASA book and made a 94(or around there).

My 2 cents.

 

[denverpilot]

... narrowed it down to: https://www.faa-ground-school.com/ and www.sportys.com.

A couple of thoughts...

FAA materials are free for download or are available reprinted into books for relatively cheap. At the end of the day, all roads lead back to the FAA books. Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook.

Search for those and you’ll find them online for free. You can also get the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards (ACS) as well, and there’s a whole bunch more. But those will be the major focus for a Private certificate.

Now as you’ve learned there are a number of commercial training companies who provide additional study materials or even multimedia / video materials, etc. Some people really like these courses and if one works for you and you can afford it, great. Use them if you like them.

Sporty’s, Gleim, Jeppessen, and my personal favorite ASA, have all been around a long time. I’ve used all of those plus internet references and other reading materials for learning about aviation for many years. Each one has a slightly different “style” and one may really work well for one student and not another. Haven’t heard of your other one but that doesn’t mean anything.

I actually don’t mind the cheesy John and Martha King videos. Most people joke that they put you to sleep.

There’s also Rod Machado’s books which are quite entertaining as well as a couple of newer ventures like Gold Seal and MZeroA selling online courses with full modern multimedia that wasn’t filmed two or more decades ago. And fans of all of them.

It sounds like you’ve done your research. If you like those things you can buy them. FAA books are free. Just check around for bad reviews of newer companies but really they’re all teaching the same material in different ways.

Finally realize that any CFI can sign you off for the written after assessing your self study of any sort. The CFI on staff with the commercial training material places is just a convenience thing.

Even if you use one of those CFIs to get the written done your main CFI is still going to have to assess and know that you know the material to sign you off for the checkride so they’re still going to spend some ground time with you at least quizzing a bit and covering all the topics looking for holes in your knowledge that they need to focus on.

The more you know, the less ground school time with them but you won’t get it down to zero. Depending on who you fly with and their school policies they may have a chosen syllabus or if they’re a Part 141 school a mandatory syllabus you’d have to use those books. So check with your flight instructor on that. For the most part

Part 61 instructors will usually have a syllabus but it’ll usually be easy for them to refer to the FAA materials since they’re free and assign any “homework” from those. Everybody’s got them, since they’re on the FAA website. Even if they use some other book they like, the FAA material is easy for everyone to reference. They may ask if you like a particular book they’re using from their own collection and suggest maybe you pick up your own copy too, but they can tailor things more than a 141 school with a mandatory syllabus can.

I’d say you’re way ahead of the game than a lot of students if you’ve read through PHAK and AFM. No reason not to. It’s free!

 

[Sinistar]

Although I did not use either course you listed, I did have the option to use the King endorsement but I thought that would kind of be going around my CFI. Since we had already flown and done some ground together I kept him in the loop, told him I was done with the online stuff and asked him for the Knowledge Exam endorsement. He asked me a couple of questions and signed it.

His recommendation was to time the knowledge exam closer to the checkride. There were only a few times that I wish had done the ground first. No matter what, even if you are close to your checkride and the Knowledge Test is done - you're going to want to go back and review the written material for the oral.

There is one potential downside to taking the online endorsed Knowledge Exam before you ever meet a instructor or start flying: Time. If it takes you another 11 months from Knowledge Exam to checkride you might be rusty. And if you run into a longer delay you might have to re-take it. But if you time it to being near your checkride this becomes a non-issue.

I think if you are already working with a CFI I would still do the online ground program (it helps you pass the test) but use the CFI for the endorsement and to make sure you understand things.

If on the other hand you are trying to have all ground school done prior to meeting a CFI, then buy one of the courses and use it's online endorsement.

Just remember, an actual instructor will need to sign off the Knowledge Test review afterwards (prior to your checkride) whether you were endorsed online or by a CFI.

 

[Jon Gunther]

His recommendation was to time the knowledge exam closer to the checkride. There were only a few times that I wish had done the ground first. No matter what, even if you are close to your checkride and the Knowledge Test is done - you're going to want to go back and review the written material for the oral.

There is one potential downside to taking the online endorsed Knowledge Exam before you ever meet a instructor or start flying: Time. If it takes you another 11 months from Knowledge Exam to checkride you might be rusty. And if you run into a longer delay you might have to re-take it. But if you time it to being near your checkride this becomes a non-issue.

Thank you for the information, that makes a lot of sense. I will take that into account.