Recommendations for studying for IFR and beyond ground school?

B

Brendon

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2017
Messages
55
Display Name
Display name:
brendon7358
I'm sure this has been asked a bunch and I apologize but most of the time it's specifically for private or instrument my situation is a bit different.

I have my ppl (got it 3 years ago) , and I used gleim for that but I never felt I understood the material very well and I honestly feel like I need to pretty much relearn or at least do some heavy review of the entire thing.

In April of next year I plan on starting flight school. My intention is to do IFR, Commercial, CFI asap. I hope to get it done in 8 months. Mainly because I will be doing flight school full time and can only afford not having a job for so long.

I have heard commercial is a lot of just more advanced private material. And for cfi I obviously need to know private stuff very well. So that's my priority right now.

Once I am satisfied with my knowledge of private pilot material I will move onto instrument. I am hoping to do the instrument test and maybe even the commercial before I even start flight training.

I am currently reading the airplane flying handbook, pilots handbook, instrument procedures, and instrument flying handbook. But I don't learn very well from just reading and I feel this is really inefficient.

My flight school recommended King for the instrument. It seems good but really expensive so I'm just wondering if it is the best option. I don't mind the cost. I just want to have a really good understanding of everything because my goal is to become an airline pilot and I don't want to get there by just studying for the tests.

So pretty much my question is, is king the best option for instrument? What should I use for private review? What about commercial? And lastly are the ground schools good enough that I don't need to read all the faa stuff or should I do both? Or maybe just skim the faa stuff?

Thanks!
 
Try Instrument Flying by Richard Taylor and/or Pilot's Manual PM3: Instrument Flying by ASA (no relation to each other despite similar titles). If you aren't flying a glass panel, a previous edition of the latter will be just fine. King is good for what it is, a sharply focused test-prep course.
 
Brendon said:
I'm sure this has been asked a bunch and I apologize but most of the time it's specifically for private or instrument my situation is a bit different.

I have my ppl (got it 3 years ago) , and I used gleim for that but I never felt I understood the material very well and I honestly feel like I need to pretty much relearn or at least do some heavy review of the entire thing.

In April of next year I plan on starting flight school. My intention is to do IFR, Commercial, CFI asap. I hope to get it done in 8 months. Mainly because I will be doing flight school full time and can only afford not having a job for so long.

I have heard commercial is a lot of just more advanced private material. And for cfi I obviously need to know private stuff very well. So that's my priority right now.

Once I am satisfied with my knowledge of private pilot material I will move onto instrument. I am hoping to do the instrument test and maybe even the commercial before I even start flight training.

I am currently reading the airplane flying handbook, pilots handbook, instrument procedures, and instrument flying handbook. But I don't learn very well from just reading and I feel this is really inefficient.

My flight school recommended King for the instrument. It seems good but really expensive so I'm just wondering if it is the best option. I don't mind the cost. I just want to have a really good understanding of everything because my goal is to become an airline pilot and I don't want to get there by just studying for the tests.

So pretty much my question is, is king the best option for instrument? What should I use for private review? What about commercial? And lastly are the ground schools good enough that I don't need to read all the faa stuff or should I do both? Or maybe just skim the faa stuff?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If ya like a little humor try Machado. Real, accurate stuff, but not as ‘dry’ as many of the others.
 
I've got the Sporty's instrument course. The written test prep drills are good, but there's lots of free or less expensive sites that do that well. To be honest, I can't stand the videos...I find THEM inefficient. I can read a lot faster than someone can talk, and all of the intros and splash screens just waste time. The information is very good, but I just can't seem to stay interested in watching them... and it's not because I'm not interested in the material. I'm acutely interested, but I find myself getting the most out of just reading the FAA publications... Information, please, I'll provide my own entertainment has always been my learning style, I guess.

If anyone has some tips to help me get more out of the Sporty's instrument course, especially the videos, I'd be grateful.
 
MuseChaser said:
I've got the Sporty's instrument course. The written test prep drills are good, but there's lots of free or less expensive sites that do that well. To be honest, I can't stand the videos...I find THEM inefficient. I can read a lot faster than someone can talk, and all of the intros and splash screens just waste time. The information is very good, but I just can't seem to stay interested in watching them... and it's not because I'm not interested in the material. I'm acutely interested, but I find myself getting the most out of just reading the FAA publications... Information, please, I'll provide my own entertainment has always been my learning style, I guess.

If anyone has some tips to help me get more out of the Sporty's instrument course, especially the videos, I'd be grateful.
Click to expand...

My plan was to just have the videos playing in the background while I do something else like mess around in flight simulator. I will probably have to listen to them a few more times but it wouldn't bother me much as its not really inconviniencing me in anyway since I would be doing the same thing I would be doing otherwise.

I have read online that sportys is good and a lot more modern than king but there are some knowledge gaps that a better covered elsewhere.
 
Last edited:
I just took the written instrument test and used Sheppardair along with the ASA instrument test book. I can highly recommend both but understand that the Sheppard course is long and contains about 1200 questions that you must review. All questions contain an explanation and many have accompanying graphics that must be interpreted. Bottom line is that it takes some time to complete the Sheppard course. You can get your test endorsement from Sheppardair as well. The ASA material is helpful to understand much of the material when the Sheppardair explanations are not complete enough. I found studying for the instrument test to be difficult especially when you make an effort to actually understand the concept as opposed to memorizing an answer. Despite having the most recent Sheppardair testing material, several questions were reworded and several new questions appeared on the test. Miraculously I made a 95 on the test.
 
I found Shepard Air to be extremely helpful in both understanding IFR concepts and prepping me to do well on the written. It's not expensive. It does take some long hours studying but it is completely comprehensive of what is covered on the written. Setting aside 2-3 hours per day to keep plugging through it. I took the written before starting flight training, and I felt like I was mentally prepared to digest the concepts being taught in the air because I had a good fundamental understanding beforehand.

I used Gleim for my Private as well. I did not feel prepared after even taking the written. I also did the Sporty's IFR course 2 years before I finally took the test using Shepard. While the Sporty's videos were well made and clearly explained concepts, they did poorly for me on getting me ready for the written exam. My $0.02.
 
KeepWatch said:
I found Shepard Air to be extremely helpful in both understanding IFR concepts and prepping me to do well on the written. It's not expensive. It does take some long hours studying but it is completely comprehensive of what is covered on the written. Setting aside 2-3 hours per day to keep plugging through it. I took the written before starting flight training, and I felt like I was mentally prepared to digest the concepts being taught in the air because I had a good fundamental understanding beforehand.

I used Gleim for my Private as well. I did not feel prepared after even taking the written. I also did the Sporty's IFR course 2 years before I finally took the test using Shepard. While the Sporty's videos were well made and clearly explained concepts, they did poorly for me on getting me ready for the written exam. My $0.02.
Click to expand...

I am currently taking the Sporty's IFR course. I find the videos of limited value. I have learned a lot more just reading the Instrument Flying Handbook. The only thing of any value in the Sporty's course is the practice tests. I would not recommend purchasing Sporty's IFR course.
 
Shepard Air to pass (and ace) the written. Drill/kill and get that out of the way.

I like the Jeppesen Guided Flight Discovery for deep dives. But see if this works with your CFII's syllabus. Then the ASA Instrument Pilot Oral Exam Guide to finish up prior to oral checkride. This has worked for me so far. I am about 5 hours away from checkride... 100% on the written and I am confident I would do well on the oral portion of the practical. Just need to get those 5 hours under the hood done...
 
Another vote for Sheppard Air. Used it for IFR and commercial with 98 and 100%
respectively. You will need some other study material for concepts and oral prep, but Sheppard Air will make the written components a non-issue.
 
Your best bet in my opinion if just starting on the instrument training is to read the two FAA pubs: Instrument Flying Handbook (https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/FAA-H-8083-15B.pdf)
and the Instrument Procedures Handbook (https://www.faa.gov/regulations_pol..._procedures_handbook/media/FAA-H-8083-16B.pdf).

They're free and full of useful information and a lot of the written comes straight from them. As far as drill and kill for the written, I've never found a better source than ol' Irwin Gleim.
 
Going for the CFI, the drill approach won’t work, nor the videos. Those are to get you thru the written. For CFi, you need the comprehensive material in the FAA pubs. That’s what you’ll be tested on during oral exams. Don’t like reading all that stuff? Sorry to say, but get over it. Having the videos on in the background...sorry, but this stuff is not background musak. Content and understanding are key to any of the oral exams, and there’s no shortcut.
 
murphey said:
Going for the CFI, the drill approach won’t work, nor the videos. Those are to get you thru the written. For CFi, you need the comprehensive material in the FAA pubs. That’s what you’ll be tested on during oral exams. Don’t like reading all that stuff? Sorry to say, but get over it. Having the videos on in the background...sorry, but this stuff is not background musak. Content and understanding are key to any of the oral exams, and there’s no shortcut.
Click to expand...

I understand this, I am just trying to find the most efficient way to do this since I have a fair bit of time from now until April I want to make the best use of it. As for the videos I would have it playing in the background at a time when I wouldn't otherwise be studying, so anything I get from it would be better than without it.

Pretty much my plan is to read all the faa documents, the 2020 IFR test prep and then either while I am doing that or after I will do the course of whatever I decide for IFR then commercial. Just trying to find the most efficient options to learn the most I can between now and April so I can focus on flight training at that point and get through my training faster.

I understand cfi needs a higher level of knowledge. That's why I'm not looking to just pass the test. If that was the case I would just cram 2 weeks before the written and probably pass it without too much issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top