Sheppard Air reviews…

[Bonchie]

It’s great. If you want to use it to learn the material, read the explanations given with every question.

The knowledge test is best to not overthink. Just pass it. The oral does not translate no matter how you study for the knowledge test. For that, use the ASA oral prep guides.

 

[Initial Fix]

I like their study program. You will pass the written and probably with a good score. But (big but) you still need to hit the books to prepare for the checkride

 

[ahmad]

That is exactly why I created this post. When I studied for my pilot certificate, I used Gleim and read and learned all the material for my written. Now that I am using Sheppard, my usual studying pattern is deviated to acclimate to Sheppard’s coursework. I am ok with it, I just feel like I am cheating on the test and cheating myself.

I suppose after I take and pass the written test, I can go back and study how I always have to learn the material.

This sounds familiar. I went through the same thing. Studied Gleim for my PPL. Took the test and scored really high. For the IRA, I purchased the sheppard and after looking at it I felt like I was just memorizing the answers (by design). So, I put the sheppard aside and purchased the IRA Gleim material. Studied the Gleim and then went into the testing mode with Gleim and sheppard. This assured me that I learned the material and could pass the test easily. Took the IRA test and scored well again.

 

[MauleSkinner]

It's popular to bash on Sheppard as purely a testing prep software. There's truth in that of course (it's how they market it themselves after all) but I found it to be an excellent tool for actually learning the material as well. It's all in how you choose to use it. For me it provided the focus for where I targeted my own studying. The descriptions provided for each question are usually quite good while also providing the ancillary benefit of helping to get familiar with the individual test questions. The biggest benefit was providing a very focused and direct reference to the source material - which I would grind my way through until I understood it in detail.

For me, it took about a month of intensively studying question by question in my weak areas until I felt like I truly understood them. That meant a lot of diving into the source materials and asking questions of CFIs and other pilots. I often found the other options (like Sportys) felt way too superficial and didn't get into the nitty gritty of the topics - so I would end up with a general understanding but not the depth I needed. Flashy graphics but low content value. You have to do a lot of outside studying with all systems, but Sheppard kept the additional research more focused. High passing grades on the writtens and (what felt like) casual oral exams meant it worked well for me.

After the month of studying I would repeat the Sheppard system exactly as prescribed - and it worked then as advertised despite having a terrible mind for rote memorization.

Problem is, how many times have you seen anybody recommend spending a month or so with Sheppard stuff?