Private pilot home study courses

[no1pilot2000]

I am intersted in getting either the Sporty's or King School's Private pilot exam course. Is one better than the other or are they pretty much the same as far as how they present the material to be learned?

 

[epic!]

my flight school had a 10+ yr old version of the king course. it was boring but i learned a good bit from it. i would use king again for my insturment rating but i cant afford them.

 

[RemoveB4Flght]

We use the king dvd's for the accelerated courses at the part 61 school i work for... some things to remember:

They are teaching you what you need to know for the knowledge test, holding your hand through some of the word problems.

They put most people to sleep, not becuase it's not good info, but becuase they drone on and on, dwelling on the simple stuff, and glossing over the more difficult subjects.

King does an ok job, but instead of zoning out and then patting yourself on the back when you can answer the cute little questions at the end, go buy the following books put out by the FAA, you know, the entity that writes the test:
Airplane Flying Handbook
Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
current FAR/AIM (part 61.107, 61.109, lots of part 91 and AIM)
Aviation Weather AND Aviation weather services
the private pilot PTS - the single most important book as this is your guide to the oral and checkride.

All of that for WAY less than the price of the King or Sportys course which you'll probably abandon half way through and never go back and use again.. instead do yourself a favor and start an aviation library you can reference down the road...

good luck!

 

[Flying Ninja]

All those books recommended are great, and the best part, you can download them from the FAA's web site for free...except for the FAR/AIM, but there is an online version available.

 

[VNugget]

All those books recommended are great, and the best part, you can download them from the FAA's web site for free...except for the FAR/AIM, but there is an online version available.

Both the FAR and AIM are online too, but reading a physical book is about a hundred times easier than staring at a screen scrolling back and forth... huge pain in the ass.

 

[eagle06]

I have done some 141 and 61 teaching with the new king Cessna Pilot Center kit. Not to bad. extremely corny but seems effective. Personally i dont think there is any subsitute for getting out the FAR/AIM, Airplane Flying Handbook, and Pilots Handbook of Aero. Knowledge. Plus the weather one. You got the majority you need right there. If you can stand reading books made by the faa.