When you work toward any rating - Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multi-Engine, CFI - learning occurs on two parallel tracks. On one track is the ‘flying’, or fun, part. On the other track is the ‘book learning’, not nearly as fun as flying the airplane. Subject matter tends to overlap between the two tracks, but during your flight lessons the focus is more on how the book learning correlates to flying the airplane. Generally we do not spend a great deal of time before, during or after each flight lesson discussing the topics and subject matter that it is assumed you already studied. After all, it can get a little expensive if you have to pay a flight instructor for one-on-one tutoring on Airspace, Oxygen Requirements or how to read a METAR.
A formal ground school, meeting on designated days and times, is the best way to gain the knowledge you’ll need beyond your flying lessons. Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer offered, as months of classes for a mere handful of students, each paying only a couple hundred bucks is not feasible for most flight schools or instructors. In recent years, more students began pursuing the ‘self-study’ route, using DVDs and now on-line videos from companies like King Schools, Sporty’s, ASA or Gleim (I’m currently recommending the ASA product). Watching videos on an iPad can be entertaining, but there is no interaction with a teacher and there are often huge gaps in the content. At the very least, none of the video learning will be specific to your home airport, something that generally occurs in local, live ground school classes.
As a student, you should come to each flight lesson prepared to learn what your instructor told you to ‘read-up on’ at the end of the previous lesson. For example, if you’re going to fly with him to another airport but you have no idea what kind of airspace it is within --- much less what the visibility/ceiling minimums are --- or what you need in terms of equipment or authorization to enter that airspace…. Well, that 1.1 hour lesson now just blossomed to 2.1 hours if he has to conduct a 1-hour ground school lesson with you on Airspace.
To help you if you are working on your Private Pilot license, I have compiled a list of many topics that you will need a ‘working’ knowledge of as you progress through your flying lessons. The list is not all-inclusive, nor is it in the order in which this knowledge will be required during your flights, but if you can knock most of this out before your first solo (end of Stage I), you’ll be well on your way to staying ahead of the airplane and your coursework. If you are pursuing an Instrument, Commercial or CFI rating, email me directly and I’ll be glad to share a similar list with you for those ratings.
Basic Aerodynamics - Lift, drag, flight controls, load factor, flaps, trim tabs, stability, ground effect, wake turbulence, left-turning tendencies, stalls, spins.
Airplane Engines & Systems - Reciprocating engine, propellers, engine cooling, oil system, fuel system, ignition system, electrical system, preflight operations, power plant operation.
Flight Instruments - Pitot-static instruments, magnetic compass, gyroscopic instruments. Types of airspeed, slips and skids, power systems for instruments.
Performance - Air density, computing takeoff and landing performance, headwinds/crosswinds, climb performance (rate & angle), cruise performance, endurance, range, glide, fuel economy, weight and balance(!).
Airports - Taxiways, runways, airport lighting, traffic patterns, visual landing aids, non-towered airports.
Airspace - Controlled vs. uncontrolled, VFR weather minimums, Special VFR, special-use airspace, ADIZ, TFR’s.
Weather - Atmospheric basics: pressure, moisture, temperature, transfer of heat. Pressure gradients, sky cover and ceiling, restrictions to visibility, icing, turbulence, clouds, air masses, fronts.
Weather Services - Sources, weather charts, reports and forecasts, weather briefing, DUAT, inflight weather information (PIREPS, NEXRAD, FSS).
Flight Information Publications - FARs, AIM, charts, A/FD, NOTAMs, Advisory Circulars.
FAR’s - Currency, aircraft certificates & documents, aircraft maintenance, privileges & limitations. I prepared a 1-page list of Private Pilot-related regulations a couple months ago. Click here to download the PDF.
Navigation - Longitude/latitude, variation, time zones, charts, pilotage, dead reckoning, flight computers (E6B!).
Radio Navigation - VORs (theory, chart depiction, airborne equipment, tuning/identifying, flying to/from, course interception, station passage, two-station fixes), GPS, DME, ADF, radar.
Aeromedical - Hypoxia, hyperventilation, carbon monoxide poisoning, G-forces, spatial orientation, vertigo, motion-related disorientations, airsickness, night vision, drugs, alcohol, stress, fitness to fly.
Emergencies - Causes, instrument failure/inaccuracies, radio malfunctions, inflight fires, emergency landings, flight plans, ELT, survival procedures/equipment, lost procedures.
Whew! That’s some list. Again, many of these items dovetail with some flight lessons, but in general none of this is introduced during flight training with your Instructor. You are expected to already have a cursory knowledge of the subject matter prior to it being utilized in flight.
PTS Check Ride Prep
There are portions of many tasks throughout the Private Pilot Practical Test Standards that are not directly related to flying the airplane. As such, they will not be covered in great detail during your actual flying lessons (most are covered in Ground School). For details on the standards for each of these items, refer to the PTS:
-
✓Preflight Prep
-
✓Airworthiness Requirements
-
✓Weather Info
-
✓Cross-Country Planning
-
✓Airspace
-
✓Performance/Limitations
-
✓Airplane Systems
-
✓Aeromedical
-
✓Radio/ATC Light Signals
-
✓Runway/Taxiway Markings
-
✓Pilotage/Dead Reckoning
-
✓Nav Systems/Radar
-
✓Spin Awareness
-
✓Comm/Nav/Radar Services
-
✓System/Equipment Malfunctions
-
✓Emergency/Survival Gear
-
✓Night Flying
© 2013 Garry Wing
