The books and materials you need for the Aeronautical Knowledge portion of your flight training are taken from publications put out by the FAA. There are a lot of aftermarket courses that are all good. I always tell the student to do what is best for them. Some students will study at home with just the FAA publications and others will want a DVD course and some like to sit in a ground school.
I have found over the years that the home study options are the best. That is for my style of teaching. Remember one thing, everything listed in the airman certification standards for subject areas are in the FAA publications. All of them you can get for free on the faa website. You can also buy printed versions from any pilot shop. Technically that is all you need for all of the knowledge areas for both the written test and the flight test.
If you are a good at studying and like to read that is all you will need. I would say that you may spend about 40 - 50 hours at home studying and then about 20 hours ground instruction with your instructor. Usually I will spend 20-25 hours on the ground but some students do need more.
The questions for the Private Pilot Written Test and the Private Pilot Practical Test are based on the information in the following FAA Publications:
1: Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
2: Airplane Flying Handbook
3: Federal Aviation Regulations / Airman's Information Manual ( FAR/ AIM
4: Airman Certification Standards
There are a few other advisory circulars that are also used in the practical test standards. I have them all included in all of my courses in my members area " If you are interested.
You should get into the habit of looking up subject areas in the FAA publications but other publications are acceptable at this level of training.
Private Pilot License Ground school Classes
Many of the flight schools out there will have a formal ground-school. I used to have these for my students. You have to realize one thing. If you are planning on flying a lot ( more than twice a week) you will be done with your flying before you are done with the class. This will cause a delay and extra flights to get your license.
You can take private pilot license groundschool classes at many of your local flight schools and your local community college may have them. You just want to look at how long the class lasts. If you have a 12 week class and you want to do a somewhat accelerated flight training schedule, you may want to take the class first before you start flying. You could start your flying about half way through the class so there are no delays.
By Far the Best Groundschool out there is Rod Machado's 40 Hour Private Pilot Groundschool
Rod Machado's 40 Hour Private Pilot Online Groundschool
Private Pilot Kits
There are many Private Pilot License Kits out there that are all great. They all have the same material but the approach each uses is a little different. It is more personal preference than anything else. I have listed some below for you. They Should have most of the supplies listed below in them.
Headsets
You will want to get a headset now there are many different types and makes. Plane and simple the basic David Clark Headsets will last you forever. Up until a few years ago I had two sets of David Clark Headsets that I originally had from flight school. Each set had about 8,000-10,000 hours on them and I never had a problem. I used to let students use them and then rent them if they needed another set for their flight. So the David Clarks definitely got beat on. There are others out there that I have used and they have not even lasted 400 hours. The David Clark Headsets are a little more expensive but they are worth it.
Many People love Bose Headsets. They are really good but they are really expensive. If you are on a tight budget, wait until you get your certificate and when you have extra money you can always upgrade. Once you get your Private Pilot Certificate you will want more headsets for your passengers
Other Private Pilot License Materials
Aviation Medical Certificate: The Aviation Medical is another Expense that you will have to pay for. In most case the Medical Exam will Cost you somewhere around $150. Now the FAA has Come out with Basic Med. All The Information You Need is up on the FAA website
FAA Written Test: The FAA Requires you to take a Private Pilot Aeronautical Test. This is based on all of the subject areas of the FAA requirements for the Private Pilot Certificate. Most People will get a written test study guide but Many will just take practice exams on the FAA Written test site. They are now charging $175 For that
Individual Items: If you decide not go go with a Private Pilot License Kit, You can get the items individually from any pilot shop. I have listed what you will need below.
1: Fuel Tester
2: Fuel Tank Dipstick
3: E6B Flight Computer
4: POH: Pilot Operating Handbook for the plane you will be using.
5: Flight Bag: This is to put all of your stuff in.
6: Cross-Country Flight Planning Sheets
7: Pilot Logbook
8: Aviation Charts
9: Airport Facilities Directory
10: Rotating Plotter
The Prices will vary depending on where you buy them.
I have links To Everything You Need in My Pilot Supplies Page
'Total Private Pilot License Books and Materials Cost
Since there are many different options for you I will just come up with a base Number of $200 for the basic books and materials. All of the FAA publications are free on the FAA website. It is just up to you if you want to purchase a groundschool course or just study alone. If you buy everything separately or if you get a kit, the cost will be pretty close. I will not count special DVD courses and things like that. My purpose here it to give you a realistic cost for what you need to get through. If you want a $1,000 set of headsets, of course this cost is going to be more expensive .
1: Private Pilot Kit $200.00
2: Aviation Medical $150.00
3: Headsets $300.00
4: FAA Written Test $175.00
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Total $825.00
Remember this is just an estimate. If You purchase an Ipad and get Bose Headsets, you could quickly be up over $2000 very quickly.
1: Private Pilot - Pre Solo Cost
2: Private Pilot - Post Solo Cost
3: Private Pilot - Flight Test Preparation Cost
4: Private Pilot - Total Training Cost
Hope to see you in the sky
Airfreddy
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