After countless hours of studying, I have passed my Private Pilot Written Exam. I begin at the Tampa facility on May 27th. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to live out my dream of becoming a professional pilot. While this is a small step towards becoming a professional pilot, it still feels great to see that hard work pays off in the end. In about two months, I get to apply what I have learned.
I have read many posts on this forum about what study materials would be best. The King Schools Prep Course work great for me. As long as you complete all lessons, followed by answering all questions correctly within the test bank, you then will be able to take the practice exams and get a true feel of the score you will get in the actual exam. At the beginning it does feel like I was drinking from a fire hose. It was a lot of material all at once. I did have to go back and review a whole lesson to refresh my memory of the material based on the questions I was getting wrong within the test bank. The test is a combination memorization and understanding the topic to answer the questions.
I will say, when I received my introductory box from ATP a little over a month ago, I was intimidated. Fortunately, ATP has a system that’s easy to follow (Trust the Process). Also, any time I need guidance with the training schedule and flow to follow, I had my Training Support Specialist who I would communicate with via email. I am super excited to start flying.
Does the PAR exam lay the ground work for the following knowledge exams? As I am studying the material from the FAR exam, I am noticing that at least 1/3 of the material was covered when studying for the PAR.
Ariel im taking your Feedback and Input to heart. I secured my Start Date for May 20 in Morristown, NJ one week ago so im about 1/3 of the way through the Kings Material and im not moving on from section to section until i learn everything i have to learn and pass with 90s or higher as i complete and choose to include the sections to include in the practice exam provided by Kings. I will probably receive my Intro Box this up coming week and do feel a bit intimidated as well about the whole program for that matter. Keep us updated as you go through your Writtens and give us Recommendations through your experiences!
When you get into the instrument overview lessons and the IRA test prep you will see a fair amount (out of a 1,400 question bank) of questions from PAR. Mainly in the Weather and aviation portions but most will be questions you will see for the first time as you are starting from zero as some PPL holders might see some extra stuff they know through their previous lessons depending who their CFI was and what they wanted to show them. Outside of that it is suggested by many current Students to take your FII right after your IRA because there will be very few questions you have not seen before and can still guess at them using prior knowledge and elimination; I have not moved onto CAX prep yet so unfortunately I cannot assist there.
Everything in aviation is a stepping stone, one thing building on the next. But there is of course new material also introduced with each new area of learning.
Trust the Process! I know that feeling of being overwhelmed, but just take it one step at a time. I reassured myself to follow the outline, because it’s been proven over many years by successful pilots. Also, don’t be afraid to use the resources that ATP provides, such as your Support Training Specalist if you have questions.
Something that helped me out was, I treated the Kings School videos as classroom lectures and took notes. For me, writing down the diagrams and memory aids helped me understand the topics. Also, they help once you are reviewing questions in the test bank. Don’t be afraid of rewatching a video or a whole section to get a better understanding of the material. The practice exams can give a very good idea of how you’ll do on the actual exam, so my advice is treat them as if you were in the FAA exam room and avoid distractions. Most importantly don’t over think and trust your gut.
I also look forward to hearing about your journey as you become a pilot.
