For the private written test, would simply doing the sporty’s study buddy practice tests be sufficient to prepare for the test? Or, is it necessary to use a supplementary study book? I am doing my private outside of ATP’s program.
Thanks
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Robert,
If you have an instructor, you should ask them how they prefer that their students prepare. That being said, the study buddy prep software should be sufficient to prepare.
Chris
Robert,
As Chris said Study Buddy should be fine but some people need more. It’s free. Try it out, see how you do? If you can’t consistently score in the 90s then you either need more material or more practice.
Adam
So, I would probably be fine without even reading the PHAK?
Thanks
Robert,
This topics been discussed many times. Right or wrong the FAA Knowledge exams, while containing some important information really doesn’t follow any curriculum or present things in a relevant way. Therefore the vast majority of people learn the material simply through rote memorization which is how Study Buddy works. You really won’t be learning the material (that’s for ground school and your instructor), you’ll simply be checking a box that needs to be accomplished as part of the process. When I first heard of this I myself was very skeptical. I believed there must be important information in there I need to learn and set out to learn it the “right way”. That lasted about 5 minutes. After that I fell in line, did the rote with Sporty’s and Sheppard and went on my merry way. I recommend you do the same.
Adam
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Robert,
Again, you need to defer to your CFI on this one. I am sure they have a training style in mind for you. If you were my student, I would tell you to just memorize the answers and worry about learning the material later, but if you are taking the written as part of a ground school class, then that is another type of approach and is certainly a viable way as well. Either way, ask your CFI.
Chris
Adam, I saw that FAA knowledge tests no longer pull from a public question bank. Does that change anything or are the questions still essentially the same as the ones on sporty’s?
Robert,
Where did you see this?
Tory
Robert,
The questions are essentially the same.
Chris
This was on the King Schools Website but I have found it many other places.
Blockquote Warning: You can’t just memorize test questions and expect to pass your FAA Private Pilot Written Test. Why? The FAA used to make their question banks publicly available; however, they have not done so for many years. In fact, the FAA has recently gone through their entire database and changed every single test question and answer in order to eliminate test question memorization. No one, including test prep educators, has access to the FAA question banks. To be a safe and competent pilot-in-command, and to pass your required tests, there is no shortcut. You must acquire the necessary pilot knowledge.
I’d get a second and maybe third opinion, I think that’s King School’s way of convincing you to buy their test prep.
Tory
Robert,
The FAA did make some changes so the questions are no longer exact BUT they’re still pretty darn close. In the past they were literally verbatim but in an effort to make it a little more challenging they’ve done some tweaking. Rote still works just fine.
Adam