Putting this out in case anyone is looking for other people like myself just starting out and trying to study for the knowledge tests.
I live near Mesa/gateway which is where I’ll be starting my training in late September and I’m hoping meet and study with other students (or if any of you professionals have a layover and are able to help out).
I understand the knowledge tests are all about wrote memorization but that doesn’t help with VOR , reading a sectional and other things that come with XC.
I find with a lot of things in life when I have other people around me , I hold myself more accountable. If you’re the same, let’s make our dreams come true together!
I’m Norfolk, VA ORF. Starting out it seems like an overwhelming amount of information because it is until you start chewing one bite after another. Just don’t stop. I used Private Pilot Prep from ASA on the App Store. I went through each knowledge category at rate of about 1 section a day in the beginning. While I was going through the questions I reviewed the materials referenced in the questions and highlighted it and tabbed the FAR/AIM. In about a week or two you’ll be able to get through multiple sections confidently answering all the questions CORRECTLY and scoring in the 90s (shoot for 100) on the practice exams. I’m currently using Sheppard Air to prepare for the IRA & CFII it’s important to follow their study guide when you get to that one. I haven’t started flying yet so this knowledge is purely just memorization.
Rote memorization is the #1 method to passing the FAA exams; however, some need to understand the “why’s” behind the question and answer, and that’s okay. Study groups are great, whether they’re in-person (at training center) or virtual. You can also prepare for checkrides via study groups by going over materials like the ASA Oral Exam Guides’, which can be purchased online, or found spares/left behinds in the training center.
I do too! It was my favorite study tool throughout my training and my tabbed and highlighted books still help me today! The fact that it has the answers along with the specific source is great!
Continuing on the discussion with the ASA Oral Exam Guides, I used them during my instructing time and marked up my own between stumped topics for myself, but also kept tallies on students and found correlating topic trends which I was able to focus deeper during evaluation and mock checkride flight events as an instructor/lead. I still have them to this day and refer to them when I conduct a flight review for a local pilot at my airport.