Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

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chicagorandy
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Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by chicagorandy »

Background - I started working with this course last Saturday - I'm 68 and mostly retired and have been an aviation junkie all my life.

The home-study method that is working for me:

1. Read through a study unit and take the quiz that follows it. NO cheating - lol - I made a simple piece of folder stock to cover the answer portions as I go a long.
2. Go online to the Gleim Test Prep website, create and do a study session of that Study Unit, marking any incorrect answers for further review.
3. Review the items marked.
4. Create a test session using the max number of questions for that unit and redo tests until I'm getting mid 90's grades.

Open up the book and repeat the process for the next Study Unit.

5. The create another test session for this and all previous Units using 45 questions as the base.
6. Back to the book work.

I study a few hours in the morning - go about my daily chores/activities business for several hours and then a couple more hours of study or YouTube viewing on the subjects I'm studying to gain other perspectives.. I quit by 7:00pm each day - and enjoy the rest of my evening.

This is merely how I am using the course materials and I thought I'd share my experiences with any other newcomers out there in the interwebs.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
chicagorandy
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by chicagorandy »

Next Study Unit is Navigation and Pre-Flight so the book is set down for a spell and out come the instructions for my handy-dandy E6B and Nav Plotter.

Wheeeeee!
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
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drseti
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by drseti »

I use the Gleim sport pilot kit with online test prep software in my flight school, and recommend to my students an approach very similar to what you are doing. The Gleim material is very complete (and current), though admittedly it can be a bit dry. It's not right for everybody, as some people are more visual, audio, or kinesthetic learners. But, it seems to be working for you, and you seem to have a disciplined approach to your study. So, keep up the good work!
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chicagorandy
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by chicagorandy »

Time to post a quick update.

I have finished my first go-through of the Gleim FAA Knowledge Test book, taken over a dozen online practice PSI exams - highest score 98, lowest 85 - and am now in the process of re-reading the book with added emphasis on the areas where I know I need more practice and study - decoding weather bulletins, sectional charts and doing the E6B and graph calculations for wind corrections, load moments, landing/take off distances etc.

I am also considering the purchase of either the Sporty's or the CX-2 electronic computer for the tests and pilot training and would appreciate any advice or guidance in that regard. Do you experienced pilots still use either the manual E6B or an electronic version often? Have glass panels and tablet/phone apps with GPS made them obsolete/redundant for flight route planning?
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
3Dreaming
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by 3Dreaming »

The examiner I use will want to see the use of a manual flight computer. It is likely the electronic ones will have a simulated failure on the check ride.
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foresterpoole
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by foresterpoole »

The examiner I use will want to see the use of a manual flight computer. It is likely the electronic ones will have a simulated failure on the check ride
Wow, that's pretty hard core, I'd fail since all I've ever used was either the CX-2, my tablet, or my phone. I figure if the DPE eliminated any one of the three I can still use the other two. Add to that most glass panels include functions such as wind correction angles,weight and balance, and detailed flight planning and I'm not discounting the utility of a manual E6b, but the chance of a triple redundant failure in my case is so remote it's not even realistic.

Just an FYI, I never even needed a flight computer on the written sport test. It might be the new ACS, but there was much more emphasis placed on risk management than on navigation which I found interesting. Now on the private I used it multiple times.
Ed
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by 3Dreaming »

The manual E6B is really easy to use. I would rather use it than punch numbers into an electronic device while flying.
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by 3Dreaming »

foresterpoole wrote:
The examiner I use will want to see the use of a manual flight computer. It is likely the electronic ones will have a simulated failure on the check ride
Wow, that's pretty hard core, I'd fail since all I've ever used was either the CX-2, my tablet, or my phone.
Batteries can go dead, but the E6B will always work. The examiner told a story about when he was a check pilot for a major university, that while doing stage checks that he was disabling electronic flight computers. One student borrowed several for his check. The examiner failed at least 3 before giving up.
RTK
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by RTK »

On my checkride, I had to demonstrate use of the e6B. It’s a good skill to have and not hard to use. Learn it and keep one handy. You may have to rely upon it one day.
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foresterpoole
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by foresterpoole »

I'm not disagreeing, good skill to have, but really it takes longer for me to use the Wiz wheel than type in data quickly into an App. If my first priority is to fly the plane, any resource that assists in keeping eyes outside and hands on the yolk should be encouraged. If the point of a check ride is to emulate real world scenarios and determine risk management, this is the way I'd do it and the way I'm familiar with. What's to stop the E6B from falling apart or the paint from chipping and becoming unreadable from the abuse of being stuffed in a flight bag constantly? I'm not condoning pilot knowledge of the basic mathematics of aviation everyone needs that, but how many people use a slide rule when a calculator is available????

As for dead battery, yes it can happen, but that's why I carry spares and 3 redundant independent systems as backups.
Ed
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Warmi
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by Warmi »

To me E6B is a relic from another era. Obviously, knowing basics and underlying concepts is very vital, it is just the concept of using a rotating wheel with tiny, barely readable numbers/letters to lookup these values seems completely unnecessary at this time and age.

It may be my inexperience taking but I don't think trying to fiddle with E6B in a small , relatively cramped plane is a good idea to begin with - I would rather use basic pilotage skills to land somewhere, if I somehow run out of available GPS batteries/options, and handle it on the ground.
Now, once I am on the ground then I don't need E6B in the first place ( I can just replace batteries/charge etc ) so why bother ?
Flying Sting S4 ( N184WA ) out of Illinois
chicagorandy
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by chicagorandy »

I am going to take the advice received on the EAA forum site and forego buying an electronic E6B. Instead I'll put the $$ towards instructor time once I start flight training.

Can't use it on the tests of course, but I've already downloaded a couple E6B calculators to my sorta-smart phone -a Moto G - for convenient practice time.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
3Dreaming
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by 3Dreaming »

Warmi wrote:To me E6B is a relic from another era. Obviously, knowing basics and underlying concepts is very vital, it is just the concept of using a rotating wheel with tiny, barely readable numbers/letters to lookup these values seems completely unnecessary at this time and age.

It may be my inexperience taking but I don't think trying to fiddle with E6B in a small , relatively cramped plane is a good idea to begin with - I would rather use basic pilotage skills to land somewhere, if I somehow run out of available GPS batteries/options, and handle it on the ground.
Now, once I am on the ground then I don't need E6B in the first place ( I can just replace batteries/charge etc ) so why bother ?
No offense, but that is spoken like someone who has not learned to use a E6B. For the most part if you leave the E6B set like it was when you did your flight planning there is very little fiddling envolved. It is as simple as setting a ratio and reading the numbers, and a quality E6B is easier to use and read than the cardboard one the comes with the Gleim kit.
HAPPYDAN
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Re: Gleim Sport Pilot Home Study - my procedure

Post by HAPPYDAN »

This is a nice, easy one online for free:
http://www.studentflyingclub.com/flight-planning.php
I used that one a lot early on, but now I use this one:
http://www.mye6b.com
There may be others available on the internet, but these are easy to use and free.
bornstephen

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Post by bornstephen »

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Last edited by bornstephen on Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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