Sport Pilot Talk

Tim,
I’ve taken the written. CFI says he will go over material from FAR, maneuvers, POH books. He also stated he would like to have 2.5 hours of “chair-fly” before we begin first flight training to go over everything I need to study for Oral and Practical (not written).

sportflugzeug wrote:CFI says he will go over material from FAR, maneuvers, POH books.

FARs say you have to review with a CFI all subject areas in which you missed questions on your knowledge test. (Your test report lists subject codes for areas areas in which you were found deficient, regardless of how you scored on your test). You need an Instructor's logbook endorsement that this has been accomplished going into your checkride. Any ground instruction you receive at this point is an ideal opportunity to fulfill that requirement.

Ok got it. I received the codes after the test and looked them up. It seems it is general subject matter and not the exact question missed. So CFI will have me read and learn about the subject matter missed?

What I usually do is throw a couple of questions at my students for each subject area missed. If they are solid on that material, we go on to the next area. If the student struggles, we move on to ground instruction (tutorial) in that subject area.

And the DPE will also do the same.

sportflugzeug wrote:And the DPE will also do the same.

Except that the DPE will not give you remidial instruction.

Here's one of the FARs that spells out ground instruction as a requirement:

14 CFR Part 61.93(a)(3)

A student pilot who seeks solo cross-country flight privileges must have received ground and flight training from an authorized instructor on the cross-country maneuvers and procedures listed in this section that are appropriate to the aircraft to be flown.

I did the same path as you. Studied on my own, passed the written test before flight lessons.

But there is a lot that isn't on the written test. How to actually look at the weather, use METAR if the airport has it, use a TAF from a close airport if your base airport doesn't have TAF, how to use the ForeFlight app, where to pull up the sectional chart supplements, how to talk on the radio in B, C, D airspace, how to practice that at home, etc.

A simple thing - when landing in a controlled airport (in my case LOU which is D), I thought you had to fly the entire pattern. Apparently (surprise), no, you don't have to fly each part of the pattern. They might even tell you to fly in straight. You do what the tower tells you. EG "Enter the base for runway 24 right hand". Learning this on the ground skipped me up to actually learning how to fly it while in the air. It is less expensive to learn things like that on the ground than in the air when the Hobbs meter is running.

If your instructor is teaching you things you already know, tell him/her. But chances are you are learning things you didn't pick up from the book / written test.

My only thought would be to do the ground BEFORE getting in the airplane so you can practice what you've just learned. Post flight instruction for me is a much shorter session - feedback on the flight, what I did right, what I need to improve, and what I need to do at home to prepare for the next flight.

I learned to fly at a Cessna Pilot Center, which was a Part 141 school, so it had a pretty tightly laid out syllabus. I think appropriate ground lessons were interspersed with flight lessons, as appropriate.

As an instructor, most flight lessons ended with a 15 or 20 minute post-flight briefing - what went well and what didn’t during the flight. It was also an opportunity to preview what was going to be covered in the next lesson, possibly with a reading assignment.

I remember longer ground school lessons in preparation for cross countries, and right before the checkride.

I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned upthread, but attention and retention can begin to fade after about 1 1/2 hours. I’m not sure a long ground session after the student is already tired from the flight is a great idea.

But lots of paths to “the prize”. Which is not only to pass a practical test, but to produce a competent and safe pilot, primed to continue learning once their ticket is in their hot little hands.

Great information!