Privatet Pilot Kits - Recommendations?

[jwcbf]

Hello Folks,

I am considering purchasing one of the avalable Home study Private Pilot Kits out there.

The few I am considering are from Gleim, Sporty's, and Cessna.

Does anyone have a revirew and or recommendation?

Thanks
John

[Imongo]

I would be interested as well...

Mongo

[siegelaviation]

I like Gleim. I think it is very straightforward. I use it (and some of the Jeppesen textbooks) for accelerated training.

[jwcbf]

Does anyone have experience with the Sporty's Private Pilot kit?

The examples I see on their web site look pretty good.

[Jacob9582]

King DVD and Private Pilot kit is boaring as it gets and a bit tedious at times but non the less effective.

[JMsoundscape]

i myself have been using the kit from Jeppesen, which is kinda like the gliem but in a hardcover with a little nicer illustrations the sportys dvds look pretty cool as well (have seen a cpl and between the jep. and the dvds i have done my presolo and my written exam and am still burning hours solo and have yet to do my oral and checkride, keep it up!!

[spdt75]

the sportys pvt kit is pretty good, or at least the DVDs alone. i picked up just the dvds on ebay for a song, and i used them as a supplement to my ground school and flight training. i think it is great to have multiple treatments of the same subject material, since one of them might click with your brain better than another. i can't vouch for the entire sportys pvt kit as being a complete start-to-finish kit for your private, but the dvds are way better than some of the ASA dvds that i've seen.

the jepp pvt kit is pricey (not as bad as the cessna/king kit though!). you can get the part 61 kit and save some money, since i'm guessing that you aren't talking about part 141 for private. the part 61 kit is basically missing the pvt syllabus (which is like $20 or so if you want to add it on) and has a cardboard instead of metal e6b.

http://www.marvgolden.com/training-k...ainingkits.htm

the part 61 kit is ~$50 cheaper ($186):

http://www.marvgolden.com/training-k...ainingkits.htm

there is also the cessna/king kit (which is sold at Cessna Pilot Centers) which is sold at the one near me for upwards of $300 if memory serves. it's pricey but many people prefer this kit because, unlike the jepp kit which is 100% printed material, the C/K kit does have a textbook BUT it also has a whole lot of cds for your computer. the kit is primarily designed around computer-based instruction:

http://learntofly.com/cessna/cbi.chtml
there is a demo here
http://learntofly.com/cbi/linear/index.html

the gleim test prep books (for instance the pvt pilot test guide) are extremely popular as study aids for the written test. don't assume that any of the gleim, asa, or jepp "test prep" books are comprehensively covering everything that the jepp or cessna/king private kits are covering.

[atmoore]

I used the Sporty's DVD's. They were very informative and they worked. I got them right around Thanksgiving and took the PPL Written Exam on 12/18. I really didn't study much else and got a 95%. The one caveat...boring. I had to break up the viewings because they were putting me to sleep. The test prep CD ROM that comes with the Sporty's kit is excellent. It allows you to really hone in on the areas where you need work. I've now had a chance to watch some King videos and wish I'd gone that route.

[Wingtipvortex]

I just bought a Jeppeson Kit and it seems very good. I like the text book because it provides many charts and graphics to illustrate points which I find very helpfull.

For 262 dollars it includes,

Privat Pilot Text Book

2007 FAR/AIM

Private Pilot Practical Tests Standards

Computer Testing Supplement

Practical Test Study Guide

Private Pilot Maneuvers Book

Pilot Log

Private Pilot Syllabus

Mechanical Flight Computer

Navigation Plotter

Presolo Written Exam

Private Pilot Knowledge test Question Blank

Stage Exams


Plus the shop gave me the Washington Sectional and Baltimore-Washington VFR Terminal Area Chart where I would be flying. That was nice of them.

More stuff than I can handle right now.

The Text is really good, it's something I will always keep and go back to.

Oh yeah, it all comes in a very nifty black bag. Awesome.

[andyrus]

Hello,

Today I have passed knowledge test with a decent result of 93% . I did self-study using purchased on Ebay ASA DVD course with Test prep book + Jeppesen text book. I also explored FAA website, which has a lot of training information (including all test questions without answers) . Most recent FARs are also published there. Additionally, I spent hours on Pilot Practice Page taking practice tests with actual FAA exam questions.

Good luck.

[SkykingC310]

I vote Jeppesen!

[shorty]

When you are paying for a kit, you are not just paying for the book, or the graphics--you are paying for the research that went into creating it. My favorite is the Jeppesen program. It was put together by people who know how people learn. The sections are divided up so that it takes give or take about 45 minutes, as well as the graphics, side notes, and terminology included. These folks know what they are doing!

I've heard a lot of positive comments about the King programs. But I see people with Jeppesen walk away with more understanding. King seems to drill the basics into people's head, but jep will delve into a deeper understanding, without overduing it.

I am not a big fan of the CPC/King program. It's thorough, but it takes forever to get through one lab. As an instructor, it is frustrating because I'm ready to move on to something else but the student hasn't even reached that "lab" yet. It also requires the purchaser to register with a CPC school before it allows them to move on to a particular place. That would just make me mad! If you pay $300 for something, you should be able to use it. The primary purpose so far as I can see is to tie it in to a marketing gimmick. You complete the survey, give your e-mail, and they take that information and hand it over to their sales department. The survey is optional--don't do it if you don't want a salesman to have your info.

I vote for Jep, for the private pilot. Many reputable universities use it. In fact they used the universities to help put it together.

[Deanne757]

Your student can complete the Labs ALL AHEAD OF TIME. You can be on Flight 3 and your student can have completed Lab 9. Your student can complete all of the labs before your first flight if they wanted to.

Why blame a company that has put out easy to understand instruction? Tell your student to study ahead, it's that simple.

I think the King instruction videos are fantastic. Where else can you see an in-flight video of your lesson before you go and actually fly your lesson? TO have a student raise the wing of a 172 to check for traffic when you've nevertold them to that before is awesome. Why did they do that... because they saw it on the Flight Lesson Preview!

Go to YouTube to look up Kings videos and decide for yourself.

The Kings are the only people that don't use FAA-like jargon in their materials.

[Deskin]

Have not heard all that many great reviews on the Gleim kit, actually I have seen some bad comments about them on Ebay. I would stay with the two big trusted names of Jeppesen and ASA. I know however that the Jeppesen kit is probably the most popular. The best deals I have found on Jeppesen and ASA Student pilot kits was at a pilot store out of Michigan called PilotsHq.(PilotsHQ.com)

[Royal Turbine]

I'm currently reviewing Jeppesen, King and Sporty's.

Thus far, I find Sporty's to be the most current with the most polished presentation. However, at time, I feel like Sporty's delivers information in a buckshot fashion and sometimes, a linear, coherent transfer of knowledge, is lacking. Still, I think they have the most professionally produced videos of the the three.

Jeppesen, is great, but its material delivered in the video is very old and out dated. I like the delivery style and presentation, but it is antiquated both visually, and in some respects, substantively. I like the Jeppesen product, but I'm left wishing they had upgraded their training programs for the Private. A good example is their Weather Services and Weather Products training section. They still show an old DUATS website that no longer exists and they don't cover the latest DUATS developments.

King, is also great. Though I do respect and admire John and Martha for their genuine enthusiasm for flying and for teaching, I often times wish they would spend more time digging into details, rather than telling jokes. I also notice that Martha appears to be better teacher overall than John, and often times, I find John's speech patterns to be a bit confusing (though, that is why the rewind button exists I guess). King, is designed to get you through the Written Exam, not necessarily designed to transfer a broader base of Aviation and/or Piloting knowledge.

Quite frankly, after reading halfway through Barry Schiff's book titled "The Proficient Pilot Volume One," I really wish Barry had put together an entire Private and Instrument Pilot DVD Training course with syllabus and test prep software. You can tell that Barry really understands airplane performance and he knows how to "transfer knowledge" through his writing style. So, I wonder if that would translate through a DVD series.

Overall, thus far, I'd have to set my order of preference (for the Private) this way:

1st place: King Schools
2nd place: Jeppesen
3rd place: Sporty's

I really do like the Sporty's presentation the best and so I really wish King and Jeppesen would step-up and produce something more current.

My .0002 cents.