What I wish I would have known starting Pilot School

This page will be updated as I think of new information.
Updated as of Sept 9, 2017

     There are a few items I would have like to have had going into flight training. Here is a list and an explanation of why each one is important. I did have many years of home simulator time and that really helped. Instead of starting at the very beginning I already knew a lot of information to include what all the instruments and controls did.



     First and foremost I wish I would have loved to have the "answers" to everything in the private pilot training. The Airman Certification Standards is all of the standards that have to deal with the limitations of maneuvers that will be taught and later will have to demonstrate to the examiner. This book can be downloaded from the FAA website here. Look for the Private Pilot - Airplane and download that one. At first, it may seem just like a whole bunch of words but this is all of the parameters of passing the practical exam.Finally getting through pilot school there are some things I wish I would have known before starting. I knew it was going to be expensive and I had enough funds to pay for it all with out taking out any loans. I am thankful for that but towards the end, funds started to get low and need to make some changes to our spending until I graduated.

     Also, the current FAR/AIM is needed to look up regulations. These regulations are something that the examiner can and will ask. There is a page towards the front of the book listing the most common regulations that a Private Pilot would have to know. I would recommend finding all of them and writing a note next to the reference of what that rule is about; then highlighting the main parts in the paragraph. This helps for a quick look up of information, also it allows for a better understanding of how the book is organized.

     If you have made it down this far then it means that someone is very interested in beginning flight lessons. Other tips I would recommend would be look up videos of others recording their journey as a student pilot just like me. This will give a really good sense of what to expect and look forward to. Eric Gravel is a great YouTuber who helped me learn what to expect on my lessons. I watched every video; sometimes just had them going in the background listening to how to talk on the radio. There are other Tubers that would be a big help to familiarize your self with but Eric is the person that sticks out in my mind. As the videos go by one notices different teaching styles of different instructors. This was something that I noticed in training.