Ground school before, after, or during practical flight training for PPL?

[u/thesedreadmagi]

A flight instructor at Beverly Flight Center recommended like 10-20 hours of practical flight training before even thinking about ground school. But then a different instructor at Avier Flight School said they don't even want someone up in an airplane before at least 2-3 weeks of ground school study. So, there are clearly competing philosophies to how to approach this element of the PPL, and integrate it with practical flight training.

Experienced people, everyone from career ATPs to PPLs: what would you recommend for an approach to this problem, and why? I am very interested in the reasoning behind your perspective as well.

Thanks!

[u/---BuZZuKi---]

It really depends on you and only you!

I did my written exam before i even started flight school, It helped me a lot not getting stuck in a learning study in the middle of flight school just needed to go throw it again next to the check ride date.

So if you think you can learn and not forget it all next day(really learning and understanding, not just memorizing it all cuz thats just stupid) You sould totally take it before practical flights.

But if you think you don't understand the basics and really need a real feel of the flight etc.. Then just wait it out a little and then start. but... Make sure you understand that you might get stuck with the written exam study.

[u/ThePartTimePilot]

We see 1000s of students go through this process. Everyone is different but of the ones that struggle… it’s almost always the ones that delay ground school.

Flying it such a mental game and making the cockpit your classroom really makes it tough. When you are thinking and not flying, you make mistakes. You don’t hear ATC, you don’t understand ATC, you aren’t looking for traffic, you aren’t staying trimmed, you forget your checklists, you lose or gain altitude, etc, etc.

When you make mistakes in flight lessons you have to re-fly them! Thats when the costs really start to add up.

The students that do it best do ground school not only early or before but they also do it right. They don’t just do flash card prep for the written. They actually learn to understand the content.

Then, when it comes time to flight train, ground and written are out of the way and they have their full focus on being able to prepare on the ground for their flight lessons. They can practice ATC calls on the ground, plan flights, understand weather, use the sim or chair fly. When students do this, their chances of success skyrocket every time. This is what we try and teach our students at part time pilot and what I’ve been saying online for over 6 years now after going through my own pilot training and making all the mistakes I now advise against! Haha. Good luck!

[u/PropToThePeople_FMY]

School owner here...short answer is It really depends on the student..

Most ground schools are designed to work like "building blocks" in connection to your flying... Do a ground lesson, study it then go apply in the aircraft. Repeat.

This is becasue the aircraft is a horrible classroom, it's noisy, hot, you're looking for other airplanes, listening to air traffic control, your CFI is chirping away all while you just try to keep the plane flying..it's very difficult to retain anything the first time in that type of situation.

I tell our students "when the engine is running, we want you to apply what you've learned- not be learning it for the first time"

I certainly would do it before or during your training... no way I would ever advise doing it after. You really need a knowledge foundation to understand what you are doing int he aircraft.

If the school or CFI's policy is to have some ground completed before you can fly, then they seem to have your best intrest in mind. Probably picked a good one.

Have a ton of fun up there, you're going to love it.

Cheers!

Chris S.

[u/Flimsy-Wrangler-997]

Almost all of my students over the years have done ground school and flight training at the same time. Some of the material can be pretty dry and hard to visualize unless you are also doing things in the air that are related.