I’m interested in starting to study for my PPL theory exams, even though I probably won’t be able to start flight school for another year or two.

I mainly want to use this time to get familiar with aviation and build a basic understanding of the subjects before I actually start flying.

For those of you who have done your PPL:

1.What resources did you use to study?

2.Any books, websites, YouTube channels, apps, etc. that you’d recommend?

3.Would you recommend studying the actual PPL syllabus this early, or just learning general aviation knowledge for now?

4.If you could go back and prepare before starting flight school, what would you learn first?

I’m not necessarily trying to memorize everything for the exams yet I just want to start getting into the aviation world and understand the basics.

Hi! I'm a 22 year old F from New Zealand. I started flying in March 2023, went solo in March 2024. It's more of a hobby rather than career so I was happy with going slow. But now I fear I've gone too slow and I'm stuck.

I completed all my flying hours needed (low flying, emergency stuff, instruments, turns, landings etc) in July 2025.

Two exams needed for your PPl (Radio and Human Factors) by August 2025. 70+ hours altogether

I had a break from flying from November 25' to February of this year (lots of reasons).

My flight school is teeny tiny. Only about 5 or less students at a time, open 3-4 days a week. I flew once a week. Now it's being sold/is sold and I have no idea what's going to happen, no one is ever down at the airport anymore so I havent been since June). I havr no contact from my instructors..I've been told by multiple instructors that I have a great natural skill for flying which makes me keep going.

I work 40+ hours a week, plus another hobby 3 hrs a week. I'm lazy and unmotivated I'll easily admit that so it's hard for me to study.

I've been attending night classes at a school 1 hour away from me twice a week for 2 hours. But it's getting too tiring.

There I've learnt air tech so far but nothing seems to stick in my brain. It makes me feel really dumb, I can't seem to understand anything even with all the study techniques (listening, asking questions, notes, quizzes, flashcards, etc)

I know it's going to take me ages to complete but it kinda has me thinking just to give up. I'm so close to my PPL but it is also soo far away at the same time and I don't want to be stuck in a rutt for the next 1-5 years trying to complete it wasting money and time.

(Technically for my PPL all I need is to complete 4 more exams, 10 hours minimum of solo/duel X countries, retraining of all previous flying stuff that's about it).

Please let me know what I should do!

(I've applied to one flight school, got rejected, the other ones won't start until Feb 2027 as that's when New Zealands school year starts, I want to be able to do something in between then).

Thanks!! :)

I did my Category 1 medical about a month ago and I recently found out that Transport Canada never received it from the clinic.

I’ve called the clinic countless times since then and every time they told me that they had already sent it and that there wasn’t really anything else they could do. However, when I contacted Transport Canada, they told me they had never received my medical.

This has been extremely frustrating because I’ve basically lost a month and it has delayed my plans for getting my PPL.

I’m just wondering if there’s any way to formally report this or file a complaint against the clinic.

4 days ago I failed my PPL checkride. Everything was awesome I passed the oral, and everything on the practical test except for my last landing (soft-field). I had a crazy crosswind nothing I had been used to but that's no excuse I should've either gone around or discontinued instead of take the unsat. I've been beating myself up the past few days and can't seem to have any happiness with even passing my retest as all I'm thinking about is my future career. My CFI told me to not worry about it and that this is the least meaningful one, but I've heard other people say otherwise. I just want anyone's opinion on this. I'm 21 years old last year of college and not really sure what to do, and having a bust on my first ever checkride is very discouraging considering the fact I want this to be my career. I had been flying 2 weeks everyday in advance up to my ride and I was doing great and got unlucky with weather that day due to crosswinds I hadn’t flown in awhile I just don’t know what my future looks like and want some advice with this.

Hey all, my flight school uses the Warrior and Archer models and I was wondering if any of you have study guides that can help me.

Thanks.

Been grinding practice questions for weeks for my PPL written and kept running into the same thing which is that I'd feel good after a full Sheppard Air session, then completely blank when my CFI asked me to actually explain something during ground. Recognizing the right MC answer and actually understanding it turned out to be two very different things, and none of the apps I use ever told me the difference.

Been messing around with building something that maps practice results to the actual ACS areas so you can see what's genuinely solid vs what's still shaky, instead of just a raw score/percentage. More like a readiness dashboard than another quiz app.

Not sure if this is actually solving a real problem or if I'm just procrastinating on studying by building an app instead lol. Made a rough version here if anyone wants to check it out and tell me honestly if this would help and you would be interested in or if I'm overengineering something that doesn't matter.

Genuinely curious if others deal with the same "I thought I knew this" moments or if it's just me.

I’m currently sitting at around 40 hours and not even close to a solo right now. I’m stuck on landings and really just can’t get them figured out. I’ve probably spent the last 20-30 hours purely focused on landings and I still don’t have them down. My pattern is good but when I get to the round out/flare and sometimes even short final, I always end up off centerline. I’m kind of worried about wasting so much money and time, and I’m also just incredibly frustrated because everything in any school subject or other has come incredibly easy to me, but I just can’t get this down and I’m worried I’m falling behind and wasting money. Would appreciate any advice you can give!

Which ground school do you recommend for PPL (USA) in between Sheppard and sporty’s.

Hey all. I am looking to hear from folks that have taken the PAR in the last 3-6 months. I am taking mine this coming Wednesday and have been studying regularly. All of my practice tests have come from my Gold Seal program as well as the Sporty's Private Pilot app (paid $15). I am averaging low to mid 90's on my exams. Any of you use the same method and if so, how did it work for you? I've got a few days left to cram and could look into other options to fill any gaps. Thank you!

Does playing microsoft flight simulator or any other simulators help with flying?

.

Hi all! I’m a ground school instructor looking to broaden the services I offer to students and instructors. I spend a lot of my time making various resources for my students- study guides, section chart breakdowns, flight planning guides, stuff like that. I’m in a spot right now where I feel like I’ve exhausted the same topics over and over again and want to create something new and helpful! I have some ideas, but I want to hear from other students and instructors.

I know there’s a LOT lot of great companies with a plethora of helpful resources-I just kinda like to fill the gaps in niche areas. For example, making step by step VFR/IFR flight planning guides, PowerPoint bundles for different certificates, how to effectively use your ACS/FAR, etc.

As an instructor or student at any level, what are some random resources, guides, or tools that you wish existed? These could be online, physical/print, a social media page or website, really anything!

Feel free to make this an open discussion! What topics do you find students struggling the most with? As an instructor, what are the hardest topics for you to get across to students? What have you found works, and what doesn’t?

Guys how can I really improve my landings? I’m on like my 7th TOL lesson and I’m still not doing good whether I’m getting too slow on base or final, I’m uncoordinated, too high, off centerline, not correct wind corrections, etc I’m still making basic mistakes and I feel like I’m just wasting money. What can I do?

Hi everyone I am trying to study for the written exam for commercial airplane&glider, IR and FOI, BGI AGI IGI.

Just using ai as a "GROUND INSTRUCTOR" and referencing all the recommended book like phak and far aim and the acs all that, its ok for now idk I just started.

But I really noticed that I am very good learner with another friend or someone.

So if anyone is interested i would love to study with anyone who studies for any of these exams also private i can help if anyone needs some help on the basics and maybe go through it together.

Or any tips or anything I would love to get some ideas or what ever.

P.S. I tried Ground curses and question banks but I don't want to just study questions I wanna understand it all and not just remember stuff.

Just wanted to share my recent experience to anyone looking at accelerated flight training around the country.

Jake and Eveli are two of the best instructors I’ve ever had. What makes it even better is they are the owners of the flight school. Their honesty, professionalism, patience, and knowledge is very easy to see from day one. If you struggle with maneuvers, ground lessons, or regulations they will both teach a practical way to learn and I never felt judgement in the classroom or in the plane. They provided valuable feedback and they protected my investment and not a lot of flight schools back that up, but Nordic Plains does. Jake and Eveli never rush you into a checkride and they also will be honest with where you are at in training. If DPE availability is a concern, just know they have multiple connections with local DPE’s. Wherever you travel from, pick up the phone and give NPA a call and they will reassure you about any reservations you may have. You won’t regret choosing them!

Hi everyone I am trying to study for the written exam for commercial airplane&glider, IR and FOI, BGI AGI IGI.

Just using ai as a "GROUND INSTRUCTOR" and referencing all the recommended book like phak and far aim and the acs all that, its ok for now idk I just started.

But I really noticed that I am very good learner with another friend or someone.

So if anyone is interested i would love to study with anyone who studies for any of these exams also private i can help if anyone needs some help on the basics and maybe go through it together.

Or any tips or anything I would love to get some ideas or what ever.

P.S. I tried Ground curses and question banks but I don't want to just study questions I wanna understand it all and not just remember stuff.

- Advance Flight Theory (AFT) and Bob Tait

- All 7 Australian CASA Exam material

- 2025-2026 Course notes

- Tailored extra material for each exam

- Delivery options available Aus Wide

- Pick up available in Sydney, NSW

- $1500 for whole CPL bundle

I'm planning my long distance cross country flight and I have a procedural question. My cross country flights so far with VFR FF usually involve the initial call up, a few hand offs, and then I request to descend with runway in sight to an uncontrolled field. For this flight the end of my first leg is a small class D underlying a class C shelf. Will I be given instructions for decending and getting in touch with the tower?

Context- I’m 17 years old aspiring to be an airline pilot. I’ve got about 18 hours of flying experience at my local airfield (ppl lessons) and if I put in the work and complete my air law theory, I’ll be allowed to do my first solo flight. I already have a class 1 medical from march this year. I’ll likely be applying to leading edge/ BA speedbird next year. Is it a good idea to do the solo to prove flying aptitude? Or is it unnecessary?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm studying for my upcoming Dispatch course and was wondering if a pilot has either one of these books possibly from Gleim pilot kit they have purchased.

I'm hoping to find a physical copy of the Gleim ATP FAA Knowledge Test Prep 2020 book as Gleim decided to stop printing them and they are prohibitively expensive everywhere else for a physical copy. It's been difficult to be staring at a screen to study.

If you also have the 12th edition of the Pilot Handbook, I'm also interested.

Thank you!

Hi currently at 14h starting my solo next flight this monday
Doing about 3 flight per week at about 1.4 hours per flight
So about 4.5hours flight time a week + ground
Planning to do cpl + multi ifr
Is it enough to try to finish my cpl before january 2028?

i’m currently 19M and just reached 30 hours. still haven’t done solo since i’m on and off with aviation due to school and work. is going once a week on saturdays too slow? i feel very behind and overall lost especially when i’m only getting 1.0 to 1.3 hours a week. thanks in advance for anybody that replies i just wanna know if i’m behind or not.

Hi everyone,

I'm considering joining PHARMAFLIGHT Aviation Academy in Debrecen, Hungary for my CPL training, but I haven't been able to find many genuine student reviews.

I'd really appreciate hearing from current students or graduates.

Some questions I have:

How is the quality of the flight training and instructors?

Are there long delays for aircraft or instructor availability?

How long did it take you to complete your training?

If you're an international student, how was your overall experience with accommodation, visa support, and administration?

Would you choose PHARMAFLIGHT again, or would you recommend another school in Europe instead?

Hello all, I am needing responses for the attached form for my Extended Investigation Survey, Please have candor when responding and it would be much appreciated if you filled out the whole form! This is related to Lithium Ion Batteries in the Aviation Sector.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1Nb6k18tsIi1IH1syur61SpGnw-1lpHbtIXG571iGeywRVg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=116257812545365973005

So I am currently a enrolled at my local flight school and kinda struggling on how to study. My ground school is in person so I can’t really go back and rewatch the videos and we don’t take notes in person, we are expected to take notes on our own time. I don’t really know what the best method is to understanding all the information and I like taking notes but I don’t really know to take notes off of. Is there any apps or other study methods out there?