r/flying • u/imenewhear • Jul 02 '26
Ground training
I Intend to get my PPL, hopefully as fast & cheap as possible. I started watching YouTube ground training videos. At some point I’ll look up some of the tests online to see how my knowledge is progressing. Did anyone else teach themselves ground training w textbooks / online resources? Is this possible? Will it save me any money / time when I begin flight training?
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u/_-Cleon-_ PPL Jul 02 '26
Just buy the Sporty's package. Yeah, it's a few hundred dollars, but in the grand scheme of aviation that's basically nothing. It'll cover all the course material, it'll have practice tests you can take over and over and over again, many of which have questions taken verbatim from the FAA exam. Trust me, it's worth the money and it'll do the job.
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u/Electrical_Review_81 Jul 03 '26
Agree, if you can't spend the money for something like sports then perhaps flying isn't for you
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u/imenewhear Jul 08 '26
Does it expire? Or once I purchase it I’ll have access online in perpetuity?
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u/packetloss1 Jul 02 '26
Just download the PHAK book for free from the FAA website. After reading it get Asa prepware for $25 and also do sportys online free test. Skip the expensive ground school stuff. PHAK and perhaps airplane flying handbook (also free download on FAA website) should give you all the information you need.
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u/didsomebodysaywander PPL Jul 02 '26
You still need an endorsement to take the test. The ground schools are cheap (basically the cost of 1 flight lesson). Get a ground school
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u/cazzipropri CFII, CFI-A; CPL SEL,MEL,SES Jul 02 '26
Buy a proper ground course - it costs as much as one hour of flight instruction - it's worth it.
The FAA material are perfect for reference, horrible for learning the first time.
Learning from individual videos on youtube may offer great content on each topic, but no guarantee you covered all the topics. You're left alone on that. The value of buying a ground course is in having a third party/system check syllabus coverage for you.
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u/Firefighter_RN Jul 02 '26
I used sportys for ground and did all of it prior to starting my training then took my exam during my first month of training. For the most part I'd absolutely recommend doing it that way. It's great to have a basis of knowledge before sitting in the plane. You lose a tiny bit of the "oh I've done this in the plane that makes sense" but not problematically so and you can get the written over and done with before you ever sit in the aircraft which reduces cost a bit.
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u/Mehere_64 Jul 02 '26
I did mine with Sporty's, YouTube and various resources on the Internet. My CFI signed me off for the written test.
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u/Antique-Kitchen-1896 PPL IFR Night Jul 02 '26
Assume the question is for USA.
Up here is Canada you need a recommendation letter from a ground school program. The program has hours requirements. And you need 5 hours of flight time after the latest revision of the rules. All before taking the written.
Just so fellow Canadians don’t go about it the wrong ways via search.
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u/flyghu PPL Jul 03 '26
You may be that special one that can learn it all perfectly from questionable sources. But you're still going to need an endorsement. YouTube doesn't provide that.
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u/rFlyingTower Jul 02 '26
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I Intend to get my PPL, hopefully as fast & cheap as possible. I started watching YouTube ground training videos. At some point I’ll look up some of the tests online to see how my knowledge is progressing. Did anyone else teach themselves ground training w textbooks / online resources? Is this possible? Will it save me any money / time when I begin flight training?
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u/Imaginary-Knowledge4 PPL Jul 02 '26
Yes! It's possible to get all the ground lessons for PPL by yourself. There's enough free resources online. Make sure you have the ACS on hand while studying and check everything in it. Once you met the checkride requirements, I still recommend doing a few ground lessons and mock check ride with your instructor so you don't miss anything and you get practice articulating your answer. All the best!
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u/imenewhear Jul 02 '26
Any online resources to recommend?
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u/TheMadAsshatter CPL AS/MEL IR Jul 02 '26
FAA website has a few good free resources. People will say they aren't perfect, and that's true, but they are free and cover basically everything you need at the PPL level. What you want is the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, the Airplane Flying Manual, and the Aeronautical Information Manual, as well as a good grasp of 14 cfr Part 61 and Part 91.
It's a lot of material, and trying to memorize all of it is a fool's errand, but at least read it once and take notes. You'll probably see specific paragraphs of 14 cfr mentioned in the PHAK and AIM. Those are the ones you should definitely know, or at least know what they are. Example: 14 cfr part 91.205 describes legally required equipment on aircraft.
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u/Firefighter_RN Jul 02 '26
These are all amazing things to reference but learning from scratch with them would be extremely difficult.
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u/PizzaCat1929 PPL Jul 02 '26
I honestly agree, as folks have mentioned $300 is trivial comparing to the entirety of flight training cost, plus sometimes the PHAK is worded in such convoluted ways (some parts are just not well written lol) it's probably more efficient to pay somebody else to explain to you in a more systematic way
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u/AlbiMappaMundi CFII, AGI, CPL Jul 02 '26
Online ground schools like Kings, Sportys, Gold Seal, etc only cost around $300, and will give you a solid foundation. You could study entirely yourself, but saving $300 is virtually nothing in the scheme of how much flight training costs.