Game-Changing Ground School Options that Save Time and Money
TLDR
In this article, Part Time Pilot details the different options student pilots can use to learn the required ground knowledge from the FAA and prepare for and pass the FAA Written Exam. The article also discusses the pros and cons of each. Student Pilots can:
- Use 1-on-1 instruction with a ground or flight instructor.
- Most expensive option by far.
- Use a traditional in-person, lecture style ground school that they commute to 1-2 per week
- Second most expensive and least flexible option.
- Use an Online Ground School that includes both comprehensive ground school lessons and FAA Written test prep like Part Time Pilot
- Most flexible and very cost effective if the right online ground school
- Perform self-study and then find an instructor and pay for an endorsement
- Least expensive but no structure or support and no endorsement inlcuded
This article discusses the game-changing ground school options that save time and money and that not every student pilot is aware of. In order to start flying, you do not have to have finished ground school, you can start flying right this instant if you have an instructor and an aircraft. However, there are some cons on going through ground school while performing your flight training. One of which is that performing both ground school and flight training simultaneously is both very time-consuming and mentally taxing. If you have the time, I recommend you perform all your training as fast as possible. However, since a lot of us are on a tight budget of time and money, this option is likely not practical. Let’s talk about traditional ground school vs. online ground school vs. self study:
What we recommend is to take ground school before your flight training, take your FAA written exam, and jump right into your flight training with no delay. This way, your FAA written test is taken care of before you begin your flight training and you are able to completely focus your attention to flying. Also, by starting your flight training right after passing your FAA written you ensure that the knowledge is still fresh in your mind. This can cause your instructor to believe you need less ground lessons and will save you money by not having to pay for those ground lessons. Focus first on the knowledge tests and get that out of the way so that you can simply focus on just flying after that.
Avoid requiring ground lessons with your Flight Instructor
One thing you want to remember is that you MUST have passed the FAA written exam before you can even schedule an FAA checkride. Also, once you have passed your FAA written the passing score is good for 24 months as your ticket to a checkride exam. That means if you don’t take your FAA checkride within 24 months of passing the FAA written you will have to take it again. So this is another reason to start your flight training as soon as you pass the written exam.
Complete ground school and your FAA written before you start flying
Conventional in person ground schools are generally about $500-$1200 and can be taken through most flight schools and even at a flying club or through a university, community college, or even corporation. Most are open to the public. Here is a good reference to find a ground school near you, if in-person is for you. However, in-person is not for everyone and the overwhelming trend of student pilots is to use an Online Ground School because many online courses, like Part Time Pilot, are incorporating interactive features, instructor access, live lessons and more to make online training even more intimate and interactive. Keep reading to learn why!
In-person lectures are expensive!
The only things required to take the FAA written exam are photo identification with address identification and a written statement or endorsement from a certified flight/ground instructor that says you have performed the necessary ground studies and are prepared to take the written exam.
To take the FAA written you just need an endorsement from a certified instructor that knows you have studied and are ready for the test
This means that you can study completely on your own, find a certified instructor, convince them to endorse you, and you are good to go! Most instructors will charge you for this endorsement but you can find all the information you need online for free. The FAA has many free resources, YouTube is full of great, free content and you can also buy cheap, used study books on Amazon. We call this form of ground school the self-study route. While this is the cheapest option it is also the most difficult. All that unorganized content online can be difficult to organize yourself and stay focused on the topics. The lack of structure usually keeps people from completing a self-study course.
I encourage anyone that can study themselves and find an instructor to endorse them to do just that. It is the cheapest option. However, you may not know any instructors and you may still want the benefit of a structured course. This is where Online Ground Schools come in and why they are all the rage with student pilots these days. As online technology increases these courses continue to get better and better with some of them, like Part Time Pilot, even offering online study groups, AI chatbots, Live voice-to-voice ATC & Mock Checkride simulators, pdf downloads, lifetime access, live lessons, audio lessons and more all from the comfort of your home.
Online ground school can be much cheaper than a traditional in-person ground school, about $150-$500. Although the material provided with the ground school and available for free on the internet covers everything you need to know to get your Pilot’s License, it will not always make sense to you. There were several concepts that required extra and alternative explanations during my training. This is why it is so important that you choose a good Online Ground School.
What to Look for in a Ground School Option to Save Time & Money
After doing the Private Pilot training myself and watching 1000s of students go through the training as well, here are the most important things to look for in an online ground school:
- Lifetime Access
- Plans change. Life happens. Having lifetime access is a huge asset for the unexpected things that may delay your training. On top of that, every 2 years as a pilot you are required to review your ground knowledge, having lifetime access will allow you to do this without ever having to purchase another course.
- Ability to get Questions answered
- Every online ground school you look at is going to tell you that they provide 24/7 instructor access to get your questions answered. But do they provide you personalized answers or do they copy and paste it from the FAA? Do you get back to you right away or does it take a few days? In order to find out truly how good an online ground school’s customer service is… look at their reviews on review websites such as TrustPilot, Google or others.
- Multiple forms of Study material
- Everybody learns differently. Some people learn best by video. Some best by reading. And some best by hearing. I for one learn best by reading and hearing but I know a lot of people love watching videos. But you know what the best way to learn is? Using all 3. Make sure your ground school has a variety of ways to learn the material
- Interactive Features, Visual Aids and/or Step-by-Step Examples
- I don’t know about you but sometimes I just cant read words on a white page and expect to have learned a new concept. I need to see step by step examples or interact with something or see something on a video for it to click. This is why it is so important to have a ground school that has these features.
- This is precisely why Part Time Pilot puts so much emphasis on step by step examples of the problems and calculations you’ll face as a pilot and why we continue to develop visual aids and interactive tools like our voice-to-voice simulators for ATC or Mock Oral Checkrides.
- Offline content
- Look for an Online Ground School that allows you to access some or all of their material offline, especially if you are someone who lives in an area with low internet reception or you are always traveling.
- This is why Part Time Pilot allows our students to download all our lessons in our VIP podcast so that they can listen and learn anywhere without an internet connection. This is also why we have a ton of Bonus PDF downloads for students to download straight to any device to study whenever and where ever.
- Comprehensive Ground School AND Test Prep
- Do not just do test prep for the FAA Written! Memorizing and practicing a bunch of practice questions can get you to pass the Written exam and it IS an effective tool. But if this is the only thing you use… it will come back to haunt you.
- Students that only use test prep material before flight lessons will struggle. They will be thinking instead of flying and begin to make mistakes and those mistakes will cost them repeat flight lessons and costs over and over again until they buckle down and actually learn how things work.
- This is why it is so important to get a comprehensive ground school that includes test prep. At Part Time Pilot we focus first on teaching our students how everything works and then we take them through our nearly undefeated test prep process that has a 99.9% success rate for students passing their exams (over 5000 students)
When I went through my ground training I chose an in-person course. The instructor was only available for the 1-hour lecture and there was never time to get in questions. After each class there was a line of students with questions but he always had to get to another ground school class. So then, I purchased an Online Ground School. I wont mention who, because I don’t want to speak ill of them but they also were hard to get ahold of, did not provide lifetime access, had no personalized reporting and only had one form of study material.
I simply could NOT find an online ground school with every one of the things listed above…This is why I created the Part Time Pilot online ground school.
1-on-1 Lessons with Instructor Option
- Pros:
- Often occurs at a flight school where flight/ground instructor can use grounded aircraft as visual aids and props to aid in learning
- Opportunity to get questions answered as you have them
- Structured syllabus with lessons that build upon one another for optimal learning
- Scheduled lessons provides an anti-procrastination effect
- Cons:
- Most expensive option. Most instructors charge anywhere from $40 to $80 per hour and ground instruction can take up to 40 hours or more ($1600 to $3200)
- In a set location that requires a commute
- Can’t learn on the go or from the comfort of your home
- One form/media of learning
- Generally requires you to purchase additional study aids and test prep books
In Person/Lecture Ground School Option
- Pros:
- In person instructor in traditional class room environment. Could be a “con” depending on a person’s learning habits
- Often occurs at a flight school where ground instructor can use grounded aircraft as visual aids and props to aid in learning
- Opportunity to find “study-buddies” in the class to study with before and after the classes
- Structured syllabus with lessons that build upon one another for optimal learning
- Scheduled lessons provides an anti-procrastination effect
- Cons:
- In a set location that requires a commute
- At a set time each week that is not flexible
- Ground Instructor goes at one pace for all students in the class which can often lead to several students being “left behind”
- Can be difficult to get questions answered outside of class because instructor is usually busy with flight lessons or other ground classes
- Expensive. Usually $500-$1000
- Generally requires you to purchase additional study aids and test prep books
Online Ground School Option
- Pros:
- At your own pace and your own schedule
- From the comfort of your home
- Many Online Ground Schools offer lifetime access and money back guarantee (like Part Time Pilot) if you do not pass the FAA Written
- Some Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) don’t require you to buy any additional study aid. Everything you need is in your online portal
- More practice tests and practice test questions than an in person ground course
- Some Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) offer community forums for students to ask questions and get a variety of perspectives
- Some Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) are easy to contact and get questions answers 24/7
- A couple Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) have their lessons in written text with images, audio and video form to cater to any learning style
- Much more affordable than in person ground school or 1-on-1 lessons. Usually $150-$500
- Structured syllabus with lessons that build upon one another for optimal learning
- Course progress tracking provides anti-procrastination effect
- Some Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) have interactive tools and study aids
- Some Online Ground Schools (like Part Time Pilot) allow your instructor to get free access and monitor your progress, see your scores & lessons for collaborative learning
- Cons:
- Not a traditional classroom/lecture style environment, for those that like that
- No hands-on learning opportunities that could come with an in-person ground school
Self Study Option
- Pros:
- The most affordable option. Generally the only cost is a test prep book or two ($20-$40) and the cost of getting an endorsement from an instructor ($20-$100). Usually $100 or less.
- At your own pace and your own schedule
- From the comfort of your home
- Cons:
- No structured syllabus
- No help in overcoming procrastination
- No practice tests, study guides, flash cards or test prep material included
- No place to get questions answered
- Requires you to find an instructor for an FAA Written endorsement
As you might expect from the long list of pros, I highly recommend Online Ground School as the best option for ground training. So which online ground school? Well, if I was going to answer that it would be pretty biased. So instead, I will tell you what I have found to be the most helpful and important features of an Online Ground School so that you can look for the best one yourself!
With all that said, check out the table below that compares the Top 14 Online Ground Schools requested by students in the United States:
Want to take a look inside the Online Ground School? Watch an exclusive sneak peek tour here:
The number 1 way to ensure your success in becoming a pilot is by properly managing your time & money
And the easiest way to properly manage your time & money is by doing ground school before it’s too late and ACTUALLY understanding the material
5 years ago I saw NO ONE mentoring unsuspecting students on the traps in flight training that was costing them $1000s
This is why I created the Part Time Pilot Online Ground Schools
The ground schools were created with these ideas at the heart of our mission statement:
- Mentoring students from start to finish
- Providing content that saves time & money & provides a deep understanding
How does Part Time Pilot compare to other Online Ground Schools?
I went to the website of each of the Top10 Online Ground Schools and gathered ALL the relevant info a student pilot like you needs to make an informed decision.
Things like cost, student ratings, lifetime access or not, types of lessons, bonuses included, scholarships included, support available and more.
Then, I lined them all up and compared them all in a single table so that student pilots could make the best, most informed decision on their training.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions about the topic of ground school.
Can you do Ground School online?
Yes! You can do ground school online. The vast majority of online ground schools will also provide you with an endorsement for your FAA Written Exam upon completion of the course as well. You will need this endorsement, as well as a valid ID in order to be able to take the exam. The endorsement just needs to be signed by a certificated ground or flight instructor that knows that you have done the necessary studying and are ready to take the exam.
At an online ground school, such as Part Time Pilot, you will go through a series of practice tests and test prep to determine whether you are ready for the exam before receiving your endorsement straight to your email.
Online Ground Schools are very popular because of the fact that you can study at the convenience of your own home or wherever you have internet. Some Online Ground Schools, like Part Time Pilot, even provide access to instructors in study groups, over the phone, or over email for you to get your questions answered when you have them.
What are the best Online Ground Schools?
There are many options for Online Ground School these days. The best online ground school is the one that works best at helping you understand that content. Students should look at the type of lessons provided (written lessons, video lessons and audio lessons), the ability to get their questions answered from a real-life instructor, and reviews from student pilots when looking into the best online ground school for themselves. Many Online Ground Schools provide free trials (like Part Time Pilot’s here) that you can try out before purchasing.
There are many good options out there for Online Ground School but only one has the combination of features, ability to get your questions answered 7 days a week, and is the #1 rated in terms of customer reviews – Part Time Pilot. Other options include Pilot Institute, Kings, Gold Seal and FinerPoints.
How long does it take to finish Online Ground School?
The amount of time it takes to finish an Online Ground School is up to you, the student. Each online ground school is required to teach you all the knowledge from the Airmen Certificate Standards from the FAA. This document details all the knowledge, skills and areas of proficiency required to achieve a pilot certificate.
The amount of time it will take you to finish learning all the required content depends on how quickly you learn and how much time you can dedicate each day to studying. On average, is takes students about 3 months to complete online ground school with some students completing it in as quickly as 1 month and others taking 6 months to even a year.
Part Time Pilot provides each of our students with study tracking calendars they can download to keep track of their progress. There are different calendars based off of how much time a student can dedicate each day to studying (30 min, 1 hour or 2 hour) and each calendar shows the lessons the student should complete each day to stay on track.
How much does FAA Ground School cost?
There are many options for FAA Ground Schools. Ground Schools can be held in person with lectures at a flight school or college where they cost anywhere from $400 to $1400 or more.
Ground Schools can be in the form of 1-on-1 instruction with an instructor that charges a student $40,$50, $60 or even $70 an hour depending on the local market for instructors. Students typically need 30 to 40 hours or more of ground school which puts the price of 1-on-1 instruction anywhere from $1200 to $2800.
Finally, Ground Schools can be Online. Online Ground Schools range from $150 to $500.
In the grand scheme of your training, the cost of ground school is rather insignificant to the total cost of flight training (~$10,000 or more for private pilot). It is more important to find a ground school with good instruction, good features, lifetime access and the ability to get your questions answered, like Part Time Pilot.
Do you have to complete Ground School before Flying?
No! However, it is highly recommended that you do it before flight training or before getting too far along in your flight lessons, but there is no requirement to do ground school before flight training.
The only requirement is that you have your FAA Written exam passed prior to your final Checkride flight test, and in order to take the FAA Written test you need to have an endorsement from a certified instructor who performed the ground training (or an online ground school) and believes you are ready for the test.
What does Ground School consist of?
Any Ground School whether it is in-person instruction or online instruction should consist of all the required knowledge in the FAA’s Airmen Certificate Standards. This document details every piece of knowledge and every skill a student must become proficient at in order to earn their pilot certificate.
The ground school content changes depending on what pilot certificate the ground school is teaching (private, sport, IFR, commercial, etc.). For Private Pilot, students should be learning the following subject categories (these are the subjects included in the Part Time Pilot Online Ground School):
- Operation of Aircraft Systems
- Pilot Certifications, Qualifications & Regulations
- Aircraft Airworthiness Regulations
- Weather Theory, Charts & Information
- National Airspace System
- Fundamentals of Aerodynamics
- Human Factors & Medical
- Aircraft Weight & Balance
- Aircraft Performance
- Cross-Country Flight Planning
- Aircraft Procedures
- Airport Operations; Takeoff, Landing, Taxiing, etc.
- Pilot Control and Maneuvering
- Emergencies
- Navigation
- Night Operations
For online ground schools this content can be taught in the form of written lessons, video lessons or even audio lessons and should be reinforced with examples, visual aids, memory aids and quizzes. A good online ground school should teach the fundamental principles of each topic as well as provide test prep to prepare students for the FAA Written Exam.
