Over the course of the last few years, I have had many conversations with aspiring pilots and those seeking additional certification about the benefits of our programs. At some point in the discussion, I’m often told that the school they’re training at is 141, or is a CPC, or they’re using a full course option, etc. For whatever reason, these people seem to think that I’m asking them to jump ship … or to “cheat” on their flight school with Pilot Training Solutions. Not so! Having been the Chief Instructor for a 141 school and for a CPC, I can confidently say that the PTS courses are neither a replacement for the flight education provided in either school nor are they in conflict with what is presented. Like the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, the Oral Exam Guide or the text on a VFR/IFR Kneeboard, the PTS written prep courses are one more tool to assist you in your aviation education.
There are career instructors and transient instructors. However, whatever their goal or mission, few of them actually enjoy preparing you for the written exam. Let me elaborate; ground school in concert with your flight training is a necessary and vital part of your education and every instructor will agree and likely enjoy making you understand how to make your flight lesson more valuable and more productive. That’s what a 141 or CPC Course Syllabus is for – to provide organized, structured education as you learn how to fly. But when it comes to preparing for the written exam, most syllabi fall short and rely on the CFI to insure proper test knowledge before sending you into that computer room – palms shaking – and just hoping that you pass. The test has near-nothing to do with the flying knowledge your flight school has been focusing on because they usually aren’t given an effective system and they often have little control over how well-prepared their students are for this non-educationally effective written exam. For this reason, most instructors dread and fear their student’s written exam education.
This is where Pilot Training Solutions wants to help! We don’t want to get in the way of your instructor or your school providing the very best flight education possible. We also don’t want to get in the way of your school’s opportunity for your business. Quite simply, we want to keep you from getting frustrated with the whole written exam experience, keep your school and their instructors doing their favorite part of their job and we want to help the industry get more pilots by simplifying the written exam process.
Here are some fun facts about flight training: 8 out of 10 students that start learning to fly never finish. The average age of a student pilot is 46 years-old and they haven’t usually taken a standardized written exam in almost 20 years! Most students in this age range I talk to are terrified of the written exam and conquering it intimidates them. However, 7 out of 10 students who pass the written exam go on to get their license. Is it possible that this seemingly simple task (to instructors) is a key ingredient in the attrition rate in the new pilot population? It’s an interesting question …
Back to Pilot Training Solutions’ purpose and mission statement, all we’re interested in doing is making certification easy and practical for pilots; that’s why we’ve focused our own instructional talents on besting the FAA knowledge test. We’re conceptually no different and no more intrusive to your school or syllabus than an article in AOPA magazine talking about short field landing techniques or a diagram on the wall of your flight school that provides a graphical representation of the US airspace system or a audio program that helps you gain more comfort with radio communication. We’re one in a sea of educational supplements to your aviation education designed to make your life easier – that’s it! We will never replace the text books, teaching methods or structure of your aviation education, we’re just providing one more pilot training solution to the education challenges you will encounter during your journey to becoming a licensed pilot.