Sport Pilot Talk

I'm in the process of final preparation for taking my written test. It certainly seems like one of those the more you know the more you realize how little you know kind of situations. I really enjoy learning about anything aviation related but it seems to be somewhat unnecessary at a certain point. As a sport pilot there are obviously areas of operation that do not pertain to us and some that we should be aware of but are probably not practical to be capable spitting out from memory. I am reminded of a Quote of Henry Ford -

"If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?"

I think that kind of applies here for example I may not end up remember exactly when my elt battery needs to be changed or what a less common symbol on a sectional is but I know that it is something to be aware of and where I can get further details.

I think it is pretty common practice for most to just to read a couple prep books and familiarize themselves with the regulations that apply most directly to them and then study the bank of test questions to ensure the passing grade. The question is how much of the test questions would you say you could answer based on knowledge and understanding of the subject vs. familiarizing yourself with the test question bank?

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As an old (in many senses of the word) test and measurement man it is my opinion that the practical test needs to be reworked. There are many poorly written questions; many questions that hammer away at trivial points; questions requiring antiquated tables for solutions (think back 40 years ago when some were so afraid that allowing students to use calculators would interfere with learning math concepts). In addition, the test has become a pool of questions without a guiding principle--what knowledge/skill base should this test reveal? As a result there is a lot of irrelevant material tested--albeit, for the most part, poorly.

Consequently, I suspect most people simply memorize the test questions.

All of it. And all of the pp written. And I'm working on all of the sport pilot instructor written and will probably learn all of it. I'm pathetically poor at memorization. I can, with effort, learn things.

As much as I could. A couple of thoughts: Are you interested in aviation, or just getting you ticket? Are you interested in safety or just getting your ticket? While the format of the test and many of the question are ridiculous, the test is there for a reason, to keep you legal and to keep you and those around you safe. I recommend using the test questions as a study guide. Don't memorize the answers, understand the answers (where possible, see below). Then you won't have to worry about memorizing them.

Totally agree the test is a mess. Not only is some of material is dated, but the wording on some of the questions is ambiguous, so you have no recourse but to memorize them. I missed two questions on it and was never able to find the answers to them in any FAA publication that is normally used by students, or any of the ASA or on line study material I used.

One thing I wasn't told before taking the test (maybe because I didn't do ground school) is that for each question you miss, you have to show remedial learning of the material. Your instructor has to confirm this. This make "sliding by" a non-winning strategy because you will be paying for instructor time to go over the material again. You really want to ace this test if you can.

Ron

I studied very hard and was frustrated at my results. Thought I had it aced and basically got a b-. Totally freaked when I had no idea of the answers to the first 3 questions. things settled down from there. I took the sport Pilot test and I think some things from the Private Pilot were in there, stuff I didn't study because it wasn't supposed to be relevant. I actually would have like someone to go over my mistakes so you understood the material more, I of course thought I was correct on every one...lol.

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