#253 FAA Written Test can delay the Flight Training process!

All right, day 253. Written test. We haven't hit this much lately and this is a good topic. And we've had a lot of people that have said, hey, how about some topics or how about some discussion on the written test? So today is written test and this is for everybody. Whether you're brand new and you're just getting started, which is what the theme has been the last few days for people just getting into this, giving you some tips and tricks and things to think about while you're doing your research. This can go for anybody that doesn't have the written done yet. And I'm going to read something from a ground school member who commented yesterday on yesterday's video. And I want you to listen to this. This member says, I want to mention that the time necessary is dictated by the written test. Far more than imaginable. Most of us could have obtained a license. I'm one of them earlier if we didn't get stuck on the written portion. If you don't get that taken care of early in your training, you will delay the whole process. That is awesome feedback. Below the YouTube video from yesterday. This is day 253, Coffee with Kenny. Every day we're talking about helicopter training topics. I am Kenny Keller, the creator of Helicopter Online Ground school. And I loved hearing that from a member because I've been preaching this for years, haven't talked about it recently. I'm sure in the last 252 days we've talked about the written sum. But good time to hit it again because people are sending those questions in. So let's talk about the written for a minute and let's first talk about the fact of what we just said. The longer you delay getting the written done, the longer it's going to take you to get the license. I know many years ago somebody said, you know, a good idea is to have the written done prior to solo. And I think that's a pretty good idea. How often does that happen? Not very often. How many times do people fall behind in the ground school? Many times. I did it all those years ago. I was ready to, you know, I'd been soloing and I'm flying. I switched instructors and this guy's like, okay, hey, you're flying is really good. You're about ready for checkride. You know, what did you score on your written. And I went written test. And he's like, you don't have your written done? And I'm like, no. And he goes, oh my God. And we were out flying together, right? So we go back inside and he goes, okay, I'm kind of bummed because you're flying is really good and you're not far from taking a checkride. But you don't have your written done yet. We got to get that knocked out. So let's sit down and evaluate your knowledge. And he started with clouds and weather. And he's like, what do you know about clouds? And I'm like, I look out the window, I'm like, huh, there's some clouds out there in the sky. And my instructor's name was Eddie. See this video? Eddie, Eddie. Cheers to you, man. Eddie's like, puts his hand on his forehead and he's like, kenny, Kenny, Kenny. So that's first hand knowledge. You heard it from one of our ground school members. I did the same thing. That's why it took me 88 hours to get the private pilot license. I jumped around. I didn't study. The previous instructor before Eddie would say, well, hey, you want to do ground? You want to go fly? I'm like, let's go fly, right? That will do ground another time. It's partially my self or I should blame myself. But you also have to blame it a little bit on the instructor too. You know, instructors sometimes can shut people off. And I've done it right where I'm like, you know, we're not flying anymore until you get this damn written done. Or, you know, there are so many ways along this path to become a pilot that the knowledge gets in the way. And let's back to the written test. The written test is one of them. So people are saying, what do I use to study for the written test in this day and age? I'm sure there are so many apps out there now and there's so many different places you could go to prep for the written test. I'm going to say you're welcome to use anything out there that's going to work for you. There's of course paperback copies of written test prep and there are also digital forms online. Okay. We do have written test practice inside helicopter land ground school. While we're going through the courses, we point out, hey, you'll probably see that on the written test. So not only do we try to point those things out during the, during the helicopter angle ground school training, we try to point out written test questions. Everything is fair game on the written and what I recommend. This is just my recommendation if you don't mind working with paper. What I did for all my ratings, I used ASA because I liked their books. Some of the other companies would send you one book and you had to go through the front of the book and then flip to the back of the book for the diagrams. At the time I did all those ratings private commercial CFI instrument. I always used the ASA prep manuals because they gave you the diagram book separate so you can sit down to study. You open up one book. Oh, I need to look up figure 42 over here. Look at figure 42. Okay. My opinion on that and what I did and what I know people still do because I have these conversations with people in email and even face to face, lot of people are still doing what I did. And I'm going to be transparent here. This isn't necessarily the best method, but when you're struggling to get through checkrides and like you're getting overwhelmed by all the information there is to know. The truth is there's a lot of stuff in the written test that over time is becoming outdated, right? And there's a lot of things in there that people complain about learning. So when you're studying for the written, there is a whole slew of information. Some of that stuff is really important when it comes to helicopter aerodynamics, helicopter emergencies, helicopter safety, flying the aircraft, anything that can kill you is freaking important. Okay? But there are some questions you're going to run into on any of these written tests where you're going to go, why are they asking me that? Well, it's kind of like paying your dues, right? What I did, I deciphered through what I thought was really important. And then the questions that I thought were just baloney that I was never going to need or use. I just memorized the correct answer. And I know the FAA doesn't like that, and that's probably not the best thing to tell a person, but you know what, when you're trying to get through these ratings, you use every tip and trick in the book, right? And I would never want you to be in a lack of knowledge on things that could get you killed, things that can help, that will help you be a safe and prudent pilot. But trust me, once you get into this, you'll see and you start to study them for the written. There is a lot of. There's some questions in there that aren't really relative to you. And you go, why have they got this airplane? Less question in the helicopter test. There's a few of those you'll see in there along the way. You got to think of it as you got to pay Your dues. Sorry, but that's what certifications are about. Whether it's helicopter, airplane, becoming a nurse. No matter what you're doing in life, usually there's a certification process. And a lot of times you have to jump through hoops and do things that seem kind of stupid. It's what it is. It's the way it is. So let us know down below what you're doing, maybe what you've done in the past, or what you're doing right now. Put those in the comments below. That's why we're here. We're here to discuss these topics every day, and I'd love to hear what people are using now. Go ahead and tell us if you're using HOGS and using our test prep. That's free inside. Well, with your membership, it doesn't cost you anything. We pay for those. And you can take those as many times as you need them. And you can also take tests inside our course for FAA wings credit as well. So I hope that answers a lot of the questions that are coming in about the written test. The biggest thing is get that damn thing done, because it does, just like that member said. And just like with me, it held back my training. Studying held back my training. I failed my first checkride that held back my career and training. It's all about knowledge, people. It's all about knowledge. Being smart, you know, being smart. I don't think it really matters how smart you are. The term, how smart are you? I was watching this thing the other day with Neil DeGrasse Tyson and, you know, astrophysicist and neat guy to listen to, and I've watched him in all kinds of science programs and the universe and all kinds of stuff. And he said, you know, how smart you are really doesn't matter. He said, you know, when I was getting into my professional career and he said, it's like when I first looked at calculus. He's like, when I opened that book, it was Greek. Eric said it was like, there's no way I'm ever going to learn this. You'll kind of feel the same way about the Helicopter flying handbook if you just start digging into aerodynamics and you haven't flown or had any ground school in the beginning, you're going to go, oh, my God. And you're reading it going, what in the heck? Well, what Neil DeGrasse Tyson said was, you know, after about a month, it started getting a little bit easier. Two months later, it got easier. Three months into it, I finally went, okay, I'm Going to get this, you know, and he was saying it really isn't about how smart you are, it's about the passion that you have for what you want to do. And becoming a helicopter pilot takes passion because it's expensive. You know, I kind of lashed out the other day in the comments. I stay pretty low keyed most of the time, but quite honestly, I get tired of hearing people complain about the money. You know why? It's hands down expensive and there's nothing you can do about it. Helicopters are expensive to operate, they're expensive to maintain, they're expensive to insure. The fuel, hangar, everything is freaking expensive. And a lot of these flight schools are just getting by. So you know what? Helicopters are hands down expensive. That's part of it. You're going to spend a bunch of money getting your rating, so why not be the best you can be and do the ground school the way you should apply yourself and study and at least you can save some money, you know, instead of dragging that training out because you didn't get the written done or you won't go home and study the books. It's all about the knowledge and it's about the passion. And I want to get new people coming into the helicopter pilot career. I love it and we need it. We need it as an industry. And I'm not arguing about the pilot shortage anymore because I know it's real and I see it all the time and hear it every day. So I'm not arguing that one anymore. We need new pilots coming into this industry. And the way you're going to succeed and the way that you're going to get a job is you're going to have to sell yourself. And I get tired of hearing that whining too. Oh, well, I can't get a job. You know what, what profession do you just go get some schooling and just get thrown into a job? None that's worthwhile. You know, you have to apply yourself. This has to be in your heart, it has to be in your gut. And you got to be willing to make the sacrifices to spend the money, do the training and be the best you can be. Enough of a little pep talk for today. I'm Kenny Keller, Creator, Helicopter Line Ground School. As I already stated, we have four courses online, Private Commercial instruments, cfi. We have practice written tests for all those courses. We have a separate written test that allows you to get FAA wings credit for our courses. Been online eight years. Fabulous, Amazing, Incredible. I'm gonna even come over here and swing the camera around. A little bit. Give you a little taste of the Hog's Wall. Heather's been working hard at it. We're looking good over there. We're getting ready to add some more over here. We changed our Velcro. That's what we're using. And wait, a few start popping off. So we got to fix those. But that's okay, right? We got a lot of time and effort in it because we really enjoy the Hogs Wall. It's a lot of fun. And, you know, I lashed out recently at a member who said, oh, you guys are probably too busy hanging pictures, you know, And I was like, offended, right? Because we have a lot of time and effort in this because our members spend a lot of time and effort and get their ratings. And when they send us their picture for their private license or their solo or their commercial, they're freaking excited. And we have people up there, we have them private commercial instruments, cfi, all their pictures side by side. The Helicopter Online Ground School Wall of Fame is part of what we do. Keep those pictures coming in. Send them to us after your checkrides. Try to get one in the moment. You know, if you got to take a picture later, that's too. I get it. Once you get that rating, man, you're so excited. So as we go, I'm going to put links down below for the free PDFs. My number one bestseller helicopter checkride. That's if you're just starting out, that's a good book for you. Once you get a little further along, you're getting closer to your practical test. There's top 10 checkride tips. I co authored that with 2018 flight instructor of the year, Dan Taz Chrisman. That's to help you get through the test. That's our 40 years experience combined together, the top 10 things, plus some bonuses on what we see people screw up and the problems they have. You can get a free PDF down below. I'm going to put those links right below this video where you can get the free PDF. Download those immediately. And then if you'd like the paperback copies, we ship them for just shipping and handling. Seven bucks either book. You can get those@helopterground.com which is right below this video. And we also have links for all the courses. Private commercial, cfi, instrument, but you can get the paperback copies right on the homepage. All right, cheers, y'. All. 253 friggin amazing. Having a blast. Do us a favor, subscribe to the channel. Click the bell. When you do, leave us a comment down below and we'll see you in day254. Peace out.