Masshole Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Masshole, I take it your competing for your slot this semester? If they no kidding changed the selection criteria mentioned a few weeks ago, getting your first few flight hours will really boost your pcsm. And it looks like pcsm makes up the bulk of the OM score nowadays... No, I am not that far yet. By few hours, do you mean 20 will suffice? If you want to raise your PCSM score, retake the BAT test if you think you can do better and get more hours. This will give you a much better score and better chance for a flying spot. To get a better QUALITY education, knock out the ground school. It's worth every penny. Good to know. I have yet to take the TBAS, but it sounds like getting flying time prior to it makes a tremendous impact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 It all depends. You will get the biggest increase in points from about the first 5-10 hours. I personally would take the tbas in the near future ( rpa part seems to give people trouble and it's the only part you can actually study for, I made flash cards since I ######ed it up the first time) ,good info on wantscheck. If you have already taken the afoqt, the day you take the tbas your pcsm will be available. When you look it up it will have a chart telling you how many flight hours will increase you pcsm score by X amount of points. For example, I had over a hundred. I needed another hundred hours to gain one more pcsm point. I had a buddy with hardly any hours who need like 2 more to get 9 or 10 more pcsm points. Once you see your results you can get a better idea if you want to do the quality or quantity idea mentioned above. Sorry for the retardedness/unorganization... Typing on a phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masshole Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 It all depends. You will get the biggest increase in points from about the first 5-10 hours. I personally would take the tbas in the near future ( rpa part seems to give people trouble and it's the only part you can actually study for, I made flash cards since I ######ed it up the first time) ,good info on wantscheck. If you have already taken the afoqt, the day you take the tbas your pcsm will be available. When you look it up it will have a chart telling you how many flight hours will increase you pcsm score by X amount of points. For example, I had over a hundred. I needed another hundred hours to gain one more pcsm point. I had a buddy with hardly any hours who need like 2 more to get 9 or 10 more pcsm points. Once you see your results you can get a better idea if you want to do the quality or quantity idea mentioned above. Sorry for the retardedness/unorganization... Typing on a phone I was not planning on taking the TBAS until after Field Training, but you say sooner? And if you are the guy that made these flashcards, thank you very, very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I was not planning on taking the TBAS until after Field Training, but you say sooner? And if you are the guy that made these flashcards, thank you very, very much. I went through those flash cards a few times and it definitely helped. From what I've read, the time it takes you to answer each question counts, as well as whether you get it right or not. I'm not positive about that though. On the plus side, once you get the hang of it you'll know the answer before the voice is even done asking the question, so you can click the answer right away and get close to 0 seconds on most of the questions. For what it's worth, I had 6 hours when I took it, and I don't really feel like I did that amazing on the test. BUT I answered all the UAV questions in close to no time, and my PCSM was 99. Not trying to show off or anything; I guess my point is that I think that part counts quite a bit towards your score so it's definitely worth your time to study the flashcards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I would definitely take it before FT. I took mine at the end of the semester before I went to FT. Reason being is the whole 6 month interval thing between retakes. If you take it at the end of this semester, you will know your pcsm and have a good idea of how you want to go about flight hours when you get back from FT. Then you can retake it in december after you have a couple hours under your belt or whatever right before your cadre submits your shit in January. That's what I did, but people still get awesome scores without hours. As far as ground school goes I bought the sportys (or king air) ppl DVDs online when I graduated HS and got my ppl in the summer. I didn't do ground school since the DVDs are your ground school. They come with a syllabus that your CFI cooresponds your training flights with. Basically part 60 vs part 141 schools (or whatever it's been awhile and i forget. Pretty much the nearest flight school where they have formal class times and such was too far of a drive. The DVDs allow you to go at your own pace which is awesome if you are in college. I did the same thing with my instrument rating when I was a freshman in college. Sportys pilot shop online has the DVDs. They are a couple hundred bucks but in my mind worth it. I'm sure there is some disagreement on this but that is just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I got the Sporty's DVD's too when I did my PPL and they're pretty good. If anything the guy that presents it wears some pretty interesting ties, and there's a kid they always show flying who wears a more extreme sweater every episode. You might be able to find a used set on ebay or amazon marketplace also; I'd say it's definitely worth watching if you don't want to do an actual ground school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thank you very much everyone. I am not going for my PPL- I was just interested in getting comfortable with flying. I should do ground school? I am not sure I have enough saved for both. That makes sense, actually. Maybe ask the Lbrarian at MIT if they can order the ground school DVDs (if they don't already have them somewhere). You can also ask a professor if you can do some sort of project that requires the DVDs as suuport for the library to buy them. They may also be available through the library system. You could also ask the Det if they have a copy of the ground school DVDs or if they might be interested in buying them. I know that';s something I would invest money in if I was running a DET. It may be something the cadets can do a fund raiser to purchase and leave at the Det as a gift. I've also heard about an on-line course that might be free, I think Gold Seal? Maybe someone here can elaborate. You're on a college campus. Lots of options if you are creative. BL: Consider ground school like going in the vault. It is good to have some background to support what your instructor is teaching you and it never hurts to learn something...technique only. You never know when something you learned in the vault is going to save your (or someone else's) life until you use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thank you very much everyone. I am not going for my PPL- I was just interested in getting comfortable with flying. I should do ground school? I am not sure I have enough saved for both. That makes sense, actually. Now that I think about it, that was pretty much the reason I started flying too. I just wanted to get a few hours and see how I liked it. Well I liked it a lot and now a year and a half later I have my PPL and I'm building a plane in my basement. My point is watch out cause it's a slippery slope, and it gets expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramathorn Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) Thank you very much everyone. I am not going for my PPL- I was just interested in getting comfortable with flying. I should do ground school? I am not sure I have enough saved for both. PM me you address and I'll send you some copies of the Sporty's DVDs I made a few years ago if you want. Edit for: detailz Edited January 4, 2012 by Ramathorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy's Law Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) Check around, you should be able to do ground school in far less than 7 weeks. I did mine in 4 days at an aero club back in high school over the summer for a couple hundred bucks. Definitely a good idea... did a few hours before in a cessna without ground school and it was not pretty. After understanding things like radio procedures on the ground, flying came much easier. If you are going to do all this then you might as well get your PPL and check the box with regard to your application. Good on you for trying to be ahead of the game but realize a PPL may do better for you now than a few hours will for your test or IFS since you have to get your flight slot first and a PPL can help with that. Do everything you can to be a distinguished grad in field training as well. You asked if 20 hours is enough, that's the wrong attitude. You should be doing everything you can to succeed with your goal. You may do well with zero flight experience or mediocre with a PPL. The idea is to do everything you can. Period. I'm pretty sure I have a few sets of the Jeppesen stuff in storage somewhere (all the stuff for your PPL). I have no use for it, much less multiple sets so PM me if you want a set for free. Edited January 4, 2012 by sim117 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F16Rooster Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I don't remember if it was Jeppesen or Sporty's but I bought some of the Instrument materials (DVDs or cd's) off ebay a few years ago and they didn't work because I didn't have the right authorization code from said company. Apparently, when you buy them, they give you a code and that code only works for you when you call to register it. The guy I bought the discs from had never used them either. Just a heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Rooster good call. I forgot all about that. The way the sportys ones worked was they were just DVDs so you can do whatever with them. But the set comes with a computer program and completion certificate. After you watch the DVDs you take a test on the computer and have to plug in the serial number like you said. Only works for one person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masshole Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Thanks everyone. I am going to utilize the sources available to me right now until I can figure out which method is best for me. Check around, you should be able to do ground school in far less than 7 weeks. I did mine in 4 days at an aero club back in high school over the summer for a couple hundred bucks. Definitely a good idea... did a few hours before in a cessna without ground school and it was not pretty. After understanding things like radio procedures on the ground, flying came much easier. If you are going to do all this then you might as well get your PPL and check the box with regard to your application. Good on you for trying to be ahead of the game but realize a PPL may do better for you now than a few hours will for your test or IFS since you have to get your flight slot first and a PPL can help with that. Do everything you can to be a distinguished grad in field training as well. You asked if 20 hours is enough, that's the wrong attitude. You should be doing everything you can to succeed with your goal. You may do well with zero flight experience or mediocre with a PPL. The idea is to do everything you can. Period. I'm pretty sure I have a few sets of the Jeppesen stuff in storage somewhere (all the stuff for your PPL). I have no use for it, much less multiple sets so PM me if you want a set for free. I would love to get my PPL before I graduate, but I do not think I can do that. It will be tough with money and school work. I will do as much as I can though. Rooster good call. I forgot all about that. The way the sportys ones worked was they were just DVDs so you can do whatever with them. But the set comes with a computer program and completion certificate. After you watch the DVDs you take a test on the computer and have to plug in the serial number like you said. Only works for one person. Good to know. It seems like the best path to take given that I can pace myself. Can you log hours with different trainers from different schools? Hours are much cheaper where I live in the summer. It costs almost $3,000 less for a PPL and I would like to take advantage of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeHoler Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I did "ground school" with an old ASA study book and the FAR/AIM. Anything more is a crutch...and a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I haven't tracked this topic too closely, so I'm sorry if I'm being redundant. In regards to flight hours vs ground school for IFS on a limited budget... Get those flight hours!!! The only thing I saw people get knocked out of ifs for was landing. Other random gross errors or flagrant lack of knowledge were issues... But for those who cared landing was the deciding factor. Get to your solo and then save your money. That's all you need for the currernt syllabus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Can you log hours with different trainers from different schools? Hours are much cheaper where I live in the summer. It costs almost $3,000 less for a PPL and I would like to take advantage of that. Yeah it all counts as long as it's a CFI you're flying with... Although when you switch instructors it might take a little time for you to get used to each other's style, and for your new instructor to figure out where you're at. But it's not a very big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy's Law Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I would love to get my PPL before I graduate, but I do not think I can do that. It will be tough with money and school work. I will do as much as I can though. You're at a civilian college. There is time, especially over summer. As for money, if it were me I would pull out a loan to do it if necessary. A couple grand is really insignificant over the course of your potential career. Between getting your slot and doing well at IFS, I would see it as a solid investment in yourself. If you didn't get a slot and found out later IF you had done X or Y then you woulda had one... that will be something you live with. If you don't do it and still get your dream, more power to you. I would be doing all that I could though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champ Kind Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I would pull out a loan to do it if necessary. Bad advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F16Rooster Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Bad advice. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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