Endorsed for the written exam!

Yesterday evening after work, I swung by the FBO to meet my CFI. You see, I am somewhat of an anomaly. Most people who want to learn to fly want to immediately jump in the plane and deal with the necessary evils of FAA testing later. Now, there have been oodles of safe and competent pilots that have taken that learning path, but statistics have shown that HALF of student pilots quit their training, and a big contributing factor is the task of passing the written exam. So, being the methodical, logical person I am, I decided to get one of the big hurdles out of the way first.

Anyway, the objective of this meeting was to review my practice test scores and go over the necessary sections of the FAR/AIM (Federal Aviation Regulations / Aeronautical Information Manual). Now, I didn't study FAR/AIM directly because it is a dense reference manual of regulations and topics, rather I used home study courses and test guides because they prepare you for the actual test questions. But the test questions are derived from FAR/AIM and my CFI wanted to review FAR/AIM because as I progress through my training, I will be spending more time with it, rather than the test guides.

We than did some impromptu oral quizzing and some discussions on some areas I think I am weak on. I am pretty good at most of the regulations, aeronautical knowledge, weather, weight/balance and course planning. I am a little weaker on radio navigation and airspaces, primarily because of the pure memorization involved. I also learned a valuable lesson, the test guides and home study courses frame your mind around passing the FAA test, but there is so much more to understand in the FAR/AIM.

Finally, we went over a couple test taking tips and what to expect on the exam. The test is on the computer, but you are given some charts and figures to interpret to answer questions. I was very surprised that we cannot write on the written supplements given during the exam. My CFI suggested using a blank page overlay. I am thinking of picking up some transparencies, and use a dry erase marker, you frequently need to draw lines, especially when answering questions on course planning and interpreting sectional charts. Fortunately, you can pretty much bring anything you want into the exam so long as it doesn't have any actual test questions or answers written. So that means, I can bring my flight computer, straight edges, basic calculator, scratch paper. Even the etched formulas on my flight computer is legit. Also, just like any other test taking technique, he suggested once you start the exam, before beginning, do a brain dump on a scratch piece of paper of any aides you will need later. i.e. if you memorized VFR minimums, write it down on a scratch paper so you don't have to keep it upstairs throughout the exam.

Ok then, I plan to schedule my test probably for Thursday evening, the closest test centers are over an hour away, so I have to see if I can talk them into staying a little later in the evening. I want to get this done with while all the knowledge is rolling around in my noggin, of course all the core information will need to be retained for my flight training and checkride!

UPDATE! I have scheduled my exam for Wednesday evening, July 2nd, wish me luck!