Learn to Fly

Update 13 Nov 2023: Dates selected, Location Locked IN, and Official Sign UP is Live

Based on room availability, Saturdays 2-5 PM have been selected, meeting at the Oshkosh Airport Terminal. The first meeting will be January 6, 2024. The meeting room is not available on February 24, so we will likely take this week off.

Also the official sign up is live! Communication, quizzes, and the final exam will take place on the Hi-Z Labs Learning Center. Follow the instructions in the Sign Up section below to enroll.

How Ground instruction Typically Works

Typically, ground instruction for the private pilot license is provided in lockstep with flight instruction. In this mode, instructors teach students one-on-one or one-on-a-few. Lessons will have a ground component and a flight component, where new information is presented on the ground and then immediately applied in flight.

This is a time-tested approach and results in the best outcomes for flight training. However, this method generally does not provide comprehensive preparation for the knowledge test. Most instructors supplement their ground instruction with a ground school or test prep book, app, or website to ensure students receive training on all of the information needed for the airman knowledge test.

A unique learning Opportunity

In-person ground school, particularly at the sport, recreation, or private pilot level, is not very common. Many professional flight schools don’t even teach primary students, requiring students interested in pursuing a career in aviation to earn their private certificates on their own before coming to school. This means that private pilot education is provided by a decentralized web of instructors, clubs, and small flight schools that often simply are too busy providing flight training to teach a full ground school course.

Considerations

There are pros and cons to participating in an in-person ground school as opposed to using a self-paced course. Depending on your personality, circumstances, and goals, it might make sense for you.

• PRO: Gain confidence in your ability to build up your aviation knowledge to the level required to be a pilot. Some people are interested in flying, but unsure that they will be able to learn and retain everything they’ll need to know to actually do it. Working through a ground school program is a good way to prove to yourself that you can do it.

• CON: There are self-paced ground school programs that may cost less or demand less time. Books and apps allow a much larger student-to-instructor ratio and have much lower per-student costs. Many do not require you to purchase any supplies other than the ground school program itself, and cost less than just the materials for this class. With this class, you are paying more for the opportunity to learn in-person with an instructor and other students.

• PRO: Your flight training will go faster. Since you’ll have most of the knowledge already, your flight instructor will be able to spend less time on ground instruction during your flight training.

• CON: You’ll still need to receive ground instruction during flight training. Whether or not you take a ground school course, your flight instructor is still required to provide some ground instruction as part of your flight training.

• PRO: In-person learning provides benefits that other modes simply cannot provide. Have a question? Raise your hand and get an answer. Already bought an online ground school a couple years ago but couldn’t stay motivated to finish it? We’ll be taking attendance, so you don’t want to miss a session. Maybe interacting with other students excites you and helps you learn. These things are just not possible with a self-study app.

• CON: It’s kind of a big time commitment if you’ve got a full time job and/or family to worry about. Most ground school programs take around 25 hours of study time—which is a lot—and this class will probably require a bit more than that if you figure in the outside-of-class assignments and studying you’ll need to do. That said, most people will find their depth of understanding and retention of the material to be much better with an in-person class compared to a self-study course. If your goal is simply to pass the knowledge test, a self-study course is likely the shortest path to your goal.

• PRO: Winter is a crap time for flight training in Wisconsin anyway. So why not spend that time in a cozy classroom learning so that when spring chases the snow away, you’re ready to hit the sky?

Sign Up

The signup process requires that you create an account on the Hi-Z Labs Learning Center, complete the email address confirmation, and log in before you can pay for the class.

1. Visit https://learning.hizlabs.com/login/ and click Create new account and fill out the form to register an account.

2. Wait for the confirmation email and click the link to confirm your email address.

3. Log in to the Learning Center at the same page from step 1.

4. After logging in, you should be directed to the Home tab, where you will find an Available courses section. Click the In-Person Private Pilot Ground School 23/24 link to open the class page.

5. On the class page, click Enrol me in this course near the top (the software uses a British spelling of “enroll” in many places)

6. At the bottom of the page, click the Send payment via PayPal button to begin the payment process

7. After completing payment, you will be redirected back to the Learning Center.

8. If you get lost looking for the available course or enrollment page, you can use this link after logging in: https://learning.hizlabs.com/enrol/index.php?id=2

Summary: After registering your account and logging in, sign up using this link. If you are logged in, there will be a link at the bottom to pay the course fee of $100 via PayPal (credit cards accepted).

Help

If you have problems or need help signing up, submit the form below and someone will reach out to assist you within a day.

Instructor

Aaron has been around airplanes for almost 40 years, and licensed to fly them for over 20. He is a certified ground instructor and private pilot. He recently earned an instrument rating and is working on earning a commercial pilot certificate on the way to becoming a certified flight instructor.