Study Habits

As my last semester of college has ramped up, finding time to be a student while being a flight instructor becomes difficult. However, it is entirely manageable, and here I'll explain how efficient study habits made my life easier while obtaining my ratings.

To my students who are going through their ratings, whether in school or not, I understand the stress that comes with that. However, I sense that a lot of them are making their life harder by not setting aside the proper time for studying, or giving not giving the appropriate priority to it, or are simply glancing at the material, rather than studying.

Learning, is an active process. For example, we are not sponges, and cannot readily soak up information like it is water. Learning is something you have to seek out and activley try to commit information to your memory. Not all people learn in the same way though. Some learn best through auditory means (audio books, podcasts, videos, etc.), some through doing (flying the plane, chairflying, or being on-site), visually (again videos, reading, flashcards, and beyond). The learning styles can be widely classified as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Today, they can be broken down into further categories.

I percieve myself to be a mix of the visual and kinesthetic realm of learning. A mix between all learning styles is what helps people learn best, but one singular cateogry is where most people shine. For me, I HAVE to write everything down, or I will forget it. My study method for each of my licenses, which may have been overkill, was to have one notebook for notetaking the first time (during a ground with my instructor or from independent study from the PHAK, AFH, POH, etc). Then I would read through it again separatley, and write the information down in a second notebook in a cleaner format that had clear thoughts written out. For my final stage, when I would be preparing for my checkride, I would synthesize all the information I had into a packet on a word document, kind of like a study guide, and print it. Those familiar with pilot cafe for instrument, my homeade packets are exactly like that. For the days and weeks leading up to my checkride, I would read and study from it every day. By the time I had gotten to my checkride, I had read and research many hours on and written about in depth each topic a minimum of 3 times. By the time it came to studying the material, it took less effort to commit it to long term memory than it would have if I had just read my notes, hoping it would stick.

To get all the information in one place, it took a lot of effort from my brain to not only recall it, but to also organize it in a way that makes sense. The best places find information on the material was from the PHAK (pilot handbook of aeronautical knowledge), the AFM (airplane flying handbook), IFH (instrument flying handbook), IPH (instrument proceudres handbook), the POH for the plane, and even youtube videos or articles about a specific system I was researching. Yes, your instructor is teaching you to get your license or rating, but lack of effort on the student's part to actually study and seek knowledge beyond what their instructor told them, is what causes students to fail.

One last resource which many students don't think about for some reason, is the ACS for their particular rating. In my checkride prep mode, I would compare my final packet to the ACS to make sure I had covered every topic that was in the ACS. That way, on my checkride, I wouldn't be surprised with a topic out of left field. The ACS is the guidlines for DPEs on checkrides, and if you prepare accordingly to that, you are golden.

Committing the time and energy to both studying topics for school and your pilot ratings is surely taxing, but is is entirely managebale. It just depends on how much you want it. If you are not fully committed to it, or not putting forth truly your best effort, getting your pilot ratings will take far longer than expected. Finding the best study method for you is going to save time, effort, and stress. Just like flying, efficiency and consistency, not cramming, are what get you to your destination.