I trotted over to North Coast Air today to take the computerized Private Pilot (Airplane) knowledge test. This is another one of those stressful (at least for me) parts about learning how to fly. I had spent the last week preparing for it, but you just never know. . . .
You only need a 70% to pass, but as Steve Benedict, my ground instructor and the Sonoma County Pilot Examiner (what luck is that!) told us, there is a definite advantage to passing with the highest score you possibly can. The questions are divided into subject areas and if you miss any, the pilot examiner has to ask you questions about those areas during your verbal test. Miss too many, and he may really want to grill you to insure you’re really ready!
Not to worry, I aced it with 100%! It wasn’t hard at all. The main trick is to practice, practice, practice! You really have to study the material, because there is just too much to remember. Because of the way the questions are written, you can know the material cold, and still fail the test! They aren’t really tricky, but they are different from what you would expect. Take plenty of practice tests. I bought test books from King Schools, Sporty’s, and Jeppesen. They all had questions the others didn’t. If you can’t read most of the questions and know immediate what the correct answer is going to be, you probably aren’t ready yet.
I found that while taking the Aero 50 ground school class and Aero 50L lab class at the SRJC were helpful, you really need to work through the question books. You are probably not going to agree with all the answers, but they are the official answers you need for the FAA test. If you go by common sense, you will probably miss a couple!
They give you way more time than you will need, so that isn’t even an issue. Take the time to read every single word of both the question and all the answers very carefully. A single word will make the difference on some of the questions. ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ are obvious, but an out of place word added to an answer can make it “more incorrect” than another answer!