AOPA Flight Training
March 2008

It's always refreshing to see new flight training study guides come to the market. Each brings a new perspective that might appeal to a student who has not yet to find multimedia training useful. Powerful Learning, a small company originally formed to provide training tools to airlines, recently introduced its Private Pilot Study System. The system is a complete learning tool designed to prepare students for not only the FAA knowledge test, but the oral and flight tests as well.

Though the basic content of Powerful Learning’s software is much the same as others on the market, the company has excelled in organizing that content in such a way to extract as much usability as possible for the student. The software features three basic modes: learning mode, test mode, and flash card mode.

In learning mode, the user selects the chapters he or she desires to study. For example, if a flight instructor knows a student has particular trouble with aerodynamics, he could select only that unit for the student to review. Depending on the user-selected settings, once a question is answered, a box pops up explaining the reason for the correct answer. If that isn't enough information for the student to understand the concept behind the question, he can click on the Learn button found within every question. A separate window comes to the foreground with the applicable information to answer the question, directly from the appropriate government publication. When the student finishes the lesson, a summary explains the results.

The test mode takes the learning mode and strips it down. In this mode, the software automatically selects 60 random questions from the total library, Upon completion, a detailed analysis tells the student and instructor where more work may be needed.

Flash card mode is something unique to Powerful Learning. Again, the instructor or student can select the appropriate unit to study. But instead of multiple choice questions, a series of virtual cards asks the student to answer basic questions related to the private pilot curriculum without the aid of the software’s FAA publication library. It’s a nice tool that requires students to do more than pick an overly obvious multiple-choice answer supplied by the FAA.

Users can purchase a CD to install the software on their computer, or download it directly from the company’s Web site. Powerful Learning offers other courses, so keep an eye out for the company to make a bigger entry to the flight training market. Powerful Learning also offers wholesale arrangements to flight schools, possibly making the software available locally.

Price: $85 for CD; $75 to download

Contact: www.powerful-learning.com; 1-800-975-1257

* Reprinted from AOPA Flight Training magazine March 2008 issue