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Our GroundSchool FAA written test prep apps contain actual and realistic questions just like you will see when you go to take your FAA written exams.
In a word, YES. Our GroundSchool apps provide actual, current
(2024 - 2025)
and realistic FAA questions - the best in the business. These are continuously reviewed and updated by our editorial staff of professional pilots, mechanics,
regulatory experts, instructors, and designated examiners for currency, usefulness, and consistency with official FAA Airman Certification Standards. Our prep materials are 100% FAA ACS compatible.
If you study conscientiously using our GroundSchool FAA written test prep software or app for the platform(s) of your choice, you will in all likelihood find the questions and answers extremely familiar when you go to take your actual test.
In fact, if you're like most people who have done a good job studying using GroundSchool, you will not only pass your test, but you will ACE it.
That said, you should be aware that these days, the FAA is taking significant steps to ensure that the knowledge tests really, well, test your knowledge. To do this, FAA is working hard to come up with techniques that reward those
who understand the material well while discouraging those who just try to memorize. This makes a lot of operational and safety sense. As such, occasionally there may be a few questions that have not yet reached us due to the way that the FAA informs test prep sources of updates and there
may be a few questions from time to time that are worded differently as an FAA anti-memorization strategy. Such changes are usually quite minor non-issues to well-prepared test takers.
Additionally, occasionally the FAA throws in ungraded and/or experimental questions. We are not informed of such questions, but they are generally not graded, either. These exceptions and any other chance unpublished questions notwithstanding, Your score depends overwhelmingly
on your studying the questions as we have them presented and learning the "whys", "what's", and "hows" that our detailed, often illustrated explanations provde.
Actual and realistic FAA test questions?
Yes! Our GroundSchool FAA written test prep apps contain actual and realistic questions just like you will see when you go to take your FAA knowledge exams.
In a word, YES. Our GroundSchool apps provide actual, current, and realistic FAA questions - the best in the business. These are continuously reviewed and updated by our editorial staff of professional pilots, mechanics, regulatory experts, instructors, and designated examiners for currency, usefulness, and consistency with official FAA Airman Certification Standards. Our prep materials are 100% FAA ACS compatible.
Important: once you have our GroundSchool App (on any platform) - make sure you use the "content updates check" or "check for updates" feature from the main menu as soon as you get it and regularly thereafter to make sure that you have the latest and greatest content from our editorial team.
If you study conscientiously using our GroundSchool FAA written test prep software or app for the platform(s) of your choice, you will in all likelihood find the questions and answers extremely familiar when you go to take your actual test. In fact, if you're like most people who have done a good job studying using GroundSchool, you will not only pass your test, but you will ACE it.
That said, you should be aware that these days, the FAA is taking significant steps to ensure that the knowledge tests really, well, test your knowledge. To do this, FAA is working hard to come up with techniques that reward those who understand the material well while discouraging those who just try to memorize. This makes a lot of operational and safety sense. As such, occasionally there may be a few questions that have not yet reached us due to the way that the FAA informs test prep sources of updates and there may be a few questions from time to time that are worded differently as an FAA anti-memorization strategy. Such changes are usually quite minor non-issues to well-prepared test takers. Additionally, occasionally the FAA throws in ungraded and/or experimental questions. We are not informed of such questions, but they are generally not graded, either.
These nuances and any other chance unpublished questions notwithstanding, Your score depends overwhelmingly on your studying the questions as we have them presented and learning the "whys", "what's", and "hows" that our detailed, often illustrated explanations.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
How to Prepare for your test using GroundSchool
GroundSchool is an all-in-one FAA knowledge test prep solution trusted by tens of thousands of pilots and
mechanics every year. It is the only thing that you need to take and pass your next FAA written test. It's also
the best in the business, in terms of polished user experience, flexibility, and depth of content.
GroundSchool presents several learning and study modes. The specific details will vary
slightly from platform to platform and version to version, but this introduction should give
you an idea of how it works. No matter what platform you use GroundSchool on, the learning content will be
identical. However, there will be small differences in the presentation and options.
Every learner is different. What might be a good strategy for somebody else might not work for you. GroundSchool
gives you both the ability to tailor your use of our app so that it's comfortable and effective for you and also
provides means for you to check your progress so that you can make sure that you're really on the right path.
When you get to the GroundSchool main menu - especially when you first get the app, the very first thing you'll want
to do is to make sure that your learning content is up to date. Do this by clicking on "updates" from the main menu.
You'll can also later check for updates every so often as you study - once a week is fine.
Our editorial team updates the content on a continuous basis throughout the year, though individual changes
tend to be small and incremental. The best part is, however, is that GroundSchool content updates are free for life on
the platform of your choice.
Once you're sure you have the latest and greatest content, click the "Prepare" button from the main menu.
Select the exact test that you want to study for and the question bank will be nicely filtered to that which applies
to your specific test. You can later change the test you're studying for at any time.
Once you select your test, select the chapters or study areas you want to concentrate on.
Some platform versions
of GroundSchool will also show you a little progress indicator of how ready the system thinks you are. This
progress indicator is based on a combination of how well and how often you've been studying recently.
On this screen, you also see a selector for "question stacks". This is a neat and helpful feature.
All questions start out in Stack 3. If you encounter a given question anywhere in our app and get it right, it moves up to the next
higher stack. If you get it wrong, it moves down. So, for example, if you wanted to concentrate only on the questions
that may have caused you difficulty in the past, you could, for example turn on just stacks 1 and 2 for a given
study session.
You'll notice that there's also an option to ask only those questions that do or do not refer to figures. Questions
that refer to figures often take a bit longer to do so you have the possibility to work on them when the time is right for you.
The next screen is the "test and study mode" screen. Here, we have six built in learning modes plus a special, optional audio mode
that is available for some but not all titles. Additionally, you'll find a link for advanced options if you'd like to fine
tune your experience even further.
The six modes are Introduction (or Flashcard), Learning and Practice, Study I, Study II, pre-Test check, and simulated test.
As you can see, they are arranged broadly for you to use from when you're first being introduced to the material to the
point where you're already quite proficient in it.
In "introduction" (or flashcard) mode, you basically don't do anything but read. Questions are presented for you with the
correct answer already highlighted and you can read the explanations immediately. Some people find this to be a good
way to get to know the material. However, as this is more of a passive mode, it might not be for everybody.
In "learning and practice" mode, you'll have to actively start answering questions but won't be able to advance past a given question until you supply the right answer. This is a more active way to acquaint yourself with the material.
In "Study I", you get immediate post question feedback. We have the best explanations in the business. You can choose to read
these for questions you got right, for questions you got wrong, or both. Again, totally up to you.
"Study II" is more intense - answer choice order is randomized and you only get feedback at the end.
"Pre-Test check" ramps up the difficulty a bit more. It's similar to study II but in even more of an exam format.
Finally, there's the "Simulated Test Mode". Here, you're presented with the same number of questions in the same time
limit as the real thing. In some platform versions, you'll see a little indicator of "Full Simulated Test" or
"Partial Simulated Test" depending on whether you have elsewhere enabled all the questions for a given test. A
full simulated test maximally simulates the real thing. You can take as many practice tests as you like.
Study I especially and Study II are where many learners spend most of their time.
Under "Advanced Options", you can fine tune things like exactly how many questions
you want to encounter in a given study session. In some of our mobile versions, the advanced options, and also options
for things such as stacks, are listed directly below the basic study modes.
In "Audio Mode", where available, you can listen to a real human narrator read out questions and answers. This brings
another one of your senses - the sense of hearing into the process and so can be a nice way to turbocharge your
study time effectiveness. Some people really love it as they can listen to the questions over headphones. However,
the audio mode, while great, doesn't cover questions with a significant visual or calculative element, and when you
use it you won't particularly be able to see our detailed explanations which will prepare you for new and unpublished
questions that the FAA may throw your way. So, you should only use the audio mode as a highly effective supplement to the
other, active, visual study you do with our app. Audio mode is an optional add on - for many of our titles it is not
included with the basic app and it's only available for some titles.
Once you have your study mode selected, you can start the study session. We'll show you an example in "Study I". You'll
see there are two basic screen modes - Normal and Full-Screen. In normal mode, you can drag the panes to suit your
needs.
The question is in the top left as are the answer choices. You'll see a row of option buttons there.
Click the help
icon to get a more thorough description of what they do, but in short they are:
The review button determines if you see explanations after every question or only after correct or incorrect answers
The sound button toggles sound effects, where available
The Star button highlights a question into your favorite questions list that persists across sessions
The Mark button allows you to mark a question for later review within the same study session
The font larger smaller buttons, where available, allow you to fine-tune your on screen experience
The question list at bottom left keeps track of your progress.
Where questions refer to charts or figures, you can see them at upper right.
On some platform versions, a series of drawing tools show up there as well to help you annotate the figures. This is particularly helpful when you need to work with aviation charts or performance graphs.
Both a regular calculator and an integrated E6B flight computer are also available at lower right in some platform versions.
However, the main feature of the lower right panel is our best in the business explanations to FAA questions.
These are rich, detailed, and illustrated and are maintained by a professional editorial team of instructors and examiners. If you printed out our detailed explanations for a typical FAA test, the result would be thousands of pages - all of it potentially important, and clearly much more in depth than what a video-base course, with its necessarily slower presentation, could hope to offer. Our explanations - smart, detailed, and well-written, are in many ways are the heart of our prep. They are not just a "nice to have" to see why you may have gotten a given question wrong, but a key resource to to really understanding the material and passing the test, especially these days as the FAA is increasingly using a number of strategies on tests, including unpublished questions, to identify those who truly understand and to weed out those who just memorize. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of our users pass their FAA tests and go on to be smart, safe, and efficient pilots and mechanics.
After you're done studying, you can hit the grade button to see how you did. You can practice and review unanswered and incorrect questions.
You can see a moving average chart of your progress.
On some platform versions, you can even share your results immediately with your instructor or school, who can view them online.
GroundSchool is a powerful and efficient tool with a fast and polished user experience designed to help you pass your FAA exam and
reach your aviation goals.
Yes, questions are filtered by specific test. (for example: airplane vs helicopter)
Yes, absolutely.
Our questions are filtered by test. This means that when using our app you will study only those questions that our editors have determined apply to your particular test - nothing less, and nothing more. This is a huge time saver.
Our FAA knowledge test preps are sold by "groups" - for example, Private Pilot, IFR, Sport Pilot, Commercial Pilot, Flight and Ground Instructor, Sport Pilot Instructor/Examiner, ATP, Flight Engineer, Aviation Mechanic - General, Aviation Mechanic - Airframe, Aviation Mechanic Powerplant, and Drone (UAS) Pilot.
Each group generally contains one or more tests. For example, our Private Pilot titles contain the following tests:
Private Pilot Airplane
Private Pilot Helicopter
Private Pilot Glider
Private Pilot Gyroplane
... and several more.
Once you get our GroundSchool - Private Pilot app on the device of your choice, you will be prompted to select the test you want to study for (for example: Private Pilot Airplane). Once you do that, the app will present you with only those questions that our editors have determined have applied to that test.
Should you want to, you can switch tests within a group at any time. For example, you can later switch to Private Pilot Glider if you wish. In practice, most people ever take only one test in any given group (except for flight instructor candidates, who take the FOI Fundamentals of Instruction test along with a test such as FIA flight instructor airplane), but the option is there should you need it.
Total Questions: 14142 (11090 in audio version)
Recreational and Private Pilot (PVT) : 1608 (1233 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane : 1215 (919 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter : 1048 (805 in audio version)
Private Pilot Glider : 891 (675 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Hot Air : 702 (547 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Gas : 684 (531 in audio version)
Private Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 746 (574 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Gyroplane : 1058 (799 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1167 (881 in audio version)
Private Pilot Helicopter/Rec. Pilot - Transition : 1031 (791 in audio version)
Private Pilot Gyroplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1043 (786 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Airplane : 1216 (925 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Helicopter : 1065 (825 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Gyroplane : 1081 (823 in audio version)
Private Pilot Powered Parachute : 813 (636 in audio version)
Private Pilot Weight Shift Control : 866 (678 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Airplane) : 631 (515 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Helicopter) : 604 (492 in audio version)
Private Pilot EU Part - FCL Conversion (Airplane) : 633 (517 in audio version)
Instrument Rating (IFR) : 1511 (1055 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Airplane : 1426 (991 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Helicopter : 1272 (867 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger (PAR) : 325 (310 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Senior : 317 (302 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Master : 299 (284 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Military Competence : 322 (307 in audio version)
Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner : 322 (307 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - General (SPG) : 1311 (1016 in audio version)
Sport Pilot General : 683 (539 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Airplane : 1025 (794 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Glider : 820 (642 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Gyroplane : 916 (711 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Powered Parachute : 685 (550 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Weight-Shift-Control : 740 (591 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Balloon) : 694 (555 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 707 (568 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - Instructor and Examiner (SPI) : 1865 (1699 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Airplane : 1034 (897 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Balloon : 645 (575 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Glider : 857 (748 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Lighter-than-Air : 683 (606 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Powered Parachute : 667 (596 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 744 (655 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Gyroplane : 889 (787 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Airplane : 1029 (894 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Balloon : 678 (608 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Glider : 858 (749 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Lighter-than-Air : 717 (640 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Powered Parachute : 678 (607 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 741 (652 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Gyroplane : 888 (786 in audio version)
Fundamentals of Instruction : 531 (519 in audio version)
Remote / Drone Pilot (RDP) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Initial) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Recurrent) : 635 (564 in audio version)
Purchasing bulk or lab/classroom/site licenses for your school or business
GroundSchool FAA test prep is available in bulk and site license versions for businesses and educational institutions. Pretty much everybody
agrees that GroundSchool is far superior in terms of learning content compared to G****, A**, K*** ******, J*******, S****** ***, and our other
competitors. If you've been using one of those competitors for far too long, maybe it's time to switch! Our prices are highly competitive, and
the process of obtaining bulk and site licenses is fully automated and fast. Please click the links below for more information.
Individual Licenses to our apps are what individual customers visiting our website might purchase. This is usually directly for themselves but it can also be for example a parent buying for a child or a kind friend buying a gift for another. Once activated, individual
licenses are permanently assigned to one person for life. This is great as it means that the individual can use the software for life without any additional upgrade or yearly subscription fees. However, it also means that the license or the activated strictly cannot and must not be
transferred (given, sold, shared, etc) to any other individual, even if the license holder is nominally not using it any more. It's very generous and fair deal.
If this sounds like you and are interested in purchasing our products, please start at our homepage and find the product you are after for the platform of your choice. If you need any assistance, we are standing by to help you via our helpdesk.
Bulk Licenses are fundamentally the same as individual licenses except purchased in bulk for a discount. For example, a teacher might gather their 20 students together to make a bulk purchase of one of our test preps that might be of value to each member in the class. At the end of the process, each individual will have their own individual license(s) to the product(s) in question - the licenses cannot be shared. Bulk licenses are anybody from flight schools and universities to individual instructors to websites/FBOs/retail outlets. The process of obtaining our products in bulk is fully automated. To make a bulk purchase, please visit our B2B Portal: Bulk Licenses page. There are additional help resources there as well to guide you through the process.
Lab/Site Licenses are for educational institutions and private businesses which have fixed or essentially fixed computers in a lab or classroom environment. When you purchase a site/lab license (the terms are synonymous), the software will be configured with a special login screen so that anybody who walks up to the computer can use the software and their personalized study progress, saved sessions, and more will follow them around no matter what computer they happen to sit down at and even if they happen to have their own personal copy of the same app on their personal device. What's more, is that, unlike our competitors, we charge per seat, not per student. This means that you can theory have an infinite number of students using our best-in-class apps at a very low per student price. To learn more about these, visit our B2B Portal Site Licenses page.
How to use the plotter / protractor / compass?
The plotter (also known as the compass or protractor) is a feature of GroundSchool that allows for distance and angle to be measured on certain charts. Plotting / Drawing tools are available on the PC and Mac versions only.
To learn how these work, please click on the "?" or help button next to the drawing tools in the app itself. This will present you with detailed instructions on how to work the plotter, protractor, and other drawing tools.
Testing Center Emulation Modes?
We have in the past offered a 'testing center emulation' modes inside our PC FAA test prep software. This is because long ago, some small percentage of people were unfamiliar with or at least intimidated by basic computer usage. Per our more recent experience and internal metrics, the need for this has now long passed. As such, we are removing these features (or rather, not building them into new versions) of our test prep apps. They may already have been removed by the time you read this.
You presumably know how to use a keyboard and mouse, and so there's no reason to worry about the testing center experience. None. The test center software in use at all FAA testing centers these is very straight-forward and user friendly. Additionally, if you're really concerned, you can take a short tutorial on the test center software interface itself before you take your actual test. In writing this answer, we contacted about a dozen people who recently took their FAA knowledge tests. All but two two skipped the testing center interface tutorial and the two that did said that they did so only out of an overabundance of caution but really there was nothing much to be learned there.
In other words, the test center interface these days is a 100% non-issue.
Inspection Authorization (IA) Test Prep?
We do not currently offer a prep for the IA FAA (Mechanic) Inspection Authorization test.
Instrument Flight Instructor (CFII) and Ground Instructor (IGI)?
Quick Summary: CFI-I (Instrument Instructor) test prep content is similar to that in initial IFR tests. Therefore, INSTRUMENT Flight and Ground Instructor test preps (both initial and add-on, for all aircraft types) are in our FAA GroundSchool - INSTRUMENT RATING (IFR) TEST PREP apps NOT in the regular Flight/Ground Instructor Instructor apps.
The Instrument Instructor Tests are in our IFR test prep apps.
The "regular" ("CFI", non-instrument) test (including AGI and BGI) are in our CFI (GroundSchool FAA Flight and Ground Instructor) test preps. The INSTRUMENT ("CFII") tests, including Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI) are in our IFR (GroundSchool FAA Instrument Rating) test prep apps.
For any FAA INSTRUMENT INSTRUCTOR knowledge test, please use our INSTRUMENT RATING test prep apps. If you're a previous customer of ours and had bought our FAA Instrument Rating test prep when you were doing your instrument rating initially, then you're all set and have nothing more to buy as in that case you just need to start up the app and select IFI or IGI as appropriate.
Our FAA IFR test prep includes the following instrument instructor tests:
Flight Instructor INSTRUMENT airplane INITIAL (FII): most future airplane CFI-Is, including those who are already "VFR" Airplane CFIs, take this.
Flight Instructor INSTRUMENT airplane ADDED RATING (AIF): take this if you are already a CFI-I-Helicopter and want to become a CFI-I-Airplane.
Flight Instructor INSTRUMENT helicopter INITIAL (FIH): most future helicopter CFI-Is, including those who are already "VFR" Helicopter CFIs, take this.
Flight Instructor INSTRUMENT helicopter ADDED RATING (HIF): take this if you are already a CFI-I-Airplane and want to become a CFI-I-Helicopter.
Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI)
Here are the answers to common question we get from users about this test:
What app should I get to prepare for this test?
The questions for the INSTRUMENT instructor tests have a lot in common with the IFR Instrument Rating test banks. Therefore, the INSTRUMENT instructor test preps are part of our GroundSchool FAA Instrument Rating products. They are NOT part of our CFI Flight Instructor products. To prep for your CFI-Instrument test, please get the GroundSchool - FAA - IFR app for the platform of your choice. Once you start the app, you will be able to choose from a list of tests. Choose the instrument instructor test of your choice from there and the question list will be filtered to reflect those that our editors feel reflect the Instrument Instructor test you have selected.
Are the questions filtered so that I will only study the content which might appear on my specific test?
Yes, absolutely.
What is the difference between the regular and the "added rating" tests?
Please contact your local FAA FSDO to determine which test you should take as the situation varies depending on the individual. Only your FAA FSDO can give you a definitive, "bankable" answer. NONE OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE ON THIS PAGE IS OFFICIAL, LEGAL ADVICE, and there is always a chance that we may be presenting incorrect or out of date information here.
Unofficial "could be wrong" advice:
The "added rating" tests are for those who already have an existing INSTRUMENT instructor rating. So, for example, if you are already a CFI-I-Helicopter and want to become a CFI-I-Airplane, take the CFI-I-Airplane add-on test (AIF). Or, for the opposite, the HIF test. What this means is that in practice, very few people legitimately need to take the "added rating" tests.
That said, we have heard cases where people have accidentally taken the added-rating tests thinking that because they are already a CFI (VFR), that this was an 'added rating.' Unofficially, we have heard of this being accepted from time to time by the FAA as "close enough", but we strongly suggest not counting on having this courtesy as your application may be rejected if the FAA/examiner deems this to be unacceptable.
Instead, most potential instrument instructors reading this, even if they already are a 'regular, VFR' CFI, as is typical, will be taking the initial tests: FII for airplane, FIH for helicopter.
What is the difference between the Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI) and the Flight Instructor Instrument tests?
There is very little difference between the two Because you get your IGI based on taking the written (and filing some FAA paperwork), what many people do is that they take their flight instructor instrument and ground instructor instrument written tests one after another on the same day. Sure, you have to pay the testing center for another test, but most people find this to be a successful strategy if they want to get both.
What is the difference between the instrument flight / ground instructor tests and the regular IFR tests such as IFR - Airplane?
The test banks vary here and as a very rough estimate they vary by about 20-30% from one another with the airplane ones varying a bit more from one another than the helicopter ones. If you're an IFR candidate who know that you're going to go for a CFI-I, you might want to consider taking both sequentially. If you do we suggest studying using our app for the CFI-I test most of the time and then once you're really good at that using our app to study the regular IFR test for a bit to try to catch any differences. We suggest it this way since instructor test is harder than the regular one (by a bit), we reckon that you'll have little problem going from CFI-I preparedness to regular IFR preparedness as your knowledge for CFI-I should be sufficient to prepare you for the regular IFR (but again, we recommend you do a few sessions with the regular IFR just to be sure). Then, you can take the tests sequentially on the same day. Please keep in mind however that FAA knowledge test results have a limited validity period (24 calendar months at the time of this writing).
Do I have to pay twice to study for regular IFR and CFI-I?
No. You only pay once. Just get our GroundSchool IFR app for the platform of your choice and select the test of your choice. If you want to change from regular IFR to CFI-I or from CFI-I to IGI or whatever, you can switch on the 'select test' screen without limits. What's more, updates are free for life in our apps so if you're planning a gap between your initial IFR and your CFI-I that's no problem.
What do I need to take if I am NOT a "VFR" CFI but want to be a CFI-Instrument as my FIRST flight instructor rating?
This is uncommon, but it happens. In this case, you will need to take both the FII or FIH test as appropriate and also you will need to take the FOI Fundamentals of Instruction knowledge test. The FOI is a general "theory of learning" test that is only marginally aviation-specific. The FOI prep is in our "regular" GroundSchool flight and ground instructor apps. The FOI prep is not included in our IFR prep. For some platforms (PC only at the time of this writing), we may also sell the FOI prep as a stand-alone prep for a slightly lesser price, but honestly, unless you have a very specific need, it is almost always better to get the entire regular Flight/Ground Instructor package as the price difference is not much.
Instructor Add-On / Added Rating Tests
Yes, our test preps include the add-on (added rating) instructor tests such as:
The "regular" ("CFI", non-instrument) tests are in our CFI (GroundSchool FAA Flight and Ground Instructor) test preps. The INSTRUMENT ("CFII") add-on tests are in our IFR (GroundSchool FAA Instrument Rating) test preps (as are the "initial" instrument instructor tests).
For a complete list of which tests are in what product, click the link in the the "related issues" below.
Are the questions separated into test so that I study only what I need to for my add-on test?
Yes. Once you start the app, you select exactly the test you want. For example, you select "Flight Instructor Helicopter (Additional Rating)" from the list of tests available in the GroundSchool CFI app and you will be presented with only those questions that our editors have determined apply to that particular test.
I heard that the "additional rating" test banks are smaller than that "initial" test banks.
Well, yes and no. They are a bit smaller in practice. In theory, they should be quite a bit smaller, but in practice the FAA doesn't do a great job of excluding questions that technically it might claim to categorically exclude from the add-on tests. This is likely simply a reflection of the difficult task that the FAA test-setters have. As such, in practice, you are likely to encounter on your add-on test a wider selection of questions than you might otherwise expect to see just from reading the FAA knowledge test guides. Correspondingly, our editors mirror this with a conservative inclusion of questions in our add-on rating test banks. For pretty much all test takers, this is a non-issue as at most you experience a gentle review of some things that might well appear on the test you are going to take anyway. Our instructor add-on test takers have historically reported very, very high degrees of success and nearly uniformly high scores on their tests. That said, don't take them lightly - they are still real FAA knowledge tests and studying hard is essential even if you aced your initial instructor written previously.
Basic, Advanced, and Instrument Ground Instructor (BGI, AGI, and IGI)
Are you asking about preparing for any of the following FAA Knowledge Tests?
Basic Ground Instructor (BGI)
Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI)
Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI)
If yes, then great! We have excellent preparation apps that can help you pass those tests.
BGI and AGI are part of our GroundSchool FAA CFI (Flight and Ground Instructor) test prep packages.What this means is that you should purchase the GroundSchool FAA Flight and Ground Instructor / CFI app for the platform of your choice (click on the link in the beginning of this paragraph to get started). Then, when the app starts, you will be presented with a list of flight and ground instructor tests. Among these will be AGI and BGI. Select the one you want from the list and study away (the app will then only show questions relevant to the test you choose).
IGI Instrument Ground Instructor is part of our GroundSchool FAA IFR (Instrument Rating) test prep package. It is NOT part of the CFI package. This is because the IGI questions are basically similar to the general FAA IFR questions. Please note that the prep for the INSTRUMENT flight instructor exams is also in the IFR package. To prepare for the IGI exam, get the IFR app for the platform of your choice (click on the link in the beginning of this paragraph) and then after you have downloaded and installed the app, select IGI as appropriate from the list of instrument tests that you will be presented with and study away.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What if you want both BGI and AGI?
BGI and AGI are both in the GroundSchool - Flight and Ground Instructor Package. So, you just need to purchase it once and you can use it to study for both.
What if I want 'regular' airplane CFI and AGI?
As above. By the way - if you visit the GroundSchool CFI Flight and Ground Instructor page you can see the list of tests included in the app. Many smart flight instructor candidates take for example their Flight Instructor Airplane and AGI or BGI tests sequentially (right after another at the testing center on the same day) since the tests are very similar. Sure, it costs you an additional fee to the test center, but you walk out of there with that extra 'Ground Instructor' qualification to put on your resume. Likewise, Instrument Flight Instructor candidates could benefit from taking the Flight instructor instrument airplane and instrument ground instructor tests sequentially on the same visit to the testing center in the same way as, again, the tests are quite similar to one another. In fact, it's even possible to take the basic Instrument Rating - Airplane, Flight Instructor Instrument Airplane, and Instrument Ground Instructor tests sequentially. While the overlap in question content isn't 100% there, they are close enough that this is potentially not a bad strategy if you can plan that far ahead.
What about if I want AGI and IGI?
AGI is in the CFI package. IGI is in the Instrument package. This requires you to get two different apps/titles.
What about the Fundamentals of Instruction Exam (FOI)?
This test is required of some flight and ground instructor candidates. Prep for it is included in our GroundSchool - CFI (Flight and Ground Instructor) package.
What test should I take?
If you have questions regarding which test you should take given your experience and/or aviation/career goals, please contact your nearest FAA FSDO (Flight Standards District Office). It is the job of the FAA employees there to help you answer such questions and they are standing by ready, willing, and able to help you. Moreover, when you call them you are getting an answer from an official source - when you call them, make a record of your call and you will have 'official backing' for your decision. This is a much better strategy than asking us or any other private company for advice on this. As we want you to get the best and most accurate advice, we refer people with career / "which test" type questions to the FAA.
Which platform should I study on?
No matter which platform you choose, the learning content in each is exactly the same and we make updates available for all platform versions at exactly the same time. The user experience and feature set of our apps on each platform is similar, but is is also naturally tailored to the look and capabilities of each specific platform and device. There is no one "best" platform - they are all good apps and the platform you should choose depends on your personal preferences. Some people purchase our apps on multiple platforms for greater convenience and availability. However, due to policies set forth by the app stores (Google and Apple), each platform version is a separate purchase. Please also note that due to limitations imposed by Google, Amazon, and Apple, we are not necessarily able to offer the same "bundle" options on all platforms.
I don't understand what I am supposed to do on the page that you sent me to.
This message basically directs you to visit either the:
GroundSchool Flight and Ground Instructor page if you want to study for the BGI, AGI, or other non-instrument and non-sport-pilot flight and/or ground instructor exams or the Fundamentals of Instruction test
GroundSchool - IFR page if you want to study for the IGI or other instrument instructor tests.
Once you click on either of the links above, scroll down to the box in the middle of the screen where you will see it available for various platforms. From there, you can get the app as appropriate either (for PC) by downloading it directly via our website or for other platforms such as Android, Mac, and iPhone/iPad by getting it directly from the official app store for that platform.
Which ATP Test?
Our ATP test prep contains prep for a number of tests, some of which are "legacy" tests that are no longer widely given but are still seen in some niche schools / applications.
If you are a regular FAA pilot looking to get your ATP, you will likely be taking the ATP - ATP Airplane Multi-engine test. Use our prep to prepare for the ATM test and ignore everything else that does not apply to you. Of course, if you fly helicopters, choose the appropriate helicopter test.
While the overwhelming majority of people these days going for their ATP need to prepare for and pass the ATM test, you can always ask your flight school / training provider to confirm which exact test you need.
Where can I take my actual FAA written test?
Most people take their actual FAA exams at one of the 300+ PSI testing centers nationwide.
Your local PSI center may be co-located with your Flight School / Mechanic School / FBO. The tests are administered on a computer. PSI collects a fee for their services - we have nothing to do with this.
Please visit http://www.psiexams.com/ for more information or to find a testing center near you. They also have some international locations.
Setup re-runs when I expect the program to start
This question applies to any of our Microsoft Windows PC software titles.
If when you click on the program icon for one of our PC titles, "setup re-runs", what's probably happening is that you're clicking on the download package of the program, not the icon for the installed program itself.
You can normally find our apps installed on your PC under the start menu. Typically it's something like START ... PROGRAMS ... DAUNTLESS.
Additionally, during the setup process you are offered the opportunity to make a "desktop shortcut." This is often helpful as it means that when the installation is done, you'll have an icon on your desktop to quick launch the app.
Can't activate discount during the purchase process
This text is for those of you who are having trouble claiming your discount as a purchaser of an additional Groundschool for PC license.
In order to claim the discount for this additional purchase, you must have two things handy:
Your unlock/activation code from your previous purchase of GroundSchool FAA written test prep software for Windows PC and
Your email address.
It should be a simple matter of typing in this unlock code and your email address into the boxes provided to activate the discount.
If you're having issues with the process, here are some potential reasons why:
Reason 1: maybe you are not typing in your unlock code correctly.
An unlock / activation code will typically look like this:
X-XXX-XXXXX-XXXX
Where each X is a letter or number. You need to copy this exactly as it was given to you before, taking special care not to confuse the letter O with the number 0, the letter I with the number 1, and so forth.
Reason 2: You are trying to use a code for something other than our GroundSchool FAA written test prep software for Windows PC.
ONLY a GroundSchool FAA written test prep software for Windows PC code is valid here. This means that your unlock code for RideReady Checkride Oral Exam prep software, GroundSchool for iOS, Android, or Mac, Safelog pilot logbook software, GroundSchool Canada pilot written test prep software, or anything else will not work.
Reason 3: You have a valid GroundSchool FAA for PC unlock code, but did not use it yet.
In order to claim the discount, you must have actually used your unlock code to unlock the software. This will typically be a problem only if you just purchased the software. The solution is to start the software on your PC, use the unlock code to actually activate the software, and then return here to use the same unlock code for your discount.
Reason 4: You have entered an incorrect or unrecognized email address either now or in the past.
Perhaps you are indeed entering your email address correctly now, but the problem is that previous you entered it incorrectly, so the system can not match it up.
If, after hearing these reasons, you think that you are entitled to a discount but still can’t get it to work, please contact our helpdesk and explain the situation carefully and in detail, including telling us what email address and unlock code you are attempting to use. We’ll be happy to help.
Thank you, and good luck in all of your aviation goals.
No Test Bank Installed?
Are you receiving a message to the effect that there is "no test bank installed on this computer?"
We're sorry to hear about the difficulty you are experiencing. There are a number of possible reasons for this. Whatever the reason, getting this sorted is very straightforward if you follow the steps below in the order provided.
Solution 1: Try rebooting your PC.
Sometimes, the simple act of rebooting your PC fixes this problem. Since it is so simple, why not try this first?
Solution 2: Install a test bank from within the application.
If the program takes you to the main menu after you receive this message, you can normally install a test bank as follows:
Clicking on 'Check for Updated Content' or an equivalent update link in the software.
Selecting the test group of your choice, where necessary.
Clicking on 'install.'
This will normally cause the test bank of your choice to be downloaded from the Internet to your PC. This may take up to a few moments, and you may need to restart the application and/or your PC to see the results.
Solution 3: Re-download and re-install the software from our website.
A not unusual reason why you see the message that you did is because you, well, made a mess of the installation of the software. This usually happens due to the user making several attempts to install the software and putting things in various random folders.
Again, don't worry, this is easy to fix.
The first thing to do is, just out of general principle, is to uninstall whatever you've installed. How you do this depends on your copy of Windows, but basically you go into something like your PC's control panel, then click "add/remove programs" and remove as many copies of the affected software as you see there. Then, reboot your PC.
After uninstalling the software and rebooting your PC, re-visit our website and download and install the software anew. This fixes basically all such problems that the previous two fixes didn't solve.
So, the steps are:
Fully uninstall the software from your PC.
Reboot your PC.
When starting your PC, make sure you are logged in as administrator / with administrator access.
Visit our website.
Download the software anew from our website.
Install it on your PC.
To make your life easier, we suggest that you do both of the following:
Install in the default folder suggested by the install program.
Opt to create a desktop icon from which you can run the software, if the choice is provided to you. This is often via a checkbox that reads 'create desktop icon' offered to you near the end of the installation.
If you need further assistance, there are plenty of step-by-step guides and other help in this helpdesk and on our website should you need further assistance with this.
Solution 4: Fix your PC's permission properties and/or set your internet 'security' software properly.
This solution really isn't substantially different than the first one. However, if you've gotten to this point, there's probably one of three things happening:
You really didn't uninstall or remove some previously corrupted version, and despite re-installing, are just running the old, corrupt version over and over (solution: fully remove the old corrupt version, reboot, and re-download and re-install).
You installed the new version, but you did not do so with the proper permissions on your PC. Try again, but this time you are logged in as administrator with full administrative access before installing it anew. Basically, it seems the system can not write its databases due to your permission settings.
You installed the new version, but your Internet 'security' software, such as Norton or whatever, is interfering. Too often, lazily written "security" software, often from big name companies, causes havoc. Solution: set your internet 'security' software settings to allow our program to install and run properly and try again.
If you follow these steps, you should be up and running in no time.
It is really important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Passing Guarantee?
No, we do not offer a "subsidize lazy students" passing guarantee - and for good reason. We get you - you want your aviation experience be successful and the prospect of taking a test can be stressful. That's certainly understandable. Some of our competitors try to take advantage of your excitement and vulnerability by preying on your subconscious inclination (one that we all share) to believe that if you just pay more that somehow you'll get more. Many pilots fall for the aviation equivalent of 'if I just buy this more expensive treadmill I'll be thin in no time.' As a result, it's possible to be lured by full-page glossy ads that convince you to needlessly spend 5 to 10 times what our apps cost on 'online courses' or 'pilot kits.' In our experience such offerings consist of not much more than:
Paper reprints of FAA documents which you're better off downloading for free from the FAA website (since then they're searchable and often more up to date).
Low quality pilot supplies such as bags or plotters that you'd be better off buying individually if you need them at all
DVD or online video "helps you fall asleep" content that you'll likely never watch as the rate that the information is presented is excruciatingly slow and inefficient.
Test prep questions (that are at best similar to ours in terms of currency and correctness, and in practice often much worse and always with a less time efficient user interface / user experience compared to ours).
.. and some sort of 'Passing Guarantee' as a marketing cherry on top gimmick to complete their hard sell.
Our philosophy at Dauntless is to provide not only the best FAA written test prep out there, but to do so at reasonable cost. We're pilots and engineers. We're good at making highly effective apps and providing great aviation content. It's just not in our DNA to sell you things that you don't need. The overwhelming majority of pilots and mechanics who have used our prep materials pass their tests on the first try. But, as many tens of thousands have used our preps over the years, of course some small percentage has failed as well. in essentially all cases of failure, no matter who or what they publicly blame, closer examination has shown that the real underlying cause has been the student not having put in adequate time or effort into learning and understanding the material.
We think it's far more fair for all involved to not artificially inflate the cost of our apps by adding in a 'lazy student subsidization fee', which is really all that those 'guarantees' amount to.
Not convinced? Take a closer look at our competitors' offerings. If you see their websites, they write terms such as "Passing Guarantee!" in big prominent letters. It may seem at first that this applies to all of their test prep products. Look more closely, however, and you'll see (at least, at this time of this writing) that this guarantee only applies to their overpriced "courses", not their regular test prep books and software. These "courses" typically amount to little more than you getting a short outline on a block of questions (far less, typically, than what we provide via our question explanations) followed by some questions to learn. After you go through several such blocks, they give you several simulated FAA written tests as a "final exam." If you pass those exams with a high score you're entitled to their guarantee. Well, guess what--you can do basically the same thing for far cheaper with our apps. You can take an unlimited number of practice tests using GroundSchool and then go take your real test when your scores are sufficiently high.
As a general rule, we've found that if you use our apps in "simulated test" mode on all chapters, and can consistently score at least 90% or higher (95%+ is better!) 5 or more times in a row (10 is better!) then you have a statistically/historically excellent chance of passing your test. Your chances of passing will be much higher if in getting those scores you actually study and learn from our detailed explanations and don't try to "just memorize", as the FAA increasingly uses anti-memorization question variations on the actual tests. Those who study hard, do well on sufficient simulated tests, and actually learn the material overwhelmingly do very well on their knowledge tests.
So, don't be taken in by expensive yet worthless "guarantees!" Say YES to our lower priced, more efficient, apps.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Number of Questions in GroundSchool vs. FAA?
This
pertains primarily to our GroundSchool FAA Written Test Prep Software and Apps.
>> To see the exact number of questions that we have for each test, click here. <<<
Do we appear to have MORE or FEWER questions than you have been led to believe is correct for a given test?
MORE QUESTIONS?
I saw an FAA PDF document on the internet that had (for example) 512 questions for a given test, but your test bank shows more (for example 954). If I use GroundSchool, will I be studying too many questions?
Our app has it just right. The PDFs that the FAA publishes generally have an incomplete, sample only test bank that does not reflect the totality of the questions that you might be asked. If you study using only the FAA PDF (which by the way doesn't have correct answers and explanations, as our prep certainly does), you will most likely be studying far less than is required and will almost certainly not be ready to pass the test. The FAA no longer releases the full test banks via its website.
FEWER QUESTIONS?
I saw an FAA PDF document on the internet that had (for example) 413 questions, but your test bank shows fewer (for example, 341).
Again, our app has it just right. If we appear to have fewer questions for a given test than you've seen in some FAA or other list or PDF, then what you're likely looking at is a document containing an entire test bank which has not yet been filtered down into individual tests. For example, you might be looking at a document that has both airplane and helicopter questions mixed together while you're only looking at airplane questions in our app. In GroundSchool, the questions are carefully sorted (filtered) so that you only study the questions that apply to your exact test. So therefore, in this example, of the 413 questions in the bank, only a subset of those apply to your particular test. This doesn't mean that 341 questions necessarily come from the 413 in the PDF. it could be, for example, that 200 come from the PDF and another 141 come to us from the question list that the FAA does not publicly release via its website.
Bottom Line: Our GroundSchool FAA knowledge preps are the best and most comprehensive knowledge test preps out there and feature correctly filtered, representative FAA question sets fully compatible with and compliant to FAA Airman Certification Standards. Other test preps may try to lure you in with nonsense claims about the number of questions but your key focus should be on comparing depth of content, proven track record, and polished and user experience, where we come out way ahead in any serious comparison.
Approved Ground School?
For everything except for certain ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) certificates, there is no requirement to attend a formal, classroom-based ground school.
You may see a ground school course advertised at your local airport or community college. Such courses can be a nice way to meet interesting people and to get a direct point of contact to ask questions and explore ideas. However, for most certificates and ratings, including all Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, and Commercial Pilot certificates, there is absolutely no requirement to attend a formal, classroom ground school. You can do all the learning at home (or wherever) at your own schedule and pace using our test prep apps.
To take and pass an FAA knowledge (written) test you need only two things:
to have the knowledge in your head to take and pass the test
for many exams, an instructor "signoff" or signature.
The first one you can get, entirely, by using our test prep apps at home on your own time and at your own pace. This is part of what makes our apps so great. Get our app, study hard, learn not just the answers but also make sure you internalize our detailed explanations. Take several simulated practice tests using the app and score highly, and statistically speaking, you'll be all set with a very high chance of doing great.
For the second thing (the signoff) if you study hard using our prep, go to your local flight school and introduce yourself to an instructor. To any flight school or instructor, a well prepared student is like gold. Pretty much all flight schools and instructors will be thrilled to give a well prepared student an endorsement on the spot - it's quick and easy to do and for them it's good business since it opens the door to you being a customer / student of theirs. Getting such an endorsement really is a non-issue for pretty much everybody.
So - about those classroom-based ground schools. Necessary? No. Helpful sometimes? Yes. It's entirely your choice whether you want to attend one. Many classroom-based ground school instructors and classes use and recommend our test prep apps to help their students prepare for their tests. To such instructors / schools, we give a big thank you! This is a win-win combination in that this lets students study the 1000+ questions found in a typical FAA test efficiently on their own time while freeing up classroom time for questions and discussions on the finer points.
How to report an issue with a question or learning content ...
Our online helpdesk will gladly address technical matters related to our apps and programs. However, if you have an issue with the content of one of our apps and programs, such as a concern about a question or illustration, respectfully, please do not write to this helpdesk as this is not the correct place to report such issues.
Instead, please use the following checklist:
Make sure you update the program/app using the in-app update. Perhaps the issue you are referring to has already been addressed?
Make every attempt to verify the issue and be prepared to DOCUMENT or at least provide solid evidence of your claim. "My instructor said.." or "some book baldly asserts" unfortunately don't cut it. We're far from perfect, but please understand that books and instructors are often themselves provide incorrect or out of date information. Despite our pleas here, over 90% of the feedback that we get from users is, well, in a word, not correct. While this occasionally tells us that we need to make a given explanation clearer, most of the time it tells us that the user just needs to slow down, study a bit more, and read the material carefully.
Please be sure you are not asking about question phrasing. Remember that the questions come from the FAA and other agencies, not us. Unfortunately, there is little we can do about unclear questions or too similar answer choices.
Finally, if you want to reach out to our editorial team, please do so by clicking the 'report an issue' link/button in the explanation/review section of a given question.
Examples of where to click to report content related issues are shown below:
Unfortunately, our helpdesk team CANNOT reply or assist
with content related issues not submitted through this mechanism as we're just the tech and customer service people and you want to reach our editorial team. If you send content related issues to our technical and customer service helpdesk, there is a good chance that your issue may not reach its intended target. Please remember that our editorial staff handles tens of thousands of questions and content pieces over dozens of titles. When you click the correct link from the question or content piece at issue, not only will you reach the editorial team, but you'll actually be submitting your message to the right person in our editorial team responsible for that material. It's a win-win to get your content-related issue looked at and, if appropriate, handled quickly.
Our editorial team greatly appreciates and thanks those who take the time to submit issue related feedback through the appropriate mechanism.
Is the content current for 2024 and will it be current in 2025 and beyond?
Yes, absolutely. Our team regularly updates the question banks and our best-in-the-business explanations. No test prep can honestly claim to have all of the current FAA questions all of the time, but between the actual and realistic questions that we have at any given point plus our explanations to prepare you for any unpublished questions the FAA may throw your way, our system works and tens of thousands of pilots and mechanics each year pass their tests thanks to our materials.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Content updates are built-in and free. Take advantage of this by making sure you check for updates often. There's a "check for updates" (or similar) button/link on the main menu of all of our apps. Make sure that you check this often - once when you get the app, and regularly thereafter, to ensure that you have the latest and greatest content. The year that you see on the main menu of our apps only gives a rough idea of the currency of the content that you currently have loaded. In reality, our editors update the content continuously, so it makes sense for you to check for updates regularly.
What does it mean when you see an FAA test prep book with "2025" on the cover?
The stamping of a year on the cover of a test prep book is mostly a marketing gimmick (not unreasonable perhaps, but still a gimmick) aimed at both you (the pilot) and at retailers. The truth is that the FAA releases questions and updates continuously and somewhat asynchronously throughout the year. Therefore, the start of a new year has no particular meaning as far as the question banks go. In practice, this means that some book companies will take their current set of questions in, say, mid-Summer 2024 and send these off to the printer to create a "2025" book. This causes some test-goers to be concerned that they may have 'out of date' material and also creates a system where conscientious students would feel compelled to buy an updated version of the book with a semi-misleading title year-in, year-out. With our GroundSchool preps, there are no such issues.
With our GroundSchool FAA test prep apps, updates are free for life for the platform of your choice for individual users. What this means is that you can update the learning content in the app to the latest available at any time, free. You can do this from within the app by clicking on the 'check for updates' button on the main menu. Just to be clear: we also put year information such as "2024" or "2025" on the main menus of our apps, but this only serves as a general guide.) We believe that ours is by far the most generous and sensible policy out there and also the one most conducive to lifetime learning. What we ask in return, however, is your honesty; you can't transfer (lend, give, sell, etc.) the app or its contents to anybody else, even when you are done using it. Should you encounter somebody who might benefit from our apps, we'd be most obliged if you could direct them to our site where they can purchase their own copies. This is a fair system that will allow to continue to bring to the aviation community the best product at a reasonable price.
FAA Control Tower Operator (CTO) ATC (Air Traffic Control) Test Prep
The FAA Control Tower Operator (CTO) test is intended for people who are looking to qualify as control tower operators.
It is approved by the Air Traffic Service for use in technical training.
We at Dauntless offer the best CTO test prep in existence. You can prepare for the platform of your choice using
actual, realistic, and current FAA questions per the FAA Control Tower Operator study guide. Our prep offer a polished
and efficient study environment and, critically, the best, most detailed explanations in the business so that
you'll be best prepared for new and unpublished questions.
Our prep is fully compatible with FAA ATC Publication TS-14-1 and the FAA Airmen Certification Standards (where applicable).
If, after you get the ATP prep you don't immediately see CTO in the list of tests, then don't panic - there's an easy fix.
Go the update screen from the main menu of the app and use the 'update' feature get the latest and greatest content. This will
add the CTO content to the app and from there you'll be able to select the CTO test.
Our test prep consists of seven individual areas of learning. Each area is listed in Title 14,
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), Section 65.35. These accurately reflect the areas that you
will be tested on in your actual app. The content is current for 2024 and with the lifetime included
free updates you'll be set for years to come.
The CTO test prep content that comes from FAA publication TS-14-1 is accurately reflected in our test prep. In other words, we make sure that you can study from
official FAA guidance for the CTO test. We supplement this prep with additional related material from other FAA tests. For example, in order to better cover the
breadth of weather questions that you may need to know as a CTO applicant or continuing education subject, we include a number of METAR/TAF/etc questions that generally
come from other, pilot tests. By adding these, we have a more complete prep that will make you better prepared for both the CTO test specifically and to work as
an air traffic controller or related professional more generally.
All questions in the app feature complete, detailed explanations.
Where possible and relevant, our explanations include direct quotations from FAA Publications, including:
CFR 14 (the Federal Aviation Regulations)
FAA Guidebooks and Handbooks
JO 7110.65 (Air Traffic Control)
The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)
The FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary
and many others. Our explanations are detailed and often illustrated. Each is written by an editorial team of experienced pilots, mechanics, examiners, and ATC specialists.
Converting Transport Canada Pilot Licenses to USA/FAA or vice versa
The following information is for those asking about the conversion of a Transport CANADA Pilot certificate and/or rating into an equivalent US/FAA certificate and/or rating.
FAA PILOT? At the request of Transport Canada (who feel that their tests are so easy that they'd really prefer you'd study for them using their own recommended materials), we DO NOT provide test prep material to help you pass the FAA to Transport Canada test(s). If that is what you are after, please contact the TC office in Hamilton ON who will direct you to the exact study materials they want you to study for your test. We do, however, provide materials for Canadian (Transport Canada) pilots to convert to USA/FAA (read more about this below!).
LOOKING FOR CAREER OR LEGAL/QUASI-LEGAL ADVICE? We make test prep apps and related material. We are not a flight school or career consulting service. If you have questions about what test(s) you should take for the progression of your career, what option(s) are available to you given your flight experience, where and what you should do to apply for X Y or Z, etc, out of an overabundance of caution, we cannot help you. While we deal tangentially with such issues, we do not necessarily stay up to date with the latest legal licensing requirements and we'd hate to give you what turned out to be incorrect or old information. If you have a career-type question about the process of converting from a TC to FAA certificate or anything related to your career in general that is of a legalistic nature, we recommend that you contact the FAA International Field Office in New York City (sometimes called the "International FSDO"). There are specialists there whose job it is to be conversant with the rules and to give you answers that you can rely on as "from the horse's mouth." If it turns out you need to take a knowledge test (as will often be the case), we welcome you to try our apps as described below. Thank you for your understanding!
YES, we do provide a full range of products for those wishing to convert their TC licenses into USA FAA ones. This means:
Transport Canada PPL into FAA Private Pilot Certificate (airplane and heli!)
Transport Canada Instrument Rating into FAA Instrument Rating (airplane and heli!)
Transport Canada CPL into FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate (airplane and heli!)
Transport Canada ATPL into FAA ATP Certificate (airplane* and heli!)
* If you're a professional airplane pilot, you will notice that our ATP prep contains several FAA to Canada Aeroplane tests. Most pilots will want to prepare for and pass the ATP Multienegine Airplane conversion test.
Holders of a given Canadian license/rating who want to convert to the equivalent FAA certificate need to
take and pass the necessary 'conversion' written test given by the FAA through a series of testing centres
submit a bunch of paperwork to the FAA
We cannot help you with #2. However, our software and apps can help you prepare for any of the "Canada to FAA" written tests. You can take as many as you need though most pilots will likely need to take one or two at most. If you are not sure what test to take, please contact the FAA (suggestion: FAA International Field Office IFO Jamaica NY) as only they can provide you with the exact guidance on this. Please understand that unfortunately we are not in a position to be able to provide specific legalistic or quasi-legalistic guidance for individual pilots. If you are concerned about *which test* you should take, please don't ask us or any other private company. The FAA is just a short phone call away and they will give you an answer that you can count on.
Ok, that said, what do you need to study for the test?
Our GROUNDSCHOOL FAA Series of programs (PC, Mac) and apps (iPhone/iPad, Android) is 100% what you need to prepare for the tests. Let's say you are a CANADIAN CPL (Commercial Pilot) holder wishing to convert to a US/FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate. In that case:
Select the platform you are interested in - PC, Mac, iOS, Android, etc. Download (and purchase) the app / program as appropriate.
In the GroundSchool FAA Commercial Pilot test prep app or software you will see a list of included tests. For example, "Commercial Pilot Airplane", "Commercial Pilot Helicopter, etc." The one you are looking for is "Commercial Pilot Airplane Canadian Conversion" or "Commercial Pilot Helicopter Canadian Conversion." These are the tests that you are looking for. Study the questions presented there. Be sure to study the EXPLANATIONS as well as the FAA may throw variations in when you take your actual test, though in general the questions should be familiar to you.
Once you have studied the questions well, go and take the actual test at a testing centre. As far as we know, for Canadian Conversion exams, no "signoff" is required - just make an appointment at a testing centre and go and take the test.
"But I heard the test has only (pick a number.. say, 48) questions."
With our test preps, you study only exactly what you need - nothing more, and nothing less.
On the day that you go to the test centre to take the FAA knowledge test to convert your Canadian license to an FAA certificate or rating,
you will indeed only be presented with a few dozen questions (the exact number varies a bit depends on which test you take).
However, this doesn't mean that you only need to study and memorize a few dozen questions! If it did, then it wouldn't be much
of a test, would it? The question pools that the Canadian Conversion draw from are smaller than the entire test pools. Our preps
reflect this accurately. However they
are still several hundred questions. This means that inside of our apps, once you select which "Canadian Conversion" test you want
to study for, the questions will be filtered to only those that apply to the Canadian Conversion test. This will typically be considerably
smaller than the "full" question bank that a typical USA/FAA pilot will need to study. However, even the Canadian Conversion question lists
are several hundred questions each. For an exact current account of how many questions there are for a given test, please visit the GroundSchool
FAA test prep Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of our website.
This means that a typical pilot will have to spend several sessions and multiple days to
prepare for the test. The tests are not particularly hard, but if you don't spend the time to learn the material and study
from large, representative, and fully explained question banks like we offer, you will probably fail. Don't fear it, but don't
blow it off, either. Use our apps conscientiously and take sample tests using our app (our apps allow you to take unlimited
practice tests). Once you can score at least in the mid-80s consistently, you will almost certainly pass the real thing with flying colours.
"I heard the test is only on Air Law.."
"Air Law" is a term that you know from Canada. It is not a term that really appears in the FAA universe. There is the general concept of (FAA Federal Aviation) "Regulations", but this isn't exactly equivalent to what is typically covered in Canada Under "Air Law."
So, it's possible to get the wrong impression by thinking of the tests as only covering "Air Law." The reality is that the tests cover
quite a bit more than just what are generally referred to in the USA as "Regulations" and there's also no particular exact mapping from the Canadian term "Air Law" onto what's on the tests, either. What is on the test also tends to vary, as the FAA at times adds or removes question based on its view of special emphasis areas and also the reality that they're sometimes a bit loose as to what questions they assign to what tests, so occasionally you find unexpected questions in the tests as well. The test banks we provide tend to accurately reflect the actual tests; we take a slightly conservative approach to help ensure that you are over-prepared rather than under-prepared, but not crazily so such that we are wasting your time. We also gratefully welcome feedback from test takers to give us insight into how we can improve our preps, though we remind test takers that just because you didn't happen to get a question on topic X from the test bank doesn't necessarily mean that the next guy won't.
Quick Links to get you started:
To convert your Canadian PPL to a FAA Private Pilot Certificate, get our GroundSchool FAA Private and Recreational Pilot App and/or Software and select the PRIVATE PILOT CANADIAN CONVERSION TEST preps (Airplane and Helicopter) therein.
Direct Link:www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/private.asp
To convert your Canadian Instrument Rating to an FAA IR, get our GroundSchool FAA Instrument Rating (IFR) App and/or Software and select the INSTRUMENT RATING CANADIAN CONVERSION TEST preps (Airplane and Helicopter) therein.
Direct Link:www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/ifr.asp
To convert your Canadian CPL to an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate , get our GroundSchool FAA Commercial Pilot App and/or software and select the COMMERCIAL PILOT CANADIAN CONVERSION TEST preps (Airplane and Helicopter) therein.
Direct Link:www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/commercial.asp
To convert your Canadian ATPL to an FAA ATP Certificate, get our GroundSchool FAA Airline Transport Pilot ATP App and/or software and select the ATP CANADIAN CONVERSION TEST preps (Airplane and Helicopter) therein.
Direct Link:www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/atp.aspMost professional aeroplane pilots will want to prepare for the (Canada to FAA conversion) multiengine airplane test.
Finally, please understand that the questions in the "conversion" tests are always changing. We do our best to keep on top of things, but we cannot always guarantee 100% accuracy (any test prep provider who claims they can is not being honest.) We would very much appreciate your feedback after your test, especially if you encounter questions that were not in our prep (many pilots discover that 100% of the questions or something very close to them were in our prep - however, when the FAA dumps in new questions, you may encounter some new ones). Any specific guidance about the specific questions you may have seen would be VERY APPRECIATED by our editorial staff.
Audio Mode ('Learning by Listening'): What it is and how to get it.
The best way to prepare for any FAA knowledge test prep is to use one of our GroundSchool knowledge test prep apps on the platform of your choice. Not only do we have actual and realistic FAA questions and a comfortable and efficient user experience, but our apps also feature the most detailed and illustrated explanations. When you study for any FAA knowledge test, it is vital that you read and understand our explanations. This will help you best be ready both for any unpublished question variants that they FAA may throw your way and, more importantly, will help you learn the material well so that you can operate smartly in real-world aviation.
Most (nearly all) of our FAA test prep apps feature an OPTIONAL audio mode which we call "Learning by Listening." Many people find it useful in addition to their study with the basic app.
In audio mode, a human reader reads a stream of questions and correct answers. If you listen to them, this will help implant the correct answers in your brain.
This can be a very valuable study supplement. For example, you can listen to this when you are commuting to work.
Audio mode covers most but not all FAA questions. Specifically, the ones it does not cover are ones that have a large visual or calculative element. For example, many questions involving performance or navigation charts cannot be usefully done in audio mode.
You can see the exact number of questions available in audio mode for a given test here.
For most titles, audio mode is not free. Rather, it is an add-on which you are welcome to purchase if you feel that you can find it useful.
If you'd like to purchase the audio or if you've already purchased it and want to restore your purchases, the process is as follows:
Start the app, click on "Prepare for Knowledge Test" (or similar)
Select the specific test you want to study for and click "Next."
Select the chapters or study areas you want to concentrate on in this session and click "Next."
From the test options screen, select Learning by Listening / MP3 Audio mode.
At this point, if the system has determined that you have already purchased the audio mode, it will start the app in audio mode and you can begin studying. If necessary, it will also prompt you to download any updated audio files from our cloud servers. However, if it does not detect that you have purchased it, you will be presented a screen similar to the one at left. To purchase audio mode, click 'Buy Now' and follow the process. Activation of audio mode is immediate once the purchase process is complete. If you think you already purchased it already for the exact combination of app, platform, and app store user ID that you are currently using / on your device as, click on "restore purchases" and it will connect to the app store to verify your previous purchase. The usual case to do this is if you have just installed our app that you previously used on a different device onto a new device.
Reference Figure Image Issue?
Yes! Our test prep apps come complete with every chart and figure that you will need to reference to prepare for and pass your test. For most questions, these are presented directly as links or buttons near the question so that you can jump directly to the relevant reference figures. This makes your study fast and efficient.
On your actual test, you will be presented with these either in book form or on screen.
If you want to get a copy to print out, do a google search for exactly this phrase: "FAA Knowledge Test Prep Supplements site:.faa.gov". You can also in some cases print them out via a link in our app, but getting them from the FAA is often at least as convenient.
If the figures you see for a question seem to be incorrect:
Make sure you use the in-app update from the main menu of the app to "check for updates" to make sure you have the latest and greatest content.
If you are using a mobile version such as for iOS (iPhone/iPad), be aware that some questions have multiple reference figures attached to them. When viewing one reference figure, use the arrows there to move to other ones associated with that question.
Some versions of our apps feature drawing and annotation tools (plotters, protractors, compasses, etc.) to help you work out problems that involve the figures.
Content note: some FAA questions have attached 'reference images' that aren't necessarily actually required to answer the questions or relevant to the topic at hand. In some cases, especially on more advanced tests, the FAA may do this in order to present you with a plethora information just as you might have in a real-world aviation scenario so that it is your responsibility to analyze and determine which material is relevant. In other cases, it is hard to tell what the FAA was thinking. This affects only a small percentage of questions. Also, some questions may appear to require additional information as might appear in a reference figure, but actually don't. We sometimes get feedback from people who claim that a given question is missing a reference when in fact no such reference is required. It is important to carefully read and understand our explanations which clarify such cases.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Progress Monitoring for Instructors and Schools is built-in and free!
Our GroundSchool FAA test preps feature great tools to help students and instructors connect. Student monitoring and tracking is built in and free. Key to this is our www.TestPrepStatus.com website. In addition to letting you see the results of study sessions, it provides a number of
statistics and moving averages that provide a meaningful picture of student activity, strong/weak areas, actual-test readiness, and more.
If you're a student, you can use this to see your own progress as you study.
If you're an instructor or school, you can monitor student progress, organize students into folders/classes, and more.
If you happen to be both a student and an instructor simultaneously, you can make use of both sets of features at the same time.
If you're a school, any or all of your instructors can log in to monitor student progress.
Progress monitoring at our TestPrepStatus.com site works via a permission mechanism - either the
student can request that an instructor monitor their progress or an instructor can request to monitor a student's progress an the requested party must agree. Nothing is done without your permission.
This system is completely free for instructors, students, and schools. It works on all GroundSchool platforms (a few iOS apps have, at the time of this writing, slightly limited support for this) and work regardless of whether our apps were purchased individually, via bulk organizational purchase, or via site/lab license.
For users of our GroundSchool FAA knowledge test preps, the answer is 100% YES. Student progress tracking is built-in and free. It's built in and free regardless of whether your student is using our prep in a lab under a site/lab license at your location, on our app on a mobile device, or on their PC/Mac at home. As long as they are logged into either a lab account or a free dauntless cloud account (any user can create this themselves - it's free and in some cases is done totally transparently), then you can track them. You can track individual students or whole classes.
You can track student progress by subject area. This allows you to zero in on their strong and weak areas.
You can see how regularly they are studying
You can see their scores on simulated tests
The system provides you with a series of moving averages to help you visualize their progress better; these are provided both raw and 'smoothed' so that 'bad luck' on questions plays less of a factor in getting a picture of your student's progress.
Yes, you can organize students into folders / classes, mark past students 'inactive', and so forth.
The best way to see it work is to give it a try yourself TestPrepStatus works fine in demo mode:
Visit www.TestPrepStatus.com and set up an instructor account. Totally free.
Then, you need to link a student account with an instructor account. There are two ways to do this: If you've just created an account on testprepstatus and have no other connection to the prep, the easiest way to do this is to use the 'invite' feature there to invite a 'demo' student that you might have created so that you can see how it works (or, if you have a real student with you, you can try that too!). This is the 'instructor initiated' way of doing it. There's also a 'student initiated' way within the individual apps (usually on the 'test results' screen) where the student can request an instructor to monitor their progress. This way, the system is permission based, as is naturally required.
As the student studies, their scores will be sent up to the TestPrepStatus.com system at the end of each session. As an instructor, you can log in to TestPrepStatus.com from wherever you are and see how they are doing.
Please note that TestPrepStatus.com is currently only connected to our FAA Knowledge Test preps. If you are reading this and are interested in this service for our other test preps, please let us know.
Sport Pilot, Sport Pilot Instructor (Sport-CFI), Sport Pilot Examiner
Yes, we have test prep materials for the various FAA "regular" Sport Pilot tests and also the Sport Pilot Instructor/Examiner tests.
FAA Aircraft Dispatcher (ADX) Knowledge Test Prep?
Yes! Our GroundSchool series of FAA Knowledge test preps can you prepare for your ADX (FAA Airline Dispatcher) test. They are inexpensive and effective and thousands of dispatchers have passed their tests thanks to our stuff. Our prep is 100% what you need to pass the FAA ADX knowledge test.
Our FAA ADX written test prep material is part of our FAA GROUNDSCHOOL AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT program. This is because the ADX questions are mostly a subset of the airline transport pilot questions.
To prepare for the ADX written test, you'll want to get our GroundSchool FAA Airline Transport Pilot tests.
Our ATP test prep contains prep for a number of tests. ADX is one of them. When you select the ADX test inside our ATP test prep, it will ask you only the questions that are pertinent to dispatchers. If and when you purchase our ATP prep that includes ADX, you're NOT paying for anything you don't need - we just bundle similar tests into one package for distribution efficiency. To put it another way, we don't sell any app that is "just" ADX and if we did, the price would not be cheaper than the ATP "package." Remember: one you start our app and select the ADX prep, you will be presented ONLY with material that our editorial board has determined applies to the ADX test.
To download the software or to get the app for the platform of your choice or to learn more, please visit one of the following two links:
if neither of the above links are working for you, then visit https://www.dauntless--soft.com, click on 'groundschool' and then follow the links to the airline transport pilot page. Preparation for the ADX test is available within our GroundSchool - ATP apps.
Many people who are preparing for their ADX test use our apps. This includes both people who are enrolled in some ADX course and those who are exempted. Why? Because, simply, our inexpensive software is the most efficient and best way to LEARN THE MATERIAL and BE READY FOR THE TEST. There's no way around it - if you want to be an FAA-certified dispatcher, you will need to prepare for and take the ADX written (knowledge) test. Even if you are enrolled in some course, this will mean some serious home study, and there is no better way to prepare for this than via our software. If you want to be an FAA-certified dispatcher, then you almost certainly would benefit very highly from our software and other ADX test prep materials as have hundreds of dispatchers before you.
Are you looking for something else?
We provide the world's best FAA Airline Dispatcher STUDY MATERIALS (mostly software).
However, we are not a dispatcher school. As we are not a dispatcher school, we do not provide graduation certificates or signoffs.
To take the actual test, contact a testing center. Please see our FAQ at www.FAATest.com/FAQ for more info on testing centers.
We do not know if you personally need to sit in a formal dispatcher school. This varies highly by individual based on education, experience, and so forth. Please contact your local FAA Flight Service District Office (FSDO) where a specialist can help you with such questions.
Sometimes, future dispatchers contact us with a range of issues. If this sounds like you, the below is intended to help you get where you want to go:
There are absolutely no circumstances under which you need to send us any bit of paper such as a graduation report from a school, your 'personal file', a copy of any official documents or identification, or so forth. Again, we are NOT a school and we are not a testing center. We simply provide the world's best test prep materials. We're stating this quite strongly since it worries us a bit when people send out all sorts of really personal documents, unsolicited as has been done a few times in the past.
You can not enroll in our classroom course since we are not a school.
It is not possible to take the actual test online. Please contact one of the testing center companies if you want to schedule your test - www.catstest.com or www.lasergrade.com.
If you have questions about becoming a dispatcher, CONTACT THE FAA via your local FLIGHT STANDARDS DISTRICT OFFICE. Helpful FAA personnel are standing by to answer career related questions.
If you have questions about converting your non-USA/FAA dispatcher license to an FAA one, please contact the FAA IFO (International Field Office). You can find the contact information for this by typing 'FAA International Field Office' into your favorite search engine.
We hope this answers your question(s). If it doesn't, feel free to submit your ticket below.
Remember, we'll happily answer questions on ADX topics that we know about - we are ADX knowledge (written) test preparation experts. However, beyond preparation for the written test, we do not provide career counseling for ADX candidates nor are we an ADX school, so please contact the appropriate organization (usually the FAA, an ADX school, or a test center) for relevant queries.
FAA Flight Engineer Test
Our Flight Engineer (FE) test prep covers any/all of the following tests:
When you start our app, just select the test you want to prep for and the questions will be filtered to only that test. You can also change this at any time within the app. You study for a "Basic" test if it's your first FE certificate/rating, as will be the case for pretty much everybody. You study for an 'add-on' if you already have one FE rating and are moving to another - for example, if you already have a FE Reciprocating and are moving to FE Turbojet. In practice, the difference between the "basic" and "added rating" test banks is minor. Out of prudence we suggest all FE candidates study the (sometimes slightly larger) "basic" test bank even if you are taking an "added rating" test. It won't hurt and it might help.
Relatively few people these days take the FE exams. As such, the FAA does not update them often and some of the questions on them are quite old and often out of date. It is what it is. It still can be interesting and useful for a surprisingly wide range of aviation activities and all else being equal, no matter what you fly you'll be a better informed pilot if you study for and pass an FE test.
Moreover, we and other test prep providers get relatively little feedback on the FE tests these days. From the users who do take the test, we tend to get score feedback ("I got a 96%!", "I got a 90%!", etc.) but not specific question feedback.
The tests are not easy, but are manageable by any reasonably qualified person who puts in the time and effort to study. For the Turbojet tests, which most people take, it will take as a VERY rough estimate 20-40 hours of study using our app.
Some airlines and companies view your taking and passing the FE test - normally the turbojet one in such cases - as helpful to your application for a pilot job even if the aircraft/company you might fly with no longer has flight engineers.
Some non-US countries continue to use the FAA Flight Engineer tests for validation of their Flight Engineers. Our prep will almost certainly be fine for you if this applies to your country.
That said, we absolutely have the best FE test prep in the business. We have the most detailed explanations and by far the best overall user experience. While we don't have a lot of FE users these days, feedback has overall been excellent from those who have used our preps to pass.
Obviously, if you're going to be taking a very rare FE test, like a reciprocating engine FE test in 2024, we ask for your understanding that our app is necessarily a 'best effort' sort of affair. While the FAA has carried through a lot of the guidance material into relatively new versions of their FE handbooks, some of the nuance has been lost and at times there is a bit of a disconnect between the handbooks and the questions. We're not trying to put you off - our prep is still very much the best out there for this and there's no reason that we know of that you shouldn't pass if you put the time in to study. We're just trying to align your expectations with the reality that some of these tests are taken by a few handful or fewer people per year at most in some cases, so you can't expect the FAA test bank to be as polished or current as it is for, say, the Private Pilot Airplane test.
It is highly recommended that you supplement your study using our FE test prep app with reading FAA handbooks which you can download for free from the FAA website. Look at the references of questions in our test prep to see what handbooks the information comes from. A combination of our app and reading of official, current FAA handbooks is absolutely the best, proven way to prepare for your FE test. That also said, you can certainly pass your FE test if you only use our app to study.
Switching between tests or test groups
This video shows how to change between different tests or test groups in our test prep software:
How is Dauntless GroundSchool better than the rest?
Our GroundSchool FAA knowledge (written) test prep apps are available for Microsoft Windows™ PCs, Apple Macs, iPhone™, iPad™, and compatible devices, and Android™ devices.
No matter which platform you choose, the learning content in each is exactly the same and we make updates available for all platform versions at exactly the same time.
The user experience and feature set of our apps on each platform is similar, but is is also naturally tailored to the look and capabilities of each specific platform and device. There is no one "best" platform - they are
all good apps and the platform you should choose depends on your personal preferences. Some people purchase our apps on multiple platforms for greater convenience and availability. However, due to
policies set forth by the app stores (Google and Apple), each platform version is a separate purchase. Please also note that due to limitations imposed by Google, Amazon, and Apple, we are not necessarily able
to offer the same "bundle" options on all platforms.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Which FAA Tests Can I study For? How Many questions are there?
Our GroundSchool series of FAA knowledge test preps are divided into individual app titles. Each app title includes a number of related, individual tests. For example, our GroundSchool FAA Private Pilot test apps contain study material for the Private Pilot Airplane, Private Pilot Helicopter, Private Pilot Glider, and other tests. Some questions in a given title are common to most or all of the tests in that title while some are unique to specific tests. When you start any of our titles, you are given the option to select exactly which test you want to study and then you are presented with only those questions which our editors have deemed correspond to that test - nothing more and nothing less.
Most people only ever take one test in a given group. For example, you might take the private pilot helicopter test and never need the private pilot glider test - or vice versa. Exceptions to this include the instructor test banks where a typical candidate will take both the initial instructor test plus the fundamentals of instruction tests. It doesn't make sense for us to create an individual product for each test. Rather, we group them as we do for mutual convenience. That said, once you have one of our products, you can switch to whichever test you want within a title as often if you'd like.
Our FAA knowledge test prep apps also feature an (optional purchase) audio mode where questions and answers are read by a human narrator.The audio mode does not cover all of the questions for a given test - specifically, questions with a large calculative or visual element are not included. Additionally, the audio modes generally do not include explanations for the material and as such won't prepare you well to actually learning the material deeply so that you'll be prepared for new and variant FAA questions. With those caveats out of the way, the audio prep is an extremely effective complementary mode to help familiarize you with questions and answers which you can listen to, for example, in your car. We regularly get feedback from people who love the audio mode and tell us how much time it saved them and how much it helped them learn.
It's in your best interest to be very skeptical of test prep products which try to lure you in with various claims of "how many questions" you need to study to pass your actual FAA tests and who claim some too-cool-for-school test-hack methods such as memorizing keywords in correct answers. The FAA is well aware of such nonsense and is taking active measures to make such educationally useless test cram strategies failing ones. Your goal is not just to pass the test, but to emerge a smart, safe, and capable pilot/mechanic/instructor. Our preps feature a realistic set of questions plus the best-in-the-business explanations and supplementary materials to really help you learn and be ready for whatever unpublished questions the FAA is increasingly including in actual tests. Additionally, Designated Pilot Examiners and Designated Mechanic Examiners are under increased emphasis to make sure that pilots actually know the knowledge material. There are no "cheat" shortcuts to learning the stuff, but our apps are designed for a smooth experience to make the legitimate learning process as fast and efficient as possible. Our results speak for themselves - year after year for decades, the overwhelming majority of our users pass with high scores and leading aviation educational institutions rely on us for test prep.
The list below contains the number of questions per title, per test, and in the audio mode for each. These totals are regularly changing as our editors update the material.
Total Questions: 14142 (11090 in audio version)
Recreational and Private Pilot (PVT) : 1608 (1233 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane : 1215 (919 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter : 1048 (805 in audio version)
Private Pilot Glider : 891 (675 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Hot Air : 702 (547 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Gas : 684 (531 in audio version)
Private Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 746 (574 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Gyroplane : 1058 (799 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1167 (881 in audio version)
Private Pilot Helicopter/Rec. Pilot - Transition : 1031 (791 in audio version)
Private Pilot Gyroplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1043 (786 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Airplane : 1216 (925 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Helicopter : 1065 (825 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Gyroplane : 1081 (823 in audio version)
Private Pilot Powered Parachute : 813 (636 in audio version)
Private Pilot Weight Shift Control : 866 (678 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Airplane) : 631 (515 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Helicopter) : 604 (492 in audio version)
Private Pilot EU Part - FCL Conversion (Airplane) : 633 (517 in audio version)
Instrument Rating (IFR) : 1511 (1055 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Airplane : 1426 (991 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Helicopter : 1272 (867 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger (PAR) : 325 (310 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Senior : 317 (302 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Master : 299 (284 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Military Competence : 322 (307 in audio version)
Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner : 322 (307 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - General (SPG) : 1311 (1016 in audio version)
Sport Pilot General : 683 (539 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Airplane : 1025 (794 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Glider : 820 (642 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Gyroplane : 916 (711 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Powered Parachute : 685 (550 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Weight-Shift-Control : 740 (591 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Balloon) : 694 (555 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 707 (568 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - Instructor and Examiner (SPI) : 1865 (1699 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Airplane : 1034 (897 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Balloon : 645 (575 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Glider : 857 (748 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Lighter-than-Air : 683 (606 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Powered Parachute : 667 (596 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 744 (655 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Gyroplane : 889 (787 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Airplane : 1029 (894 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Balloon : 678 (608 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Glider : 858 (749 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Lighter-than-Air : 717 (640 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Powered Parachute : 678 (607 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 741 (652 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Gyroplane : 888 (786 in audio version)
Fundamentals of Instruction : 531 (519 in audio version)
Remote / Drone Pilot (RDP) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Initial) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Recurrent) : 635 (564 in audio version)
If the totals above don't match what you see in the app:
Very important: Use the update feature from the main menu of the app to update your installed content to the latest available. Please check for updates regularly when studying. This is important!
Make sure you have no 'filtering' conditions set. For example:
Make sure all chapters / study areas are selected
Make sure all 'question stacks' are selected
Make sure you don't have any search term typed in the search box
etc.
Our test preps can help you pass nearly every FAA knowledge test. However, we cannot help you with career/legal type questions as to "which test should I study for?"
Speaking generally, most people start their aviation experience with the Private Pilot test for the aircraft type of their choice - for example, Private Pilot Airplane. If your goal is to be a pilot, that is usually a good place to start
and you can start studying right now, even before you've ever been to an airport or flight school if you have the motivation and vision to do so.
If you're a Canadian Pilot seeking to transition to an FAA certificate or rating, please read the related issue below
If you're not sure what test to take given your mix of experience and prior certificates and ratings, then your best course of action is to consult with your local instructor or, for an even better "bankable" answer, contact your local FAA FSDO. They can be reached via the phone and it is their job to give you official answers that you can trust and fall back on. This is by far the best course of action compared to asking any private entity for such advice.
It is vitally important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
How many questions are in the audio version of the test prep?
Our GroundSchool series of FAA knowledge test preps are divided into individual app titles which each cover a number of related tests.
For example, our GroundSchool FAA Private Pilot test apps contain study material for the Private Pilot Airplane, Private Pilot Helicopter,
Private Pilot Glider, and other tests. Some questions in a given title are common to most or all of the tests in that title while some
are unique to specific tests. When you start any of our titles, you are given the option to select exactly which test you want to study
and then you are presented with only those questions which our editors have deemed correspond to that test - nothing more and nothing
less.
Our FAA knowledge test prep apps also feature an (optional purchase) audio mode where questions and answers are read by a human narrator.
The audio mode does not cover all of the questions for a given test - specifically, questions with a large calculative or visual element
are not included. Additionally, the audio modes generally do not include explanations for the material and as such won't prepare you
well to actually learning the material deeply so that you'll be prepared for new and variant FAA questions. With those caveats out
of the way, the audio prep is an extremely effective complementary mode to help familiarize you with questions and answers which you can
listen to, for example, in your car. We regularly get feedback from people who love the audio mode and tell us how much time it saved
them and how much it helped them learn.
The list below contains the number of questions per title, per test, and in the audio mode for each. These totals are regularly changing
as our editors update the material.
The number of questions in the audio versions is generally less than that in our full test banks because the audio does not cover questions that have a significant visual or calculative element. Imagine sitting in your car listening to our narrator read off list of questions for a complicated weight and balance question--it would be boring and pointless. Pointless because not only would it encourage counter-productive memorization, but also pointless because the actual quantitative questions that you will see on your actual FAA test are likely to have different numbers and answers specifically because the FAA these days wants to discourage memorization. Smart pilots use our audio-mode as a supplement to our core test prep app study modes and make sure that they take the time to read and understand our detailed explanations in those modes.
Total Questions: 14142 (11090 in audio version)
Recreational and Private Pilot (PVT) : 1608 (1233 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane : 1215 (919 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter : 1048 (805 in audio version)
Private Pilot Glider : 891 (675 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Hot Air : 702 (547 in audio version)
Private Pilot Balloon - Gas : 684 (531 in audio version)
Private Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 746 (574 in audio version)
Private Pilot Rotorcraft Gyroplane : 1058 (799 in audio version)
Private Pilot Airplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1167 (881 in audio version)
Private Pilot Helicopter/Rec. Pilot - Transition : 1031 (791 in audio version)
Private Pilot Gyroplane/Recreational Pilot - Transition : 1043 (786 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Airplane : 1216 (925 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Helicopter : 1065 (825 in audio version)
Recreational Pilot Gyroplane : 1081 (823 in audio version)
Private Pilot Powered Parachute : 813 (636 in audio version)
Private Pilot Weight Shift Control : 866 (678 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Airplane) : 631 (515 in audio version)
Private Pilot Canadian Conversion (Helicopter) : 604 (492 in audio version)
Private Pilot EU Part - FCL Conversion (Airplane) : 633 (517 in audio version)
Instrument Rating (IFR) : 1511 (1055 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Airplane : 1426 (991 in audio version)
Instrument Rating Helicopter : 1272 (867 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger (PAR) : 325 (310 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Senior : 317 (302 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Master : 299 (284 in audio version)
Parachute Rigger Military Competence : 322 (307 in audio version)
Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner : 322 (307 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - General (SPG) : 1311 (1016 in audio version)
Sport Pilot General : 683 (539 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Airplane : 1025 (794 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Glider : 820 (642 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Gyroplane : 916 (711 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Powered Parachute : 685 (550 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Weight-Shift-Control : 740 (591 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Balloon) : 694 (555 in audio version)
Sport Pilot Lighter-Than-Air (Airship) : 707 (568 in audio version)
Sport Pilot - Instructor and Examiner (SPI) : 1865 (1699 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Airplane : 1034 (897 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Balloon : 645 (575 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Glider : 857 (748 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Lighter-than-Air : 683 (606 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Powered Parachute : 667 (596 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 744 (655 in audio version)
Flight Instructor Sport Gyroplane : 889 (787 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Airplane : 1029 (894 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Balloon : 678 (608 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Glider : 858 (749 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Lighter-than-Air : 717 (640 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Powered Parachute : 678 (607 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Weight-Shift-Control : 741 (652 in audio version)
Pilot Examiner Sport Gyroplane : 888 (786 in audio version)
Fundamentals of Instruction : 531 (519 in audio version)
Remote / Drone Pilot (RDP) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Initial) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Small UAS Remote Pilot in Command (Recurrent) : 635 (564 in audio version)
If the totals above don't match what you see in the app:
Most important: use the update feature from the main menu of the app to update the content to the latest available. Please check for updates regularly when using the app.
Make sure you have no 'filtering' conditions set. For example:
Make sure all chapters / study areas are selected
Make sure all 'question stacks' are selected
Make sure you don't have any search term typed in the search box
etc.
It is really important that as soon as you get our test prep app, the very first thing you do is to start it up and click on "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. This will update the learning content to the latest and greatest. It's really critical that you do this, especially for mobile app versions. Our editorial team is hard at work updating the content regularly through 2024, 2025 and beyond, so check for updates regularly as you study.
Are the questions broken down into study areas?
Yes, absolutely. The material has been chapterized so that you can focus your study. The list below shows a chapter breakdown of individual titles.
Total Questions: 14142 (11090 in audio version)
Recreational and Private Pilot (PVT) : 1608 (1233 in audio version)
Federal Aviation Regulations : 79 (78 in audio version)
Pilot Certification and Limitations : 82 (81 in audio version)
NTSB Part 830 : 12 (12 in audio version)
Maintenance Requirements : 37 (37 in audio version)
Airspace : 82 (70 in audio version)
Maps and Charts : 86 (19 in audio version)
Ground Facilities : 63 (42 in audio version)
Aerodynamics : 167 (153 in audio version)
Flight Planning : 108 (36 in audio version)
Weight and Balance : 64 (20 in audio version)
Performance : 75 (22 in audio version)
Engine and Related Systems : 104 (104 in audio version)
Instrumentation and Avionics : 87 (62 in audio version)
Operations : 162 (144 in audio version)
Clearances and Procedures : 71 (69 in audio version)
Aerodynamics and Performance : 253 (216 in audio version)
Aircraft Systems : 115 (109 in audio version)
Weight and Balance : 39 (22 in audio version)
Flight Planning : 33 (13 in audio version)
Physiology : 51 (51 in audio version)
Aeronautical Decision Making : 12 (12 in audio version)
FOI - Teaching and Learning : 227 (227 in audio version)
FOI - Student Behavior : 102 (102 in audio version)
FOI - Evaluation : 87 (87 in audio version)
FOI - Teaching Methods : 115 (103 in audio version)
Physiology and Psychology : 49 (49 in audio version)
Weather : 32 (29 in audio version)
Weather Services : 28 (15 in audio version)
Weather Services - Charts : 10 (5 in audio version)
Instrumentation and Avionics : 46 (46 in audio version)
VFR Flight : 33 (32 in audio version)
Operations : 28 (27 in audio version)
Landing / Ground Operations : 27 (23 in audio version)
Maintenance Requirements : 15 (15 in audio version)
Clearances and Procedures : 16 (16 in audio version)
Remote / Drone Pilot (RDP) : 784 (691 in audio version)
Regulations : 178 (173 in audio version)
Airspace and Charts : 121 (78 in audio version)
Weather : 134 (104 in audio version)
UAS Loading and Performance : 31 (28 in audio version)
Emergency and Abnormal Procedures : 26 (26 in audio version)
Crew Resource Management : 15 (15 in audio version)
Radio Communications : 27 (21 in audio version)
UAS Preflight : 28 (28 in audio version)
Physiology : 45 (45 in audio version)
Aeronautical Decision Making and Judgement : 74 (74 in audio version)
Airport Operations : 32 (26 in audio version)
UAS Maintenance Requirements : 12 (12 in audio version)
Remote Pilot Certification and Limitations : 23 (23 in audio version)
UAS Best Practices : 38 (38 in audio version)
Important: the totals above are totals for entire test groups. Therefore, the totals may be larger than those that you see for any individual test. For example, the Commercial Pilot ... Aerodynamics chapter total above will reflect the total for the Commercial Pilot Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, and other tests.
Military Competence (Military to Civilian) Test Prep
Yes! our GroundSchool apps can prepare you for your Military to Civilian "Military Competence" tests.
Our prep is less expensive, better, and faster than one of those "waste your Saturday" cram courses you may have seen at Ft Rucker or elsewhere. In over 20 years, we have never heard of anybody using our app for any Military Competence test not passing the test(s) while many, many thousands of military pilots have used our prep. This isn't a guarantee and you MUST put in the study time or you certainly could fail, but our prep has been repeatedly proven to work. We've had people study in the morning and take the test that afternoon and pass highly. Of course, whether you can do so depends on your particular test taking aptitude and overall background. Again, don't take the studying lightly. You can take an infinite number of practice tests using our prep to gauge your readiness.
Converting to an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate: The old "Airplane" and "Helicopter" tests to convert your military experience to an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate have now been replaced with a single "Military Competence Non-Specific" (MSN). Our preps support both the MSN tests and also continue to include test banks for the old airplane and helicopter specific tests in case somebody needs them for legacy reasons.
Converting to an FAA Flight Instructor (and/or instrument instructor) Certificate. Yes, we can prepare you for the Military Competence Instructor (MCI) test that is used to make you a civilian instructor. While, strictly speaking, it is not necessary to pass the knowledge test, it is generally in your best interest to take advantage of the fact that our apps have the best learning content (explanations) in the business by far to really learn "the FAA way" if you're going to actually instruct as a civilian.
If you buy our PC products at www.MilComp.com you get an effective "military discount" as we price these cheaper than our regular civilian products.
As we don't control our products as they are sold in the Apple Mac, iOS (iPhone/iPad), and Google / Android app stores, we have no mechanism there to implement a military discount (they might have one - we don't). Still, our apps are reasonably priced (certainly cheaper than classroom courses or 'cram' providers) and you get to study immediately on your own time, offline or off.
To prep for the MCN test, get our GroundSchool Commercial Pilot test prep for the platform of your choice. You can select the MCN test specifically from the list of tests provided there and the resulting question set will be filtered to those that apply to the MCN test only.
To prep for the MCI test, get our GroundSchool Flight and Ground Instructor test prep for the platform of your choice. You can select the MCI test specifically from the list of tests provided there and the resulting question set will be filtered to those that apply to the MCI test only.
Some more Frequently Asked Questions:
What do I do after I take the MCI test to actually receive the FAA certificate?
he general procedure is: after you pass the MCI test, take your paperwork to a DPE (Designated Pilot Examiner) or FAA FSDO. You will be issued with flight instructor certificates commensurate with any military instructor certificates you hold. For example, if you are a multi-engine airplane instructor, you will get multi-engine airplane instructor privileges.
Do I need to take the MCN test also if I want to be a civilian flight instructor?
We have yet to get a definitive answer on this. However, to us it seems logical that you will need to take this too to get your civilian commercial pilot certificate in most cases. So, if you have no pilot certificates or ratings, consider taking both the MCN test and the MCI test.
I am a complex case - do I need to take the test?
Some people have complex backgrounds or certification histories and wonder if they need to take the test and what applies to them. If your case is complex, don't ask us - rather, ask the FAA via your local FAA FSDO. That's what the FAA FSDO is there for! When you call the FSDO, make a note of the name of the inspector you speak to and the time of your call - this way you will have a record for the future. Think about it - while we do make some great test preparation materials, do you really want to be asking a private company for quasi-legal advice such at this when official straight-from-the-horse's mouth advice is just a phone call away? Unfortunately, too often people write to us with multi-page complex tales of their flight experience asking for advice and all that we can reasonably do is direct such people to their FAA FSDO. Thank you for your understanding.
I am a military pilot but not a military flight instructor. What can I do do get an FAA civilian flight instructor certificate?
Take the MCN test as necessary to get your FAA civilian Commercial Pilot certificate. Then, follow the normal civilian route to becoming an FAA flight instructor. That is, take both the Fundamentals of Instruction written test, a Flight Instructor test corresponding to the aircraft you fly (usually FIA or FIH - flight instructor airplane or helicopter) and then take a practical test (checkride) which can be scheduled with an FAA pilot examiner. If you are not (have not served as) a military flight instructor then there is no point in you taking the MCI - that route is closed to you. Again, please contact your local FAA FSDO if you have questions relating to your specific case.
How does your product compare with others?
A competitor of ours, heavy into 'social marketing' and spreading utter BS, is hoping that you won't actually do your homework to verify what they say, encourages you to compare their product to ours. Ok, let's compare!
We are Less Expensive / Reasonably Priced. They cost more.
We have actual and realistic FAA test questions and a decades long track record of successful test prep. Again, as far as we are aware, every person who has used our test prep for the military competence tests and has done the requisite study has passed their tests on the first try.
We have the best, often illustrated, explanations in the business to best prepare you for whatever unpublished questions the FAA is increasingly throwing test takers' way. The FAA is increasingly using unpublished questions to combat against 'cram schools' and 'cram apps' that don't do anything educationally useful. Any competitor who in 2024 claims they don't do this and that they "always" have all the current questions is not being honest. This is true
even if they have some sleight-of-hand, less-than-it-seems, "no new questions" guarantee. By contrast, they provide either poor or no explanations at all.
We have question banks that are actively worked on by our editorial team and whose number of questions accurately reflects current FAA practice on the military competence tests. Our professional team of pilots and pilot examiners have been working on FAA test prep since 1997 and it's safe to say are the best in the business at this point.
We offer you a lifetime license so that you can go back and study later to brush up on things. They don't.
We offer our prep on a variety of platform types (PC, Mac, iOS, and Android)
We can prep you anywhere. You can use our prep both online and off.
Our preps (via the explanations) offer an integrated glossary to help you adjust to civilian terms (learn "the FAA thinking") better.
We support our apps. Our tech support is standing by via this helpdesk.
We can prep you faster. Our apps feature a highly polished, very time-efficient, slick user experience. Fast study, fast pass.
(Mic Drop).
I have further questions.
No problem. We're here to help.
First, please check www.MilComp.com as you can find our apps and a bunch more answers there.
If that doesn't get you what you need, please contact us via our helpdesk.
FAA Drone / UAS / UAV / Part 107 Knowledge Test
Yes! our apps can prepare you for your FAA Part 107 UAS (Drone Operator) Knowledge tests - both initial and recurrent. You've come to the right place - this is the best FAA UAS knowledge test prep in existence:
Comprehensive question bank, regularly updated. Covers all FAA UAS/Drone topics.
By far, by far, the most detailed explanations in the business
Polished user experience
Covers both Initial and Recurrent Tests
Low Price and nothing else to buy.
Polished user experience for fast and efficient study.
How many questions are included in Dauntless prep?
Our prep will prepare you for both the initial and recurrent Remote Drone Pilot In Command - Small UAS Rating FAA knowledge tests.
Update for our app are free for life! As of this writing, the prep includes 500+ questions for the FAA Remote Pilot in Command small UAS initial knowledge test and a bit less than that for the recurrent test. This number is regularly growing as our editorial team continues to add content and question variations based on experience with the actual exams.
Will the Dauntless prep include every possible question on the FAA Remote Pilot in Command - Small UAS Rating knowledge test?
We make the best UAS prep with the deepest and most representative question set in existence. It has helped thousands and thousands of drone pilots take and pass their tests. The most straightforward answer is that our prep is 100% what what you need to take and pass your UAS knowledge tests. However, when it comes to "every possible question?" the honest answer is that no test prep can honestly claim to have 100% of these all of the time. Our prep covers, in detail, all of the subject topics and subtopics on the test and our app is fully compatible with / compliant to FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS). Therefore, it is highly likely that that material of every or nearly every question on your exam will be covered in this prep. However, you can expect the actual wording of questions to be different on the actual exam because the FAA these days regularly changes the questions on knowledge tests as an active protection measure against those who would try to 'memorize the test.' While our updates are designed to match known FAA changes, as a general principle, you should expect that the questions that you will see will be on the same material as in our app, but may be worded or presented differently.
You say the questions are different and can change... so how will your prep prepare me for this?
The key difference between us and pretty much everybody else out there is that we offer a 'learning by doing' prep with superior, in-depth explanations. What this means is that with our product, instead of falling asleep while listening to some video or online presentation, your brain is actively trying to figure things out by working on the same sort of multiple choice problems that you'll see on the actual test. This means 'exploring the material' by turning to our in-depth, illustrated explanations. Active learning works! We've been making FAA knowledge test preps since 1997 and have become a leader in the field. We know what works for fast, efficient study that will help you not just pass the test, but really internalize the material so that you can go on to become a safe, legal, and knowledgeable UAS operator.
Beware of the fake and useless "Drone Test" prep apps, websites, books on Amazon, etc.
Even if for whatever reason you don't end up getting our prep, we strongly advise all potential drone
pilots / test takers be very, very careful about where they get there drone test prep from. To say that there are
a lot of worthless (but quasi-official looking) test prep products out there would be a massive understatement.
Here are some examples:
A book with the words "Remote" and "Test Prep" in the title (and the current year on it) sold on Amazon and elsewhere, despite being official looking, is essentially useless. You'll recognize its useless content as many of the questions there deal with things like "What is the role of drones in enhancing solar panel installtion effectiveness?" In short, it seems that some tech bros found some irrelevant FAA document about the potentials of drones and turned this into a pseudo 'test prep' based on nothing but their imagination. In our opinion, you are absolutely without a doubt wasting your money on such products and all similar ones. Nearly all "Drone Test" books on Amazon and the many bad apps based on them are similarly worthless.
There are supposed lists of drone test prep questions floating out there on the internet. Most of them stem from a single source; a bad and incomplete half-copy of an obsolete test bank under consideration by the FAA in the early days of remote pilot certification. While maybe 20% of those questions still have relevance and validity, again, this is a waste of your time. And, again, there is no shortage of tech bros out there with little to no actual FAA test or drone knowledge who have tried to turn those lists into shiny looking apps or quick-publish books.
"Drone universities" and "online drone courses" are the biggest waste of money of them all. All are based one principle: if it sounds like a course they can charge you a lot of money for it. We can't speak for all of them, but the ones that we have seen are an utter waste of time. Make a note of their generic, AI-generated, or outright fake 'testimonials.' No matter what kind of drone backstory the proprietors have conjured up or how slick their marketing is, these 'courses' come from the same place as any number of tech bro businesses that involve selling pdfs and useless instructional video. Be especially careful when such 'courses' list for example police departments in their list of 'customers.' It is not unusual for a police department or similar organization to buy licenses for their potential remote pilots from such 'universities.' Even if the courses turn out to be useless wastes of time, the sellers can nevertheless prominently advertise their important sounding 'customer.'
As of this writing, there have been at least three major revisions to the FAA drone test banks since the tests were first released. Additionally, many of the supporting regulations - covering everything from night flight to UAS certification to pilot certification to overflight rules to weather requirements to line of sight oprations to much much more have changed substantially. We are on top of it. Our competition is not. The vast majority of the 'drone schools' out there made the videos once back the and haven't updated them since it's impractical and costly to do. We have a full time team of editors whose job is to stay on top of these things. Again, for your own good, we respectfully suggest that you really look hard at whatever test prep source you choose. The ability to make a shiny website or buy expensive online ads does not mean that they make a prep that is worth your time.
We get a lot. I mean, a LOT of customers from those who have unfortunately fallen for such scam and useless products first, fail their test, and then find us, use our product, and pass. Yes, studying for the drone pilot test takes work. There are no 'cheats' to it We provide you with the content and supplementary learning material you need in a highly usable and efficient study platform at a fair price. We have over three decades of experience with FAA knowledge tests and are the industry leader in FAA test preps.
How have users been doing on the actual exam after studying with your app?
Our users have overwhelmingly passed the test with flying colors. A group of law enforcement professionals used our app for their prep and the average score was around 94%. A group of high school studens, directed by their teacher but including those who had no aviation experience whatsoever, reported average scores of 88%. In both cases, all test takers passed. This isn't a guarantee - whether you pass depends not just on getting our prep, but also using it diligently. Our app allows you to take an unlimited number of practice tests. As a general recommendation, we suggest that if you can take 5 or more practice tests in a row and score 90%+ on all of them, then statistically you are highly likely to be ready to take and pass the real thing.
Are the charts and figures included?
Yes! Every required chart and figure is included and fully integrated into the app. If you find the figures hard to use onscreen, there's a link inside the app to generate a PDF of the figures which you can print out.
I worry about aviation terms that I might not understand
Our app's explanations feature our built in 'JargonBuster' feature where definitions of thousands of key terms and abbreviations are available in a fast, context-sensitive way. See a term you don't know? Click on it and the definition will show up right there.
I saw some site selling 'drone mentoring' or a 'UAS university' or some other expensive course on the internet.
We can't speak to any particular product or service, but from what we've seen of a few handfuls of such sites, we seriously doubt the usefulness or value of such offerings when it comes to test prep. Several of those sites claim long experience with drones, which is great (some of our editorial board members can also claim the same, and have even been involved in the Part 107 deliberation and development process). However, as far as we know, none of those places can claim any real background with FAA testing. Our prep has been developed by a team of our aforementioned 'drone guys' and our 'traditional aviation / test prep team' and together they've combined those unique perspectives into an intelligent, effective test prep experience that we think is far superior to such other offerings. Plus, ours costs a lot less, too.
Does your app feature video that will drag me through the necessary material?
No, it doesn't, and for good reason. Our long experience with FAA Knowledge Tests has shown, conclusively, that such passive learning, even if you pay a lot for it, will likely be a waste of your time and money. A far better approach is to jump right in with our 'learning by doing' method where your brain is always working and where you can take advantage of our detailed, illustrated explanations at your pace and on your own time. It's a proven system that works. Hundreds of thousands of pilots and mechanics have used this method via our preps to successfully pass every manner of FAA knowledge test.
What subjects are covered in the prep?
Our 'initial certification' test prep covers the following required subjects:
Applicable regulations relating to small unmanned aircraft system rating privileges, limitations, and flight operation
Airspace classification, operating requirements, and flight restrictions affecting small unmanned aircraft operation
Aviation weather sources and effects of weather on small unmanned aircraft performance
Small unmanned aircraft loading
Emergency procedures
Crew resource management
Radio communication procedures
Determining the performance of small unmanned aircraft
Physiological effects of drugs and alcohol
Aeronautical decision-making and judgement
Airport operations
Maintenance and pre-flight inspection procedures
If you select to prepare for the recurrency test prep in the app, only the subset of subjects pertaining to that will be presented to you.
If I memorize the questions and answers in your prep, will I pass the test?
Passing the test generally requires more than rote memorization. the FAA now takes active measures to stymie those who would memorize answers. The key to being maximally prepared is to use our prep and its detailed explanations to where you actually learn and understand the material so that you are ready for whatever question variations the FAA will throw your way. Our app and its explanations will almost certainly cover all or nearly all of the actual content that will be on the exam - but you have to take the time to study and learn it. Our app, with its polished user experience and ease of use make this process as efficient and fast as possible.
I have an issue with or question about a piece of content in your app...
Our editorial team would love to hear from you! In the explanation pane for each question there is a 'report an issue with this question' link. Click that to send a message to our editorial team about the specific piece of content that you have concern over. our editorial team carefully reads and evaluates all feedback that comes in and, if necessary, can quickly make adjustments to the content, such as fixing the occasional typo or, more pertinently, by clarifying an unforeseen misconception or extending an explanation. Any changes done by our editorial staff will then be available via the 'update' feature in the app. This integrated, fast and easy system of feedback is one of the reasons why our apps are so good. We sincerely thank those users who provide us with feedback as we constantly work to bring you the best possible test prep.
Can I take practice tests using your app?
Yes! You can take an unlimited number of practice tests using the app. In addition to 'practice test' mode, the app features other study and learning modes that you can choose as best suits your individual learning style. These including flashcard modes, continuous study modes, and even an audio mode.
Does the content vary by platform?
The content is exactly the same no matter what platform you choose to study on. The actual apps themselves vary slightly to reflect the peculiarities and capabilities of each platform, but mostly have similar features.
Audio mode?
Yes! We call it 'Learning by Listening' and it's fully included in our FAA Remote Drone Pilot in Command test prep apps at no extra charge. In this mode, a human narrator reads the questions and answers and at times adds a bit of commentary to help you understand the material. While not necessarily as comprehensive as using the app in normal modes and reading the full explanations there might be, audio mode is nevertheless incredibly useful when you can't study actively - for example, you can listen to it in the car while driving. Note that audio mode covers most but not all of the content of this app - specifically, questions that require significant amounts of chart/figure reading and/or heavy calculation lend themselves poorly to audio mode and are not included in the audio prep. Our 'learning by listening' audio prep has proven itself to be highly popular as far as our other test preps go and we think with this drone prep it should be even more so.
How do I get updates?
Each app has an update screen or feature that you can periodically use to check for updates via the Internet. The process is simple and fully integrated. Generally, click on "Update" from the main menu to start the process.
How much does the app cost?
Due to the way the app stores work, this varies a bit by region and platform. Please visit the purchase page of the platform of your choice to see current pricing.
What is the purchase process (Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android)?
Our app for each of the above platforms is available from the official App Store / App Market for those platforms. Follow the links above for the platform of your choice. If you need to type in our web address into a web browser on a mobile device, you may find it easier to just type in www.FAAtest.com which works just as well and is shorter and easier to type.
What is the purchase process (Windows PC)?
Download the demo version of our PC app from above and try it out on your PC. Make sure that it is working technically for you and as you like it. Once it is, click either one of the buy now links above or one of the buy now links within the PC app to start the purchase process. When you complete it, you will get an activation code emailed to you that you can use to transform the demo version of the PC app (which gives you access to 5% of the total questions only) into the fully activated title where you have access to 100% of the available question content.
I am interested in studying on multiple platforms. Can I get a combo deal on for example the app for iPad and PC?
Due to policies set forth by Apple, Google, and Amazon that we (and other app creators) have no role in setting but must adhere to, cross platform combo deals or platform switches are not available. Each of the app stores / app markets, protective of its commercial interests, makes it both technically impossible and contractually impossible to offer such combos. Apple even doesn't allow combining its Mac and iOS products. As such, our apps are available on each platform individually only.
Actual and Realistic FAA Questions - Regularly Updated
