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FAA Checkride Oral Exam Prep - Hot Air Balloon |
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To
Fly Up up and Away in your Beautiful Balloon, you're going
to have to take an FAA checkride (Private or Commercial).
This means an Oral Exam by an FAA Inspector or Designated
Examiner.
Don't
worry! Our RideReady software, written by Bill Hughes,
an ex-FAA Designated Examiner and veteran balloon pilot
will help you pass that oral with ease.. even those tricky
"Instructing" questions for Commercial Pilots!
You
can be studying for your checkride oral in minutes - just
download the demo below! It includes free lifetime updates
so you can study now and use it as a refresher tool later.
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About
the Author - Bill Hughes
Bill
Hughes has been flying balloons since 1970. He is
a former US Navy pilot who has over 9,000 hours
of flight experience in everything from jets to
helicopters. He has served as an FAA Designated
Pilot Examiner and Safety Counselor. He was a crewmember
for Malcolm Forbes’ balloon flight across
America in 1973. Each year he acts as Balloonmeister*
for several balloon events and last year celebrated
his 22nd year as Balloonmeister for the Adirondack
Balloon Festival in Glens Falls, NY.
His
experience includes flying in most of the US states,
Canada, Europe and Japan, but his favorite flying
area is the Mid-Hudson Valley. He has competed in
the US National championships and has won numerous
events in the US and Canada.
You
can take a balloon ride with Bill through Blue
Sky Balloons or attend one of his regional Balloon
Ground Schools through Liberty
Balloon School.
*
Balloonmeister: The person responsible for all the
operational aspects of a balloon event. He insures
that it is conducted in accordance with FAA regulations
and safety considerations. He combines his knowledge
of the flying area and the existing weather to make
the fly/no fly decisions for each launch and briefs
the pilots accordingly.
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"Everything that [the examiner] asked me was covered in some way with the questions that you have in the software! Your program helped me unbelieveably!! Using this RideReady, as well as your GroundSchool one for my written test prep - was certainly a life-saver!" - ST, Balloon Pilot, RideReady user |
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Software Download
The
best way to get a feel for the software is to download it from below
it and try it out! The demo is free (and if you
decide to purchase it, the price is very reasonable.)
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| RideReady
Title |
Download
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| Private
and Commercial Hot Air Balloon Pilot |
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Ready
to Register? 
Click
here to order an unlock code via electronic delivery
Our
small company greatly appreciates all registrations. |
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We
work continuously to ensure that the content is as up to date as
possible. Have questions about this software? Please Contact us via our
helpdesk.
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| Note:
the Frequently Asked Questions below are intended to familiarize
you with the basics of the product. For technical support
FAQs for this product plus additional FAQs, please visit
our helpdesk. |
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| Q. |
Who
is this software intended for? |
| A. |
This
software is intended for hot air balloon students/pilots
who are contemplating taking an FAA Practical Test (more
commonly known as a "checkride" ). A practical
test is the certificate test that you take with an inspector
or examiner pilot at the end of your training for a certificate
or rating. The checkride (essentially) consists of a flight
portion, wherein you are tasked with performing maneuvers
that you will have been trained on and an oral portion,
where the examiner will quiz you on any of a large number
of aviation matters. This software's primary goal is to
help you be ready for the oral portion of the checkride.
As a secondary benefit, it will also to some degree help
you study up on the flight maneuvers that you will need
to perform as a double-check that your knowledge of those
is up to standards. Because this software contains a large
question bank, it is also useful not just for checkride
applicants, but also for certified pilots who can use it
as a lookup and refresher tool. This software will
prepare you for BOTH the Private and Commercial Hot Air
Balloon Chekrides. (Note: we have airplane
and helicopter oral exam preps, too!) |
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| Q. |
When
should I start studying for my checkride oral? |
| A. |
Ideally,
you should start studying as early in the training process
as you can. Having more knowledge earlier on will help you
make the most of your training flights and therefore likely
save you training money / time over the course of your training.
That said, RideReady is perfectly suitable as a "night
before the checkride" cram tool. |
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| Q. |
Who
wrote the questions and answers of RideReady - Hot Air Balloon? |
| A. |
RideReady
- Hot Air Balloon was written primarily written by Bill
Hughes. Bill's experience as a Navy Pilot, FAA Designated
Pilot Examiner, extremely-experienced ballon pilot, commercial
balloon operator, and balloon instructor speaks for itself
(see the box with Bill's bio at top). Additionally, some
content was written by Adrian Cybriwsky, an FAA ATP and
experienced flight instructor. |
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| Q. |
Why
does RideReady not grade answers right and wrong? |
| A. |
Unlike
on FAA written tests where questions have obvious and definite
answers, many checkride oral questions are intended to probe
your functional literacy and reasoning skills. Answers are
often rich and detailed. Therefore, it is impractical to
grade your answers strictly. Rather, RideReady leaves it
up to you to see how your answer compares to ours. That
said, RideReady allows you to flag questions as easy, neutral,
or hard so that you can zero in on questions of importance
to you. By the way, if you need FAA written test prep software,
check out our GroundSchool
software. |
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| Q. |
Do
I have to know ALL of the content of RideReady before taking
my checkride? |
| A. |
RideReady
Balloon Pilot has been written by an actual FAA designated
pilot examiner who knows the actual questions that are
likely to be asked on your checkride. So, it is a good
idea to know the vast bulk of the content of RideReady.
However, of course, while it is helpful for you to know
as much as you can, examiners give reasonable leeway for
little gaps here and there. Still, to increase your odds
of success, study up! Fortunately, RideReady makes this
easy!
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| Q. |
What
about Gas Balloons? |
| A. |
Sorry,
RideReady only covers hot air balloons (though some of the
material will be the same). |
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| Q. |
How
much does RideReady cost? |
| A. |
You
can download the demo version for free and try it out. To get full
access to RideReady, you need to unlock (buy) it. When you buy it,
an unlock code is emailed to you that you then enter into the software
which transforms it into the full version. For a complete list of
prices, please see the RideReady order page
or look below:
Order RideReady |
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Balloon
Pilot
This
one product will prepare you for both your Private Pilot and
Commercial Pilot Hot Air Balloon checkrides, including the
Fundamentals of Instruction topics that you are required to
learn during the Commercial in order to become a Balloon instructor.
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Joy
of Flight Bundle **Great Value**
For
those who have it in them to tackle some of aviation's greatest
challenges, this bundle inclues four RideReady titles (Balloon
Pilot, Glider Pilot, Seaplane Pilot, and Tailwheel Transition)
at a great value price. Of course, few, if any of us, do all
four in a short time frame, but remember - your RideReady
purchase entitles you to free lifetime personal upgrades,
so it'll be ready when you are.
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| Q. |
How
many questions does RideReady contain? |
| A. |
This
is a constantly evolving answer, since we constantly update
RideReady as necessary. Additionally, the answer depends
as to whether you're studying for Private Pilot or Commercial
Pilot. A few hundred questions are included. |
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| Q. |
Private
AND Commercial Pilot? |
| A. |
Yes,
the ONE program will prepare you for both the Private and
Commercial checkrides. Inside the program, you specify which
you are studying for, and then the software will tailor
the questions for that specific test. This also means that
if you are studying for Private now, you can use the SAME
software to prepare for Commercial later at NO ADDITIONAL
COST! |
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| Q. |
What
About Balloon Flight Instructor? |
| A. |
The
FAA Commercial Balloon exams are a bit different than the
Airplane and Helciopter exams. There is no seperate Balloon
Flight Instructor checkride. Rather, balloon instructor
priviliges are granted to every Commercial Pilot Balloon
certificate holder. What this means, however, is that during
your Commercial Checkride, you will be asked questions about
the process of flight instruction (including student behavior
and psychology, theories of learning and teaching, and so
on). Collectively, this information is known in FAA terminology
as the "Fundamentals of Instruction" (FOI). Nothing
causes most balloon pilots to groan so much as the thought
of learning the FOI. RideReady will prepare you on FOI material
in a fast, efficient, and effective way. |
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| Q. |
What
happens when updates are released? |
| A. |
Updates
are always free, so, unlike limited-lifespan books, RideReady
will serve you well into the future! There is an update
link from the main menu. Click that, select the test you
want, and follow the instructions to get the latest and
greatest. Getting upgrades is integrated, fast, and free. |
Thanks
for checking out the software! Good luck on your test, and blue
skies!
The
FAATest.com Team
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