Study by subject
Pilot ground school
For pilot ground school you learn meteorology, navigation, aerodynamics, regulations, radio phraseology and the ICAO alphabet. Lumi asks them back until the answers come on their own, well before the exam.
How to turn this subject into cards
Break the syllabus down by subject, with one card per definition, per rule, per phraseology formula and per letter of the alphabet. In meteorology and navigation make one card per phenomenon or calculation, with the formula on one line and an example. The trap is redoing multiple choice sets until you recognise the answers without understanding the principle. With Lumi you write the answer before seeing the options, and you revisit it at intervals that grow longer (Cepeda et al., 2006). For radio calls, say the full phrase aloud, because that is what you will do in the air. End each session with the cards you missed.
What you need to know by heart
- Aerodynamics definitions, lift, drag, angle of attack, stall.
- Weather phenomena, fronts, fog, thunderstorms, wind.
- Navigation, heading, track, variation, drift.
- The rules of the air and priorities between aircraft.
- The ICAO alphabet and basic radio calls, including distress and urgency.
It depends on the country
The authority that issues the licence depends on the country. In the United States it is the FAA. In the European Union the EASA sets the common framework, and in the United Kingdom it is the UK CAA. The syllabi cover similar subjects, meteorology, navigation, aerodynamics, regulations, phraseology, but the legal texts and some radio procedures differ. Build your cards from the syllabus of your own authority.
How Lumi helps you remember it
You teach your cards to Lumi, aerodynamics, weather, navigation, phraseology. It forgets over time, like you do, then quizzes you right before you would forget. As the exam approaches, the Mist settles over the subjects you know less well and Lumi asks those first. You arrive able to explain the principle, not only to spot the right box.
Example cards
Three cards the way you would write them, with the answer Lumi expects.
How do you spell A, B, C on the radio?
Alfa, Bravo, Charlie.
What does the call Mayday mean?
Distress, the danger is grave and imminent.
What happens when the angle of attack passes the critical angle?
The airflow separates and lift drops, which is the stall.
Example card
Try it, Lumi turns it into fill in the blank questions in your browser.
Pilot ground school · teach this card to Lumi
The word Mayday announces distress on the radio. When the angle of attack passes the critical angle, the wing stalls. The difference between true north and magnetic north is called variation. As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases.
Lumi’s question
The word _____ announces distress on the radio.
Pick the missing word
Answer right to light Lumi up
Its lamp fades when a fact slips away.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I remember the ICAO alphabet?
- Put the words in groups of five or six on cards, from the letter to the word, then from the word to the letter. Lumi asks them back in both directions.
- How do I learn radio phraseology?
- Write the full phrase on the card and say it aloud. Lumi asks it back at intervals that grow longer, until it comes out without hesitation (Cepeda et al., 2006).
- Is the syllabus the same everywhere?
- The big themes look alike, but each country’s authority sets its own syllabus and exam. Build your cards from the syllabus of your own authority.
Read next
Sources
- Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, Rohrer (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
Teach this to Lumi
Give Lumi your pilot ground school notes, it gives them back as questions at the right moment.