Ground Courses

In addition to the flying syllabus it is necessary to take 6 written exams. These can be taken after a period of self-study. For Microlight pilots study material is available on the RAANZ website.

For private pilots the recommended ground school textbooks are: Private Pilot Licence Kit (5 books); The Flight Training Manual;  Aviation Medicine and other Human Factors for Pilots. These are available from Waypoints Aviation. For the CPL course you also need volumes 6,7 & 8. You may be able to buy them second hand on Trademe or friends.

The Club does have some secondhand books depending on a availability. Speak to your instructor about this.

Do not under estimate the amount of study required! It is necessary to pass all exams before a PPL student may fly cross country solo—usually at around 30 hours flying—and the Club require the Aviation Law and Flight Radio-Telephone exams to be passed before going first solo.

The Club offers a formal lecture programme for the PPL subjects. The courses are delivered using a combination of presentations, printed materials, and on-line content. PDFs of the lecture slides are available after the lectures.

Course sizes are generally aimed at groups of 3–6 students. This allows good group interaction enhancing the learning experience.

These courses are also suitable for Microlight pilots who wish to have a similar knowledge level to pilots flying similar aircraft in the same airspace.

For Commercial Pilot candidates, we offer one to one tutorials on subjects specified by the student in advance. This can be a few hours “brush up” before the exam or on an ad-hoc basis.

The tutorial system is also available to PPL/Microlight students who prefer to study on a one to one basis.