Flight Instructor Checkride vs Private Pilot Course
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Flight Instructor Checkride
Prepare for your flight instructor certification practical exam with this comprehensive Q&A tool. It covers over 1000 likely examiner questions and provides succinct answers, drawing from FAA documents and examiner interviews. Identify knowledge gaps and build confidence for your checkride.
- Over 1000 Q&A for practical exams
- Succinct, ready responses
- Based on popular oral exam guide
- Covers all CFI certificate subjects
- Flag questions for further study
- Includes applicant practical test checklist
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Using a question-and-answer format, Flight Instructor Checkride lists the questions most likely to be asked by examiners during the last step in the flight instructor certification process – the Practical Exam – and provides succinct, ready responses. Instructor applicants will find this App an indispensable tool in both planning for what to expect during the airplane checkride, and mastering the subject matter. Instructors rate them as excellent preparation for students, as well as general refresher material. This Flight Instructor Checkride app is based on the popular Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide book by Michael Hayes. It is designed for instructor applicants training for the Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Certificate. More than 1000 questions and responses ensure all the subjects a Flight Instructor candidate will be tested on during checkrides and review flights are covered. Topics include: fundamentals of instructing, technical subject areas (such as runway incursion avoidance, scanning, navigation, logbook entries and certificate endorsements, etc.), preflight preparation, preflight procedures, airport operations, takeoffs, landings and go-arounds, fundamentals of flight, performance and ground reference maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and spins, basic instrument maneuvers, emergency operations, postflight procedures. Answers and explanations were researched using FAA documents (which are identified so pilots know where to go for further study) as well as interviewing FAA examiners. Questions can be marked for further study from any subject to build your own collection of flashcards. An Applicant Practical Test Checklist and the Safety of Flight appendix from the Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-25) are also included. Compatible with iOS phones and tablets, this app teaches applicants not only what to expect, but also how to exhibit subject mastery and confidence when under the examiner’s scrutiny. It identifies candidates’ strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in their aeronautical knowledge, which increases study efficiency. App features: • More than 1000 questions are included with succinct, ready responses. • Questions from any subject can be flagged for further study into a separate group. • Includes all the questions and answers from the popular book, Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide by Michael Hayes. • Brought to you by a trusted resource in aviation training and publishing, Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA).
Private Pilot Course
Prepare for the ground portion of your FAA Private Pilot Practical Test with realistic checkride scenarios and expert insights. Includes essential FAA handbooks, a knowledge quiz, and flight calculators.
- Realistic checkride oral enactment
- Examiner and instructor insights
- FAA Airplane Flying Handbook
- Private Pilot PTS
- Knowledge quiz
- Flight calculators
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The Private Pilot Course - Ground Portion gives you an insight into what happens on the ground portion of your FAA Private Pilot Practical Test, commonly referred to as the Checkride Oral. We provide more than one hour of video, showing you a realistic enactment of a checkride oral conducted by an FAA designated pilot examiner and a student pilot. This app also includes insights from an examiner and instructor to give you a full understanding of what to expect on your private pilot practical test. Bonus features of this app are a copy of the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, the Private Pilot PTS, the FAA Risk Management Handbook and the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). Also included is a quiz to test your knowledge and calculators for Stall Speed, Load Factor, Maneuvering Speed and Top of Climb calculations. Please check out our companion app, the Private Pilot Course - Flight Portion, that gives you more than two and a half hours of exciting in-flight HD video and detailed animation including an in depth explanation of the takeoffs, landings and maneuvers needed to pass your FAA Private Pilot Practical Test. Both apps together make a perfect package that will make you pass your Checkride with ease. Due to HD video, this App is more than 750MB in size. Please make sure you have enough space on your device. Due to size restrictions, you have to be connected to a WiFi network to download this app.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Flight Instructor Checkride at $9.99 against Private Pilot Course's $29.99. Private Pilot Course's advantage is review sentiment (60% vs 50%) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Flight Instructor Checkride costs $9.99 and Private Pilot Course $29.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.5 for Flight Instructor Checkride against 3.5 for Private Pilot Course. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Flight Instructor Checkride's written reviews are positive against 60% of Private Pilot Course's.
Flight Instructor Checkride ships an update every 19 months, Private Pilot Course every 38 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Flight Instructor Checkride | Private Pilot Course |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $29.99 |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 3.5 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 19 months — better | Every 38 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 749 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | Flight Training Apps, Inc. |
Customer experience
Flight Instructor Checkride
Private Pilot Course
In-app purchases
Flight Instructor Checkride
No in-app purchases
Private Pilot Course
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Flight Instructor Checkride free?
Is Private Pilot Course free?
Which has better reviews, Flight Instructor Checkride or Private Pilot Course?
Do Flight Instructor Checkride or Private Pilot Course have ads?
Which is updated more often, Flight Instructor Checkride or Private Pilot Course?
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