We’ve long thought that the instrument rating knowledge exam is the most challenging written that most pilots take during their flying career. There’s no question about it, getting prepared for it involves some serious skull sweat.
We surveyed six of the more popular internet prep courses to see what was available, how they approached getting a student ready for the instrument written, what they cost and their convenience of use—notably whether they could be used on any internet-connected device or didn’t require connectivity while using. We came away feeling all were good—it’s a competitive market and the high quality of the products reflects it. From the perspective of creating a knowledgeable, all-around instrument pilot and getting ready for the written, we like King Schools and Sporty’s. For an inexpensive, power-cram, get-ready-for-the-written-and-nothing-else course, we lean toward Sheppard Air’s cold-blooded course.