Good morning all!
We've been giving recommendations and records of ground school for the PPL and CPL remotely since 1999, for the most part without drama.
The only region that gave us drama was the Pacific region back in 2012-2013. The superintendent at the time said that according to CARs 421.13 the ground school letters has to come from the school the student is flying with. This is bull, and confirm by Transport Canada National with the email below. This superintendent might of had a friend that writes aviation books and can't be named on this forum. Since this email from TC National, and the retirement of this superintendent, we've had no issues with our letters anywhere in Canada including the Pacific region.
We take care of the hassle of letters and responsibility for the ground school. No need to ask your flight instructor to take responsibility, we handle it. Our material has been finely tuned for both a comprehensive knowledge of the material, but also pointed so that candidates can do well on the TC exams. We've receive a lot of feedback on the material and TC exams and always working to improve it. We've setup a video studio complete with green screen and professional sound system. Most recently we have added a IOS app that allows offline viewing. Check it out here:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1391976074
For not much more than an hour of flight training dual, you get a complete ground school including required letters (income tax deductible as well). I think it's a bargain and a lot easier than self studying on your own. Why cut a new trail, when we've paved a highway for you to complete the exams successfully.
Adam Penner
adam@harvsair.com if you have questions.
www.pilottraining.ca
From: Saulnier, Marc [mailto:
marc.saulnier@tc.gc.ca]
Sent: September-26-13 9:40 AM
We have run into this situation before. The ground school training provided by online providers, community colleges, or the situation where an individual completed a ground school at a particular flight school (EG. Ottawa Flying Club) and then did the flight training at another flight school (EG. Rockcliffe Flying Club) amount to the same thing.
If we look at 421.13 (3)(a), a letter from the flight training unit or a letter from the flight instructor who is responsible… the statement ” flight instructor responsible” was written in the CARs to mean the freelance instructor responsible. The wording is not clear, however the easiest solution may be to have the flight school issue the letter of recommendation. If the online provider is also a flight school (EG. Harv’s Air) then I see no reason why a letter from the provider would not be acceptable.
DIVISION II - TESTING
421.13 Examination Prerequisites
(1) For admission to a written examination required for the issue of a permit, licence or rating an applicant shall have met the medical standards for the issue of the permit, licence or rating and shall produce proof of medical fitness in one of the following forms:
(a) a Medical Certificate in the appropriate medical category;
(b) a Medical Assessment Letter (Form 26-0417) in the appropriate medical category;
(c) in the case of a Student Pilot Permit - Aeroplane, Pilot Permit - Ultra-light Aeroplane or Pilot Licence - Glider, a Civil Aviation Medical Declaration (Form 26-0297);
(d) a temporary Medical Certificate in the appropriate medical category; or
(e) a Medical Examination Report assessed to the appropriate medical category by the Regional Aviation Medical Officer.
(2) For admission to a written examination, proof of identification shall be required in the form of a permit, licence or other official document bearing the signature and photograph of the candidate.
(amended 2005/12/01; previous version)
(3) To be eligible to write the examination required for the issue of a permit, licence or rating, the candidate shall produce the following letter of recommendation dated within 60 days prior to the date of the written examination:
(amended 2005/12/01; previous version)
(a) an applicant for a Pilot Permit - Gyroplane, Private Pilot Licence, or Commercial Pilot Licence shall provide a letter of recommendation from the Flight Training Unit or from the flight instructor who is responsible for the training of the applicant, stating that the applicant has completed the ground school instruction, and has reached a sufficient level of knowledge to write the examination;
(amended 2000/09/01; previous version)
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