Can you take the PPL written before flight training

[travelisfun]

Have some time now to study, but don't have flexibility to do flight training yet. Can I do ground school and take the exam before flying?

[CaptDukeNukem]

Yes. I believe so.

The exam and ground training are separate from flight training. However, successful completion of the exam is only valid for two years. You will have to submit a license application (your flight training and flight test records) within two years or you may have to rewrite the exam.

[BTD]

There are some requirements to have flight training prior to writing the exam. Including a recommendation from your instructor.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-serv ... ars#421_13

[CaptDukeNukem]

There are some requirements to have flight training prior to writing the exam. Including a recommendation from your instructor.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-serv ... ars#421_13

Which is generally given after you complete the Ground school portion class with an instructor.

And my apologies….. 10 hours of flight time and a medical

[BTD]

.

I check the edit.

[flyndad]

10 HRS Flight training required, if you do the groundschool online I believe the provider can supply the letter of recommend in order to take the written.

[photofly]

10 HRS Flight training required, if you do the groundschool online I believe the provider can supply the letter of recommend in order to take the written.

The 10 hours requirement has been reduced to 5 hours under NCR-033-2022 until November 17, 2027, and this change is being made permanent in a forthcoming CARs amendment.

[cdnavater]

Have some time now to study, but don't have flexibility to do flight training yet. Can I do ground school and take the exam before flying?

FWIW, you should be studying prior to getting in the airplane, I had the books months before I started the training and it made everything much easier that I could focus on the flying.

[Squaretail]

While I applaud the desire to get ahead, I always recommend that people get their medical, and at least do a flight or two before you do too much worrying about written tests. Although unusual, it wouldn't be the first time someone dove in, then did one flight and realized it wasn't for them. Get the medical done asap, for lots of reasons that get explored extensively on this forum.

[Bede]

While I applaud the desire to get ahead, I always recommend that people get their medical, and at least do a flight or two before you do too much worrying about written tests. Although unusual, it wouldn't be the first time someone dove in, then did one flight and realized it wasn't for them. Get the medical done asap, for lots of reasons that get explored extensively on this forum.

That may be true on occasion, but I have seen far more instances of students letting their flying get well ahead of the book work. Eventually, they get to the point where they need to be checking weather/NOTAM's for themselves and can't, or need to plan an XC flight and can't.

[Squaretail]

While I applaud the desire to get ahead, I always recommend that people get their medical, and at least do a flight or two before you do too much worrying about written tests. Although unusual, it wouldn't be the first time someone dove in, then did one flight and realized it wasn't for them. Get the medical done asap, for lots of reasons that get explored extensively on this forum.

That may be true on occasion, but I have seen far more instances of students letting their flying get well ahead of the book work. Eventually, they get to the point where they need to be checking weather/NOTAM's for themselves and can't, or need to plan an XC flight and can't.

I dunno. Seen lots of both. Taught a lot of ground school and sold a lot of FTGUs to people who were "all in" but then and didn't get past the intro flight. FWIW, being able to pass the written test and doing what you describe above didn't always go hand in hand.

But that hardly matters, I think we can agree that when flight training its best to make sure all the ducks are in a row in all aspects of it. Rushing one aspect without the others rarely gets someone "ahead" if there really is such a thing.

[Fly0nTheWall]

While I applaud the desire to get ahead, I always recommend that people get their medical, and at least do a flight or two before you do too much worrying about written tests. Although unusual, it wouldn't be the first time someone dove in, then did one flight and realized it wasn't for them. Get the medical done asap, for lots of reasons that get explored extensively on this forum.

That may be true on occasion, but I have seen far more instances of students letting their flying get well ahead of the book work. Eventually, they get to the point where they need to be checking weather/NOTAM's for themselves and can't, or need to plan an XC flight and can't.

I dunno. Seen lots of both. Taught a lot of ground school and sold a lot of FTGUs to people who were "all in" but then and didn't get past the intro flight. FWIW, being able to pass the written test and doing what you describe above didn't always go hand in hand.

But that hardly matters, I think we can agree that when flight training its best to make sure all the ducks are in a row in all aspects of it. Rushing one aspect without the others rarely gets someone "ahead" if there really is such a thing.

Given that the cost of the training materials and a ground school course is cheaper than the first flight, I would say that's not a huge waste of money. I'd rather start the ground school and realize I don't have the time/energy/motivation to put in the effort, than to get 5-10h in on the plane and make the same realization.

I do agree though, they certainly do work best hand in hand. I suppose TC seems to think that 5h in the plane is enough overlap.

I'm with Bede though, in my experience a student who has done all of their ground school before flying will always be a better student/pilot than the person who does all their flying before ground school.

[‘Bob’]

Short answer: No

Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooo

[Big Pistons Forever]

Have some time now to study, but don't have flexibility to do flight training yet. Can I do ground school and take the exam before flying?

As was noted in other posts there are some requirements before writing. The huge thing to do ASAP is get a medical. You need a file no, ie license number, before you can write the exam but more critically you need the medical before you can get a Student Pilot Permit which allows you to go solo. I have seen numerous recent examples where students could not progress because their medical had not been processed by Transport Canada.

I am told wait times are going down but if there is anything out of the ordinary that triggers a second level of review you could be looking at 6 months or more. In any case you may have a medical condition that disqualifies you from holding a medical, particularly if you are going for a Class 1 (ie commercial) medical category. Better to find out now before you spend lots of money on flight training.