San Diego Air & Space Museum to Begin Offering Private Pilot Ground School Program

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is not just a place to see aircraft: now you can learn what it takes to fly them too! Enrollment has begun for a Private Pilot Ground School program at the Museum’s location in Balboa Park, with classes beginning in October 2021.

The 9-week course prepares attendees to take the written examination for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Private Pilot certificate. Students can take the course either prior to or in conjunction with their own outside flight training.

Classes are held in the Museum’s state-of-the-art Education Center. Experienced Museum educators and FAA certified Advanced Ground Instructors present the course using the King Schools’ FAA-approved materials, augmented with “special touches” unique to the Museum, including hands-on applications of lesson objectives.

The curriculum material for the Museum’s course is centered on the most current courseware from King Schools, Inc. in San Diego. John and Martha King, co-founders and co-owners of King Schools, are widely known within the aviation industry. Roughly half the people who have earned their private pilot certificates in the United States in the last several years have trained with the Kings’ video and computer media.

“Our Ground School is very basic training for the beginner or a solid refresher for former pilots,” said Museum educator Ross E. ‘Rossco’ Davis. “We aim to reach new and non-traditional audiences for pilot training -- the skeptics, the unsure, and the uninitiated -- who might shy away from formal commercial flight schools. We have no planes to rent, no fuel to sell, and no ulterior motives. We just want more people to learn what it takes to fly!”

Classes are planned for a minimum of 5 students and a maximum of 20. Each class is offered once weekly on Saturdays from 10:15am to 3:15pm. Classes are priced at $269 (or a discounted $249 for Museum members) for the entire 8-session course. Registration begins immediately via the Museum’s website at https://campscui.active.com/orgs/SanDiegoAirSpaceMuseum#/selectSessions/3030940

and can be accessed via links from the home page. More information is available through the Education Department at (619) 234-8291, ext. 120.