IFR training materials: King v.s. Sporty's

[eleong]

I am planning to get my IFR rating and am looking for materials that I could learn myself. I found two major materials available in the market. They are:

King Schools: (US$579.00)
Instrument Rating Training - King Schools

Sporty's: (US$265.00)
Sporty's COMPLETE Instrument Rating Course on DVD - Sporty's Pilot Shop


The differences:
- The completed learning kit offered by King includes two sets of training package: knowledge test course + practical test course. In addition, it comes with other 13 DVD and printed materials related/non-related to IFR.
- The sporty materials is one set of package that, I assumes, includes all material needed to prepare for the knowledge and practical exams.

I am wondering which one is better for a beginner like me. Budget is always tight but if I could same more money in the long run by spending more for the right materials, I will go for it. So your experience and advise is needed.

[whistling turtle]

Hi there,
I used the King School's Cessna Instrument Rating cbt for my IR as well as their multi-engine cbt later on as well.

The thing is my school made me use the former as part of their IFR cirriculum and at the start I could not stand John and especially Martha's constant ''super-happy'' attitude, grins and cheesy jokes. Then I actually got used to it all and found myself actually enjoying the videos - there is a reason they behave the way that they do (and it's not drugs) - it's because it makes you remember the information and understand it all much easier as a lot of this IFR stuff is actually very dry and dull to learn.

My opinion was reinforced when I used a Sporty's demo one time. It was well presented, the information was the same but the presenters took themselves very seriously and were very monotone in speech. I could feel my eyelids getting heavier as the minutes passed by.

At the end of the day it's going to vary with each individual but I would highly recommend King myself.

All the best with the training.

[Tinstaafl]

I bloody loathe the King's presentation style. It drives me up the wall, to the detriment of learning. I much prefer the competition.

[matteosalga]

Hi, i did my ifr training with kings and i'm very happy.I have finisched just one month ago.
I think the course is not boring and is very easy to understand, sometimes very funny. I don't know Sporty's...
Matteo

[stupix]

i am a few hours into the Kings was of learning for IR through Cessna, and although yeh its a bit quirky, it seems to make the learning less tiresome and i think their practical demo's are very handy and they link together very smoothly.
the one problem i had was the system doesn't work on Apple mac, so i had to by PC software for my computer.
stu

[Flyingscott]

Hi, I realize this thread is old but hopefully it will help others decide.

I ordered both the Sporty's IFR course and the King's. Both are well donefrom a production point of view but are very different in styles and approach.

The Sporty's course is presented in a series of videos that talks about thenumerous IFR topics; not very many thorough explanations. It is a lecture type format with supportinggraphics and videos that you view while listening. While the presenters areexcellent, the down side of that style for me was that it goes very quicklywith any explanations coming at you fast and furiously. You will most definitelyneed to use a traditional book or rewind and listen again and again many times.

The King course on the other hand resembles class room training. John orMartha present the material as if in front of a class. King's course alsoincludes videos of various scenarios as needed to make the point. It, in myopinion, teaches rather than lectures. After each small lesson, they offer afew questions in the form of a quiz to help solidify the topic points beforeyou move on to the next lesson. Overall I found the King format to be far superiorin terms of actually learning the material rather than just hearing about it.

I would highly recommend the King course if you expect to learn the topicsfrom watching the DVD which is, after all, what I think we all expect toaccomplish when buying a package like this. Some students may not like Marthaand John’s style and banter but to me the most important point is if they reachtheir objective and teach you the material. One would be hard pressed to saythat the King course does not meet that goal. You will learn the material afterhaving completed any of the lessons. Onelast point, I can see a benefit of viewing the Sporty's DVD after having takenthe King course. Although that is not necessary and the King course certainlystands on its own, the Sporty's course is so well done, I am sure it would bevery enjoyable to watch once you understand what it is they are talking about.If I were to go with only one course, it would, without a doubt, be the Kingcourse.....there is a very good reason they have been so popular and beenaround for so long.