King Schools announces courses, discounts, scholarship award

A new all-HD online course to help aspiring instrument pilots prepare for their FAA knowledge test was unveiled, King Schools said, noting that the online Instrument Rating Ground School & Test Prep Course was completed in March, with extensive new content and every lesson reshot in HD video.

“As always, our goal is to keep it all fun and interesting, and the King Schools course developers and video production folks really stepped up their game on this new course,” said King Schools Co-Founder Martha King. “We have added a significant amount of material regarding GPS procedures and use, including ‘Climb Via’ and ‘Descend Via’ clearances, along with great explanatory graphics.”

To satisfy “the newest generation of YouTube learners,” King Schools “made sure the graphics really pop,” she said, adding that “we kept to our goal of providing bite-sized learning lessons of 5 to 10 minutes in length.”

The course content includes extensive discussions of risk management in accordance with the new Instrument Rating Airmen Certification Standards. “The ACS, for the first time, provides standards for the knowledge test and this supports us greatly in having much more significant and meaningful material in our course,” said company Co-Founder John King.

“As we do with all our test prep courses, we guarantee that our customers will pass their exams and that their online courses will always be up to date,” added King Schools CEO Barry Knuttila. The interactive video course is priced at $279 and includes compatibility with the free King Companion App for iPad and iPhone. 

AOPA Drone Pilot discount

AOPA Drone Pilot members can now get a discount on King Schools’ Drone Pilot License Recurrent Test Prep Course. The recurrent FAA Part 107 test course and the Drone Pilot License Test Prep Course are now available to AOPA Drone Pilot members at exclusive pricing.

“We are constantly working on ways to add value to our Drone Member program,” said AOPA Senior Director of UAS Programs Kat Swain. “I’ve taken quite a few King Schools courses and have always found them to be informative, fun and easy to understand. We now have both of their Part 107 drone pilot test prep courses discounted for our members.”

AOPA members can purchase the King Schools Drone Pilot License Recurrent Test Prep Course for $47 (retail $59) through the Drone Member section of the AOPA website.AOPA members can also purchase the King Schools Drone Pilot License Test Prep Course for $108 (retail $129).

CFI scholarship awarded

King Schools and the National Association of Flight Instructors awarded a $5,000 scholarship toward a new CFI rating or certificate to Andrea Prisca Garcia of Buena Park, California. The award includes free lifetime access to all King Schools courses, including Flight Instructor Refresher Courses.

Garcia “was an award winning music teacher” in Long Beach, California, who in 2014 committed herself to aviation, progressing quickly to becoming a commercial pilot, logging over 900 hours, passing her airline transport pilot knowledge test, and acquiring advanced and instrument ground instructor certificates. “All this progress has been made outside of a traditional aviation school or fast track program,” King Schools said. 

Garcia has been president of Women in Corporate Aviation; serves on the Board of the Orange County chapters of Women in Aviation International and The Ninety-Nines; and is active with the International Aerobatic Club, Whirly Girls, and the EAA Explorers 445.

Knuttila goes live

King Schools customers will be seeing a new flight instructor in King Schools’ online video courses now that CEO Barry Knuttila has taken on an additional role as an on-camera King Schools CFI. He holds an airline transport pilot certificate with a Falcon 10 type rating, and flight and ground instructor certificates with all available airplane ratings. He also owns a Beechcraft Debonair and regularly flies the King Schools Falcon 10 with John and Martha.

“The goal of this change is to provide our customers with more great King video content, at a faster rate,” he said. “John and Martha are amazing mentors that make it all look so easy, but their skill in front of the camera is not easy to achieve. With their help, I’m working hard to simplify and clarify aviation topics, and make it easy for our customers to gain the knowledge they need to pass their tests and become confident and competent pilots-in-command.”