***UPDATE: OUR FIRST CLASS WILL BE HELD ON TUESDAY SEPT 5***

The purpose of this course is to provide students with all necessary book knowledge to pass the FAA private pilot written exam and become a private pilot. "Ground school" is the first step in the process of becoming an FAA-licensed private pilot; therefore, this DeCal is not designed to teach students how to control a physical aircraft (though a PC-based flight simulator will be available at least once in the semester for students to use during a class period), but rather to prepare a student for practical flight training and delve into the world of aviation. Similar to driving school (and like all pilot ground schools), the course will be held in a classroom; the class will take at least one field trip to a local area airport and flight school as well. See our website below for photos.

All instructors for the course are students at UC Berkeley who have earned their private pilot's licenses. Some instructors are graduates of this very DeCal!

There will be weekly reading and homework, as well as occasional quizzes. Attendance counts for 30% of the final grade (see syllabus). A passing (>= 70%) score on the optional final exam results in an automatic "Pass". The student who scores the highest grade above 80% on the final exam will receive a free flight lesson with a certificated flight instructor at a local flight school! All grading policies are detailed in the course syllabus.

Classes will be held TuTh 6:30-8:00pm, 2032 Valley Life Sciences, starting on Tuesday, Sept 5. Auditors are welcome (as long as we have enough seating), and receive the same course resource access as registered students.

Enrollment is first come, first served via calcentral.berkeley.edu. The university course listing can be found at classes.berkeley.edu (CIVENG 98 004 for lower division students, CIVENG 198 004 for upper division students).