FAA IFR Instrument Rating Prep for Android

Passed my Instrument written test by studying this software. Not exactly but very similar to the FAA test questions.

Bottom line: the app is good, in the end it’s limited by the relevancy of the increasingly irrelevent database (as are all these products), the support is good, you should buy it, it’s a good (almost necessary) preparation aid. This is an update to the V8.6 review I wrote about a year ago (Android version). Since then, V9 came out (currently 9.2.1) and most of the nasty problems were fixed. The application is quite usable now even though it lacks certain things like menus, contextual menus, right clicking — you know, modern amenities. My biggest peeve remaining is that you have to clcik everything, there is no keyboard control or shortcuts. I continue to like very much the “stacks”, esp. now that they work. All your questions start in Stack 3. Get one wrong once, and it goes to Stack 2, get it wrong again and it goes to Stack 1. Etc. My limitation here was that stacks won't go into large negative numbers. ;-) The bigger issue is the relevancy of this kind of studying anymore now that FAA does not publish questions. I used this app to study for my IRA knowledge exam (not exclusively, of course, not remotely so) and I could make about 98% consistently. On the real test, however, I had seen only about half the questions before, from Dauntless, and the only questions I got wrong (6) were not in Dauntless’s database. (Tip: I didn’t see a single question that required an E6B, so that was nice.) My first runs through Dauntless came in at 70-75%, so doing the arithmetic and assuming everything else being equal, using Dauntless (along with the more directed studying) still helped me boost my grade by about 10 points or more. It helped me understand how FAA asks questions, though that’s changing with ACS (an improvemement IMO, from what I saw) and it was **huge** in helping me work out nuances. It helped me become more knowledgeable and I think that’s always a good thing. ========================= Clunky, Buggy, but Functional (V8.6 Instrument) This is not a native Android application, doesn’t act like one, and is pretty weird from that perspective. The database is quite nice, the answers are pretty good. It does what it needs to do, but not a whole lot more at this time. On the really negative side, though, there are bugs. Some result in crashes, some prevent full functionality. Clearly, this company is not trying to make its bones in the Macintosh environment. On the positive side, customer support is responsive, that is, they answer questions in a meaningful way and in a timely fashion. IMO, it’s a good company with an uneven product. And even considering my complaints, it still beats the hell out of a printed version. I’m checking back regularly for a new version, looking forward to its release.

It works perfectly fine, and it is helping me big time to be fully prepared for the knowledge prep test. I started to use Dauntless for the private knowledge test and I passed it with a 90%. I definitely will continue to use this tools to study for the next ratings and certificates.

The explanations can be very tough to follow, figures are small and hard to see without totally reconfiguring the whole screen which then makes the other frames smaller, questions are initially marked incorrect which are actually correct but on the retest the correct answers are accepted, reviewing practice tests is done in a very odd format, the program has crashed on me multiple times. Short version: BUY A PRACTICE PROGRAM FROM ANOTHER COMPANY!!!

The question stacks will not update. This was the biggest selling point for me. I can’t work on the questions that I missed because the program is not working as designed. I also was not able to find an updated figure supplement from the program or website, and my test (FII) had a new supplement. It sure was a good thing that I used another company’s study software. I have used Dauntless in the past, and it helped me to pass the test, but I haven’t seen the same quality or support for this latest version. I did contac the support staff and let them know my issue, but they still have not fised the problem after two months.