Hello, i just finish my private pilot license (part 141).
My next objective is the instrument rating.I'm taking my course through a collage connected to a flight school.I have payed my class (instrument rating).So I'm ready to go, this was to give you a background.
The thing is, i already schedule my first class, and my instructor told me that i needed to buy the a kit for instrument rating (ok) when finish my private i bought one ( for protection i don't want to mention labels or trademarks) $60 and its FAA approved, but he told me that for part 141 i HAVE to buy that one, $300.
I don't believe that this is mandatory in any regulation.I don't think that i have to buy the kid they want just because they are a center for that label.
I've looked in the FAA web page, i don't know the office i have to write to know, I'm an AOPA member, but i also don't know to whom shell i write.

Please elucidate me.for me $240 is money that i need.
Many thanks

hmmm part 141 you might be stuck here.

they go by their own syllabus, where as the syllabus for part 61 schools is straight out of the FAR/AIM.

the Syllabus and lesson plans etc for this particular school are probably included in their "specialized kit" he is trying to talk you into buying. this might be the materials he is referring to when he says you "HAVE TO" have them."

Each brand of books offers something unique... visual learners are probably well suited to the Jeppesen products, if you learn from reading alone you should probably go with the ASA stuff. in the end each book contains all the same information  . . . (they are required to teach you the same stuff regardless of who printed the materials)

my recommendation would be to ask the chief instructor if you can just use your current instrument pilot materials instead of spending the extra money on the kit they endorse. If he says "ok", and approves your request...  the other instructors pretty much have to fall in line with what he says. 

but if he sticks to his guns and for whatever reason says you MUST use the kit they endorse, your pretty well screwed 

Your naming off some of the things i disliked about large part 141 schools when i was a student.

1. Pay up front or pay large portions at once
2. everyone has to use this brand of stuff
3. everyone has to buy new stuff every time they start a new rating

in short... there is no such thing as an instrument pilot's fuel sample cup. there is no such thing as an instrument pilot's E6B flight computer... i found it funny when i was a part 141 student i was always asking "why do i need all new crap to start a new rating?"
There are some small part 61 schools out there that are guilty of the same thing, but not nearly as many.

IMHO unless your training to become a career pilot... and in some cases even if you are training to become a career pilot, your instruction should be mostly one on one and should be highly personalized to meet YOUR needs... you dont see that a lot at the "pilot factories"

Brett_Henderson wrote on Mar 13^th, 2008 at 6:08pm:


you're also likely to spend less time in the simulator and more time in the real airplane.

(of course this could be a good OR bad thing... the sim has it's benefits, but people tend to place more value on aircraft time)