Subject #: 16.687 Selected Topics in Aeronautics & Astronautics — Private Pilot Ground School (to receive credit, students must register under 16.687)
Subject Title: Private Pilot Ground School
Prerequisites: Register for 16.687 and attend all sessions and a few evenings of reading.  
Optional: Install Garmin Pilot (Android or iOS; need to create a Garmin account for weight and balance to function) or ForeFlight (iOS only) and set yourself up with a 30-day free trial.
Bring a device to class, if convenient.
Units: 3-0-0
Level: U (graded P/D/F). Please note that the Pilot Ground School is an undergraduate-level subject.
Enrollment: Unlimited – not limited to MIT students. Advance sign-up required.
Pre-register: Google Form 
To receive MIT course credit, also register in WebSIS under 16.687.
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions.
Instructors: Dr. Tina Prabha Srivastava; Dr. Philip Greenspun
Schedule: January 7 through January 9, 2025 – 9:00 AM-5:00 PM, Room 56-114
Please visit this website for more information, including required readings.

Subject Details:
Would you like to fly a plane, helicopter, or commercial drone? Or understand the engineering behind how airplanes fly? Come spend 3 days with us and learn everything that an FAA-certificated Private pilot or Remote Pilot needs to know for the official knowledge test.  
 
The course includes qualitative aerodynamics, airplane and helicopter systems, practical meteorology, navigation and cross-country flight planning, and human factors. We present the FAA-required theory, pose some thought-experiments, and offer practical advice based on instructors’ real-world experience.
 
Course staff: Tina Prabha Srivastava, pilot and MIT alum (Course 16 S.B.; System Design and Management S.M.; Engineering Systems Design Ph.D, supervised in Course 16, ESD, Sloan); Philip Greenspun, an FAA Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor for both airplanes and helicopters, MIT alum (Course 18 S.B.; Course 6 Ph.D)  

This course is free and open to all. There is limited seating, RSVP using this Google Form. In addition, if you want to receive MIT course credit (optional), register with the MIT Registrar for 16.687 (3 units).