How to prepare for a 737 type rating, before you ever sit in the sim

Why preparation matters here specifically

A type rating is not paced like a CPL ground subject, where you have months and can re-read a chapter three times. Ground school for the 737 commonly runs 8 to 10 hours a day for one to two weeks, moving through systems most students have never seen structured this way before, and the course does not slow down for anyone. Simulator sessions start stacking on top of that almost immediately. The people who struggle are rarely the ones who did not study enough beforehand, they are the ones who show up needing the instructor to build their basic system model from nothing, while the rest of the class is already applying it.

What an ATO assumes you already know

No ATO expects prior type experience. What they do expect, on day one, is that you already have working aviation fundamentals in place: how a hydraulic or electrical system is described in general, how to read a systems diagram, and basic performance and mass and balance concepts from your CPL training. If those fundamentals are shaky, the type rating becomes two courses stacked on top of each other, relearning the fundamentals while also absorbing 737-specific detail.

A study order that actually works

Work through the major systems chapters roughly in FCOM order, since later systems reference earlier ones, air systems depend on bleed air from the engines, the electrical chapter explains buses the hydraulic chapter later assumes you understand.

1. Aircraft general and limitations, so every later number has context.
2. Electrical, since almost every other system depends on it for power and indication.
3. Hydraulics, then flight controls, which rides on it.
4. Air systems: bleed air, pressurisation, air conditioning, anti-ice.
5. Fuel, engines and APU.
6. Landing gear, brakes and autobrakes.
7. Autoflight and displays, last, since they present information from every system above.

The B737 FCOM study material follows this same chapter order for exactly this reason.

Memory items, first

Every type has a short list of non-normal checklist items that must be actioned from memory before referring to the QRH: things like an engine fire or severe damage. Learn these cold before day one. They are short, they do not change, and instructors expect them without hesitation from the very first simulator session, since briefing time in the sim is spent on technique, not on recalling the list.

Limitations and V-speeds

Speed, weight and altitude limitations come up constantly, in ground school questions, in simulator briefings, and in the skill test. You do not need to derive them, you need to recall them instantly: maximum operating speeds, structural weight limits, and the V-speed definitions (V1, VR, V2, VREF and the rest) at a conceptual level, what each one means and when it applies, before you ever see them calculated against a real performance chart.

Performance, at a working level

You do not need to be a performance engineer, but you should walk in understanding what a balanced field length is, why climb-limited and obstacle-limited weight exist as separate checks, and how flat rating and assumed temperature reduce engine wear on a cooler day. Arriving with this vocabulary already in place means performance lessons build on something, instead of starting from zero mid-course.

Use interactive schematics, not just diagrams

A static system diagram shows you where a valve is. It does not show you what happens when a bus fails, or which side of a manifold isolates when a valve closes. Working through an interactive schematic, clicking a switch and watching the system actually respond, builds the kind of system logic instructors test for in ground school questions and simulator scenarios, which is exactly why the electrical, fuel, hydraulic and pneumatic schematics in the B737 Type Rating Course are built to be clicked through, not just read.

The final week

• Re-run memory items daily until they are automatic, not just recognisable.
• Re-check limitations and V-speed definitions without notes.
• Do a final pass on the systems you found hardest, not the ones you already know well.
• Read what actually happens on day one so nothing about the format itself is a surprise.
• Sleep and logistics matter more than one more hour of study the night before. Ground school days are long; start rested.

FAQ

AviationGrade editorial team

From the 737-800 FCOM and common ATO ground school structures

We build the B737 systems course and question bank these guides link to. Corrections welcome and credited.