At the risk of the other guys making fun of me, for learning a lot of the background material for the FAA written test and general knowledge, the King DVDs are pretty good. People like to make fun of the John and Martha shtick, but I really liked the interactive learning. You can often find them on Ebay.
My instructor actually recommended them as a good way to go, except for the "how to land" parts. King teaches crabbing your final, but my instructor hated that and always told me to "slip in like a man dammit". laugh
I think that the King videos have good info in them, except the Kings are quite corny.
I didn't bother buying any of the video courses. Sporty's and King both sent me intro discs, so if you get those, that might help you to decide. Sporty's has some good videos, especially with Richard Collins. Your instructor will probably have some of the discs from the various companies that you might be able to borrow.
Oh, and please, please don't start the crab vs. slip, or high wing vs. low, or any of the other great debates of aviation.
As far as ground materials go, I got Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook, the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, an ASA oral exam prep book, a Jeppsen Written Exam prep book, and the FAR-AIM, which I absolutely loath.
Nothing will get you ignored, terminated, or vectored out of airspace faster than being an ass to ATC.
Be polite to the controller, and keep your transmissions short and sweet. Think before you speak.
I deliberately stayed with VFR: "The graveyards are full of guys who flew IFR once a month." I bought my 172 for casual sight-seeing and no-schedule cross-country. IFR conditions? Hey, I ain't goin'.
That's the way I am, too. People are constantly asking me "when am I going to start work on my instrument". I'm not. I don't desire to fly in instrument conditions. The only flying I do right now is once or twice a month, VFR, just for fun.
tell all the funny, interesting, *whatever* stories or experiences you picked up while learning to fly
Well, I had a cute female instructor (she is now an airline pilot).
Always, if you can, get a female instructor. Not only are they typically lighter than the male instructors, they also smell better. Especially on a hot, hot summer day.
Oh, I also made both of my sisters puke. While on separate flights. My instructor finally said that if I had any more siblings, that I had better not bring them along on lessons.
I almost got into trouble with the tower once. The controller wasn't paying much attention (slow day, Class D airspace, no traffic) and told me to use the reciprocal of the runway (35 instead of 17) that we were using. It went something like this...
Controller: Cessna 123ABC, XYZ Tower, cleared for the option, runway 35.
Me: XYZ Tower, Cessna 123ABC, Cleared for the option, runway 35.
A little while passes. I am on left base for 17 when this transmission comes, so I extend it into a crosswind and then turn downwind for 35.
Controller: Cessna 123ABC, what are your intentions?
Me: XYZ Tower, Cessna 123ABC intends to land runway 35, as per Tower's instructions.
Controller: Did I say that?...long pause...
Then he proceeded to give me a lecture on why I should always think about ATC's instructions and make sense.
My replies consisted of "Yes, sir"