"Falky foo" wrote in message
. ..
All the people I've talked to in San Diego want $70 to sign it, since I
don't have someone I'm taking regular lessons from at this time.

"All the people" quote you exactly the same price? Sounds to me like you
talked to only one person. In any case...

You cannot get your "private license" without hiring an instructor to train
you. If you do hire an instructor to train you, they will have no problem
whatsoever signing you off to take the written exam, even if you study at
home rather than taking ground school. They won't charge you for it either.

If you want an instructor that you have never met before, and whom you'll
never see again, to sign you off to take the written exam, they will need to
verify that you have done the necessary work to qualify to be signed off to
take the written exam. This is NOT a "15 seconds looking at my answers"
process.

As others have pointed out, coursework that you PAY for include
certification for being qualified to take the written. But of course you
PAY for that coursework. There's little difference between that fee and
paying an instructor to do the verification. I don't know why you say that
"all the home study stuff is very coy"...I've found the ones that provide
for a completion certificate allowing you to take the written are right up
front about it, and not coy at all. After all, it's a marketing point for
them.

Why you would want to do all the home study for the written without getting
near an airplane, never mind hiring an instructor to teach you to fly, I
have no idea. But if you insist on doing so, you're going to have to pay
*someone* for the signoff for the written, whether that's through the
purchase of appropriate home study materials or by paying an instructor to
take the time to verify your knowledge before taking the written.

Pete