Aviation Books You Must Have in Your Library
As we get into the dark, snowy time of the year, flighttraining tapers off. I always like tosay that this time of year is ideal for some professional development. One of the best things we can do as pilots ofany sort is to keep improving ourselves.
Often pilots are familiar with the old staples oftextbooks – From the Ground Up, the Air Command Weather Manual, the FlightTraining Manual, etc. And it’s good toreview and refresh some of those materials. But it’s also important to expand your knowledge with other sources. Many of these can even be found in your localpublic library so that you don’t have to buy them.
Here’s a list of some training titles that I think areinvaluable for pilots:
Jeppesen’s GuidedFlight Series runs from the PPL, through CPL, multi, and instrumentrating. There is also a FlightInstructor Manual that goes beyond TC’s Flight Instructor Guide. With many excellent images and diagrams thisseries is a must have.
Turbine Pilot’sFlight Manual by Brown and Holt is an excellent introduction to advancedsystems and airline operations. Itshould be a core part of any Integrated ATP training program, and for thatmatter any commercial program aiming to exceed the minimum standards. If you have IATRA or ATPL exams coming up, Ihighly recommend this book.
Savvy Flight Instructor by Brown is a quick read and really gives an understanding about how to run the business side of being a flight instructor. Whether you are a brand new Class 4 or an experienced instructor being asked to tackle student recruitment there are good lessons to be learned in this book.
The FAA Training Series includes four great titles from south of the border. The Risk Management Handbook guides both instructor and student through good decision making processes. The Instructor Handbook offers some suggestions missing from TC’s Flight Instructor Guide. Finally, the Instrument Flying Handbook and Advanced Avionics Handbook provide great information for the IFR pilot as well as any pilot flying an aircraft with “glass” instruments – and their flight instructors! Perhaps the best part is that these books are all free downloads from the FAA.
Understanding Flight by Anderson and Eberhardt explains how lift on a wing really works, how that applies to drag, and even the correct way to teach topics such as range and endurance. Aerodynamics is presented in a simple and easy to follow format by a PhD in physics and an PhD in aeronautics (one works at CERN and the other at Boeing). In my opinion, this book blows all other aerodynamic reference material out of the water.
If you have trouble getting a hold of Understanding Flight,you can also check out John Denker’sav8n.com’s See How It Flies section.
Severe Weather Flying by Dennis Newton is another book ideal for initial IFR students, and those working towards their commercial or airline transport licences. It covers thunderstorms, icing, and other topics at both low and high altitude with practical actions to be taken by the pilot.
Finally, Canadian Aviation Weather by Doug Morris is a fabulous weather resource that could replace all of your current weather books (and even the ones I mention above). Doug is B787 Captain, flight instructor, and certified meteorologist. This book covers everything from your student pilot days, right up to how to interpret weather products in Europe when you start the overseas flying portion of your career.
I hope you enjoy checking out some of the above items and incorporating them into your flight training program – and for your own personal development. In a future blog entry I’ll be covering some other books that are not traditional references – but ones I think have the potential to make the readers better pilots and flight instructors.
What books do you have that you think others should bereading? Let us know in the commentsbelow.