This is what the Jeppesen Sanderson Private Pilot Textbook looks like ... and the syllabus. It is copyright protected. No part of it may be stored or transmitted without prior permission by Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. I will not violate their copy right, but may refer to specific pages within the book in these notes. The "Jepp" material is widely used in training ... .
It is the material that was used in the program when I began my private ground training. Jepp texts are available for every level of certification and I understand they produce review materials that are widely used in the industry.
The book is easy to use. I've taught a Pvt. Ground class many times relying on this text as the primary source for fundamental information. Chapters are broken down into sections and at the end of each section, you'll see a "summary checklist" ... bulleted items of key points. There is also a list of vocabulary words which are listed in that section. And finally, a few questions that you should be able to answer as a review of the section. I tell students to read these three things first ... the summary, the vocab or terms, and the quiz questions. That is the information that you are supposed to acquire as you read the material. Knowing what you are supposed to learn will help a lot with the reading. One of the things that beginning aviation students figure out pretty fast is there is a ton of info to absorb. I have heard this process compared to trying to take a sip of water from a fire hose. So ... it's important to have some guidelines otherwise it can seem pretty overwhelming.
This is my opinion: The Jepp Pvt. Pilot material is very polished. It is perfect for beginning student pilots. The graphics are clear and the material is ... how do I say it? ... kind of dumbed down. Major concepts are in bold print and important terms are in red ink. FAA test questions are even inserted through out the book. It is a very user friendly presentation. As I said ...it was the material I began with and I don't have any complaints about it after teaching the course with it many times. I prefer the FAA's approach to the material though ...
Again, my opinion: Flight schools use the Jepp product because the curriculum is already approved by the FAA for training purposes ... it's a package. But guess what? The FAA puts out their own texts ... they are very consistent through out their presentation of the material ... from introduction all the way to both the oral and written test segments. Jepp doesn't want to copy the FAAs wording ... and sometimes something is lost in the "re-wording". Let me put it another way. The PVT pilot knowledge exam is an FAA test. The Oral will most likely be administered by a FAA inspector ... or a person designated by the FAA to administer the oral and the flight portion of the certification process. AND ... The FAA textbooks are available for download in PDF format from http://www.faa.gov/ They are generous about not copy writing the material ... government publication baby ... and if I make a direct quote here ... it'll be from their material. I like their matter of fact presentation of the information ... they don't pre-highlight the concepts or terms so ... get a colored pen of some kind.
FAA-H-8083-25A (2008) supersedes FAA-8083-25 (2003)
The PHAK (Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge) provides basic knowledge for pilots. Except for the REGs, most of the essential knowledge areas are presented in the PHAK. The book is golden. It's great for beginning pilots as well as those pursuing more advanced degrees. This handbook is available for download, in PDF format, from http://www.faa.gov/
you'll also need the
FAA-H-8083-3A
The Airplane Flying Handbook is a technical manual designed to introduce basic piloting skills and basic piloting knowledge. It was developed by the Flight Standards Service with a little help from their friends, and conforms to pilot training and certification concepts established by the FAA.
This manual is available for download from the Flight Standards Service Web site at http://av-info.faa.gov/
The second segment will look at the REGS and the Aeronautical Information Manual. This book provides the RULES and PROCEDURES for General Aviation, Sport Pilots, and Instructors.
This specific book is published by ASA (Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.) and contains current regulations as of 30 July 2010. The AIM portion is current through 26 August, 2010. They note: visit www.asa2fly.com/farupdate for regulation and AIM changes released after the printing date. Something I didn't know, and really appreciate is, ASA provides a free Update service with email notification when the rules and procedures change. Nice. I also really like the iPhone apps for this material ... the search feature totally rocks. Inside this manual, on page xii, you'll find the Private/Recreational Suggested Study List . The word suggested always cracks me up when I read it in FAA publications ... You might want to substitute the word minimum or maybe even slacker here. If a suggestion is being made, I encourage you to interpret that as : Here's the list of regs and information that the FAA sets as your minimum standards ... they suggest you study them ... that's my interpretation. The FAA says applicants preparing for the FAA Knowledge Exams should have full understanding of the following applicable regulations and AIM paragraphs: ...then they provide the pertinent suggested study list.
A definition for "should" is not given in the REGS Sub chapter A definitions, but I'll say it again ... the FAA writes ... interprets ... administers ... enforces ... . When they say "should" I listen up. Staying current with the info provided in the FAR/AIM is important.
I'm going to go ahead and put this excellent book by Richie Lengel here. I wish I had had this when I first started looking at the REGs. It makes a great companion book ... in my opinion. I like the excruciatingly detailed plain English explanation of everything essential for every pilot aspect of this book! It's published by Aviation Press and can be found at http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.aviation-press.com/ I paid 59.95plus tax, at a flight school counter for mine and I gotta say ... it was money well spent. ... recommended.
And the third segment will be about aviation weather and weather products
These two books supplement weather info provided in the PHAK:
I particularly like the Aviation Weather Services manual (AC 00-45E).It is published jointly by the FAA and the National Weather Service. It explains weather service in general and the details of interpreting and using coded weather reports, forecasts, and observed and prognostic weather charts. The AC in front of the number on this publication notifies us that this is an Advisory Circular ... I do not know if it's available as a PDF download or not, but ACs are available at the http://www.faa.gov/ site. I have several three ring binders of ACs that I've printed off ... we'll talk about that a little later. Uh oh! A quick look at http://www.amazon.com/ reveals that there is an update ... AC 00-45F. Oh, foxtrot. I will look in to acquiring the latest and greatest version of this AC before I start the weather notes here on True North. The other book pictures here, Aviation weather, was revised in 1975 and is still disseminated as generation "A". It is jointly published by the FAA and the NWS and is a weather theory manual providing basic weather information for pilots. Part I is titled: What You Should Know About Weather ... they print that in all caps. Notice the word should there.
Let's see, what other books will we need?
Ah hah! The Practical Test Standards (PTS) for Private Pilot ASEL and ASES. If you intend to actually become certified, this is a very important book. And it surprises me that student pilots are largely unaware of just how helpful this little jewel can (should) be as they work towards certification. Every student pilot should at the earliest possible time ... asap ... go through this booklet one page at a time. Page 3 provides a list of publications that the FAA expects you to be conversant on. They write,"These practical test standards are based on the following references." The list includes (other then the Jepp material) what I have listed here for you. There are several ACs that I will look at individually here ... probably. FAA-H-8083-1 (aircraft weight and balance handbook) and FAA-H-8083-15 (Instrument Flying Handbook) are also on the list ... .
Page 5 has a section on Special Emphasis Areas ... areas considered critical to flight safety. Uh ... I think they will emphasize those areas during the student evaluation process. An outline for the AREA OF OPERATION begins on page 1-1. Those areas that the practical test may include are spelled out AND within that list of possibilities, shall evaluate this task and that task is right there in black and white. Wouldn't it be great if you had a pretty good idea at the beginning of this what standards will be used to evaluate your proficiency level ... knowledge and stick stuff. Seems like most students who want to fly are physically able to perform ... it's the knowledge portion that is generally lacking ... so I hear. I recommend that a serious student pilot figure out how they will answer those questions provided in that outline. The first question is: Explain private pilot certification privileges, limitations, and recent flight experience requirements. I have heard students begin their answer on this very first question with, "What do you mean by limitations?" I promise that isn't what the examiner wants to hear!
No body thinks a private pilot applicant will show up knowing everything ... but showing up prepared is a big should. The PTS provides a way for the applicant to know what to expect ... and what is expected.
This is the Question and Answer bank for the Private Pilot Knowledge Test. Yes ... they give you all the questions and all the answers in a multiple choice format. Uh ... thanks guys ... no one has ever made a test so simple ... all the possible questions and all the correct answers all in one book ... broken down into units of study ... for my ease and enjoyment! Oh ... by the way ... there is an app for this too ... shake for the next question! There are many different theories on how to "study" for this test. Your learning style should dictate how you work your way through this material. I can't imagine a good excuse for not doing well on this test if you know to start looking at it early and often. The actual test consists of 60 questions and you are given 2.5 hours to complete it. There are 11 different study units and I haven't counted the actual number of possible questions in the question bank, but there are about 900 - 950... some of them are duplicates (duplicates become very likely questions to be seen in that test of 60 questions - right?) I tell my students to put this book where ever they will see it every morning first thing, and every night last thing. Put it on top of the swimsuit issue.
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