The Editor’s Picks · A Reading List
The pilot’s reference shelf.
A curated reading list for student pilots, instrument candidates, commercial students, and CFIs. The pilot operating handbooks for the aircraft we fly, the FAA standards your checkride is graded against, the handbooks every ground school is derived from, and the weather products every working pilot opens daily.
Section 01
Aircraft Pilot Operating Handbooks
The POH is the airplane’s instruction manual: limitations, systems, normal and emergency procedures, performance charts. Students should know the POH for the aircraft they train in cold by checkride day. Refresh on systems the night before a lesson, study performance for cross-countries, and re-read the emergency section every few months. These copies match the aircraft we operate at Riverside and Redlands.
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Cessna 172L Pilot Operating Handbook
The 172L (1971 to 1972 model) POH. Normal procedures, limitations, emergency procedures, and performance charts for the 172L Skyhawk we operate.
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Cessna 172N Pilot Operating Handbook
The 172N (1977 to 1980 model) POH. The most-studied POH on our flight line and the standard reference for instrument and commercial students training in the Skyhawk.
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Cessna 172H (1967) Pilot Operating Handbook
The 172H POH from 1967. Older Continental O-300 powerplant, different performance numbers than later 172s. If you fly a 172H with us, this is the document the checkride is graded against.
Section 02
Airman Certification Standards
The ACS is what your DPE grades you against on every FAA practical test. Read the matching ACS cover-to-cover before the checkride, then read it again. Free, current, and authoritative.
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Private Pilot, Airplane ACS
Standards for the Private Pilot single-engine and multi-engine airplane checkride.
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Instrument Rating, Airplane ACS
Standards for the Instrument Rating airplane checkride.
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Commercial Pilot, Airplane ACS
Standards for the Commercial Pilot single- and multi-engine airplane checkride.
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Airline Transport Pilot ACS
Standards for the ATP airplane and type rating practical tests.
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Remote Pilot, Small UAS ACS
Standards for the Part 107 small unmanned aircraft systems knowledge exam.
Section 03
FAA Pilot Handbooks
The reference texts the FAA publishes and updates. They are free, they are authoritative, and most ground school curricula are derived from them. Read the matching handbook from cover to cover at least once per certificate.
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Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
The foundation reference. Aerodynamics, weather, navigation, regulations, decision-making.
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Airplane Flying Handbook
How to fly an airplane. Procedures and techniques from takeoff to checkride.
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Instrument Flying Handbook
The reference for instrument flight, IFR procedures, attitude instrument flying.
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Instrument Procedures Handbook
A practical companion to the IFH. Departure, en route, arrival, approach procedures.
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Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)
The FAA’s reference for procedures and ATC operations. Updated periodically.
Section 04
Weather and Planning
Where pilots get the weather, in order of how often we open it. Bookmark all of them. Aviation weather is its own discipline; the products below are official sources used by every working pilot.
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Aviation Weather Center
The National Weather Service’s aviation weather portal. METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, prog charts.
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1800wxbrief
Flight Service. Standard briefings, NOTAMs, route weather, flight plan filing.
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SkyVector
Web-based VFR and IFR chart viewer. Free, fast, and useful for cross-country planning.