ASA has been helping pilots achieve certification for decades. The Instrument Pilot Oral Exam Guide, now in its 11th edition, is arranged by topic, and provides a question-and-answer format very similar to the way the oral portion of the checkride is presented.

Blair aligns the guide with the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) that went into effect May 31, 2024. 

This edition has new and expanded content for the pilot to apply during the preflight, and discussion of the departure, en route, and arrival phases of instrument flight. There is an increase in application of scenario-based training, along with additional study material for Instrument Instructor (CFII) candidates. There’s also guidance for instrument proficiency checks (IPC) which to be effective, should be much more than shooting approaches.

The Instrument PilotOral Exam Guide can be found at pilot supply shops, online retailers or at ASA2fly.com.

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The CFI didn’t believe the learner for one minute, as we had known each other for years, and he knew I made lots of notes during these evaluations. The debrief is extensive and considerably longer than “passed with flying colors.”

The CFI sent the learner to me, he said, because he was the poster boy for the Dunning-Kruger effect. 

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a term for a cognitive bias in which people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain overestimate their knowledge or competence in that domain—and here is the important part —relative to objective criteria. In this case, the Airman Certification Standards and their score on the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test. 

This applicant scored an 82 on the knowledge test and scoffed that anything over 70 was overkill. 

It became apparent rather quickly that he may have known the information once, but he couldn’t give it back to me when I asked questions about aircraft systems, weather, and airspace—all the areas he had been shown “deficient” on the knowledge test.

This applicant was lucky in that his instructor knew he had soft spots that needed to be eliminated before the check ride. Some instructors don’t see them, and I maintain a subset of the Dunning-Kruger effect is when the recommending instructor overestimates the learner’s abilities. 

This happened to an acquaintance of mine who had a private pilot applicant fail during the oral part of the check ride due to inadequate knowledge of aircraft systems. The CFI had been teaching a 10-week private pilot ground school at a local community college and the learner was in the class. The learner passed the class with an “A,” so the CFI thought he knew the material. 

Neither the CFI nor the applicant were prepared for the failure. There were other similar failures from the class. A little bit of sleuthing revealed the structure of the program was to teach to the tests. The message was to memorize the answers and pass. This looked good on their transcripts, as it was a two-year program and many of the students went on to four-year institutions, but this lack of knowledge left them woefully unprepared for the cockpit.

How You Study Is Important

Studying for the check ride can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to organizing the materials.

The fine folks at Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA) have been doing this for decades with their oral exam guides. If the test involves an oral exam, ASA has a study guide for it, be it for flight ratings, aircraft dispatching, aircraft mechanic, or studying for your flight review.

For 30 years many of the ASA oral exam guides were written by recently retired Michael Hayes (respectful pause), who, through his concise and informative prose, helped thousands of pilots earn their certificates. The latest edition of the Commercial Pilot Oral Exam Guide appeared with a new author—none other than Jason Blair, an active flight instructor,  FAA designated pilot examiner, and a regular contributor to FLYING.

I have been using these books for years, both for my own study and to prepare my applicants for their tests. Full disclosure: When the newest editions are released, I go through them, cover to cover, just to make sure I am up to speed on what I am teaching. The ASA Commercial Pilot Oral Exam Guide is in its 11th edition, and I’ve been reading it to refresh and recharge my knowledge.

If you have never used one of these study guides, here is the skinny. The books are organized by subject matter: FARs, aircraft systems, weather, etc., making it easier to focus on knowledge areas that the learner is having trouble with. The material is presented in a  Q&A format. For example: “What is the difference between a de-ice system and an anti-ice system?” Answer: De-ice is used to eliminate ice that has already formed, while anti-ice is used to prevent the formation of ice. 

Scenarios are used for the most in-depth questions.

• READ MORE: Making the Most of a Ground Lesson

Although many learners don’t pick up a copy of the oral exam guide until just before check ride, you may find it useful earlier in your training as it helps to determine the depth of the knowledge required. This is especially good if you have a tendency to study minutia or have not enjoyed the benefit of working with a CFI with strong ground instruction skills.

The FAA reference for where to find the information is also listed.  I like this part the best, because when the examiner asks the learner where they found the information, you want them to be able to refer to a published FAA-vetted resource. Never ever, and I mean ever, reply, “My instructor told me.” That’s like comparing a spouse to that person you had a fling with in college. Just don’t do it.

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Gaffney, who was the 2007 National Flight Instructor of the Year, serves as the director of aviation at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. His experience as a mass educator for the G1000 began 18 years ago with Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA), where he created study materials for  computer-based technology (CBT) meeting FAA Industry Training Standards (FITS). He said he worked hard to keep the material in each book current as Garmin evolves and improves the G1000 system.

There is a lot going on with the G1000, and it’s easy to get bogged down in the buttonology. Gaffney’s book is direct with each chapter beginning with a clearly stated objective, reminiscent of a lesson plan, and ending with review questions to make sure the reader has absorbed salient points.

• READ MORE: Garmin Reaches a Flight Deck Milestone

According to Gaffney, the book was originally written as a Part 141 course manual and became FITS. Gaffney has been teaching the G1000 since it was introduced, and it comes across in the pages of the book.

“I have been in G1000-equipped 172s, 182s, [and] 206s from Cessna, [Daher] Kodiaks, Mooneys, Beech Barons and Bonanzas, [Piper] Seminoles, Cirrus SR20s and SR22s, and Diamond DA40s and DA42s,” he said. “Our school now has two Cirrus SR20 TRACs and two Piper Seminoles, both featuring the G1000 NXi system. All of this G1000 operational experience led me to re-release this book as a reference textbook for the university classes.”

Gaffney acknowledged that the use of the book is just a piece of the puzzle and that the best learning is multifaceted and ongoing, which is why the text is periodically updated.

“I am constantly in either an aircraft or a simulator, or use the PC sim from Garmin to stay fresh,” he said. “Garmin is always changing—for example, [the] Cirrus G7 featuring a complete touchscreen version of the G3000—and you have to stay current. I read constantly and find myself conveying my experiential knowledge as a university professor of aviation as well as the program director, where standardization is key and safety is paramount.”

The information is presented in concise text with illustrations for more visual learners.

The Complete Garmin G1000: A Pilot’s Handbook (ISBN: 97989886709) is available from Sentia Publishing, Amazon, or at brick-and-mortar bookstores for $75.

More information on the book can be found here.

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The pilot straps into his de Havilland Vampire fighter, is cleared for takeoff and heads toward his home field, RAF Lakenheath. The night flight will take about an hour and he has plenty of fuel. 

The weather is overcast with fog but our protagonist is instrument-rated and current so all is well—until an electrical failure renders certain critical instruments useless and leaves the pilot unable to navigate to his destination without assistance.

From here The Shepherd, a classic short story from prolific English author Frederick Forsyth, grows increasingly riveting. It is a wonderful aviation tale that hits close to home for pilots, especially those who have had doubts regarding fuel, the weather, or their aircraft’s equipment during a long cross-country flight.

Forsyth, who brought us thrillers including The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, has a way with suspense, and The Shepherd draws you in and does not let go. For years, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has played a reading of the story on Christmas Eve. I stumbled upon this tradition a decade ago and have been hooked ever since.

You can listen to the CBC reading here. A screen adaptation by writer and director Iain Softley, starring John Travolta and Ben Radcliffe, begins streaming on Disney+ today. You can watch the trailer here. 

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For decades, ASA has been assisting pilots and maintenance technicians in preparation for FAA knowledge exams.The newly released prep material reflects the latest information and includes updates for two years.

Test Prep for Pilots and Mechanics

The Test Prep books are organized by subject matter and provide explanations for both correct and incorrect answers. ASA has texts covering remote pilot (drones), private, instrument, commercial, instructor, ATP, flight engineer, and aviation mechanic. The books contain the same charts, diagrams, and figures as the knowledge test. Each book has a FAA CT-8080, so the applicants will become familiar with the supplement materials they will see when they take the official knowledge test. Test prep books also include five online practice tests.

Prepware combines all the information found in the Test Prep book with computer-based training. The downloadable software installs to either Mac or PC and includes a two-year subscription to ASA’s Prepware Online, offering study and use-of-test features on digital platforms, including desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. This product also allows student integration with ASA’s Prepware School, which is Prepware designed to be used in the classroom.

Prepware Online includes a two-year subscription to any single test database, allowing the user to study using any digital device.

Test Prep Plus includes a book and the most current Prepware software along with a two-year subscription to Prepware Online. According to ASA, this arrangement has the most flexibility, offering the user the flexibility to study from a book or digital device. It is available for both pilots and mechanics.

Prepware School is designed for flight schools and training centers for multiuser support and study for all FAA knowledge exams—anytime, anywhere—from any internet-connected device.

Pricing ranges from $49.95 to $99.95. For more information, visit asa2fly.com.

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Mental Math for Pilots, Third Edition by Ronald D. McElroy–now available from Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA)–can help you with that.

According to ASA, the book teaches readers how to solve math problems in the cockpit without calculators, using solutions that are simple and practical for airborne contingencies. The mental math tools can be used in flight planning and to help pilots stay ahead  in the cockpit by performing more efficiently.

• READ MORE: Math 101 for Pilots

“In this book, pilots can learn the tricks of the trade for the areas where they have traditionally needed to sharpen their mental math skills: fuel planning, temperature conversions, reciprocal headings, turn radius, crosswind components, time-speed-distance problems, calculating true airspeed, the 60-to-1 rule, and many others,” ASA said in a release.

Among the techniques is how to determine the reciprocal heading by adding or subtracting 200 from a heading, then adjusting by adding or subtracting 20 to get the resultant. For example, if the aircraft is on a heading of 340 degrees – 200 = 140 + 20 = reciprocal of 340 is 160 degrees.

These skills can help pilots at all levels, including airline applicants during interviews.

In softcover, Mental Math for Pilots contains 104 pages and can be obtained from FBOs that stock pilot supplies, online retailers, or at asa2fly.com for $24.95.It is also available as an e-book for $19.95.

The post ASA Launches ‘Mental Math for Pilots, Third Edition’ appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In addition to being a professional photographer, Slemp is an aviation enthusiast. His interest in photographing flight jackets began when he took photographs of a jacket that belonged to the uncle of a friend.

Slemp’s photographs are done like formal portraits, with artistic lighting. In an interview with FLYING last March, Slemp explained that the book was born when he sent an email with a few images of the first jacket to Dorothy Cochran, the curator at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. He met Cochran through one of his aviation clients, but it was the museum’s curator of the Aviation Clothing collection who replied to his email, asking if Slemp would be interested in photographing the museum’s jacket collection—and how soon could he be there?

• READ MORE: Flight Jackets—More Than a Fashion Statement, They’re a Rite of Passage

Slemp, who hails from Atlanta, Georgia, spent the next few months traveling around the country with a portable studio, photographing flight jackets that belonged to individuals or were in the custody of aviation museums. Among the collections he photographed were the 390th Memorial Museum in Arizona, along with several museums in California, including March Field Museum in Riverside; the 475th Fighter Group at Planes of Fame Museum in Chino; the San Diego Air & Space Museum; and the Allen Airways Museum in El Cajon. Other facilities visited include the Indiana Military Museum, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Lowndes County Historical Society, the National Naval Aviation Museum, and the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

In addition to the more than 100 photographs, the book contains interviews relaying personal accounts of the service personnel who wore the jackets during their time in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The book also delves into the construction and manufacturing of these highly prized and highly collectible jackets, the process for designing the artwork on them, and the way these jackets have influenced fashion over the years. 

The 12 x 12, 398-page coffee table book is available for $129.95 from wwiibomberboys.com.

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A great many of those ACs focused on weather—how to get a good weather briefing, mountain flying, thunderstorms, etc. Now all that information is available in FAA-H-8083-28, the newly updated version of the Aviation Weather Handbook.

The 532-page handbook is subdivided into three parts:

• Part 1: Overview of the United States Aviation Weather Service Program and Information.
• Part 2: Weather Theory and Aviation Hazards.
• Part 3: Technical Details Relating to Weather Products and Aviation Weather Tools.

The handbook features color illustrations and bullet point presentations that make the sometimes complex nature of weather easier to understand.

A Few Highlights

Chapter 2 provides an overview of aviation weather information. A few things that will jump out to instructors and savvy pilots include a detailed account of what to expect in a standard briefing, the order in which the information is delivered, the color coding used for METARs (spoiler alert: purple and red mean no VFR flight today).

Chapter 16 on Mountain Weather should be a must read by all pilots, as lack of knowledge in these areas in particular can lead to accidents. You have probably heard about a pilot who chose to fly close to those ‘really cool looking clouds’ to get a photograph and ended up in a bad situation.

Chapter 18, Obstructions to Visibility does an excellent job of explaining fog, mist, and haze.

Note the message: “mist may be considered an intermediate between fog and haze,” which is an excellent way to explain the phenomenon to aviators who are visual learners.

Chapter 22, Thunderstorms, goes into greater detail than in previous FAA publications, in particular on what to do if you inadvertently enter a thunderstorm—read it and then file it under “Things You Hope You Never Have to Know.”

The Aviation Weather Handbook is available in both e-format and hardcopy.

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The Kings established a successful business delivering ground training to prospective pilots as well as serving their ongoing training needs. They just released their first book, part entrepreneurship manual and part autobiography, Lift: How to Start, Run, and Grow Your Own Successful Business.

Though I’ve renewed my flight instructor certificate several times using their course, they have also been mentors, colleagues, friends—and competitors—to me and the companies I’ve worked with over the years. Most recently, they’ve contributed the column “Sky Kings” to FLYING.

But they started off as a piece of paper tacked to a column near my cube at Jeppesen in 1997, when I joined Aviation Courseware as a technical writer. Our team was in the midst of finishing the first installment of the Guided Flight Discovery program, for private pilots. Their smiling faces and thumbs-up demeanor served as a cruel reminder that Jepp had lost the contract to develop training materials for Cessna Pilot Centers to the Kings—and we were determined to best them in the marketplace with GFD.

At the time, I wouldn’t touch a King Schools video with a 10-foot pole.

Times Change

Fast forward through my “career path with many waypoints,” and in 2008 I took on the role of Cessna Pilot Center manager for Cessna. All of a sudden, as the training focal on the Skycatcher light sport aircraft program and head of CPC, I reached out to the Kings to launch our development of the new courseware that would accompany the 162’s debut with flight schools. 

As we built our working relationship, I had a first-hand view of not only their business but also the ethical way they moved through the world—and aimed to treat their employees with respect. 

We’ve been through our fair share of spirited debates, and have not always agreed on the best approach to specific elements of training. 

One example: John was not an early proponent of scenario-based training as outlined with the FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS), while to me its advantages were clear. It turned out that the answer for us both was in its proper execution—natural for some instructors to deliver, but considered a complete waste of time by others. We found a resolution for the Cessna Sport/Private Pilot Training Program.

So, What About the Book?

I mention all this because I sat down to read “Lift” curious to see what I would learn. Would this be a review of the hundreds of stories they’ve shared over the years, both with me directly and to various audiences? Sure, it turns out a lot of those anecdotes reside in its pages—but you’d expect that they’d share some of their most important lessons again.

The Kings are clearly on a mission to promote entrepreneurism, and the benefits of healthy business development. However, after opening chapters compelling the reader to form a solid business plan based on a passion—and their personal “Scrabble tiles”—John and Martha quickly get into the specific reasons why they feel their business has succeeded, as well as outlining areas where they have failed. 

They provide actionable tools to use to help you organize your own business. While these might seem basic to those with a strong business background, there are also good reminders within about the elements that have worked.

Because of their own position in the industry, the Kings have met a ton of interesting people along the way. They include additional stories that introduce you to some of these folks—a veritable who’s who of aviation legends. And they give credit where it is due to the team members who have propelled them forward.

Overall, it’s a fast-moving read, with nuggets enough to keep even those of us who have had the pleasure to work with John and Martha entertained—and still learning from them.

At NBAA 2022

The Kings will host a book signing at the Coffee Social at the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center on Tuesday, October 18, at 2 p.m. The first 100 attendees will receive a complimentary copy.

The post Good <i>FLYING</i> Reads: John and Martha King’s ‘Lift’ appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

To this end, Pilot Workshops has released the latest in its series of guides for already-rated instrument pilots, IFR Procedures: A Pilot-Friendly Manual. The practical guide fills in the gaps between lessons and practice under the hood and in the sim—and keeps IFR proficiency going beyond the check ride. 

Using the same step-by-step format as past guides in the series, IFR Procedures talks you through common procedures, breaking them down into relatable, actionable chunks so that you can apply the lesson learned in the cockpit. The chapters cover all phases of instrument flight, including: preflight planning; ATC and clearances; departure, en route, and arrival procedures; and what to do if you have an abnormal or unusual situation.

The printed version is spiral-bound so you can take it with you—it will lie flat on your lap or that of your flying companion—or you can get a digital version to carry and reference on an iPad or tablet. It’s 144 pages with graphics and color photos—plus clear explanations of real-world scenarios.

“The majority of instrument-rated GA pilots struggle to maintain IFR proficiency,” says the company. “It’s a real problem, and something we’ve seen repeatedly over the past 17 years providing IFR training. Our goal was to create a tool pilots can use to improve their IFR knowledge as needed.”

The digital version is $49, and the printed version is $69. They can be ordered at pilotworkshop.com.

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