The Pilot's Manual: Flight School

For over 30 years, The Pilot’s Manual: Flight School has taught students the basics of flying and prepared instructors with effective pre- and post-flight briefings. Presented as a maneuvers manual, this textbook makes it easy for students to begin flight training on the ground, so that their valuable time spent in the airplane is dedicated to practice.

The sixth edition of Flight School covers all the tasks for the FAA Practical Exam for the Private and Commercial Certificates. With text supported by more than 500 full-color illustrations and photographs, students will gain both a theoretical and operational understanding of flying. In addition to covering all the maneuvers required for the checkride, this textbook also prepares readers for the student pilot milestones: first solo, cross-country, instrument, and night flight.

Also included is a comprehensive airplane checkout review, which readers can use to prepare for transitioning to a new airplane type, insurance applications, or the Flight Review.

Foreword by Barry Schiff. This book is part of The Pilot’s Manual Series, used by leading universities as their standard classroom texts. Also available in series:
Ground School—Pass the FAA Knowledge Exam and operate as a private or commercial pilot
Instrument Flying—Earn an Instrument Rating and safely fly under IFR and in IMC
Multi-Engine Flying—Add a Multi-Engine Rating to your pilot certificate
Access to Flight—An integrated Private Certificate and Instrument Rating curriculum
Airline Transport Pilot—Complete the ATP CTP and become an aviation professional

About the Editorial Team

David Robson
David Robson is a career aviator having been nurtured on balsa wood, dope (the legal kind) and tissue paper, and currently holds an ATP certificate with instructor ratings. He served as a fighter pilot and test pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force, completed a tour in Vietnam as a forward air controller flying the USAF O-2A and was a member of the Mirage formation acrobatic team, the Deltas. After retiring from the Air Force, he became a civilian instructor and lecturer for the Australian Aviation College, and editor for Aviation Safety Digest, which won the Flight Safety Foundation’s international award. He was awarded the Australian Aviation Safety Foundation’s Certificate of Air Safety.

Jackie Spanitz
As ASA General Manager, Jackie Spanitz oversees maintenance and development of more than 1,000 titles and pilot supplies in the ASA product line. Ms. Spanitz has worked with airman training and testing for more than 25 years, including participation in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) development committees. Jackie holds a B.S. in Aviation Technology from Western Michigan University, an M.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Instructor and Commercial Pilot certificates. She is the author of Guide to the Flight Review, and the technical editor for ASA’s Test Prep and FAR/AIM series.

James Johnson
James Johnson is the Director of Aviation Training for ASA. He has accumulated many years of aviation industry experience, from flight and ground instruction to working within corporate flight departments. James received a B.S. in Aeronautics with minors in Aviation Safety and Airport Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He holds certificates for Commercial Pilot, Advanced Ground and Instrument Instructor, and Remote Pilot sUAS.

Madeline Mimi Tompkins
Madeline Tompkins is an experienced flight instructor, current Boeing 737-300/400 airline captain and crew resource management facilitator. She is well known for her part as copilot in an airliner emergency in Hawaii, about which a TV movie was made. She has received many honors, including the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s Distinguished Pilot award. A former FAA designated flight examiner, she is currently an FAA accident prevention counselor, designated knowledge test examiner, and she also teaches CFI refresher courses.

Martin E. Weaver
Martin Weaver is an experienced flight and ground instructor in airplanes, helicopters, and gliders. He is a former chief flight instructor and designated pilot examiner, who has been closely involved with standardization procedures for over 14 years. He holds a B.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is currently a pilot in the Oklahoma Army National Guard.

Amy Laboda
Amy Laboda is a freelance writer, editor, and active flight instructor. She is a member of the American Flyers Judith Resnik Scholarship committee and former editor at Flying magazine. She has recently been appointed as editor of Women in Aviation. She has a rotorcraft category, a gyroplane rating, a glider rating and a multi-engine ATP rating. She also holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

Melanie Waddell
Melanie began flying in 1994 and was awarded a Bachelor of Technology in Aviation studies from Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia in 1997. She is a current commercial, multi-engine and instrument-rated pilot as well as a Grade I flight instructor. She hopes to captain a wide-body jet in the not-too-distant future.