January 2007

Plane & Pilot

Monday, January 01, 2007 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The collection features various pilot training resources, including an introductory guide to learning to fly, an IFR communications DVD for instrument pilots, and a manual for obtaining a seaplane rating.
A comprehensive field guide is available for aviation enthusiasts and plane spotters to identify over 400 different aircraft with detailed illustrations and descriptions.
Readers can explore the high-speed, high-risk world of aviation through a collection of essays covering topics like jet restoration, the hazards of flying without instruments, and notable aircraft.

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SportyÂ¹s IFR Communications DVD (SportyÂ¹s, 2006, ID#: D993A). Let SportyÂ¹s guide you through three unique IFR flights with pilots of varying levels of experience. Instrument pilots can examine real-world IFR operations through all phases of flight in all kinds of airspace and weather conditions. The action occurs in a Cessna Skyhawk with VOR navigation, a Garmin G1000-equipped Cessna Skylane and a twin-engine Piper Aztec with an MFD and FPS, traffic and datalink weather.

Man And Machine by Stephan Wilkinson (Globe Pequot, 2005, ISBN: 159228812X).
In this collection of essays, Wilkinson, an editor at Popular Science, takes readers into the high-speed, high-risk world of restored jets, custom ambulances and Formula One cars. In one chapter, Wilkinson describes how he helped restore a Czech trainer jet, and he takes a peek into the corps of thrill-seeking millionaires who fly them for fun. In another essay, he draws from his own misadventures in flight to share the hazards of flying without instruments, and why they can mean the difference between life and death. Additionally, he explains why the high-end Beech Bonanza is dubbed “the doctor killer.”

A Field Guide To Airplanes, Third Edition by M.R. Montgomery and Gerald Foster (Houghton Mifflin, 2006, ISBN: 0618411275). The only true field guide to airplanes features more than 400 aircraft, beautiful and accurate illustrations with side and overhead views, clear and succinct descriptions of aircraft grouped by visual similarity for easy identification. Airplane enthusiasts, plane spotters and history buffs alike can all appreciate this invaluable and easy-to-use guide.

Notes Of A Seaplane Instructor by Burke Mees (ASA, 2005, ISBN: 1560275588).
Pilots whoÂ¹d like to transition from landplanes to seaplanes should refer to this invaluable resource, which provides all the information necessary for adding a seaplane rating to a pilot certificate. Among other things, the illustrated book covers how seaplane preflight inspections differ from those in landplanes; normal, glassy and rough-water takeoff techniques; and seaplane flight characteristics, landing skills, water handling and sailing techniques.

Flight Training: Taking The Short Approach by David Diamond (ASA, 2004,
ISBN: 9781560275565). Because it doesnÂ¹t assume any aviation knowledge on the part of a reader, this fully illustrated, color handbook is ideal for student pilots. Diamond guides potential pilots through such topics as why people fly, money matters, health requirements, time commitments, school and instructor options, and tests. This orientation to flight training is like Â³Flight Training 101,Â² as it clearly explains the process of learning to fly and attaining a pilotÂ¹s license.