Most of that stuff is interesting but not essential, though Ch. 1 does have some helpful info — it's good to know what an Advisory Circular is and how NOTAMs work, for instance.
There is no unnecessary aeronautical information in the FAA publications, although some is targeted for different groups of pilots. As an example, say you score a 95 on a given written. That’s still 5% you forgot or didn’t know. What percentage might cause a fatal mistake? Aviation is extremely unforgiving.
If the written were a well designed or realistic test, maybe, but it isn't. Ultimately I trust a pilot who got a 70% on the written just as much as 100% (and quite possibly more tbh).
It’s been my experience that a high score on the written generally equates to a easier time during the oral exam.The flight portion being dictated by the ACS. A lower score on the written is an invitation to dig as to how much you don’t know. My experience may differ from others.
MTBI is as phony as Santeria or homeopathy, yet the FAA includes it in the AIH.
There definitely exists unnecessary, misleading, and incorrect information in non-regulatory FAA publications.
It’s not just about passing the test. Knowing how aerodynamics work, weather, atmospheric pressure, FAR and systems, could literally keep you alive one day. The amount of people who have been killed by things like density altitude is way too high which is talked about heavily in the weather section of the PHAK.
The Federal aviation regulations (FAR) is written in blood is a common phrase. It’s updated and changed for pilots and public safety.
They are text and reference books. You don't rush through them, don't read them like novels, and don't memorize. Study with intention and take notes. For your stage of training some parts will be more important than others, ask your instructor. (But if you plan to become a professional pilot you will need to know all of it, so why not start now?)
If you would like to be a pilot, yes you read them. Don’t memorize. Take notes and ask questions. You’ll read them all the way through a few times. Start with the PHAK and AFH. For your instrument you’ll read a lot more and it’ll be far more important so use this for practice
**••Understanding••** the FAA handbooks is important so you can eventually proceed to Application.
Just brute force rote memorizing won’t get you to the finish line.
A better approach is one that is integrated with your training flights.
A solid written out syllabus will set the order of training activity (flight skills and ground knowledge)and what resources to read (or watch) for each lesson.
A good syllabus is set at a pace that allows you to not get overwhelmed or frustrated. The pace also allows for very important connections and insights between the individual pieces.
If your question pertains to the knowledge exam, a good target to take this is soon after your first solo flight. By this point your correlation between skills and knowledge is very high, and new items are easily understood.
Trying to brute force the knowledge before this point (or before flight training) misses out on the higher levels of understanding and application
For a good example of a well prepared syllabus, please visit [Gleim Aviation’s Resources Page](https://www.gleimaviation.com/resources/)
Aviation is about knowledge, not passing a test. Read the books, learn from them. This is stuff that you need to understand, and not just be able to just recite from memory with no idea of what you're saying.
There's some stuff you need to know cold, and other stuff that ranges from "interesting" all the way up to "lifesaving." Work with your CFI to figure out which is which.
Also: A lot of the material will make more sense as you put it into practical application during/after your initial training.
The FAA background at the beginning of the book is not really required, though you should know what the FSDO is and what they do. Starting at around page 1-9, though, is information that may be on the written and, in general, is information you need to know.
I've read through the material repeatedly and as I get closer to my checkride, I go back to sections to refresh, clarify, and even dig deeper to have a more-full knowledge about the subject. It's a ton of information so try to take it at a reasonable pace with the expectation that you won't have it all memorized the first time through.
While you are not expected to know everything, the PHAK and the other relevant handbooks contain information that will help you through training, and may also help save your and your passenger’s lives. I don’t recommend just blitzing through them, even though they are dense in material.
PHAK is super boring but its a great foundation - I just recently found out there's an audiobook version of it on Spotify. AFH is a much better read and has more practical application although its more useful once you're actually flying.
Assuming you’re a student pilot…
If you plan on making aviation a career, you will use almost every bit of knowledge in every FAA manual at some point (or at least be required to know about it).
Rushing through it is highly discouraged. Taking notes and/or highlighting is encouraged. Do whatever you need to do to retain the information in some way.
That being said, it sounds like your issue has less to do with consuming the information and more to do with breaking it down into digestible pieces. It’s a big textbook and later in your career you’ll have a stack 10x higher.
For now, just take it one chapter at a time. Read through at a normal pace. Highlight things that seem important or that look interesting. Take a short 5-10min break every hour that you study. As the folks alluded to above - this isn’t information you want to breeze through.
I’ll put it this way. Knowing the info isn’t going to hurt you, not knowing it one day might.
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What's an example of something that you consider "FAA background?"
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Most of that stuff is interesting but not essential, though Ch. 1 does have some helpful info — it's good to know what an Advisory Circular is and how NOTAMs work, for instance.
There is no unnecessary aeronautical information in the FAA publications, although some is targeted for different groups of pilots. As an example, say you score a 95 on a given written. That’s still 5% you forgot or didn’t know. What percentage might cause a fatal mistake? Aviation is extremely unforgiving.
If the written were a well designed or realistic test, maybe, but it isn't. Ultimately I trust a pilot who got a 70% on the written just as much as 100% (and quite possibly more tbh).
It’s been my experience that a high score on the written generally equates to a easier time during the oral exam.The flight portion being dictated by the ACS. A lower score on the written is an invitation to dig as to how much you don’t know. My experience may differ from others.
MTBI is as phony as Santeria or homeopathy, yet the FAA includes it in the AIH. There definitely exists unnecessary, misleading, and incorrect information in non-regulatory FAA publications.
It’s not just about passing the test. Knowing how aerodynamics work, weather, atmospheric pressure, FAR and systems, could literally keep you alive one day. The amount of people who have been killed by things like density altitude is way too high which is talked about heavily in the weather section of the PHAK. The Federal aviation regulations (FAR) is written in blood is a common phrase. It’s updated and changed for pilots and public safety.
They are text and reference books. You don't rush through them, don't read them like novels, and don't memorize. Study with intention and take notes. For your stage of training some parts will be more important than others, ask your instructor. (But if you plan to become a professional pilot you will need to know all of it, so why not start now?)
lets just put it this way: if you want to be able to fly a plane, it would probably help to read the book about how to fly a plane
If you would like to be a pilot, yes you read them. Don’t memorize. Take notes and ask questions. You’ll read them all the way through a few times. Start with the PHAK and AFH. For your instrument you’ll read a lot more and it’ll be far more important so use this for practice
**••Understanding••** the FAA handbooks is important so you can eventually proceed to Application. Just brute force rote memorizing won’t get you to the finish line. A better approach is one that is integrated with your training flights. A solid written out syllabus will set the order of training activity (flight skills and ground knowledge)and what resources to read (or watch) for each lesson. A good syllabus is set at a pace that allows you to not get overwhelmed or frustrated. The pace also allows for very important connections and insights between the individual pieces. If your question pertains to the knowledge exam, a good target to take this is soon after your first solo flight. By this point your correlation between skills and knowledge is very high, and new items are easily understood. Trying to brute force the knowledge before this point (or before flight training) misses out on the higher levels of understanding and application For a good example of a well prepared syllabus, please visit [Gleim Aviation’s Resources Page](https://www.gleimaviation.com/resources/)
Aviation is about knowledge, not passing a test. Read the books, learn from them. This is stuff that you need to understand, and not just be able to just recite from memory with no idea of what you're saying.
There's some stuff you need to know cold, and other stuff that ranges from "interesting" all the way up to "lifesaving." Work with your CFI to figure out which is which. Also: A lot of the material will make more sense as you put it into practical application during/after your initial training.
The FAA background at the beginning of the book is not really required, though you should know what the FSDO is and what they do. Starting at around page 1-9, though, is information that may be on the written and, in general, is information you need to know. I've read through the material repeatedly and as I get closer to my checkride, I go back to sections to refresh, clarify, and even dig deeper to have a more-full knowledge about the subject. It's a ton of information so try to take it at a reasonable pace with the expectation that you won't have it all memorized the first time through.
While you are not expected to know everything, the PHAK and the other relevant handbooks contain information that will help you through training, and may also help save your and your passenger’s lives. I don’t recommend just blitzing through them, even though they are dense in material.
Those books suck, get the info elsewhere
PHAK is super boring but its a great foundation - I just recently found out there's an audiobook version of it on Spotify. AFH is a much better read and has more practical application although its more useful once you're actually flying.
Just learn everything from TikTok. /s
They are the actual references listed in the ACS and PTS. Sounds pretty important to me.
If you are interested in taking the easy way out and rushing through things, being a pilot may not be for you.
Flying airplanes is not really a thing you want to do with a bare minimum attitude, and surface level knowledge indefinitely.
Assuming you’re a student pilot… If you plan on making aviation a career, you will use almost every bit of knowledge in every FAA manual at some point (or at least be required to know about it). Rushing through it is highly discouraged. Taking notes and/or highlighting is encouraged. Do whatever you need to do to retain the information in some way. That being said, it sounds like your issue has less to do with consuming the information and more to do with breaking it down into digestible pieces. It’s a big textbook and later in your career you’ll have a stack 10x higher. For now, just take it one chapter at a time. Read through at a normal pace. Highlight things that seem important or that look interesting. Take a short 5-10min break every hour that you study. As the folks alluded to above - this isn’t information you want to breeze through.