Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA Handbooks) Paperback – January 1, 2001

The book I received had blurry text which wasn't too bad but the entire book was in black and white. The original faa document is in full color which makes it much easier to read and understand. Returned for a refund.

I bought this for my brother. He is a pilot trainee. He was using a software called flight simulator for his home training but he also wanted a handbook for his upcoming test. He was recommended this book by his trainer. I said, this book was really helpful for the test. So, he's happy and I am giving credit to this book.

The book itself is as advertised with the FAA content for instrument flying, however it appears that wherever the stock of books is stored clearly is not under the best conditions. Book arrived dirty, lower spine corner was damaged and torn, top corner has a small rip on the rear cover, and the lower corner was creased - It clear that the damage was not due to shipping. Obviously these are superficial to the reason for buying this text. I’ve been flying for over 30 years now and this was a text I wished to keep in my reference library of flight, preferably in mint condition - somewhat disappointing that no care was given prior to shipping.

Finally, a gov document that eloquently and concisely covers the information a student pilots needs for their Instrument Rating. Also a great reference with vivid illustrations.

Coupled with the other essential FAA instrument rating pub, "Instrument Procedures Handbook," the "Instrument Flying Handbook" is an excellent introduction to getting an instrument ticket. The Instrument Procedures Handbook really gets into the thick of the procedures and regs, so you'll need both books. I've just begun my study and found both books very helpful. And, since Amazon makes a package deal for both titles, I couldn't resist.Unfortunately, there's a great deal of information in the Instrument Flying Handbook (probably 50%) that is a repeat of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge or the Airplane Flying Handbook. Not a bad thing, but I found myself skipping most of the first half of the book thinking, "I already know most of this stuff so I'll come back to it later." The last third of the book gets into the rudiments of precision flying.This latest version of the Instrument Flying Handbook is in full color, and even emphasizes glass panel layouts.If you want to see both books and make your own judgments, they're available as free PDFs on the FAA web site.

I bought this book as well as the Intrument Procedures Handbook with a similar cover by the same publisher. (While the description says FAA it is actually printed by Skyhorse Publishing and labeled as such on the spine and inside the cover). The content is identical to the FAA published book, but most of the pictures and figures are of low quality and low resolution and are practically unreadable. While the text is clear, it looks like all the picture were blown up from low resolution originals. Stick with the FAA versions.

This book is available in .pdf form for FREE on the FAA’s website. Given how extremely bad the print quality is I recommend avoiding this edition.

Odd... it seems some people are getting the black and white version, but I received the full color version exactly as it should be. I also got the instrument procedures handbook - that one was in black and white and basically not usable. I guess it's just a coin toss.