Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot's Handbook – Third Edition

This book is packed full of information and has a tons of good illustrations. The authors excessive jokes get a little old after a while but the book itself is top quality. If you're looking to learn about instrument flying you can't go wrong with this book and I doubt you'll find one any better.

Love this book. It's clear, easy to read, and understand.

I read this long after I got my IFR ticket, andam amazed that I managed to pass given what I didn'tknow.This book is really comprehensive, and covers muchmore material than the other 2-3 IFR course books I've got.* An extreme quantity of diagrams, all drawn by Rod. I'd guess thereare 2 diagrams per page average. Now many of them areFAA charts, but he's gone through and overlaid arrows andnotes on each of them.* Lots of practical equipment info. For instance, several pageson each of the instruments. How does a attitude indicatorself-erect? First explanation I've seen in any manual.* Up to date. (as of 2012). Separate chapter on flying GPS/RNAVapproaches. Lots of info on using MFDs, but covering the basicstoo if you've only got a single VOR/DME.* Comprehensive. For example, covers each of the types ofapproach charts separately with their individual idiosyncrasieshighlighted.* Geared to learning. His explanation of approach charts took ablank chart for a single airport and over the course of maybe 50 pages,developed it adding 1 or 2 items a page and explaining each in depthalong with pointing out variations from other charts. It's exactly howyou would do it if you sat down with a instrument class and overheadprojector and explained it over the course of a couple of hours.* One of the best weather chapters I've seen in any aviation book.

You have to appreciate Rod's warped sense of humor throughout the book. However, IMHO, it is heard to read from the format/layout standard. He profusely has insets throughout and the text is written to fill in the space around the insets. I find it difficult to concentrate and move around the page. Context is spot on. Just have to get used to the presentation.

Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook is in my opinion an excellent book and it greatly helped my private pilot studies.The Instrument Pilot's Handbook does not live up to the standard set by that book. Nearly half of the material in this book is a recap of information found there. Much of it is a direct copy & paste, and is information which anyone studying for an instrument rating would be expected to already know. The joke to useful information ratio also seems off. You should expect any Rod Machado material to be full of corny jokes, and that is fine, however this book at times seemed more like an aviation-themed joke book than an actual usable textbook. I suspect these problems compound each other - when half the book is redundant, additional space wasted on jokes is doubly annoying.Finally, I found the book to be not well organized. The material is not presented in the order in which it is likely to be needed by a student instrument pilot, nor does it follow a logical progression from basic principles to more advanced topics. Instead, a series of chapters recapping basic piloting information is interrupted by a chapter on how to fly holding patterns. After some more basic recap, there's a discussion on how air traffic control routes planes nationally, and one on how to program a GPS navigation system. Information on how to read approach plates and enroute charts and file and understand flight plans, which is needed to understand this early material, appears later.While it might be possible to obtain an instrument rating using only this book, I will probably end up buying another book, because after reading this one I still don't feel I understand how to fly IFR.[EDIT: I passed my IFR checkride on the first try earlier this year. I am rerating this with three stars instead of two. One of the main reasons I disliked the book was because I felt it needlessly duplicated the private pilot handbook. However, all the duplicated information is on the IFR test even though it was also on the private pilot test. That is to say, this book is redundant because the test is redundant. I would still have been happier with an appendix which simply listed the sections in the private pilot book to review - however, this would have made it hard for people who used a different book for their private.I guess you really can't please everybody!I did not end up having to buy another book, other than the ASA oral exam guide and practical test standards and the downloadable government-published materials. Along with the supplementary material, my instructor was able to help me "connect the dots."]

This book is fabulous. I actually took the King video course to pass the IFR written, and then sat down and went through this book to really learn the material The information in this book is complex, and Rod makes a lot of effort to present it clearly and precisely. The figures are especially good, and I enjoy the humor too. Highly recommended. BTW, I met Rod at Oshkosh and he is a real gentleman who is clearly passionate about flying and teaching.

I have been working on my instrument rating for about a year now and started out the same as I did with my private rating by getting the knowledge test done first,using the King School's program. I passed with only 1 wrong and even though I am most of the way through my flight training I am still always studying and working to better understand everything. Well,I would say I finally found exactly what I have been looking for with Rod Machado's book. The way he delivers the information is right on the money with how I learn which is rare for me to find(other reviews complain about too much comedy but I didn't mind,keeps it a little light hearted which helps with a difficult subject). He takes each topic and tears them apart,piece by piece which works great for me. I will definitely be purchasing his other IFR book "instrument pilot's survival manual",we'll done Mr. Machado.

Really nice written in easy to understand language. No fancy stuff. If your not really sure what the FAA material means, try this one.

As usual with Rod machado, it is a well written book which is easy to understand and grasp. I am very pleased with my thumb through of it, and know that it will aid me greatly to attain my Instrument Rating just as his Pilot handbook helped me gain my private Pilots licence.If you are interested in flying then his books are a must for you, especially if you are contemplating taking your lessons in the USA.