THIS PAGE IS A FIRST WORKING DRAFT.
IT IS MADE AVAILABLE IN ITS PRESENT RUDIMENTARY FORM FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.
MORE REFERENCES WILL BE ADDED AS TIME ALLOWS.
Introduction
This page contains a selection of regular civilian flight training literature, recordings of streamed instruction and safety seminars, and instruction/incident videos from various sources, with the following exceptions:
- FAA publications, including the FAA’s main flight training handbooks, are collected in a separate section of this bibliography.
- Upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT), stalls, and spins also have their separate section in this bibliography. On the other hand, competition aerobatics, which consists of a sequence of planned, well-choreographed maneuvers, is included on this page here.
Primary Flight Training
- William K. Kershner, “The Flight Instructor’s Manual”, 4th Edition, Iowa University Press, 2002.
Specialized Literature
Mountain Flying
- Sparky Imeson: “Mountain Flying Bible Revised”, (updated 4th edition), Aurora Publications, 2005.
– Sparky Imeson’s narrative of first accident (2007).
Seminars
A list of video recordings of flight instruction seminars and talks available online from a variety of sources. Most of these are not very technical, but discuss certain topics in some depth in the way a general aviation pilot is used to.
- “The Improbable Turn,” SAFE Broadcast with Russ Still, David St. George, and Rod Machado, Gold Seal Flight Training, February 8, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ackVNFct4I - “Loss of Control,” Gold Seal LIVE Broadcast with Patty Wagstaff, Rich Stowell, Russ Still, and David St. George:
– Part 1 (November 16, 2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zp4hBurmd8
– Part 2: Live Q&A (December 14, 2017, without Patty Wagstaff), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tHRAdLnCuY
– Highlighted moments:
– Part 1: [1:00:00 min]: St. George (DPE) explains stall in slip to landing (saying it will not spin with power at idle), but says power could make the rudder more effective and take you over the top. Stowell: low-wing airplane has a greater propensity to go over the top in a slip-stall, but you can still stop it.– Part 2: [20:00 min]: St. George (DPE): ACS is a testing standard, not a training standard. CFIs can train however they like, and go beyond the ACS, including falling leaf and letting nose drop through horizon to illustrate concept of angle of attack.
Incident Videos
Links to these incident videos on YouTube have been collected below as illustration and deterring training examples, to give the student an idea how some of these incidents arise, how quickly they can happen, and how dire the consequences may be. Most airplane incidents/accidents are due to pilot error and often start with a series of small, in and of themselves innocent decisions, mistakes and irregularities, each compromising the margin of safety a little, until it is too late.
Landings
- Porpoising of a LET L-410 Turbolet (8/24/2006): An excellent illustration of an extreme case of porpoising upon landing, and why the student must avoid it by initiating a go-around. The pilot comes in too fast, and fails to initiate a go-around after the first bounce. Notice how gentle the first bounce was, compared to the final consequence of nose gear collapse.
VFR into IMC
- “My 178 Seconds to Live Moment – VFR into IMC”, by blkpylut (2013): single-engine airplane inadvertently enters IMC, illustration of how quickly it can happen, as well as the flight planning/decision making that set the pilot up to get into this situation in the first place.