Flight-Sim Pilot's Information Manual e-Book

Learn About

• Aircraft
• Airports
• Airspaces
• Air Traffic Control
• Weather services
• Flight rules
• Abbreviations
• Formulas
• And more

Know About Airports

• Elevations
• Movement areas
• Runways
• Taxiways
• Aprons
• Ramps
• Holding areas
• Structures

Markings, Signs, and Lights

• Runway markings
• Runway signs
• Runway lights
• Thresholds
• Touchdown zones
• Hold bars
• Taxiway markings
• Taxiway signs
• Taxiway lights
• Centerlines
• Apron markings

Runway Approaches

• Approach lighting
• Lead-in lights
• End lights
• Slope lights

Airspaces

• Altitudes
• Flight levels
• Controlled
• Uncontrolled
• Classes
• Airways
• Requirements
• Procedures

Air Traffic Control

• Towers
• Ground control
• Clearance delivery
• Departure
• Common frequency
• En route
• Approach
• Transponders
• Requirements
• Procedures
• Phonetic code

Weather Services

• Government weather services
• ATIS, ASOS, AWOS
• Pre-flight briefings
• En-flight updates
• METARs
• PIREPs

Flight-Sim Weather

• Air pressure
• Pressure altitude
• Cloud types
• Precipitation
• Icing
• Wind types and variations
• Visibility

Flight Rules

• General, visual, instrument
• Visual minimums
• Visual requirements
• Instrument meteorological
• Instrument requirements
• Weather briefings
• Flight plans
• Clearances

Flight-sim Formulas

• Imperial to metric
• Metric to imperial
• Altitude
• Distance
• Pressure
• Speed
• Temperature
• Volume
• Weight

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Commonly used in flight simulations

Easy to Read and Follow

• Organized and formatted for quick and easy use.
• Every chapter is dedicated to a specific topic for speedy comprehension and reference.
• Each chapter is identified by number and title in headers with page numbers so you always know where you are in the book.
• All descriptions and explanations are clear and straightforward for home-simulation enthusiasts.

Clearly Written

• Complicated concepts are described in straightforward English.
• Facts are logically presented for thorough understanding.
• The book tells “what it is,” “what it does,” and “how to use it.”
• Aeronautical terms are plainly defined for clear understanding.

Easy to Use

• Bulleted lists and breakouts facilitate comprehension and learning.
• Custom made graphics convey principles easily.
• Structured tables lay out detailed technical data.
• Step-by-step procedures are numbered for easy following.
• Screen grabs from the simulator assist with comprehension.
• Simplified line drawings help with clarity.
• Diagrams were made especially for this manual.
• Precise labels enable quick and easy reference.
• Exercises facilitate skill development.

Reliable Facts and Methods

• Real-world source material was used wherever practical.
• Images are taken directly from the simulator.
• Everything is independently verified for accuracy and edited for correctness.

Quality Assured

• Researched rigorously
• Edited methodically
• Proofread meticulously
• Referenced precisely
• Produced skillfully

Specifications

• Common PDF format can be used by all home flight simmers.
• The book is 214 pages from cover to cover.
• The ZIP archive file is 2.46 megabytes.

Extra Goodies

My standard V-Speed card is included as a free bonus. Common V-Speeds are defined by speed on one side and alphabetically on the other.

Focus and Limits

Flight-Sim Pilots’ Information Manual describes and explains fundamental aviation knowledge that simulation pilots need for true realism. It applies to all aircraft, airports, airspaces, and simulators. It does not describe any particular airport, aircraft, airspace, or simulator. 

This manual is for home flight simulation only. It is based on real aviation principles and procedures so home flight-simulation enthusiasts can maximize their enjoyment. Because some aspects of home flight-simulation games are not exactly like real-world aviation, some information in this book is not exactly like real-world flight. Use for real-world aviation is not appropriate or authorized.

Use Your Time Productively

Don’t lose valuable flight-simming opportunities searching the internet for flimsy freebies. Most are worth their cost. Ftldave says it best:

“YouTube is hit or miss. Sometimes there's great, informative content, other times the videos are useless and unintelligible. How much time do you want to spend searching for the former, how much time to waste with the latter? As is often said about open software, the same is true for this: It's free if your time has no value to you.”

Flight simmers have trusted, benefitted, and enjoyed my instructional books since 1997.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

A lot of time and effort has been invested by me and others toward making a quality product that is useful to people. Any book with physical defects will be replaced at no cost. If you can show that the content of Flight-Sim Pilots’ Information Manual is not as described, your money will be refunded. If you find facts that you believe are in error, please let me know so I can evaluate them. – Bill Stack, Author