A classic IFR reference gets a modern makeover
These issues have been common staples for nearly a decade at DPE recurrent training sessions, and the FAA has been like a kindly white-haired grandparent gently guiding us through the swirl of changes accompanying aviation's adolescence. As examiners--some of us still struggling just to adapt to computer technology--witnessed applicants arriving in airplanes boasting navigation equipment that we could only trust our applicants were demonstrating correctly, the FAA provided general guidance that sometimes worked, and sometimes did not. That is changing.
In December 2007, the FAA released an updated FAA-H-8083-15A, the Instrument Flying Handbook. While the previous release (2001's 8083-15) was certainly welcome in its time, the 2007 "A" version should astound and delight the three corners of aviation's professional temple: learners, teachers, and testers. Pilot examiners might be well advised to review the acknowledgements page of this manual, for professionals at that level of accomplishment often take exception to some statements in FAA handbook statements, and this one is no exception in that regard. In this book, however, acknowledgements to individuals and corporations and organizations clearly show the coordination and depth of research that the FAA intended this work to have. Doubtless, there will be disagreements within the aviation community as to details found within the book once most people digest its contents. Disagreement with established sources is common, especially among pilots and occasionally among DPEs.
The strong advantages to the DPE community in this iteration of the Instrument Flying Handbook include not only the wonderfully abundant illustrations, but also the depth of its penetration into technologies that are new to many in an aging and traditionalist pilot examiner community. Illustrations found in 8083-15A are important to your examiner because many of us do not have regular access to this equipment or these resources.
An example of the value of this handbook not only to you as you prepare for your instrument rating practical test, but to your flight instructor and your DPE as well, appears in section 4, "Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying." Section I of this chapter takes examiners into familiar territory, using analog instrumentation. (Of course, nobody ever called them "analog" back when they were the only type available; they were just "instruments." The 2001 edition of the Handbook covered this subject in a scant six pages. You, learning to control your aircraft's spatial position by instrument reference, now have 14 pages of good guidance--and that is for those who only use the old-technology instrument panel. Section II adds another 14 pages of erudition for those using an electronic flight display.
A singular disappointment is found in some of the examples of voice radio communication that deviate from the FAA's precepts outlined in the Aeronautical Information Manual. For example, on page 10-33, the scenario airplane called Cessna 30A responds to an instruction with "Roger," a term that--because it indicates only receipt of a transmission, and neither understanding nor intent to comply--is properly a response to information rather than instruction. While this may seem to be a minor detail, aviation safety hinges upon multitudes of details, much in the same way as does a pilot's health. Still, except for numerous accident trend studies, most aviation publications tend to discount this as minutia.
While voice radio words carry success or failure within them, the ancient saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is very much evident in the latest version of the Handbook. The illustrations, as mentioned above, are plentiful and magnificent. For example, on page 3-11 one finds figure 3-15, which discusses color codes for a typical airspeed indicator. Not satisfied with a somewhat bland discussion and a sample of a generic airspeed indicator in the 2001 version, the 2007 edition's figure 3-15 not only shows a similar airspeed indicator face, but contains three adjacent columns with details of portions of that airspeed indicator, the nomenclature of each aspect of that airspeed indicator, and a concise description of what meaning these have to a pilot.
These lavish illustrations take many pilot examiners into a world of electronic flight displays throughout the manual, opening doors to understanding systems, their displays, and the thought processes behind them, that an untold number of future aviators will take entirely for granted. Wonders! Just wonders!
The wonders do not end there. Chapter 7 introduces its readers to navigation systems by first discussing radio properties, although with a subtly more readable tenor than in the previous edition. Perhaps the difference is the updated Ground, Space, and Sky Wave Propagation illustration in Figure 7-1. If you are preparing for your instrument rating, remember that the information contained herein is fair game during your checkride. Even if you already own the 2001 version of the Handbook, understand that your knowledge is also being evaluated, and your examiner may ask questions that include these modern systems. The long-awaited Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) has only recently found its way into the Aeronautical Information Manual, and now resides neatly on page 7-34 of the Instrument Flying Handbook. The discussion is brief and rich with knowledge, and is accompanied by illustrations that could leave the reader feeling like an expert.
Older technologies are not forgotten. As in love as our industry is with global navigation systems, the ubiquitous Instrument Landing System (ILS) receives fine treatment. Figure 7-34 diagrams the ILS, the outline of which is as familiar as a museum fossil. But this fossil seems alive; the colors' well-considered use enhances one's desire to read this illustration fully--a treat rather than a chore. Similarly, gone is the old localizer coverage limits diagram; in its place you will find a thoroughly memorable three-dimensional, multicolored view of said vital area. Such illustrations increase the likelihood of your recall should your examiner ask the distance up to which you will have a 35-degree area of coverage from the localizer centerline, or beyond which that coverage area reduces to 10 degrees.
So much stuff. So well presented. This is how we all keep updated!
Dave Wilkerson is a designated pilot examiner, writer/photographer, and historian. He has been a certificated flight instructor since 1981 with approximately 2,000 hours of dual instruction, and is a single- and multiengine commercial-rated pilot.
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