Buying used books
07-03-2023, 09:39 AM
#1
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Posts: 23
Buying used books
I'm buying a Jeppesen Private Pilot textbook. A new copy on amazon is $85 and the print date is January 01, 2018. On the Jeppesen website is $90 but I don't know if the date is more recent. I saw a used copy from 2013 for $35 on another website and wanted to ask if you guys that know more than me if it's ok to buy an older copy or if it's severely outdated.
07-03-2023, 10:09 AM
#2
All is fine at .79
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Position: Paahlot
Posts: 4,088
Before you buy anything, all FAA publications are free to download from the FAA website.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli.../aviation/phak
The FAA website is notoriously hard to navigate but all training publications should be there.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli.../aviation/phak
The FAA website is notoriously hard to navigate but all training publications should be there.
07-03-2023, 10:11 AM
#4
All is fine at .79
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Position: Paahlot
Posts: 4,088
What you download from the FAA website is current and FREE.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation
$80 is 30 min solo flying.
Crazy to spend that on one book because it says Jeppesen.
Given, they make some of the best training materials and are certainly industry leading but they’ve been expensive.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation
$80 is 30 min solo flying.
Crazy to spend that on one book because it says Jeppesen.
Given, they make some of the best training materials and are certainly industry leading but they’ve been expensive.
07-03-2023, 11:06 AM
#5
Disinterested Third Party
Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,026
If you're going to buy a book, get three: get The Proficient Pilot by Barry Schiff and digest all three volumes. They're thin, and they're packed with things you should know, and that your instructor probably doesn't.
The regulations are free online. You can purchase them for a nominal fee on an ipad, or get the printed version and highlight the hell out of it.
As TiredSoul noted, everything you need from the FAA is without cost, and is online. Digest the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Commercial private pilot manuals will take all their information from the PHAK anyway, and nearly everything you need to know is in there. You should know some of the regulation (Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulation), specifically Parts 61 and 91, and in my opinion Part 43, as well. ASA makes a good "FAR/AIM: the AIM is the aeronautical information manual, and whether you get it free or online, you should know it. It's all good information. Some applies to more advanced flying, such as instrument flying, but a lot of it is stuff you should know as a private pilot.
If you go buy commercial textbooks, you'll pay a lot for the cover and the name, and you'll get the same information you could have had for nothing. I'm a paper man: I prefer paper I can highlight and write notes in, but it's easier to carry an ipad with everything downloaded onto it, and programs like pdf expert, and goodreader will let you highlight, annotate, copy, etc, to your hearts content, and it's easier to access...and you can always have it with you where ever you go.
I had a private pilot manual a long time ago that I never let out of my sight. It was nothing but handwritten notes and highlighting, and so dog-eared and worn out that it was taped and glued together. My mother wrote "the bible" on it because I carried, read, and reference dit so much. I think it was a few bucks back then. Ninety bucks today sounds a bit steep, especially when the material is all available at no cost to you.
When I was younger, I found morgues of old Flying and Air Facts magazines going back forever, and read them all. I hung out at the airport as much as I could, asked questions, begged rides, washed airplanes in exchange for a ride, even pulled weeds and painted for flight instructor's mothers. Point is, there are plenty of ways to dive in and learn and absorb; take full advantage of all of them. That includes some of the video courses today which are quite good, with great graphics and detail. Some may counsel you to get a ShephardAir test prep and let it go at that ("ace your exam"), but those are about the quick fix of memorizing key words and answers, and not about learning the material. Read everything you can and absorb it, because this is the basis of everything that comes after.
The regulations are free online. You can purchase them for a nominal fee on an ipad, or get the printed version and highlight the hell out of it.
As TiredSoul noted, everything you need from the FAA is without cost, and is online. Digest the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Commercial private pilot manuals will take all their information from the PHAK anyway, and nearly everything you need to know is in there. You should know some of the regulation (Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulation), specifically Parts 61 and 91, and in my opinion Part 43, as well. ASA makes a good "FAR/AIM: the AIM is the aeronautical information manual, and whether you get it free or online, you should know it. It's all good information. Some applies to more advanced flying, such as instrument flying, but a lot of it is stuff you should know as a private pilot.
If you go buy commercial textbooks, you'll pay a lot for the cover and the name, and you'll get the same information you could have had for nothing. I'm a paper man: I prefer paper I can highlight and write notes in, but it's easier to carry an ipad with everything downloaded onto it, and programs like pdf expert, and goodreader will let you highlight, annotate, copy, etc, to your hearts content, and it's easier to access...and you can always have it with you where ever you go.
I had a private pilot manual a long time ago that I never let out of my sight. It was nothing but handwritten notes and highlighting, and so dog-eared and worn out that it was taped and glued together. My mother wrote "the bible" on it because I carried, read, and reference dit so much. I think it was a few bucks back then. Ninety bucks today sounds a bit steep, especially when the material is all available at no cost to you.
When I was younger, I found morgues of old Flying and Air Facts magazines going back forever, and read them all. I hung out at the airport as much as I could, asked questions, begged rides, washed airplanes in exchange for a ride, even pulled weeds and painted for flight instructor's mothers. Point is, there are plenty of ways to dive in and learn and absorb; take full advantage of all of them. That includes some of the video courses today which are quite good, with great graphics and detail. Some may counsel you to get a ShephardAir test prep and let it go at that ("ace your exam"), but those are about the quick fix of memorizing key words and answers, and not about learning the material. Read everything you can and absorb it, because this is the basis of everything that comes after.
07-05-2023, 08:44 AM
#7
All is fine at .79
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Position: Paahlot
Posts: 4,088
Originally Posted by 40yrOldRookie
Thanks amigos, this forum has proved an invaluable resource for the uninitiated, like myself. I truly appreciate your help.
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