Instrument Pilot

IFR: A Structured Approach
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If your instrument training was as haphazard and unstructured as that of most general aviation pilots, then this book may cause a profound change in your method for managing the extraordinary demands of single-pilot IFR.  With the help of this book, you will establish your own personal standard operating practices for IFR., including the incorporation of checklists, flows, callouts, briefings, and "by the numbers" aircraft control. Your flying will be much less haphazard, and much more regimented, structured, and above all, safe.

...a wholesale review and analysis of IFR operations with special emphasis on the integration of GPS into modern IFR.  This is long overdue. Tens of thousands of general aviation IFR pilots are now using GPS. Most of these pilots took their last ground school or IFR written exam years before the advent of GPS and have never really studied the new system. Instructors see the effects of this lack of training all the time.  Many pilots have only a perfunctory knowledge of how the GPS systems works, and how it sometimes fails to work.  Many pilots comprehend only a small fraction of the capabilities of their specific GPS units.  Even more commonly seen are failures to understand the new regulations that govern GPS use and the newly formatted charts that have evolved with the GPS approaches.  There are a great many subtleties here, and it is time for serious instrument pilots to roll up their sleeves and get to work bringing themselves up to date.  I am confident this book can help.

“There is an EXCELLENT discussion of this whole GPS area in John Eckalbar's new book IFR: A Structured Approach...The GPS chapter alone is worth getting the book...it is certainly the best instrument flying book I have ever read, and it also ought to be required reading right after (new instrument pilots) finish formal training ...It is also quite funny in places. He has a great sense of humor...Wish I knew him.” Fred W. Scott, Jr, ATP, B55

“For the instrument pilot seeking to upgrade his or her skill, John C. Eckalbar’s IFR: A Structured Approach provides compelling insights...If one book could help you make the leap from a bit player to a skilled conductor of instrument flight, this is probably it.” AOPA Pilot, November, 2003, p. 168

“Just picked up a copy of your new book at OSH. While I am still working my way through it, it is already apparent to me that this is perhaps the most useful aviation training publication I have encountered in almost 40 years of GA involvement. I regularly train at FSI, SimCom and BPPP, and have spent many hours with many CFI’s (including a number of high time airline captains) since I began flying in 1966; none have been able to put it all together in the thoughtful, lucid way you do in this book. I have read your other books and found them useful, but IFR is a different kind of book, with its emphasis of procedures rather than technical matters. IMO, there is a large unmet need for this kind of training material in GA. For those of us who have not come up through the military or airline path, access to this information is quite limited, and much of what is available is outdated or otherwise irrelevant to flying in today’s IFR system.”--Fredric R. (Rick) Boswell, PhD

“A unique and welcome aspect of the book is Eckalbar's treatment of GPS. Not only does he give it extensive treatment, he integrates it with other nav systems the way we do in the real world. Eckalbar addresses a problem I struggle with, remembering to run in-flight checklists. His suggestion is to use the trigger of power change. Any time you change a power setting, you run a (the appropriate) checklist. Based on his discussion of the subject, I've modified my checklists and adopted the "power change" trigger idea. The book is targeted at pilots flying the high performance singles and twins. The flight example he uses is a Beech Baron equipped with the full suite of avionics: HSI, autopilot and Garmin 430 GPS. However, there's plenty in the book for the more basic 172 driver as well. The discussion of enroute and approach charts is enlightening and includes the latest additions to IFR approaches LNAV/VNAV and RNP.”--Peter Cassidy

250 pages, hardback

Teaching Confidence in the Clouds

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An Instructor’s Guide to Using Desktop Flight Simulators

Today, pilots are faced with a new and challenging era of glass cockpit general aviation aircraft, innovative aircraft design, advances in avionics technology, and changes to instrument procedures and airspace. Students are more technically savvy. Therefore with time/money always at a minimum, a demand exists for highly skilled flight instructors who know the best teaching methods for flying IFR.

Teaching Confidence in the Clouds offers real-life application of computer desktop flight simulators and flight training devices (PCATDs and Basic ATDs) as they relate to current methods of instrument training. Since they were first adopted in 1997, FAA-approved desktop flight simulators have been an effective means to train students. The scenario-based training concepts, training assignments, and instructor tips included in this book will be a valuable resource for flight instructors and help reduce the number of hours needed to complete an instrument training program.

John A. Teipen, MCFI, MGI, DPE and 2005 FAA National Flight Instructor of the Year says...

"The excellent airline safety record is partly due to the consistent use of simulators to teach pilot proficiency in various flight conditions and emergency situations. But it takes more than a simulator and an instruction book to attain an excellent safety record. Tom Gilmore's Teaching Confidence in the Clouds should be included as standard equipment with every desktop flight simulator sold. It goes beyond the basics to provide the information needed to use the simulator as an effective flight training device. Tom easily guides the reader through the background, tools, and techniques to build effective simulator-aided training scenarios. General Aviation can surely benefit from this guidance to encourage more consistent use of simulators to build pilot proficiency in various flight conditions and emergency situations."