Cockpit Procedures: Effective Routines for Pilots and Virtual Aviators

How-to guide for what you should be doing in the cockpit during each phase of flight

Written by an experienced instructor and pilot examiner, Cockpit Procedures: Effective Routines for Pilots and Virtual Aviators provides a solid understanding of the underlying principles for, and detailed descriptions of the checklists and routines used in many flight schools. Readers will find it contains a practical definition of airmanship, and covers what good habits to develop, effective workload management, and even what you should have in your flight bag. Cockpit Procedures is about cockpit actions and thinking, giving readers the rationale behind common procedures that are standard practice in the training environment and in the airlines.

Both airplanes and helicopters are covered, delivering the essential aspects of effective training: technical knowledge, practical application and context learning. Cockpit Procedures targets the pilot just beginning his/her career, yet many of the philosophies and practical techniques taught here are so fundamental and powerful they will carry a pilot right through to retirement. While encouraging structure and discipline regarding procedures, the author does not merely check off lists of dry facts--Cockpit Procedures is also fun to read and Chris Burger keeps his readers focused with lively description and his knack for getting down to essentials in such a way that they stay with you.

Getting the most from Cockpit Procedures

• Student pilots can read the book repeatedly to reinforce the routines that their flight instructors are trying to teach them. Arriving prepared is the best way to obtain maximum benefit from expensive flight instruction.
• Certificated pilots can learn to become more methodical, reducing the chances of missing important cues when things go wrong. They can also become more adaptable, easing the transition into other, more complex aircraft.
• Flight instructors can use the book to great effect to improve their students’ performance in the cockpit, and to standardize operations in a flight school to improve cooperation among instructors.
• Virtual aviators can learn to conduct a flight with maximum realism, using actual procedures used in the cockpits of real airplanes and helicopters.

Chris Burger owns and operates a flight school near Pretoria, South Africa. He is a flight instructor, a pilot examiner, and a former air traffic controller.