If you have been a student pilot for even a few days, you already know there is a lot to study before you can get to your final licensing examination (also known as a checkride).
You’ve have to know (in no particular order):
- How to fly the plane- including a number of different landing types, maneuvers and emergency procedures.
- The science of how your plane flies as well as some weather science.
- How your specific plane works and how to read its engine logs.
- How to read METARs, PIREPs and how to communicate with ATC.
- The all important Federal Aviation Regulations (or FARs).
The FARs are the rules of the road that tell you things like (61.3) Requirements for Certificates, ratings and authorizations (aka what is legally required of you to be licensed) or (91.151) Fuel Requirements for Flight in VFR Conditions (aka the legal requirements for fuel in VFR). The regulations are very important and you will be drilled on them over and over again during your training. The good news is: you don’t need to know every regulation in the book. Only certain regulations are pertinent to you as a Private Pilot student (same for other licenses and certificates).
So now you know why you have to study the FARs. But how do you get started?
First, you’re going to need the book. Your instructor is likely to have recommended the ASA FAR/AIM. ASA is the name of the company that prints the Federal Aviation Regulations. It seems to be the most popular FAR/AIM. There are a number of companies out there that put out FAR/AIMs each year, such as Gleim. However, you should know the body of the text is all the same. The common denominator of these books is that they are all reprintings of Federal Law. As such, each regulation is re-printed verbatim so that every pilot out there is flying with the same rulebook.
You’re going to need a copy of this book throughout your training and it is a very good idea to take one with you into the oral portion of your checkride. Now, you should not be whipping the book out and flipping through its pages during your oral (that could signal to the examiner that you don’t know the regulations all that well). However, having one there shows that you’re prepared and having one tabbed out could signal that you’ve at least studied. The majority of pilots probably go through their checkrides opening their FAR/AIM books maybe once or twice (if at all). You should study for your checkride so thoroughly that you know the content of the regulations by heart.
Second, it is very likely that your instructor will tell you to go through and tab out the regulations so that you can reference them quickly. The FAR/AIM is a thick book so having the book tabbed is a major timesaver when the pressure is on. Trust us- tabbing the book out yourself is a tedious process that can eat up some precious time. And while you may have the book open while you’re doing this, you won’t necessarily be studying in any meaningful way.
So why should you get a pre-tabbed FAR/AIM by Northstar Aviation References?
The first major reason: Save time. We here at Northstar will not pretend that we possess some kind of secret knowledge when it comes to tabbing out FAR/AIMs. Every pilot has the capability to open the book up to its table of contents and tab out the regulations listed there. However, this takes time that isn’t necessarily dedicated to studying. If you total up the amount of time it takes to (1) go out and buy sticky tabs, (2) search the table of contents, (3) write those regs down and (4) input the tabs, you’ve probably used up hours that could have been used to just get down to it and study.
The second major reason: Durability and legibility. Your FAR/AIM is going to travel around with you to and from lessons. Most tabs are going to get creased, wrinkled, torn, and your writing could get smudged off. Moreover, your handwriting could be so messy that your tabs won’t be all that helpful. Our plastic tabs are durable and laser printed so that you will always have pristine, legible tabs in your book.
The third reason: We not only have tabs in the books, they also correspond to colored dots on the page so that you’ll be able to find the specific regulation on the page. The FAR/AIM is a dense book with tons of information on each page. It's not always easy to find exactly what you’re looking for even when you’re on the right page. Our color coordinating tabs and dots make it easy to find what you’re looking for when the pressure is on.
So when it comes down to it- save yourself a bunch of time and headache and order a pre-tabbed ASA FAR/AIM today.
For more information on our products, please visit the FAQs page