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Rod Machado's How to Fly an Airplane Handbook (Book or eBook)

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$ 59.95 USD
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$ 59.95 USD
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*Rod Machado’s How to Fly an Airplane Handbook - 510 full-color pages. 
*All Products Meet New Test Standards! Updated to 2025 Standards
*All eBooks are viewable on any device that reads PDFs.
*Your eBooks are yours forever. Keep the link and redownload to update your reading device for a period of 2 years.
*Shipping address cannot be changed or order canceled after ordering.

Take a look inside the How to Fly Handbook (Low Resolution)

These products are the most current and updated products on the market!
   Thinking about learning to fly? Then this is the book for you.
   This is a handbook for student pilots but it’s also a practical book for those who want to improve their basic flying skills. In addition, it’s an excellent book for helping flight instructors teach their students in a more efficient and effective manner. This book covers simple and complex single-engine airplanes having tricycle landing gear. This is not a comprehensive taildragger handbook. 
   
Why should you purchase this book? 
   
Many of today’s pilots rely excessively on their panel instruments to control their airplanes in visual conditions. Unfortunately, “panel pilots” never learn to fly by the seat of their pants, which involves flying skills that primarily depend on sights, sounds and tactile sensations. Simply stated, relying primarily on your panel instruments to fly an airplane won’t make you a confident pilot nor will it make you a safe pilot. That’s why this handbook focuses on the basics of “attitude flying” and developing practical “stick and rudder” flying skills. These are the skills that give you complete control of your airplane and allow you to predict what it will do, can do and cannot do. 
   
Contained within these pages are techniques for controlling and evaluating the height and trajectory of your glidepath as well as strategies for managing the roundout and landing flare. You’ll learn how to handle crosswind landings, how to recover from the occasional bad landing, how to perform ground reference maneuvers for both the private and commercial pilot certificate, and much more. You’ll also benefit from Rod Machado’s insights and wisdom gained by teaching pilots for over 40 years. You’ll also laugh as you learn. (Downloads are non-refundable.)

This valuable one-stop handbook contains the information necessary to:
✈Learn the basic fundamentals of flying any airplane.

✈Make flight training easier, less expensive and more enjoyable.
✈Master all the private and commercial checkride maneuvers.
✈Learn the “stick and rudder” philosophy of flying an airplane.
✈Prevent an airplane from accidentally stalling and spinning.
✈Allow you to learn to land an airplane quickly and enjoyably.
✈Make you a better instructor by providing unique teaching
✈strategies and explanations for student training. 

As a comprehensive information sourcebook, these pages include:
✈Practical flying skills that rely on sights, sounds and tactile sensations.

✈The theory and practice of attitude flying for pilots of all levels.
✈Multiple strategies for evaluating when to round out and flare for landing.
✈Multiple methods for controlling the airplane’s glidepath and airspeed.
✈Strategies for evaluating the desired landing spot and glidepath angle.
✈Techniques for understanding and flying ground reference maneuvers.
✈Landing corrections for bounces, floating, porpoising and ballooning.
✈Advice, wisdom and insights based on practical flying experience.
✈Complex airplane operations, night flying, traffic pattern operations,
✈slow flight, stall and spin recognition and recovery, and much more.

Click this link for eBook upload directions to iPad and/or watch video.

  

Customer Reviews

5
Based on 826 reviews
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Excellent teacher

I purchased Rod's IFR course. I am an instrument rated pilot but wanted to have a good review course to brush up on stuff. I am super impressed with the clarity of his explanations and the time and effort that has been invested in the graphics...and of course the humor helps break up the potential monotony and stress of heavy audio material for an extended period...and the humor seems to work like a jog around the block to sort of reset your brain for more material. I have a PhD in engineering and spent 6 years teaching. My take is that Rod is an excellent teacher and I have really enjoyed his course.

J. Buckingham

2023-05-23

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot eGround School

Huge thanks !!!!

Dear Rod, I want to thank you for the great PP ground school course. Great content and explanations. I happened to get 100% on my written and just passed the checkride last weekend.

Art Filho

2021-05-26

Rod Machado's 40-hour Private Pilot eLearning Ground School

I enjoyed this classroom enviroment

Rod makes it easy to learn. I have taken other ground school before and you really get bored but not with Rod. He keeps you engaged. I really enjoyed the building of the flight envelope I must have missed all that theory in my PPL. You really go into depth on the subjects and understand the why of things.

David Torres

2022-05-02

Rod Machado's 40-hour Private Pilot eLearning Ground School

I made the right choice

I am deep into Rod's IFR course. It is very well done, and I am pleased that I made the right choice. And thank you for the additional material. I appreciate it!

Michael B.

2024-02-06

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot eGround School

Excellent content!

Excellent content!

Rod Machado’s years of experience come shining through. His content is by far the best training I have ever received. His explanations on instrument function should be required training for private students. I learned so much more from his courses. I chose his material so I could have lifetime access at a great one-time price. I also watched his sample videos and compared them to other options. I am so glad I chose these. Rod has an amazing ability to know how to make the information stick in your mind… you really learn the information well. Can't say enough good things. Loved every minute of it. Lots of Dad jokes that I even liked better the 2nd time through. Great

Craig Hill

2022-12-02

Rod Machado's 40-hour Private Pilot eLearning Ground School

Finishing up Rod's IFR course. I got my IFR endorsement at the end of July. Enjoying the material and learning a lot. In the office, I am always on Rod's programs between patients, and always hearing my wife say, "Time to get back to work. Tell Rod you will finish later."

Dr. Robert C.

2024-02-12

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot eGround School

Wow

I have been flying a very long time and have used them all... King, Sportys, Gleim... I am speechless as to how comprehensive and clear the material in Rod's Private Course is.... ( I bought it for review ). Best money I have ever spent in Aviation or out. Cannot recommend strongly enough. And continually entertaining! Can't wait to start the Instrument version!

Andy G

2019-03-28

Rod Machado's 40-hour Private Pilot eLearning Ground School

Wonderful.

This book is a welcome change to the standard dryly written aviation text book. Rod’s humor makes this a fun read, and in my opinion you remember the concepts easier. The book is full to the brim with Rod’s real life experience. What makes it invaluable are the little insights into every detail of the flying experience. (A simple example is his suggestion of bringing a flashlight to your preflight) It’s full of practical very applicable tips. Can only recommend highly.

Harry Buerkle

2020-02-11

Rod Machado's Private/Commercial Pilot Handbook

Best Instrument ground course ever!

I am in the process of reviewing my instrument ground knowledge for an upcoming instrument add-on certificate. It's a great review course! I cannot believe the amount of new knowledge I'm gaining. Everything is explained very well with easy to understand explanations. I really wish I would have had this course 8 years ago when I did my initial instrument training. I would definitely recommend this course for the beginner or someone like myself that needs the cobwebs brushed off.

Michael Cantrell

2021-06-10

Rod Machado's Instrument Pilot eGround School

Most comprehensive Private Pilot course available

Rod Machado's courses rock! I've sampled other courses to see what they had to offer, but none of them had the clarity and precision found in Rod's course. I decided to buy the hardcopy of the book to give my eyes a break from the screen and supplement the videos. The insight from pilot reports found in the book offer an even greater understanding to the material and choices we need to learn and make as pilots. I passed my tests and am moving on with Rod's Instrument Ground School and book. Thank you, Rod, for sharing your knowledge and experience! Oh, one more thing, Rod must really know how to cut a rug on the dance floor!

Chris Wood

2023-03-28

Rod Machado's 40-hour Private Pilot eLearning Ground School