Flying By The Book
Flying by the Book takes the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook one chapter at a time — and makes it stick. Maya and Rico are AI-generated hosts. Episodes are produced from official FAA public-domain source material. Education and entertainment only — not flight instruction; always consult your CFI and the current FAR/AIM.
Episodes
25 episodes
Trust the Panel: Building the Scan (IFH Ch. 6)
Last episode was the hardware; this one is the skill. Attitude instrument flying is controlling where the airplane points using the panel instead of the window — and it comes down to two habits: a disciplined cross-check and correct inter...
The Six-Pack and the Glass (IFH Ch. 5)
Every instrument on the panel is answering a question about pressure, a spinning mass, or a magnet — and the moment you can't see outside, those answers are all you have. Maya and Rico open the Instrument Flying Handbook's hardware chapte...
Why Instruments? Flying When You Can't See (IFH Intro)
We open a brand-new book. After a full season on the private certificate, Maya and Rico crack the FAA's Instrument Flying Handbook and start at the beginning — not with an approach or a hold, but with the why. Why instrument flyi...
Checkride Day: Standards, Nerves, and the DPE (Private ACS)
Flying by the Book takes the FAA's pilot handbooks and standards one piece at a time and actually makes it stick. In this episode, Maya (a CFII) and Rico (a charter captain) close out the private pilot checkride arc with the practical test itse...
The Oral, Part 2: Weather, Your Body, and Good Decisions (Private ACS)
Flying by the Book takes the FAA's pilot handbooks and standards one piece at a time and actually makes it stick. In this episode, Maya (a CFII) and Rico (a charter captain) continue the private pilot oral with Part 2 — weather, your own body, ...
The Oral, Part 1: Paperwork, Airplanes, and Airspace (Private ACS)
Flying by the Book takes the FAA's pilot handbooks and standards one piece at a time and actually makes it stick. Season 2 walks through the private pilot checkride. In this episode, Maya (a CFII) and Rico (a charter captain) sit down for the o...
When the Engine Quits: Emergencies (AFH Ch. 18)
Flying by the Book takes the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook one chapter at a time and actually makes it stick. In this episode, Maya (a CFII) and Rico (a charter captain) open Chapter 18 — Emergency Procedures: what actually keeps you alive when ...
Light and Simple: Sport Flying (AFH Ch. 17)
Light sport is aviation with the weight — and some of the barriers — stripped out. Chapter 17: what makes an airplane a light-sport airplane, what sport pilot privileges do and don't include, and the flying qualities of very light machines: win...
Jet Speed: A Different Way to Think (AFH Ch. 16)
Jets aren't just faster — they think differently. Chapter 16: spool-up lag and why jet power demands anticipation, swept-wing behavior near the stall, high-altitude aerodynamics and the narrowing margin between too slow and too fast, V-speeds a...
Spinning Up: Into the Turboprop (AFH Ch. 15)
The turboprop is where piston habits meet turbine reality. Chapter 15: how a gas turbine actually makes power, free-turbine versus fixed-shaft designs, torque and ITT limits, beta range and reverse thrust, and what changes about engine handling...
Taildraggers: Flying the Hard-to-Fly (AFH Ch. 14)
Tailwheel airplanes aren't harder to fly — they're just brutally honest. Chapter 14: why the aft CG makes a taildragger want to swap ends, ground loops and how they start, three-point versus wheel landings, and the rudder discipline that tailwh...
Two Engines, New Rules (AFH Ch. 13)
A small multiengine airplane flies almost exactly like a single — right up until one engine quits, and then it becomes a completely different animal. In this episode Maya and Rico take on Chapter 13 of the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, &l...
Gear, Prop, and Cowl Flaps: Stepping Up (AFH Ch. 12)
Your first complex airplane hands you three new levers and a whole new failure mode. Chapter 12: how retractable gear systems work and how pilots still land gear-up anyway, the constant-speed propeller and what manifold pressure really tells yo...
On the Edge: Steep Turns, Chandelles, Lazy Eights (AFH Ch. 10)
Performance maneuvers exist to make your hands smarter. Chapter 10: steep turns and the overbanking tendency, the steep spiral, the chandelle's climbing 180, and the lazy eight — the maneuver that punishes anyone who tries to muscle it. What ea...
The Art of the Landing (AFH Ch. 9)
Every flight ends the same way, and Chapter 9 is the biggest chapter in the book for a reason. Maya and Rico work through the whole arrival: what a stabilized approach actually means, the roundout and flare that everyone struggles with, crosswi...
The Pattern: Where Everybody Meets (AFH Ch. 8)
The traffic pattern is aviation's town square: everyone passes through, and the rules exist so nobody trades paint. Chapter 8 covers the standard pattern and its legs, entries done right, towered versus non-towered flow, and the collision-avoid...
Dancing with the Wind: Turns Around a Point (AFH Ch. 7)
Ground reference maneuvers are where the wind stops being a number and becomes something you fly against. Chapter 7: drift and crab, the rectangular course, S-turns across a road, and turns around a point — the maneuvers that teach your hands t...
Rolling: Takeoffs, Crosswinds, and the First 500 Feet (AFH Ch. 6)
The takeoff is short, dense, and completely unforgiving of autopilot-brain. Chapter 6 walks the whole sequence — lineup, the roll, rotation, lift-off, and the first five hundred feet — plus the crosswind technique that separates tidy takeoffs f...
When It Goes Sideways: Upset Recovery (AFH Ch. 5)
Loss of control in flight is general aviation's biggest killer — and it is preventable. Chapter 5: what an airplane upset actually is, why the startle response is the first thing to manage, angle-of-attack awareness, and the recovery priorities...
Two Currencies You Spend: Altitude and Airspeed (AFH Ch. 4)
Every airplane is an energy machine: altitude and airspeed are the two currencies you spend, save, and trade every second you fly. Maya and Rico open AFH Chapter 4 — how energy height works, why pitch and power are really energy controls, and h...
The Four Fundamentals: Straight, Level, and Honest (AFH Ch. 3)
This is the one. The four fundamentals — straight-and-level, turns, climbs, and descents — are the foundation of literally everything else in flying. A takeoff is a ground roll, a little straight-and-level, and a climb. An approach is descents ...
Before You Fly: Preflight, Taxi, and the Checklist Religion (AFH Ch. 2)
Everybody wants Chapter Three — the flying part. Nobody makes a movie about the walk-around. But the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook opens Chapter 2 with a hard number: the NTSB has attributed roughly 85 percent of accidents to "failure of the pil...
Into the Dark: Night Flying (AFH Ch. 11)
Night flying is the most beautiful flying there is — and the most unforgiving of sloppy preparation. Maya and Rico take on Chapter 11 of the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook: the three definitions of night (and why the FAA has three clocks), how yo...
Welcome to Flying by the Book
Welcome to Flying by the Book — the show where hosts Maya (a flight instructor) and Rico (a charter pilot) take the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook one chapter at a time and actually make it stick. All eighteen chapters, then checkride prep, then ...
Day One: What You're Actually Signing Up For (AFH Ch. 1)
Welcome to Flying by the Book — the show that takes the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook one chapter at a time and actually makes it stick. In this first episode, Maya (a CFII) and Rico (a charter captain) open Chapter 1: what flight training is ac...