Beyond The Checkride: What Your Flight Instructor Never Taught You

Rating:
Summary: Very useful, full of common sense
Review: A collection of essays and snippets that contain experiences and wisdom not easily found elsewhere. Can be read in any order(chapter). What bothered me was the subtitle - 'What your Flight Instructor never taught you'; so I had to leave it in the car or home. Couldn't bring it into flight school :)

Rating:
Summary: Fun read, but mostly anecdotal
Review: Howard Fried does an excellent job of bringing you, the reader, into his world & love of flying. His descriptions and recollections of real events and situations is informative & entertaining.

I was, however, expecting a different sort of book from what the title suggested; specifically, things that a new pilot should keep in mind and be aware of when out from the guidance of their CFI; proper procedures, expectations by ATC, and the like. Fried's book reads more like a memoir of his experiences flying rather than a further instructional supplement, and although I enjoyed his book I felt I needed to turn to other resources, such as John Stewart's "Avoiding Common Pilot Errors : An Air Traffic Controllers View", for example.

Rating:
Summary: SOME GOOD INFORMATION BUT A MIXED BAG
Review: If your looking for a book jam packed with practical piloting techniques only don't buy the book. At the same time it mostly sticks to title and subtitle. I would give it three and one half stars if there was that option. The book does contain useful information with a broad range of topics from practical information such as landing technique to reasons to be skeptical of the FAA. I will keep the book around to reread.

Rating:
Summary: SOME GOOD INFORMATION BUT A MIXED BAG
Review: If your looking for a book jam packed with practical piloting techniques only don't buy the book. At the same time it mostly sticks to title and subtitle. I would give it three and one half stars if there was that option. The book does contain useful information with a broad range of topics from practical information such as landing technique to reasons to be skeptical of the FAA. I will keep the book around to reread.

Rating:
Summary: Fun read, but mostly anecdotal
Review: Not a lot of depth or specific vision in the stories. A fun read, but doesn't quite live up to it's controversial name.

Rating:
Summary: If your CFI didn't teach you this......
Review: The book is well written and filled with useful information. However, it concerns me that Howard felt that CFIs aren't teaching this information. I purchased it before I finished my flight training and felt that it was a valuable asset to my learning experience.

Rating:
Summary: If this is beyond the checkride, I wish to remain a student
Review: The concept of a book aimed at private pilots is a good one. As a low-time private I know that there are many golden nuggets of knowledge that experienced pilots have to share that can save me a hard learning experience. With this in mind, I purchased Beyond the Checkride.

I did learn a few things from this book, mainly that Fried disdains the FAA and wants the flying public to share his feelings. The book is filled with stories of the FAA abusing its power.

In addition to its lack of content, this book is poorly written. Fried continually repeats himself and uses unclear phrases. It's amazing that any editor would allow this book to be published.

If you are interested in reading a real aviation book, buy Stick and Rudder. I guarantee you'll learn from Stick and Rudder. The only thing to be learned from Beyond the Checkride is that the very same agency that issued your pilot certificate will soon try to take it back, an idea not helpful to your skills.