The Flight Instructor's Manual

A manual by an instructor who loved teaching and had a heart for instructors

The new and updated fourth edition of The Flight Instructor's Manual is an invaluable reference for those working on the flight instructor certificate and serves as an indispensable guide for the new instructor.

The book is organized so each chapter can be used as a stand-alone reference for a particular phase of instruction. The information parallels the material presented in The Student Pilot's Flight Manual, The Advanced Pilot's Flight Manual, The Basic Aerobatic Manual, and The Instrument Flight Manual, allowing The Flight Instructor's Manual to serve as a "how to instruct" guide rather than a comprehensive textbook on the basics.

Major topics include:

• Fundamentals of Flight Instruction
• Presolo Instruction
• First Solo to the Private Certificate
• Advances VFR Instruction
• Introduction to Aerobatic Instruction
• Instrument Instruction

Fourth Edition. Softcover, 8.5" x 11", 503 pages.

Bill Kershner was FAA/General Aviation Flight Instructor of the Year in 1992 and named Elder Statesman of Aviation in 1997. He was inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame in 1998. His son, William C. Kershner, was soloed by his father and holds Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot certificates. He has flown 22 types of airplanes in his over 10,000 hours of flight time, ranging from Cessna 150s to Boeing 777s.

Bill Kershner left us to go West in 2007 but his legacy remains with continued publishing of his books. Bill founded Ace Aerobatic School in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1969. He was known as the "Spin Doctor" for his interest in spins, having logged more than 8,000 spins totaling some 35,000 turns; Kershner only counted spins of at least three turns and didn't record spins at all during his first 24 years of flying.

He was the national General Aviation Flight Instructor of the Year in 1992. At his Ace Aerobatic School, Kershner provided spin recovery and aerobatic training to hundreds of pilots, and he continued to teach ground school into late December 2006.

"He had a soft spot in his heart for student pilots and CFIs," as said by Bruce Landsberg of AOPA's Air Safety Foundation. "Being an engineer at heart, he would step up to the blackboard and start doing equations to explain some aerodynamic truth. When pressed to put it in English so that a dumb pilot (me) could understand it - he always could."

Flight instructor Catherine Cavagnaro, whom Kershner mentored into aerobatic instruction, continues to operate Ace Aerobatic School. Cavagnaro purchased a Cessna 152 Aerobat nearly identical to Kershner's which she named Wilbur.  Kersher's veteran Aerobat, Orville, is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Click here to see an AOPA multimedia presentation and hear Kershner reflect on his more than 60 years of flying.