The Student Pilot's Flight Manual

From First Flight to Pilot Certificate

This first volume in The Flight Manuals Series is a ground school textbook, maneuvers manual, and syllabus all rolled into one, providing a step-by-step comprehensive course for student pilots working towards a Private or Sport Pilot certificate. This authoritative manual from the legendary flight instructor, William K. Kershner, edited by William C. Kershner, presents a wealth of practical information while encouraging student pilot decision making. The fundamentals of flying are clearly described in a methodical yet informal manner that a student can easily absorb. Includes detailed references to maneuvers and procedures, and is fully illustrated with the author's own drawings. It's a must-have for all student pilots and flight instructors, providing a single reference for both flight and ground school.

This manual covers all you need to know for your first flight, presolo, the post-solo maneuvers, cross-country and night flying. First published in 1960 and updated continuously since then, this Tenth Edition ensures you will be prepared for the classroom, tarmac, and the cockpit.

The Student Pilot's Flight Manual is a gathering of material used in preflight and postflight briefings and in-flight instruction provided by one of the greatest flight instructors of our time. It also includes a synopsis of what to expect for your FAA Knowledge Exam and checkride. But this book is not intended to merely help readers "get past" the exam and checkride- it also has the essential information for use in the day-to-day process of flying airplanes.

Tenth Edition. Soft cover, 8-1/4" x 10-3/4", 472 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.