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Key Takeaways
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All Flight Training Study Material
- Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
- Airplane Flying Handbook
- Weight and Balance Handbook
- Aviation Weather Handbook
- Risk Management Handbook
- Aeronautical Chart Users’ Guide
- Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations
- 2026 FAR/AIM
- Radio Communications Phraseology and Techniques
- Alternative Pilot Physical Examination and Education Requirements (BasicMed)
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Private Pilot Certificate
- Private Pilot ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
- Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Sport, Recreational, Remote, and Private Pilot)
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Instrument Rating
- Instrument Flying Handbook
- Instrument Rating ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
- Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Instrument Rating)
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Commercial Pilot Certificate
- Commercial Pilot ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
- Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Commercial Pilot)
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Should I Buy Paper Copies of the FAA Handbooks?
- Which FAA Handbooks Do I Need for Private Pilot?
- What Is the Difference Between the PHAK and the Airplane Flying Handbook?
- Do I Need the Newest Edition of Every Document?
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Conclusion
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Here’s everything you need for your private pilot, instrument, and commercial training!
We’ve included links to the PDF versions from the FAA’s website and paper versions available on Amazon.
Heads up: Some links in this article are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support the site so we can keep creating content for readers like you.
Key Takeaways
- Every FAA handbook, ACS, and testing supplement on this list is free to download as a PDF.
- The PHAK and the FAR/AIM belong in every pilot’s library, no matter which certificate you’re working on.
- The ACS for your certificate tells you exactly what your examiner will test.
- Paper copies cost money, but they’re easier to highlight and tab than a PDF.
All Flight Training Study Material
Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
(FAA-H-8083-25C)
The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge provides the basic knowledge required for all pilot levels. It covers topics such as principles of flight, aircraft systems, navigation, and regulations.
The 2023 version is almost a 100% copy of the 2016 version. If you own the old version, you do not need to buy the new one.
Airplane Flying Handbook
(FAA-H-8083-3C)
The Airplane Flying Handbook is a fundamental “how-to” guide for learning to fly airplanes. The FAA developed this handbook to assist student pilots. It can also help licensed pilots improve their flying proficiency and knowledge.
It covers the maneuvers your examiner watches you fly, so keep it open while you prep for your checkride.
Weight and Balance Handbook
(FAA-H-8083-1B)
The Weight and Balance Handbook is a guide for managing aircraft weight and balance. It’s essential reading for pilots, aircraft owners, and maintenance staff.
New to the math? Our walkthrough on how to calculate weight and balance breaks it down step by step.
Aviation Weather Handbook
(FAA-H-8083-28)
The Aviation Weather Handbook helps pilots better understand weather. It covers weather theory, charts, and how weather affects flying. It’s a key resource for learning to plan flights in different weather conditions. It consolidates and replaces AC-00-6, AC-00-24, AC-00-30, AC-00-45, AC-00-54, and AC-00-57.
Still working on raw reports? Start with our guide on how to read a METAR.
Risk Management Handbook
(FAA-H-8083-2A)
The Risk Management Handbook helps pilots recognize and manage risk. It covers topics like human factors, decision-making processes, and identifying hazards and threats. Use this guide to learn how to become a safer pilot.
The PAVE checklist is the fastest way to put it to work on a real flight.
Aeronautical Chart Users’ Guide
The Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide is an introduction and reference guide for aeronautical charts. It covers topics such as symbols, airspace, and navigation aids for both VFR and IFR charts. Keep this guide handy to decode unfamiliar chart symbols and features.
Pair it with our guide on how to read a sectional chart and our breakdown of the airspace classes.
Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations
(AC 90-66C)
This document is a collection of best practices when flying at non-towered airports. It covers procedures for communication, traffic pattern operations, and collision avoidance.
2026 FAR/AIM
The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) cover the rules that govern U.S. aviation. The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) is the FAA’s official guide to aircraft operations and ATC procedures. The FAA FAR/AIM book compiles the AIM and the most essential parts of the FARs into one comprehensive reference.
Which rules shape your training depends on your school. Our comparison of Part 61 vs Part 141 covers the difference.
Radio Communications Phraseology and Techniques
(P-8740-47)
This short guide helps pilots communicate clearly with ATC. It offers guidance on topics like radio techniques, ATC procedures, and radio emergencies.
For a starting point, read how to talk to ATC first.
Alternative Pilot Physical Examination and Education Requirements (BasicMed)
(AC 68-1)
This document covers how pilots can use BasicMed. BasicMed allows pilots to fly small aircraft without holding a current medical certificate. This guide explains the required medical education course, medical requirements, and aircraft and operating restrictions.
Private Pilot Certificate
Private Pilot ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
(FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The Private Pilot ACS is your go-to resource for the private pilot practical test. It covers the aeronautical knowledge, risk management, and flight proficiency standards for the private pilot certification in the airplane category.
Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Sport, Recreational, Remote, and Private Pilot)
(FAA-CT-8080-2H)
This supplement contains the charts, graphics, diagrams, and tables you’ll use during your private pilot knowledge test. Becoming comfortable with this supplement before you take the test is a great idea, and you can use it for practice exams.
Instrument Rating
Instrument Flying Handbook
(FAA-H-8083-15B)
The Instrument Flying Handbook is a comprehensive guide to help pilots prepare for their instrument rating test. It covers topics like instrument navigation, instrument flight techniques, airspace, and weather interpretation.
Instrument Rating ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
(FAA-S-ACS-8C)
The Instrument Rating ACS is your go-to resource for the instrument rating test. It covers the aeronautical knowledge, risk management, and flight proficiency standards for the instrument rating in the airplane category.
Not sure you’re ready to start? Our guide on what you need to fly IFR lays out the requirements.
Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Instrument Rating)
(FAA-CT-8080-3F)
This supplement contains the charts, graphics, diagrams, and tables you’ll use during your instrument rating knowledge test. Becoming comfortable with this supplement before you take the test is a great idea, and you can use it for practice exams.
Commercial Pilot Certificate
Commercial Pilot ‒ Airplane Airman Certification Standards (ACS)
(FAA-S-ACS-7B)
The Commercial Pilot ACS is your go-to resource for the commercial pilot test. It covers the aeronautical knowledge, risk management, and flight proficiency standards for commercial pilot certification in the airplane category.
The maneuvers it grades are broken down in our guide to commercial maneuvers.
Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (Commercial Pilot)
(FAA-CT-8080-1E)
This supplement contains the charts, graphics, diagrams, and tables you’ll use during your commercial pilot knowledge test. Becoming comfortable with this supplement before you take the test is a great idea, and you can use it for practice exams.
Where the written falls in your training is mapped out in our commercial pilot timeline.
Start with the Right Study Plan
Use the sheet as your roadmap, then reinforce with lessons and quizzes.
- Fits any ground school.
- Find weak spots.
- Test-day essentials.
- Extra resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Buy Paper Copies of the FAA Handbooks?
For the ones you’ll open every week, yes. The FAA posts PDFs at no cost, and those are fine for a quick lookup. Studying a 400-page handbook on a screen is a different story. Print lets you tab chapters and write notes right next to the diagrams.
You can also flip back to something your instructor mentioned without losing your place. Most students buy the PHAK, the ACS for their certificate, and the matching testing supplement, then leave the rest as PDFs. Our roundup of the best aviation books for student pilots covers what else earns shelf space.
Which FAA Handbooks Do I Need for Private Pilot?
Start with the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook. Add the Private Pilot ACS and its FAA-G-ACS-2 companion guide so you know what your examiner will test, then the Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement so you practice with the same figures you’ll see on the written.
Keep the FAR/AIM nearby for rules questions. The rest of this list is worth reading, but that short stack covers your first checkride. Those are also the ones worth owning in print, because you will be in them almost daily. There’s more free material out there too, and we rounded it up in our list of free private pilot resources.
What Is the Difference Between the PHAK and the Airplane Flying Handbook?
The PHAK teaches you what to know. The Airplane Flying Handbook teaches you what to do. The PHAK covers weather, airspace, aerodynamics, and regulations, and your written test pulls heavily from it.
The Airplane Flying Handbook covers maneuvers, landings, and emergency procedures, which is what your examiner watches you fly. You need both, and both are worth buying in print. They are the two you will come back to most.
Do I Need the Newest Edition of Every Document?
For the handbooks, usually not. For the ACS, yes, and it matters more than it used to. The FAA made the ACS part of the regulations on May 31, 2024, and your examiner grades your checkride against the edition named in 14 CFR 61.14 on the day you fly.
Right now that means FAA-S-ACS-6C for private, 8C for instrument, and 7B for commercial. All three are dated November 2023. Studying a superseded ACS can leave you preparing for tasks that no longer exist, since 6C archived a batch of codes that 6B still listed. Check the letter before you buy a printed copy, and check faa.gov before your checkride.
Conclusion
That covers the whole shelf. Build yours around the books you’ll open every week. For most students that means the PHAK, the ACS for the certificate you’re chasing, and the matching testing supplement. Buy those three in print. You will be tabbing and marking them up all the way to your checkride.
Pick up the rest as your training moves into new territory. Watch for new editions along the way, since the ACS and the testing supplements change more often than the handbooks do. You want the edition your examiner is grading against, not the one that was current when you started.
