Private Pilot
Private Pilot ACS · 115 pages
Built to get you through the oral and the flight with confidence.
$39
Exceed the Standard
Know what the examiner is really asking.
Plain-language study guides for every checkride from Private through CFII. Each FAA Task is explained: what the standard asks, why it matters, what to know, and where to find it.
Study Guide
Instrument Rating
Instrument Rating ACS · Edition 1.0
About the Author
Jonathan Prentice
CFI · CFII · Test Pilot · Former Paramedic
I'm a flight instructor (CFI and CFII), a test pilot, and a former paramedic. Each job taught me something about standards. As a paramedic, I learned that protocols exist because people got hurt without them. As a test pilot, I learned that the airplane does what its data says, no matter what you hoped. As an instructor, I learned that most students do not fail from lack of ability. They fail because no one explained what the standard was asking.
That is why I wrote these guides. They show how an examiner thinks, why each Task is on the test, and how to study it, in plain language, so you walk into the checkride knowing what to expect.
Use them alongside the current FAA standards, your airplane's manual, and your instructor. Then go exceed the standard.
One guide for every step of the ladder.
Each guide follows its own FAA standard, Area by Area and Task by Task, with plain-language chapters up front for the subjects students find hardest.
Edition 1.0 · November 2026 · PDF download
Instrument Rating
Instrument Rating ACS · 88 pages
Clearances, approaches, holds, and the decisions that go with them.
$39
Commercial Pilot
Commercial Pilot ACS · 150 pages
Precision maneuvers and the higher standard behind them.
$44
Multiengine
Multiengine Tasks · 54 pages
Vmc, the critical engine, and engine-out decisions, explained from the ground up.
$34
Flight Instructor (CFI)
Flight Instructor ACS · 166 pages
Every Task with how to teach it, not only how to fly it.
$49
Instrument Instructor (CFII)
Flight Instructor Instrument PTS · 111 pages
Teaching approaches, holds, and partial panel with the evaluator's eyes.
$44
G1000 Systems
Glass cockpit companion · 24 pages
How the sensors, displays, and failures work, in aircraft-neutral terms.
$19
The standard tells you what. These guides tell you why.
You can read the ACS for free. What it will not do is explain what the examiner is looking for, why the Task exists, or where to find the answer when you are stuck. That is what every section here is built to do.
- 01
What it is asking, and why
The Task in plain words, and the real-world reason it is on the test.
- 02
What to know
The knowledge, the numbers, and the memory aids, with the common traps called out.
- 03
Common errors
The mistakes examiners see most, and how to avoid them.
- 04
Where to find it
The FAA handbook, regulation, or chart that holds the answer, so you can verify it yourself.
Buy one guide, or the whole ladder.
Pilot Path bundle
$89
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Private, Instrument, and Commercial. The three checkrides most pilots take in a row.
Get Pilot PathInstructor bundle
$74
Save $19
CFI and CFII, with how to teach every Task as well as how to fly it.
Get the Instructor bundleComplete library
$179
Save $89
All seven guides: Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multiengine, CFI, CFII, and G1000.
Get the librarySchool license
$399 / yr
Per guide, up to 25 students
Give a guide to every student at your flight school or in your practice. The full library is $999 a year.
Ask about a licenseSingle guides are $19 to $49 each. Every purchase is a PDF download licensed to you.
Before you buy
- Is this an official FAA publication?
- No. These are independent study guides, not endorsed by or affiliated with the FAA. Always verify against the current ACS or PTS, the FARs, and your airplane's manual.
- Which airplane are the guides written for?
- None in particular. Numbers are examples, and your POH or AFM always wins.
- What happens when the FAA changes a standard?
- Each guide lists its edition and the FAA standard it follows. Revised editions are announced to the email list.
- Can I share my copy?
- Guides are licensed for your personal use, and copies may be marked with the buyer's name. Flight schools and instructors can buy a school license instead.
Get a free sample chapter.
A full Task from the guide of your choice, plus a note when new guides and FAA updates come out.