Customer Reviews

Avoiding Common Pilot Errors: An Air Traffic Controller's View

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a great introduction to the world of ATC, how controllers see traffic, and how they interact with pilots. Good tips on how to help controllers help you (and how not to seem like a fool). My only complaint is that it's out of date (it predates the switch to Class A,B,C,D,E,G airspace), which detracts from a few chapters. The author notes that the book will need to be updated "soon", but this apparently never happened.

I am a beginner pilot and I found John's book to be very helpful in demistifying the air traffic control system. It gives great explaination of the system and what the jobs and concerns are of the folks who work in the system. I highly recommend this book to all pilots, especially beginners.

well written and informative. i thought the book would be more like a viewpoint from ATC's persepctive, but it is actually more from the pilot's perspective -- and THEN what is happening on ATC's side. Interesting tho. It is, keep in mind, published 1989 (and therefore written before that); so all info is a minimum 20 years old. insightful nonetheless.

Like the other reviewers, I picked this up at the bookstore without looking at the date it was published. Lots has changed in the national airspace system since 1989, but the underlying technology remains similar and - the most important part - pilot-controller interactions have remained almost unchanged. "Avoiding Common Pilot Errors" probably isn't the place to look for the latest information on terminology, but it's a great resource for the thinking pilot who wants to understand more about how controllers work and interact with aviators.

I'm a recently-certified flight instructor, and there are dozens of points which Stewart raises that my extensive training hasn't covered. It's not the only resource, but it's an excellent supplement that will probably benefit most casual and professional pilots.

I just finished reading John Stewart's book, Avoiding Common Pilot Errors, which I purchased in March 2003 from Barnes & Noble. I enjoyed Stewart's style and appreciated his in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, much of which is greek to most pilots. However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, Stewart's book was published in 1989, years before GPS came into common usage, before airspace designations was changed to Class A, B, C, etc., before the wild advances in computer processing speed and memory/storage technologies, -- well, you get the idea. It's a bit, umm, "dated." (Remember MLS, LORAN, TRSAs, TCAs, ATAs? This book will tell you all you ever wanted to know about those dinosaurs.) Nevertheless, this book does teach things that increased my comfort with the ATC system, but the book begs to be updated to reflect the myriad changes that have occurred in the ATC environment as a result of 15 years of legislative pressures, technological advancements, security concerns and edicts following September 11, etc. Mr. Stewart, if you're out there reading these words, PLEASE publish an update if it's feasible. I'd really like to have your good advice (and great examples, stories and anecdotes) about such things as filing GPS-direct, ATC equipment upgrades, ATC procedural changes, facility consoldations, legal issues affecting pilots, the increasing role of private contractors in the operation of ATC facilities, coming FSS changes, getting the most out of automated reporting services, etc. (For example, I live in OKC and fly to Iowa frequently. Why can't I find a website where I can listen to the current ASOS or AWOS or ATIS at every airport in the state of Iowa?) Despite my gripe about the dated sections of this book (should I have thought to check the publication date before going to the Barnes & Noble checkout?), I believe that every U.S. pilot should both hear and heed John Stewart's advice. Oh, by the way, I am an instrument-rated commercial pilot.