Customer Reviews

Mountain Flying Bible

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Mountain Flying Bible is not intended to teach you how to fly, but rather all of the things you will learn *after* you get your private pilot certificate. Think of it as an opportunity to leverage Sparky (his real name) Imeson's >10000 hours of experience flying small planes in the mountains. (And if that isn't enough qualification, Imeson's won the Northwest CFI of the year three times.) For flatlanders, when you see "mountain," substitute "extremes," because this is really what you'll get: flying the airplane at the corner of the performance envelope.

This is a terrific book because it's laid out in five sections representing the phases of flight: preflight, takeoff, en route, arrival and landings. Each section is divided further into logical subcategories of things one needs to know during that phase of flight.

Each page is chock full of information and there are hundreds of "rules of thumb." Also supplementing the text are some excellent photographs providing a visual picture often missing in other texts. For example, the En Route section shows you how difficult power lines across canyons are to see. Coming straight at it, you *can't* see the lines, but when you're right over them, you can.

The arrival and landing section shows how unusual some fo the runways can look. Included are sight pictures of Big Creek and Indian Creek(ID), Aspen, Mt Blackburn (one of my favorites in Alaska), and "Gros Ventre International" near Jackson, Wyoming. These pictures show the extremes, including extremely high altitudes, gravel, crooked strips, runways with varying slope, and very short fields.

You'll come away with new information each time you read the book.

When a flight instructor recommended this book to me, I thought, "I really don't plan on flying over any mountains or into canyons anytime soon." As it turned out, the book contained a wealth of great information on a variety of flying topics. Just the chapters on landings and emergency procedures were worth the price of the book. Imeson knows his stuff, and he has a knack for explaining that stuff very clearly.

Being a relatively new pilot ( 200 hours) I purchased this book to gain some insight into flying from my home base in coastal NC to the mountains of NC. I was greatly surprised that the text not only covered that subject in a very through manner but covered general aviation information just as well. I am preparing for my Instrument Rating and questions left un-answered by several Instrument Rating study guides were answered in a clear and concise manner, an unanticipated bonus.

For the new pilot,as well as those seeking information on mountain flying, this is a must read!

A great book for any pilot who flies in the mountains. Covers things in detail with excellent illustrations and photographs. I was lucky enough to take some lessons from Sparky years ago when he was still alive. I highly recommend his book.

This book had the flying I was looking for. The maneuvers, type of flying, and style are "bold" in comparison to a lot of other literature about flying. And strangely enough, it's presented with all the tips, tricks and techniques to help you fly as safe as possible. Some of the flying in this book may be a little advanced for the reader (Some was beyond my capability right now), but there is a wide range to which the reader can relate -- where the reader was in his flying during the early years, where he/she is right now in terms of ability, and what he/she may be capable of in the future. All presented in a format structured with safety and good flying practices (RULES OF THUMB - once you read, you'll get it) keep you on the safe side of this unforgiving environment.

Some reading is repetitive, but there's a reason - the important rules of thumb will be burned into your subconscious.
Some of it probably more technical than you desire at times.

But all in all, a great read you will find yourself picking up before you go out flying to try some techniques, or sitting at your computer figuring out the hows and whys of the mountains, and which place you'll want to fly next.

-J

Excellent resource that has been revised and updated. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't carry it. It is available from the author at mountainflying.com