Mental Math for Pilots (Professional Aviation series) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Ronald D. McElroy (Author) "The root of mental math proficiency lies in the ability to grasp the basic concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division..." (more)
Key Phrases: enroute descent, dump rate, mental math skills, Statute Mile (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
In this era of EFIS, FMC, GPS, and 'fly by wire' aircraft, the most important cockpit 'computer' is still the mind of the pilot. Mental Math for Pilots revs up the brainpower to quickly process not only those pesky math questions asked during airline interviews, but expands the mental hard drive to handle a wide range of practical number problems in flight. Learn Ron's techniques and you just might be able to leave the calculate mode in permanent off! WAYNE PHILLIPS Aviation Author FAA Designated Pilot Examiner AOPA Air Safety Foundation Presenter Captain - United Express -- Wayne Phillips

Product Description
For those gearing up for pilot interviews, preparing for a check-ride or proficiency check, or looking to improve inflight calculations, this book offers invaluable tips and tricks to help in all areas of cockpit calculations.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964283972
• ISBN-13: 978-0964283978
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,286,896 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Way Overpriced!, January 9, 2001

By	Richard T. Leitner (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. McElroy's book has some neat math shortcuts for common aviation problems, but it is a pretty skinny book and not worth near the asking price. I've been an airline pilot for about 5 years, and a military pilot for about 10 before that. I'll admit that there were 2 or 3 shortcuts I didn't know (though less that I'll actually use!), but the prevailing comment among other airline pilots I showed it to were "You can tell the author is an airline pilot!" as they pointed to the $27+ price. I agree, this book is worth $10 or $12 tops. . .I could summarize all the shortcuts in a page or two. As for interview prep, you're better off using one of the books written specically for that purpose.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I am a bit puzzled, June 19, 2003

By	"sgiuffrida3" (Fresno, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This book is over rated! It comes across as giving the pilot all these tips and formulas but falls way short on the task. First off, the typeset fills only half the page making the book in reality about 25 pages. It goes on to show you basic math found in any private pilot instruction guide. FH/C temp conversion, subtracting military time, and RVR which is all the same as in the NOS/Jep charts and Ops manuals for the plane you fly. The second half of the book has the times tables, subtraction tables, and division tables. He put fuel dump calculations in along with wet runway computations, this is not only a waste for pilots flying anything short of a jet, but worthless due to FMS and EFIS on bigger airplanes not to mention the F/E sitting sideways behind the captain. In short the book is outdated. finding reciprocals, compass turns to a heading, and ANDS are all in the flight manuals. In short this book fails to teach much. It is not worth the [price] that is for sure.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Interview Prep, September 28, 2000

By	Paul Pryor (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This book covers all the neat little tricks to getting the job done quickly and right. It is also a great book for interview prep. Goes into detail on how to do the math problems and gives several ways to do the problems. There are also review problems at the end of each chapter. A must buy for interviews or if you are just looking for a way to make your flying job easier.