Airline Transport Pilot Ground Knowledge
ATP-CTP study guides for US airline pilots
A three-book series for pilots in the United States, written in American English from the free FAA material. Each book explains the reasoning behind every rule and carries original questions with explained answers, with the competencies built into every chapter.
By Matthew Dowell, airline training captain and Chief Flight Instructor. These are study books, not approved by the FAA or any regulator. The regulations and your operator's manuals always take precedence.
The series
Three books that together cover the ground the airline transport pilot certification training program (ATP-CTP) is built around. They are built on 14 CFR, advisory circular 61-138A, the Airman Certification Standards, the FAA handbooks and the NTSB reports, and where a statement is regulation, FAA guidance, conventional teaching or the book's own reading, the text says so.
Aerodynamics and Weather for the Airline Pilot
High-altitude aerodynamics, stall and upset prevention and recovery, thunderstorms, windshear, icing and low-visibility operations, with the reasoning behind every rule. 102 original figures and 150 original questions with explained answers.
What is inside
- Energy and Energy Management
- The Atmosphere, True Airspeed, Mach and Compressibility
- The High-Speed Flight Envelope
- Swept Wings, Dutch Roll and the Yaw Damper
- Stall Prevention and Recovery in Transport Airplanes
- Upset Prevention and Recovery
- Airborne Weather Radar
- Thunderstorms, Microbursts, Windshear and Turbulence
- Transport Category Icing and Contamination
- Low-Visibility Operations
Air Carrier Operations for the Airline Pilot
How an airline flight is run: fitness for duty, communications, checklists, operational control and dispatch, the minimum equipment list, ground operations and runway safety, turbine engines and thrust reversers, performance and weight and balance, automation, and navigation and warning systems. 97 original figures and 150 original questions with explained answers.
What is inside
- Physiology and Fitness for Duty
- Communications
- Checklist Philosophy and Procedures
- Operational Control and Dispatch
- Minimum Equipment List and Configuration Deviation List
- Ground Operations and Runway Safety
- Turbine Engines, Thrust Reversers and Ice Protection
- Transport Performance and Weight and Balance
- Automation and Flightpath Management
- Navigation and Warning Systems
Professionalism, CRM, Safety and Regulations for the Airline Pilot
The people and the rules around the airplane: leadership, crew resource management, threat and error management, voluntary safety programs and safety management systems, Parts 119, 121 and 117, and ATP eligibility. 60 original figures, 150 original questions with explained answers, and a 60-question mock end-of-course test.
What is inside
- Professionalism and Leadership
- CRM and Threat and Error Management with a Competency Lens
- Voluntary Safety Programs and Safety Management Systems
- Parts 119 and 121: How an Airline Is Certificated and Regulated
- Part 117: Flight, Duty and Rest
- Becoming and Staying an Airline Pilot: ATP Eligibility, R-ATP and Part 135 Contrasts
- Mock End-of-Course Test (60 questions)
Frequently asked questions
Which book covers what?
Book 1, Aerodynamics and Weather for the Airline Pilot, covers high-altitude aerodynamics, stalls and upsets, weather hazards and low-visibility operations. Book 2, Air Carrier Operations for the Airline Pilot, covers fitness for duty, communications, checklists, dispatch, the MEL, ground operations, engines, performance, automation and warning systems. Book 3, Professionalism, CRM, Safety and Regulations for the Airline Pilot, covers leadership, crew resource management and threat and error management, safety programs, Parts 119, 121 and 117, and ATP eligibility, with a 60-question mock test.
Are these books approved by the FAA?
No. They are study books and are not approved by the FAA or any other regulator. They are built on free FAA material: 14 CFR, advisory circular 61-138A, the Airman Certification Standards, the FAA handbooks and the Aeronautical Information Manual. The regulations and your operator's manuals always take precedence.
Do they replace the ATP-CTP course?
No. They are written to sit alongside the airline transport pilot certification training program, to explain the reasoning behind each rule and give you original practice questions. The course itself is taken with an approved provider.
Do I need to read them in order?
Each book stands on its own, but they share one fictional jet transport, the MR-200, so the worked numbers stay consistent from chapter to chapter and across the series.
Do they contain the real test questions?
No. Every question is original and comes with an explanation of why the tempting wrong option is wrong. Each chapter also has a Competency link box, an On the line scenario and a Think like an assessor section.
Where can I buy them?
The ebooks are on Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other stores through the Ebook, all stores links. Paperbacks are coming soon.
I am studying for the EASA or UK CAA ATPL. Where are those books?
See the subject-by-subject guide to the 14 EASA and UK CAA Mastering ATPL books.
Studying for the EASA or UK CAA ATPL?
The Mastering ATPL series has 14 books, one for each EASA and UK CAA theory subject.
The EASA and UK CAA subject-by-subject guide Free competency self-assessment sheet