Building My Pilot's Operating Handbook Library

Today was a beautiful day to fly. Unfortunately, I had not reserved a plane today and there were no openings. But, that did not deter me from visiting the airport. I stopped by Blue Ash Aviation to pick up a Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) for the Diamond Eclipse. You may notice I had previously referred to this plane as a Katana. It is actually a variant with the name Eclipse.

Every aircraft has a POH and it should always be in the airplane. I believe it is a great practice for pilots to purchase there own copy of the POH for planes they fly in order to better understand the aircraft. Most POH manuals will include the following:

• General Information


• Operating Limitations


• Emergency Procedures


• Normal Operating Procedures


• Performance


• Weights and Balance


• Aircraft Systems


• Maintenance

My flight instructor taught me to read through the POH highlighting the important information. Then if I have not flown that plane recently I can quickly flip through the POH and familiarize myself with important performance and emergency procedure information.

I look forward to reading through the Diamond Eclipse POH this week and flying it next weekend.