Read all 371 pages of this official FAA handbook online, free, or download the PDF (65 MB).
The Instrument Flying Handbook is the reference behind the instrument rating and CFII exams. It covers flying by reference to instruments alone, in the system, in weather.
A section-by-section map of FAA-H-8083-15. Every topic below is something the exams built on this source can ask about, and on Aviator IQ each of those questions carries a verbatim quote from this document, so you can trace an answer straight back to the page it came from.
01The flight instrumentsThe pitot-static and gyroscopic instruments, the electronic flight display, and the failure modes that force a partial panel.
02Attitude instrument flyingThe control-and-performance and primary-and-supporting methods, and the instrument cross-check that keeps the airplane where the pilot wants it.
03Navigation systemsVOR, DME, and ADF, then GPS and RNAV, including receiver autonomous integrity monitoring and the checks each system requires.
04The National Airspace SystemThe airspace, the route structure, and the chart symbology an instrument pilot reads on departure, en route, and approach charts.
05ATC and IFR proceduresClearances, instrument departures, holding patterns, and en route procedures under positive control.
06Instrument approachesPrecision and non-precision approaches, the components and minimums on an approach chart, and the missed-approach segment.
07EmergenciesPartial-panel flying, recovery from unusual attitudes on instruments, and handling system and communication failures in the clouds.
Why Aviator IQ cites this source
Instrument Flying Handbook is a US government public-domain document. Every Aviator IQ question that draws on it stores the exact sentence it tests and checks that quote against this edition (FAA-H-8083-15B (2012)), last verified October 2026. If the FAA reissues it, the citing questions are pulled for review before the new edition ships.
