Remember
Attitude indicator is always a primary instrument to scan.
CHAPTER 07 · INSTRUMENT SCANNING
IFR Practical Training
First Steps in Practical IFR
— A Pilot's Guide
Best practices for pilots stepping into the world of instrument flying.
A practical companion for your IR journey — written by a pilot, for pilots. 185 pages that walk you through the entire IFR flight, from the first NOTAM check to the missed approach call — with 200 online quiz questions to test yourself along the way.
THE AUTHOR CAPT. MACIEJ PEIKERT
EDITED BY JAKUB KUBRYNSKI & MICHAL BONIECKI
EDITED BY JAKUB KUBRYNSKI & MICHAL BONIECKI
Written by a 21,500-hour pilot
Captain Maciej Peikert distills more than four decades of airline and instructor experience into a practical training companion.
Practical, not theoretical
Good practices that connect PPL knowledge with real IFR flying. The book that sits on the kneeboard, not on the shelf.
200 quiz questions online
Seven chapter quizzes with explanations and book-page references — unlocked with the access code included with every copy.
The Book
About the book
What it is
A 185-page practical IFR companion that walks you through the entire IFR flight, start to finish — from the first NOTAM check to the missed approach call.
What's different
Applied, procedural, operational content. Not another theory textbook — this is the cockpit-side knowledge that bridges what you learned and what you'll actually do.
Who it's for
IR students working toward their rating, instructors building training material, and ATOs equipping their fleets and classrooms.
From the book · Classic six-pack
Straight from the book
A glimpse inside
Things you'll remember long after you close the book.
Remember
During the briefing stick to the rule: Fly – Navigate – Communicate. Do not leave PFD unattended, keep it scanning even if the AP is ON.
CHAPTER 03 · APPROACH BRIEFING
Remember
Proper pre-flight preparation facilitates navigation, lowers workload, and increases situation awareness and self-confidence during flight.
CHAPTER 01 · PREFLIGHT PREPARATION
Remember
For ILS each dot represents approx. 0.5° deviation (5-dot scale). Half-scale deflection is 1.25° only.
CHAPTER 03 · ILS APPROACH
Remember
The primary goal of the briefing is your mental preparation for the approach — not to satisfy SOP or instructor.
CHAPTER 03 · APPROACH BRIEFING
Remember
Reaching visual contact at MAPt does not guarantee landing.
CHAPTER 03 · MISSED APPROACH
Rule of thumb
Start descent at roughly your altitude in thousands of feet divided by 3 — at FL090, begin down about 30 NM out.
CHAPTER 05 · DESCENT PROFILE
Rule of thumb
Bank angle for a rate-one turn: TAS ÷ 10 + 7. At 100 kt that is about 17 degrees.
CHAPTER 05 · HOLDING
Rule of thumb
Monitor 121.5 on COM 2 — always.
CHAPTER 04 · COMMUNICATION
— From First Steps in Practical IFR by Capt. Maciej Peikert
See the full table of contents →185 pages · 7 chapters · 140 sections · 200 quiz questions
Everything inside
A detailed look at what the book covers, chapter by chapter.
Everything before pushback — building the mental model of the flight, the paperwork, and the fuel plan.
What you'll learn
NOTAMsAirport statusAirspace Use PlanWeather briefingAirport chartsMEL / CDL / KOELATC flight planSTAY phrasePBN itemsTransponder codingAlternate aerodrome planningOperational Flight PlanFuel calculationWeight & BalanceNoise Abatement DepartureNADP1 / NADP2Take-off performance
"Proper pre-flight preparation facilitates navigation, lowers workload, and increases situation awareness and self-confidence during flight."
Book pages: 17 – 38
About the book
What readers find on the back cover
A short summary of the book, the author's biography, the ISBN barcode and publisher details — everything you need to identify and order the official Edition 2.
ISBN 978-83-982746-0-9 · Edition 2 · September 2026
Author
Who wrote this
Maciej Peikert
Author · Captain21,500+
Flight hours
2,000+
Simulator hours
28 yrs
Airline operations
~20 yrs
On Airbus A320 family
Captain Maciej Peikert is a distinguished aviation professional who has been flying since 1986, accumulating more than four decades of experience and over 21,500 flight hours (including gliders), plus more than 2,000 hours in flight simulators. He has spent nearly 28 years in airline operations, with close to 20 years on the Airbus A320 family. Maciej is also a flight instructor at some of Poland's largest training organisations, including as an IFR instructor at LAW Flight Academy in Deblin. His line-flying career has taken him across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and North America. First Steps in Practical IFR distills that cockpit experience into a practical companion for pilots entering the world of instrument flying.
Help
Frequently asked questions
Contact
Get in touch
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