The “Stump the Chump” Instrument Rating Workbook

Great for current pilots too!

• Thanks to its real-world flying scenarios, including one entire chapter dedicated to interaction with ATC, and one chapter dedicated to Emergencies and Anomalies, this book is a great knowledge fine-tuning tool for existing instrument pilots.
• Download the free sampler and check how many questions you’d be able to answer confidently today…

The best instructional aid
for an upcoming IPC

Are you preparing for an Instrument Proficiency Check, but haven’t reviewed instrument flight knowledge in a while, and you don’t know where to start?

The scenario in this book are a perfect knowledge refresher in preparation for an IPC!

Why you’ll like the book

• You are getting ready for the FAA Instrument Rating – Airplane exam; you have already invested substantial time and spent tens of thousands of dollars in training; you are at a mature stage of your preparation… but you still feel that something is missing.
• Hundreds of instrument students like you wander online forums, asking for “stump the chump” questions. They want their preparation challenged. They want mastery of oral topics at the deepest level that an examiner could ever probe. This book satisfies that need.
• With more than 60 questions on regulations, equipment, navigation systems, instrument approach charts, air traffic control procedures, and emergencies and anomalies, you’ll be guided into a deep dive on oral exam topics, that also have relevance to your real-world flying.
• More than 70 illustrations and figures support the student practically, without unnecessary reference to outside resources.  
• This resource is the perfect workbook for both instrument rating pilot candidates and CFI-I candidates.

Zero AI

No contents in this book (textual, graphics or otherwise) have been produced with the use of generative AI.

As of January 2026, the author has found that generative AI still suffers from hallucinations to an extent that its use is too problematic for use in aviation, a field well-known for its intolerance to errors.

Concrete, Practical Scenarios

The book puts great emphasis on practical scenarios that have relevance to real-world flying:

• Can you depart on an IFR flight if the weather at the alternate airport has degraded below alternate minimums?
• How do you verify that your GPS equipment meets the requirements to fly the RNAV Y Rwy 3R approach at KPRC?
• What are TSO-C129, -C196, -C145, and -C146? Does your AFM require you to perform RAIM prediction, ever?
• What kind of distance from a VOR station is displayed by a Garmin GNS530?
• Is an approved GPS a valid source of navigation to fly the final segment of a VOR approach?
• In an RNAV approach chart that depicts both precision and non-precision approaches, how are the MAPs depicted?
• The LOC/DME-C final approach course at Aspen, Colorado is aligned with Runway 15: why is the procedure not titled LOC/DME Runway15?
• Can you start descending from the MDA after the VDP?
• Why do some approach charts publish a FAF-to-MAP time table, while others don’t?
• What is the ice crystal symbol reported on the briefing strip on the approach chart for ILS or LOC Runway at Presque Isle?
• Why are the LNAV minimums lower than the LNAV/VNAV ones in the RNAV Runway 11 approach at San Luis Obispo?
• Do the FAFs coincide in the ILS and in the LOC approach to Runway 32 at Sonoma County?
• What’s the meaning of the VDP symbol when flying the circle-to-land RNAV Z Rwy 32 approach into Bethel, Maine?
• Why are circling radii larger at higher altitudes?
• You have an engine failure while flying an ILS’s final segment, on glide slope – Will you be able to glide safely to the runway?