Handy Reference Book Compiles all the Hits Under One Spine

Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. has begun publishing the greatest hits of the most important FAA Advisory Circulars for aircraft maintainers and operators.

The book is largely made up from a trio of flagship Advisory Circulars familiar to anyone in the IA and repair scene, including AC43.13-2025, 43.13-1B, and 43.13-2B. Each is the most updated, current iteration of the publication, totaling up to 920 pages of fun. Their full titles, for those who don’t know the tunes by heart, are “Aircraft Inspection, Repair & Alterations,” “Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices—Aircraft Inspection and Repair,” and “Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices—Aircraft Alterations.”

It’s a collection of general knowledge, with passages on the finer points of caring for wooden structures, fabric coverings, fiberglass and plastics, metallic structures, and all the necessary ways to affix them all together. Inspection, protection, corrosion, and maintenance of every aircraft system under the sun get their time in the sun, too. Details on installation for individual components from tip to tail are there too, and thanks to 43.13-2B touch on more niche equipment like slings for rotorcraft, external cargo racks, tow-hitches, and special-mission gear.

It may not be the most exciting reading material to those outside the business, but it’s all pertinent and vital know-how for those in the business of keeping aircraft airworthy. The information is applicable even beyond the typical inspector, too, since the details and standards discussed cover pretty much every non-pressurized civil aircraft with a gross weight of 12,500 pounds or less. Sure, you can print off some old advisory circulars and staple them together on your own, but leery stakeholders and grumpy FAA personnel would probably be more trusting of something with a masthead and a publication date to know it’s all sufficiently current.

The cost of convenience? $44.95, whether that comes in softcover or digital form. The book is in preorder, with an expected shipping date of “late March” 

FMI: www.asa2fly.com