Book Review: Aircraft Performance Myths & Methods
Jim Deuvall has written and published a handy primer on aircraft performance that can help pilots expand their understanding of how jets perform.

Jim Deuvall has written and published a handy primer on aircraft performance that can help pilots expand their understanding of how jets perform. In 10 concise and easy-to-digest chapters, Aircraft Performance Myths & Methods explores performance myths, which Deuvall characterizes as “unsubstantiated, commonly held belief[s] that ha[ve] come down through the ages as truth.” Deuvall is a pilot, former simulator instructor and current owner of CAVU Companies, which published the book and produces aircraft performance software.

The performance myths revolve around the most important areas of operation– takeoff, climb and landing–and each chapter addresses specific issues that pilots tend to generalize into rules of thumb that, Deuvall writes, “are largely at odds with approved aerodynamic principles, regulation or practices.” The myths are: