This impressive set of 7 full-color, hardback textbooks are the finest, most professional ones we have seen. Although specifically developed for the European JAA/EASA PPL and the United Kingdom National Private Pilot’s Licence (UK NPPL), we have found their content to be extremely useful to pilots in any country, at any stage in their flight training. They offer detailed lessons on every important topic, and are filled with hundreds of full-color graphics to reinforce key concepts. Includes JAA-style review questions.

For as long as most of us can remember, two names have dominated the market for student PPL study books - Jeremy Pratt and Trevor Thom. But now there is another contender for trainee pilots' hard-earned cash. Oxford Aviation Training (OAT) has produced a seven-volume set of training manuals which is, quite simply, superb. I don't use that word lightly either. The books are designed for those training for a JAR/EASA PPL or NPPL. There is a volume dedicated to each of the core subjects - Air Law, Human Performance, Navigation, Meteorology, Principles of Flight, Aeroplanes and Radiotelephony. Each book covers the subject in precise detail and nearly every photograph and diagram is printed in full color.

Looking at the pile of books on my desk brought back to me just how much information has to be absorbed to get that expensive CAA-endorsed piece of paper. But OAT has come up with a clever system to help the student pilot remember the important bits - or 'key points' as it prefers to call them. Down the edge of each page, are small coloured boxes marked by a key symbol, each containing what OAT considers to be the key point on that page. There are also other boxes in a contrasting color, marked with a wings symbol, which denote points of good airmanship. However, don't be fooled into thinking that you can just learn the key points and pass all the CAA exams - there are no short cuts to fully understanding your subject.

If I had to be really picky, I would say that the books are written in a very 'matter-of-fact' way and that occasionally a more light-hearted approach might have made them harder to put down. But these books are for study and reference, not for entertainment - an easy point to overlook.