Walk into any flight school and you'll see it on every desk: a phone-book-thick paperback with "FAR/AIM" down the spine. Every pilot in America studies it, gets quizzed on it during checkrides, and is legally bound by half of it. Yet ask a student pilot what "FAR/AIM" actually stands for — or which half is regulatory — and you'll often get a shrug.
Here's everything the FAR/AIM is, how it's organized, which parts matter for your certificate, and the smartest way to study it in 2026.
Quick answer: The FAR/AIM is two documents in one. The FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations) are the actual laws governing aviation — formally Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The AIM (Aeronautical Information Manual) is the FAA's official guide to flying procedures and best practices — not legally binding, but the standard your examiner expects you to know. Together they're the pilot's rulebook and playbook.
FAR vs AIM: What's the Difference?
| FAR | AIM | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Federal Aviation Regulations | Aeronautical Information Manual |
| What it is | Law — Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations | Official FAA guidance and procedures |
| Legally binding? | Yes — violations can cost you your certificate | No — but it defines what "good operating practice" means |
| Written like | Legal code, numbered parts and sections | A textbook, with diagrams and plain-English explanations |
| Examples | Medical requirements, right-of-way rules, airspace minimums, currency | Radio phraseology, wake turbulence procedures, lighting systems, weather services |
A useful way to remember it: the FAR tells you what you must do; the AIM tells you how to do it well. You get violated for busting a FAR. You fail checkrides — and make real-world mistakes — for not knowing the AIM.
One pedantic note your CFI might spring on you: technically there is no legal document called "the FARs." The regulations are just Title 14 CFR — "FAR" is aviation shorthand so universal even the FAA uses it. That's also why you'll see citations written both ways: "FAR 91.205" and "14 CFR 91.205" mean the same thing.
Every Part of the FAR, Listed
Title 14, Chapter I is organized into lettered subchapters, each containing numbered parts. Here is the complete list — every part with its official title, organized exactly the way the regulations (and the EntireFlight FAR/AIM app) structure them. The highlighted rows are the ones pilots use most:
| Subchapter A Definitions and General Requirements | |
| Part 1 | Definitions and Abbreviations |
| Part 3 | General Requirements |
| Part 5 | Safety Management Systems |
| Subchapter B Procedural Rules | |
| Part 11 | General Rulemaking Procedures |
| Part 13 | Investigative and Enforcement Procedures |
| Part 14 | Rules Implementing the Equal Access to Justice Act of 1980 |
| Part 15 | Administrative Claims Under Federal Tort Claims Act |
| Part 16 | Rules of Practice for Federally-Assisted Airport Enforcement Proceedings |
| Part 17 | Procedures for Protests and Contract Disputes |
| Subchapter C Aircraft | |
| Part 21 | Certification Procedures for Products and Articles |
| Part 22 | Design, Production, and Airworthiness Requirements for Non-Type Certificated Aircraft (the light-sport part added by the FAA's 2025 MOSAIC rule) |
| Part 23 | Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes |
| Part 25 | Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Airplanes |
| Part 26 | Continued Airworthiness and Safety Improvements for Transport Category Airplanes |
| Part 27 | Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Rotorcraft |
| Part 29 | Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Rotorcraft |
| Part 31 | Airworthiness Standards: Manned Free Balloons |
| Part 33 | Airworthiness Standards: Aircraft Engines |
| Part 34 | Fuel Venting and Exhaust Emission Requirements for Turbine Engine Powered Airplanes |
| Part 35 | Airworthiness Standards: Propellers |
| Part 36 | Noise Standards: Aircraft Type and Airworthiness Certification |
| Part 38 | Airplane Fuel Efficiency Certification |
| Part 39 | Airworthiness Directives |
| Part 43 | Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration |
| Part 45 | Identification and Registration Marking |
| Part 47 | Aircraft Registration |
| Part 48 | Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft |
| Part 49 | Recording of Aircraft Titles and Security Documents |
| Subchapter D Airmen | |
| Part 60 | Flight Simulation Training Device Initial and Continuing Qualification and Use |
| Part 61 | Certification: Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Ground Instructors |
| Part 63 | Certification: Flight Crewmembers Other Than Pilots |
| Part 65 | Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers |
| Part 67 | Medical Standards and Certification |
| Part 68 | Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft Without a Medical Certificate (BasicMed) |
| Subchapter E Airspace | |
| Part 71 | Designation of Class A, B, C, D, and E Airspace Areas; Air Traffic Service Routes; and Reporting Points |
| Part 73 | Special Use Airspace |
| Part 77 | Safe, Efficient Use, and Preservation of the Navigable Airspace |
| Subchapter F Air Traffic and General Operating Rules | |
| Part 89 | Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft |
| Part 91 | General Operating and Flight Rules — the rules every pilot flies under |
| Part 93 | Special Air Traffic Rules |
| Part 95 | IFR Altitudes |
| Part 97 | Standard Instrument Procedures |
| Part 99 | Security Control of Air Traffic |
| Part 101 | Moored Balloons, Kites, Amateur Rockets, and Unmanned Free Balloons |
| Part 103 | Ultralight Vehicles |
| Part 105 | Parachute Operations |
| Part 107 | Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones) |
| Subchapter G Air Carriers and Operators for Compensation or Hire: Certification and Operations | |
| Part 110 | General Requirements |
| Part 111 | Pilot Records Database |
| Part 117 | Flight and Duty Limitations and Rest Requirements: Flightcrew Members |
| Part 119 | Certification: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators |
| Part 120 | Drug and Alcohol Testing Program |
| Part 121 | Operating Requirements: Domestic, Flag, and Supplemental Operations (the airlines) |
| Part 125 | Certification and Operations: Aircraft With 20+ Passenger Seats or 6,000+ lbs Payload |
| Part 129 | Operations: Foreign Air Carriers and Foreign Operators of U.S.-Registered Aircraft |
| Part 133 | Rotorcraft External-Load Operations |
| Part 135 | Operating Requirements: Commuter and On Demand Operations (charter) |
| Part 136 | Commercial Air Tours and National Parks Air Tour Management |
| Part 137 | Agricultural Aircraft Operations |
| Part 139 | Certification of Airports |
| Subchapter H Schools and Other Certificated Agencies | |
| Part 141 | Pilot Schools |
| Part 142 | Training Centers |
| Part 145 | Repair Stations |
| Part 147 | Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools |
| Subchapter I Airports | |
| Part 150 | Airport Noise Compatibility Planning |
| Part 151 | Federal Aid to Airports |
| Part 152 | Airport Aid Program |
| Part 153 | Airport Operations |
| Part 155 | Release of Airport Property From Surplus Property Disposal Restrictions |
| Part 156 | State Block Grant Pilot Program |
| Part 157 | Notice of Construction, Alteration, Activation, and Deactivation of Airports |
| Part 158 | Passenger Facility Charges (PFC's) |
| Part 161 | Notice and Approval of Airport Noise and Access Restrictions |
| Part 169 | Expenditure of Federal Funds for Nonmilitary Airports or Air Navigation Facilities |
| Subchapter J Navigational Facilities | |
| Part 170 | Establishment and Discontinuance Criteria for Air Traffic Control Services and Navigational Facilities |
| Part 171 | Non-Federal Navigation Facilities |
| Subchapter K Administrative Regulations | |
| Part 183 | Representatives of the Administrator (where your DPE gets their authority) |
| Part 185 | Testimony by Employees and Production of Records in Legal Proceedings |
| Part 187 | Fees |
| Part 189 | Use of Federal Aviation Administration Communications System |
| Part 193 | Protection of Voluntarily Submitted Information |
| Subchapter L Other Special Federal Aviation Regulations | |
| Part 194 | Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 120 — Powered-Lift Operations |
| Subchapter N War Risk Insurance | |
| Part 198 | Aviation Insurance |
| 49 CFR Pilot-Relevant Parts (NTSB, TSA, Hazmat) | |
| Part 172 | Hazardous Materials Table, Special Provisions, and Communications Requirements |
| Part 175 | Carriage by Aircraft (hazmat) |
| Part 830 | Notification and Reporting of Aircraft Accidents or Incidents (NTSB) |
| Part 1540 | Civil Aviation Security: General Rules |
| Part 1542 | Airport Security |
| Part 1544 | Aircraft Operator Security: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators |
| Part 1552 | Flight Training Security Program |
Part 61 and Part 91 are where student pilots should live. If you're prepping for a written or a checkride, the overwhelming majority of regulation questions come from those two parts, plus the airspace and weather sections of the AIM. But when an examiner — or an FSDO inspector — cites an obscure part, you want the whole list within reach, not an abridged version. Case in point: Part 22, the light-sport airworthiness part created by the FAA's 2025 MOSAIC rule, is so new that many printed FAR/AIM editions don't include it at all — a continuously updated app does.
The Entire FAR/AIM. In Your Pocket. Always Current.
The EntireFlight FAR/AIM app carries every part in the list above — the complete 14 CFR, the pilot-relevant 49 CFR parts, and the full AIM — with full-text search, highlights and bookmarks, study-by-certificate mode, listen hands-free, and full offline access in the cockpit. Updated continuously, so it's never out of date.
Free to download • 7-day free trial of full access • Built by the same aviators behind EntireFlight gear
What's Inside the AIM
The AIM is organized into chapters that read like a ground school syllabus:
- Chapter 1 — Air Navigation: VORs, GPS, RNAV, and how every navaid actually works
- Chapter 2 — Aeronautical Lighting: runway lighting, beacons, VASI/PAPI
- Chapter 3 — Airspace: Class A through G explained — read this alongside FAR 91's airspace rules
- Chapter 4 — Air Traffic Control: radio phraseology, services, clearances — the chapter that makes you sound like a pro on frequency
- Chapter 5 — Air Traffic Procedures: flight plans, departures, arrivals, IFR procedures
- Chapter 6 — Emergency Procedures: what ATC can do for you when things go wrong
- Chapter 7 — Safety of Flight: weather services, wake turbulence, altimetry — heavily tested
- Chapters 8–11: medical factors, aeronautical charts, and helicopter operations
Plus the Pilot/Controller Glossary — the official definitions of every term you'll hear on the radio, and the reference examiners use when they ask, "what exactly does 'cleared for the option' mean?"
The Problem With the Paper FAR/AIM
Here's what most student pilots don't realize when they buy the printed book: the regulations change constantly, and the paper FAR/AIM is a snapshot. Print editions are compiled once a year — the "2026 FAR/AIM" you buy was typeset months before the year began, and the FAA amends regulations and updates the AIM on its own schedule throughout the year. The AIM alone gets revised roughly every 180 days. Printed editions are also abridged — they include the pilot-relevant parts, not the complete list above.
That means the book on your desk is legally out of date almost immediately. For studying broad concepts, that's usually fine. But quoting last year's regulation on a checkride — or in the cockpit — is how pilots get surprised.
Your realistic options in 2026:
| Option | Cost | Current? | Complete? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed FAR/AIM book | $20–30 every year | Out of date on arrival | Abridged — selected parts only |
| eCFR + FAA website | Free | Yes | Complete, but needs internet and lives on two clunky sites |
| FAR/AIM app | Free download; 7-day free trial, then affordable plans | Continuously updated | Every part listed above + full AIM, offline, searchable |
How to Actually Study the FAR/AIM
- Don't read it cover to cover. Nobody does. Study by certificate level — the regs that apply to a sport pilot are a fraction of the book.
- Anchor on Part 61 (your certificate) and Part 91 (your flying). Currency, medicals, equipment requirements, airspace minimums, right-of-way — these produce most written-test and oral questions.
- Read the AIM chapter that matches each ground lesson. Learning radio work? AIM Chapter 4. Weather theory? Chapter 7. It's the FAA explaining its own system in plain English.
- Highlight and bookmark as you go. Your checkride prep becomes reviewing your own highlights instead of re-reading 1,200 pages. (This is exactly why we built highlighting and study-by-certificate mode into the EntireFlight FAR/AIM app.)
- Quiz yourself with scenario questions. "Can I log this flight? Can I fly this airplane tonight? What do I need to enter this airspace?" Every answer traces to a specific FAR you should be able to find fast.
Keep Learning
Frequently Asked Questions
What does FAR/AIM stand for?
Federal Aviation Regulations / Aeronautical Information Manual. The FAR is the legally binding rulebook (Title 14 CFR); the AIM is the FAA's official guide to procedures and best practices.
Is the AIM regulatory?
No. The AIM is guidance, not law — but it reflects the FAA's official interpretation of how to operate, examiners test from it, and deviating from AIM procedures can still be used to show careless operation under FAR 91.13.
What is 14 CFR?
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations — the formal legal home of the aviation regulations. "FAR 91.205" and "14 CFR 91.205" refer to the same rule.
What is FAR Part 22?
Part 22 is one of the newest FAR parts — created by the FAA's 2025 MOSAIC rule (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification), it sets design, production, and airworthiness requirements for non-type-certificated aircraft, including light-sport category aircraft. It's so new that many printed FAR/AIM editions don't include it yet.
What's the difference between Part 61 and Part 91?
Part 61 governs pilot certification — training requirements, ratings, currency, and medicals. Part 91 governs flight operations — the rules you follow every time you fly, like airspace, weather minimums, and required equipment.
Do I need to buy a new FAR/AIM every year?
Only if you rely on paper. Printed editions are annual snapshots that go out of date as the FAA amends regulations mid-year and revises the AIM roughly every 180 days. A continuously updated digital FAR/AIM stays current automatically.
Is there a free FAR/AIM app?
The EntireFlight FAR/AIM app is free to download on the App Store and Google Play and includes a 7-day free trial of full access — the complete, always-current FAR and AIM with full-text search, highlights, bookmarks, study-by-certificate mode, and offline use. After the trial, affordable subscription plans keep everything current.
Does the app include every FAR part?
Yes — the EntireFlight FAR/AIM app carries every part in the list above: the complete Title 14 CFR including brand-new additions like Part 22, plus the pilot-relevant 49 CFR parts (NTSB 830, hazmat, and TSA security rules), the full AIM, and the Pilot/Controller Glossary. Nothing is abridged.
What parts of the FAR should a student pilot study?
Focus on Part 61 (certification and currency), Part 91 (operating rules), Part 67 (medical standards), and NTSB Part 830 (accident reporting), plus AIM Chapters 3, 4, and 7 for airspace, radio procedures, and weather.
