The POH is actually a legal document required by FAA regulations. Each and every individual airplane has its own POH, with its serial and N numbers tattooed into the book. That said, you can usually get a “generic” POH version, handy for general study and overall knowledge.

And you should study it. I grant you this takes some effort, as POHs are technical in nature, and—I suspect—lawyers may have a hand in writing them. So, no POH will ever make The New York Times bestseller list, not even for one week. But if you approach it like eating an elephant (one bite at a time), I think you’ll find the information in it is not only useful but fascinating, giving you the ultimate insider’s view.

The modern POH is divided into standardized chapters, always presented in the same order so that you, the pilot in command, always know where to find the information you need. That said, as you fly more airplanes, you’ll find some differences in how manufacturers present the information. For instance, Cessna tends to use tables for performance data, whereas Piper prefers graphs.

Newer airplanes have fatter books; older ones tend to be skinnier. But thick or thin, the POH is your guide to understanding your airplane. What makes it tick? Which fuels and oils make it happy? How much room and time does it need for various operations? How much can it carry? And, perhaps most importantly, what can go wrong and how to make it right again?

So, spend some time with your POH every night. And as to the instruction manual-free people and life? Well, yeah, good luck with those.