Definition
A U.S. federal government agency, part of the Department of Commerce, that collects, organizes, and distributes scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information produced by federal agencies and their contractors. For aviation instructors, NTIS is one of the official sources for obtaining FAA publications, technical reports, and training materials.
Plain English
A government office that gathers reports and publications from federal agencies and makes them available to the public, including FAA materials that instructors and pilots may need.
Context Anchor
Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook when discussing sources of printed training and reference material.
Why Pilots Care
Instructors and pilots sometimes need access to specific FAA technical reports, advisory circulars, or training documents that aren't easily found elsewhere. NTIS is one of the recognized channels for obtaining these materials.
Intuition Check
NTIS is not an FAA certificate, rating, or aircraft system. In this context, it is simply a government information source.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor ordered a copy of an out-of-print FAA training manual through NTIS.
Example Sentence 2
A pilot researching older navigation studies located the documents through NTIS.