AFM, POH, PIM, Owners Manual?

I know this may seem like a question that has been asked a few times but I did a bit of search but couldn't find any info on it. So..

From a flight sim standpoint which manual has the most useful construction / operational information.

Some things I know..

AFM = POH post April 1979. So any aircraft built after 1979 will have a AFL instead of POH.
PIM = Is similar to the POH in many regards except that it isn't supplemented and doesn't carry the specific info on the aircraft it's attached to. That is the POH/AFL has everything that the aircraft has including weights and measures. Where as the PIM has generic info for the manufacturer and model.

Owners Manual .. This is the enigma. I'm sure there was a time when the owners manual had everything needed for the operation of the aircraft as I don't know when the POH came into effect? Does anyone know when the POH was a requirement in operating aircraft?

What I'd like to do is if I'm not duplicating information? Get the Owners Manual and PIM for the aircraft. The Pilots Operating Handbook. Seems to be a bit to specific for the needs of a flight simmer?

So hoping to hear some thoughts on aircraft manuals...

Cheers
Ron

My thoughts and experiences:-

First of all, I don't know what an AFL or PIM is, never come across those abbreviations.

A few years ago (last 5 to 15 years), I've had part ownership in a PA28 and C152. Neither aircraft had a manual that was specific to it. We just never had one. So we used off the shelf flight guides specific to each type, but not the aircraft in question (the ones that say "Not to be used for real flight")! We had maintenance records, weight and balance certificates, etc, but no POH.

Now that I'm messing around with virtual 737's, the manuals I've come across are the FCOM (Flight Crew Operations Manual), FCTM (Flight Crew Training Manual) and QRH (Quick Reference Handbook). The FCOM is specific to each aircraft, as the one I have has the aircraft registrations it's applicable too listed in it.

Sean

AFM = Aircraft Flight Manual
PIM = Pilot Information Manual.

The AFM was supposed to replace the POH (Pilots Operating Handbook) after April 1979. That manual must be available to the crew of the aircraft at all times.

The PIM is a generic version of the AFM/POH as it's not attached to that specific aircraft (no aircraft serial number is included in the PIM). It's not a 'Part' of the aircraft as the POH is. So it has nearly everything the POH has but for the equipment list and weights and measures of that aircraft the manual resides in. It details the make and model just like the POH but is general in nature.

Think of a POH as your specific vehicle purchase order and the PIM is a consumer reports of the same car.

From what I've read it's a FAA violation to not have a POH or AFM on board? That makes them pretty expensive and hard to replace should you loose one. It's perhaps a one off that the manufacturer has to make for that aircraft. In the day (before Laser printers) probably a big problem but now even though making a printout should be pretty easy they still are quite expensive.

There were exceptions to that rule. If the aircraft was suitably placarded you didn't need the POH but this was a hold over I think to allow the manufactures to get up to speed on such requirements.