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SAFE eNews December 2018

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, SAFE represents more than 1,700 of the industry's top aviation professionals in 49 states and nine foreign countries, including the majority of Master Instructors and numerous General Aviation Awards winners in all three awards categories.  

Executive Director Notes
 
by David St. George, SAFE Executive Director
 
David St George
Wishing you all a warm "Happy Holidays" and my sincere thanks for your continuing support our mission of aviation excellence at SAFE!
 
Hopefully you received a SAFE sticker in the mail.  Write me if not and we'll send one. The appeal letter we attached highlighted our substantial achievements over our ten-year history, and we have several exciting projects "ready for take-off" with your help! We have already received a flood of donations and best wishes - thank you all for your tax-deductible gifts. The online site for charitable holiday giving is http://give2safe.org
 
Please keep your exclusive member profile on the SAFE website up-to-date. Your SAFE member profile directs pilots seeking specialized training to you. And also, our industry sponsors direct their customers to SAFE Member Profiles to find professional educators for new avionics, tail-wheel, etc. And AOPA initiatives like Rusty Pilot and Focused Flight Review also direct pilots to SAFE members for training. So please stay up to date. See this issue's article Free Professional Profiles.

Please remember to utilize Amazon Smile as you shop for gifts online this holiday season. This cost-free service directs a small percentage of each sale to SAFE. We are a frugal not-for-profit and all these small efforts help support safety initiatives like having representatives for CFIs on policy-making FAA ACS and GAJSC meetings. Our hard-working representatives got full stalls re-introduced in the commercial ACS.Thanks again for all you do for SAFE. 
 
Stay warm, fly safely and often!
 
 
FAA Standards Only A "Minimum Viable Product"
Professionalism More Important Than Ever
 
Newly minted FAA CFIs need more growth and seasoning to be truly effective, SAFE Executive Director David St George told top flight training professionals at Redbird Migration's flight training conference in October.
 
"In a perfect world, new CFIs would go to work for an experienced and watchful Chief CFI and become truly effective educators," St George said. "Unfortunately, this does not always happen."
 
He pointed out that FAA requires only the 'minimum viable product' for all ratings and drew a parallel with required airplane equipment. "As a new CFI, you have only the bare minimums; like 'one mile, clear of clouds' or the '91.205-required flight instruments'" he said. "In other words, don't charge into heavy instructional weather, because so far all you have is an airspeed gauge, altimeter and compass."
 
Under the current system, mentoring is the only solution to helping CFIs improve and grow, he said. SAFE recently revitalized its Mentoring Program, which matches experienced CFIs and DPEs with newer instructors to improve professionalism. The SAFE program is without cost to new instructors, and is completely volunteer. SAFE's membership, as a professional organization, is heavily weighted to high-time CFIs and FAA DPEs.
 

Recent CFIT Resources For Educators
A surprising finding on CFIT accidents is that 75% of these accidents occur during daytime conditions and half are in VFR conditions. Pilots are literally flying perfectly good planes into the ground. With better pilot training, more careful preflight preparation and vigilance we can make a significant improvement in these preventable accidents.      

The GA Joint Steering Committee has released a new Fact Sheet on Controlled Flight Into Terrain which should be a tool for all educators. Doug Stewart represents SAFE in these important meetings (thanks to your support). Another good tool for CFIs is this NTSB PowerPoint presentation on the subject. As with many accidents focus and awareness on the problem builds risk management acumen and leads to improved safety...we can fix this. 
Volunteers Needed To Review New FAA ATP ACS

SAFE is asking for CFI volunteers to review and comment on the FAA's proposed new Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for the Airline Transport Pilot certificate. The long-awaited Airman Certification Standards for Airline Transport Pilot applicants was published on October 22 in the Federal Register. FAA sources earlier had said the target date would be September 1.
 
"Although we already have three SAFE members reviewing and commenting on this newest ACS, we are still seeking volunteers," said SAFE Executive Director David St George. There are four ways you can submit suggestions before the deadline for comments December 21.
  • Federal eRulemaking Portal:  Follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically.
  • Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
  • Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
  • Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Numerous RCOs Decommissioned
More On The Chopping Block Through 2019

By the time the FAA's decommissioning of Remote Communications Outlets (RCO) is complete next year, more than 500 RCOs nationwide will have been removed and another 139 re-tuned to another FSS frequency. An update on which frequencies will be retained is available as an Excel spreadsheet on the FAA website.
 
Already, 69 of 81 former Flight Watch outlets have been re-tuned and another 53 of 226 former EFAS (Enroute Flight Advisory Service) outlets have been removed. The decommissioning is expected to continue through 2019, retaining at least 90 percent of current RCO coverage at 1,000 AGL.

FAA spokeswoman Sheila Renehan-Sygar pointed to the dramatic decrease in FSS inflight contacts over the last 25 years as justification for the decommissioning project. More than 4.5 million inflight FSS contacts in 1993 shrank to just 320,709 in 2016 as technology made weather information available in the cockpit and pilot reliance on FSS direct contact fell.
 
"Current students know that the old Flight Watch program, which offered request-reply weather information on frequency 122.0, was discontinued October 1, but many already-rated pilots don't yet have the word," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "Flight Reviews should include that information."
 
Renehan-Sygar said the decommissioning and re-tuning project was meant to eliminate redundancies and underutilized activities and "redesign FAA processes to optimize service delivery." She added that the project will not affect HIWAS (Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service) coverage at this time.
 

High-Emphasis "Fact Sheets" Available Free

A collection of what the FAA calls "GA Safety Enhancement Topic Fact Sheets" are now available free online. Each of the PDF documents explores areas of concern for flight instructors with active students. The Fact Sheets include:
 Free Professional Profiles Available to All SAFE Members 
Free Advertising and Member Camaraderie
 
Every SAFE member has the privilege of creating a personal member profile that is publically available online. Any SAFE member you can create a personal profile page and advertise their rating and expertise. This is an opportunity to publicize your flight training specialties and connect with other members and clients,  just like new CFI Grant Derifield of Columbus OH (right).
 
Your personal profile allows members to include as much (or as little) information as they like. Aviation-related companies such as Garmin use those profiles to find specialists who can train people with their multitude of new products. AOPA references the SAFE member profiles as a resource and student generator for CFIs for both their Focused Flight Review and the Rusty Pilot Program.
 
To set up (or update) your Professional CFI profile, log in to the SAFE website and click on Manage Your Account in the yellow box on the right. On the next screen select Submit SAFE Profile (upper-left on the page), and your profile. When finished, check the box to accept the Terms, and then click Submit.
 
ATC Audio of Crashes Now Free
Potential Gold Mine For CFIs Explaining Accidents

Actual ATC audio of many recent aircraft crashes, including the infamous Colgan Air 3407 debacle that spawned Congressional action requiring all airline pilots to have an ATP, is now available without cost on the FAA's data research page. All recordings are downloadable in the common MP3 format.
 
"It's almost chilling to hear the accident aircraft pilot and ATC exchanges just prior and during the events," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "The tapes are a real-life education for pilots who don't want to make the same mistakes." He added that CFIs would find the unedited recordings useful when discussing accident causes with students.
 
The accident audio recordings include transmissions from all ATC facilities involved. In the Colgan Air 3407 crash, for instance, there are recordings from the TRACON, Buffalo Tower ground and Buffalo Tower clearance delivery.
 
FAA Safety Briefing Tackles Diversity
"Birds Of A Different Feather"
 

The November/December 2018 "Birds of a Different Feather" issue of FAA Safety Briefing explores the diversity of general aviation and encourages pilots and CFIs to expand their aviation horizons and appreciate the many ways in which you can "enjoy the ride."
 
The issue also focuses on the new perspectives and the new skills needed when moving on to a different type of flying.
 
"FAA's Safety Briefing magazine is one of the least-appreciated resources for pilots and, especially, for instructors," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "Unlike most aviation magazines, FAA Safety Briefing looks beyond the basics. For instance, this issue features an in-depth look at how electric aircraft work and a serious discussion of the potential for an all-electric fleet in the near future."
 
 
Most GA Piston Aircraft Will Miss ADS-B Deadline, Report Says
Training-Type Aircraft Most Affected
   
Data compiled by JetNet and Duncan Aviation show that only 17.5 percent of piston GA aircraft have installed ADS-B devices so far. That's just 35,791 of 204,191 registered piston aircraft, leaving as many as168,400 piston-engine GA aircraft that will be handicapped in just over a year.
 
"That's pretty bleak," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "There are likely to be a large number of piston aircraft owners on your airport that will be seeking your advice as the deadline gets closer." The FAA-fixed deadline for ADS-B equipage is January 1, 2020, and the industry says that existing avionics shops will be unable to handle the load as the deadline approaches."
 
He pointed to an  AOPA web site that answers questions about ADS-B and includes a special online tool to help owners select an ADS-B unit to fit their situation. Current ADS-B prices range from about $1,849 for the uAvionix wingtip mount unit that includes a position light and strobe, to $5,143 Garmin GDL 88. Installation of the units by a qualified avionics shop will be extra.
 

CFIs Asked How They Determine Student Readiness For Solo
   
A SAFE member who is a Purdue University associate professor is researching the criteria used by flight instructors to determine readiness for initial student solos and is asking for SAFE member input.
 
Professor Brian Dillman, who describes himself as "in the final throes of my PhD dissertation in educational psychology," is researching whether or not digital information captured by Technologically Advanced Aircraft could have value for a CFI's assessment of student performance.
 
"I have developed scenarios where a flight instructor is presented with a student who has been working toward initial solo, and the CFI is asked to make a determination of the readiness of the student for solo flight," wrote Dillman. He said that survey takers would be presented with one of several scenarios with different information.
 
To register your opinion, take the survey.
 
SAFE Toolkit App Updated 


SAFE's "Toolkit App," an essential tool for active CFIs and DPEs, has been updated with the quick reference guides for instructor endorsements, knowledge PLT test code keys, full copies of the current Airman Certification Standards for private and commercial pilots, the old PTS guides for reference, up to date Federal Aviation Regulations and the complete Airman's Information Manual.
 
The updated Toolkit also provides easy N number lookups, a decoder for the FAA Wings program and much more. The app is available free to SAFE members for their Android or Apple's App Store.

New Book Explores Effective Learning Strategies
Much "Common Knowledge" Is Wrong
 
As a professional aviation educator you will benefit greatly from the ideas and techniques in a new book by three distinguished psychologists titled "Make It Stick." Recent research in the science of successful learning reveals that much of what we intuitively believe about  learning is wrong. These are great tools to help your clients. 
 
"As aviation educators we tend to put a lot of emphasis on technical content, but we often miss the superior learning techniques that make this information stick," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "Recent research reveals that the most effective learning strategies are not intuitive at all, and much of what we have been taught - or pick up by osmosis over years of experience - about how to learn is wrong."
 
The hardcover book is available from Amazon in hardcover for $22.16, in the Kindle e-edition for $19.99 and as an Audible audiobook for $14.95. When ordering from Amazon, please use Amazon Smile, the login that returns a small portion of the sale to SAFE to advance the organization's mission of increasing instructor professionalism. To use Amazon Smile, log into smile.amazon.com and select SAFE as your charity of choice. For future purchases, add a shortcut to smile.amazon.com.
 
Fresh Guidance on Flight Reviews Available
 
New FAA Advisory Circular, 61.98D has been issued as guidance for both pilots and CFIs on flight reviews, required every two years by the regulations and often required every year by flying clubs and insurance companies. The AC is free and available for download as a PDF.
 
Specific advice in the AC includes methods to cure pilot lack of proficiency, information on safe maneuvering flight to avoid Loss Of Control - Inflight accidents, use of Vy for normal takeoffs until at least the altitude necessary for a safe return to the airport after an engine failure.
 
"This valuable AC from the FAA is free and as near as your computer or tablet," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Director of Communications. "We all need to do better to be safe, and CFIs need to lead this initiative by modeling and inspiring aviation excellence."

Flight Schedule Changes Are Wearing Out Pilots, Unions Complain


Another issue attributed to the shortage of qualified pilots for airlines has surfaced: sudden changes in flight schedules.
 
"These sudden changes are causing more fatigue reports and damaging morale for pilots at the largest airlines, say representatives of the nation's largest airlines," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "It's yet another indication of ongoing problems that will only be solved as today's CFIs turn out new pilots who are qualified for the airlines."
 
ALPA and the Allied Pilots Association have vowed to make the issue a top priority in new contract talks next year at American and Delta.
 

Volunteers Needed To Review New FAA ATP ACS
 
SAFE is asking for CFI volunteers to review and comment on the FAA's proposed new Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for the Airline Transport Pilot certificate. The long-awaited Airman Certification Standards for Airline Transport Pilot applicants was published on October 22 in the Federal Register. FAA sources earlier had said the target date would be September 1.
 
"Although we already have three SAFE members reviewing and commenting on this newest ACS, we are still seeking volunteers," said SAFE Executive Director David St George. There are four ways you can submit suggestions before the deadline for comments December 21.
  • Federal eRulemaking Portal:  Follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically.
  • Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
  • Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
  • Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Inspection Authorization Test Prep Manuals Updated

Ambitious A&P maintenance professionals who have an eye on upgrading to an FAA Inspection Authorization (IA) may want new editions of ASA's Inspection Authorization Test Prep , Prepware, and Test Prep Bundle.
 
The bundle includes more than 500 sample questions like those that candidates are likely to encounter, and train readers in the use of available documents. Answer choices are supported with explanations and FAA references. Other "reader resources" provide additional tools for IA applicants.
 
The Test Prep is available as a paper book or an eBook, and the Prepware is available on a CD or for immediate download. ASA says the materials are also available as an eBundle, which includes the paper book and Prepware download. Prices start at $39.95 for the softcover book and $69.95 for the test prep bundle.

A Decade Of SAFE Accomplishments and Initiatives!

Our  Pilot Training Reform Symposium in 2011 shook up the aviation industry. As then-FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said at this meeting, " you are the movers and shakers of the flight training community"  This gathering of aviation professionals led to creation of the new  FAA ACS standards . This important transformation embedded risk management into pilot testing - and by extension pilot education - and also fostered an FAA/industry collaboration that continues today. The working group is currently rolling out  the new ATP  (see below) and CFI ACS standards for comment.
 
SAFE's early collaboration with Redbird in 2010 led to the  Pilot Proficiency Program  which has been widely  accepted and expanded by the EAA . This program was the first to introduce scenario-based training into aviation education. Redbird, at the time an industry upstart, has become a leader in flight simulation.
 
SAFE members created the very best CFI insurance program  customized specifically to the needs of flight educators. This program continues to be the most comprehensive and affordable insurance available to the industry, thanks to former SAFE Board member Jim Anderson at STARR.
    
Our  STEM educator grants  (see below) started in 2009, are a model for industry support of aviation in the schools. Additionally  SAFE provides active CFI mentoring  to new CFIs (see below), the   FREE SAFE CFI Toolkit App,  used daily by over 3000 active CFIs and DPEs around the country, and  live webinars
 with aviation leaders like Patty Wagstaff and Rod Machado.  
 
The best way to improve as a new CFI is with the professional oversight and guidance of a SAFE Mentor. This program is supported by many SAFE senior CFIs and DPEs and available to all members. 

Holiday Giving: Invest In What You Believe
Multiple Ways To Encourage CFI Professionalism

With your charitable giving this year, please support your aviation passion with SAFE. SAFE is a highly effective educational not-for-profit 501(c)(3) and your generous contribution may help lower your year-end tax bill. (Check with your tax advisor).
 
You can give to SAFE directly online in any amount you wish to help our work toward greater professionalism among CFIs and other aviation educators. Also remember to sign up for Amazon Prime and designate a percentage of each Amazon Prime purchase for our aviation safety efforts all year long, at zero additional cost to you. (Amazon says some 65% of all Amazon buyers are already Prime members).
 
Or you can step up to an increased SAFE membership level, including a life membership at a bargain price, depending on how long you expect to live. Or you can  volunteer for committees, represent the organization at local Fly-In events or even run for our Board of Directors. Or you can help with our outreach events, such as staffing the SAFE booth at Oshkosh or Sun'n'Fun, or becoming a SAFE Mentor to help newer CFIs with your accumulated knowledge.


Again, thanks for your support and Fly SAFE!


David St. George, Chair
Society of Aviation and Flight Educators
Copyright SAFE, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved.
SAFE, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Public Charity

Editor@SafePilots.org -- Safe@SafePilots.org -- www.SafePilots.org