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| SAFE represents nearly 1,600 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 four awards categories. |
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Chair's Corner
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by David St. George, SAFE Chair
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David St George
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We had 11 members join SAFE this last week, including 5 during the USSA show. Welcome, newcomers to
SAFE.
and thank you to all our members for your ongoing support.
As you know, S.A.F.E. is an entirely volunteer-led organization and we are seeking members eager to serve on our Board of Directors. Please
access this form on-line
and tell us about yourself and why you want to serve. We need people with enough time to work and actively participate in growing S.A.F.E. and spreading
our mission
of aviation safety and educator excellence.
Fly safe and see you soon at
Sun 'N Fun!
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SAFE Presents "The Improbable Turn" Feb 8
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SAFE's sixth
national livestreaming CFI safety program,
accurately titled "The Improbable Turn," will be presented live on the web on Thursday, February 8 at 8 PM eastern time, featuring nationally-known CFIs Rod Machado, David St. George and Russ Still. The trio will provide CFIs with hints for handling students who believe they can safely return to the runway after an engine failure at low altitude.
Those
registering in advance
for the live stream at the FAA WINGS web site will be eligible to win a Zulu 3 headset prize, courtesy of
Lightspeed Aviation
. Credit for Master WINGS will also be available for registrants. To date, more than 1,200 pilots have earned Master WINGS through SAFE aviation safety programs.
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SAFE Members Named Top Regional CFIs
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Hope |
SAFE members Christopher J Hope of Kansas City MO won CFI of the Year in the central time zone, and Ken Fukayama of Denver CO won CFI of the Year in the mountain time zone. Former SAFE member Helen Woods of Baltimore MD was named CFI of the Year in the eastern time zone.
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Fukayama |
Eight others from around the country were named top CFIs, aviation technicians and FAASTeam representatives in their time zone.. They included Lloyd Timmons II of North TX, Catherine Cavagnaro of Nashville TN, C. William 'Bill' Pancake of Baltimore MD, Paul Carroll of Boston MA, Brent Crow of Scottsdale AZ, Jon 'Dave' Monti of Las Vegas NV and Dan Christman of Las Vegas NV.
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Woods |
All winners are now eligible for national honors as CFI, aviation technician or FAASTeam representative. The national winners are expected to be named soon and will be feted at the annual Oshkosh AirVenture show in the summer.
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SAFE Facebook Page Passes 2,000 'Likes'
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In the social media world, the number of individuals 'liking' a web page is considered a significant measure of success, and our
SAFE Facebook page
last month marked a major milestone by accumulating more than 2,000 organic 'likes. Evert time you "like" it spreads our message to your friends.
All of SAFE's Facebook 'likes' are organic, meaning that each 'like' is created by an individual SAFE member or other pilot who is truly interested.
"You'll see some organizations with high numbers of 'likes,' but that doesn't necessarily indicate success," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "Recent scandals have revealed that such individual marks of approval can be purchased for as little as $12 per 1,000 'likes,' which vastly inflates a group's apparent influence in the market."
Fresh content added daily to the SAFE Facebook page includes aviation instructional blogs, such as the one by SAFE charter member Alan Davis,' which drew some 800 views in a short time.
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SAFE Anticipates 2018 Fly-Ins
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SAFE is anticipating a presence - if not an actual display - at all four of this year's AOPA Fly-In events, which have replaced the organization's annual "Summit," nee "Expo" gatherings of previous years.
SAFE members who will be at one or more of the fly-in events and would like to volunteer to represent SAFE are asked to sign up to volunteer Or send an email directly to David.
This year's 2018 fly-in locations are gateways to explore the mountain Northwest, high-desert mountains, a cutting-edge center for the automobile and aviation industries in the Midwest, and a relaxed beach town along the Gulf Coast, AOPA said in a press release.
Locations will be
Missoula, MT June 15 and 16; Santa Fe, NM Sept. 14 and 15; Carbondale, IL, Oct. 5 and 6 and Gulf Shores, Ala., Oct. 26 and 27. For more details, visit the
AOPA Fly-in website
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Aviation Education Boosted
by Redbird, Hoover Academy
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Redbird Flight Simulators
will be partnering with
Bob Hoover Academy
, based in Salinas, CA, to include simulator training for high school
students in the Salinas area. The relationship is expected to increase training time available for potential future pilots.
The Redbird simulator will be an FMX model, a full-motion unit that the academy will use to introduce students to visual and instrument flight, to debrief flights, and to re-create flight paths to reconcile a student's mistakes.
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SAFE Asks Turning Stall Emphasis
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 Since many pilots misunderstand and fear basic banked flight, SAFE is asking CFIs to ensure that turning stalls are properly understood.
"I have had flight test applicants refuse to slip to land because it's "dangerous," said SAFE Chair David St. George, a long-time FAA designated examiner. "This is a weakness from initial flight training, and we need to fix this!"
St. George wrote an article for CFIs
earlier this year on the subject.
In the
SAFE National LiveStream on LOC-I
, first aired in December, 2017 with Patty Wagstaff and Rich Stowell and St. George on reducing loss of control inflight (LOC-I) accidents. All three panelists noted the number of pilots (and even CFIs) who suffered a limited understanding of the
aerodynamics of turns
. "The dark side of this is the deadly skidding turn," said St. George. "We need to elevate our game to avoid LOC-I accidents. Training turning stalls (at a safe altitude please) is an effective way to build confidence and understanding. Let's do it."
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CFI Presenter Sign-Up Time Short for SNF
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SAFE members willing to pass on their hard-won aviation experience at this year's Sun 'n Fun, April 10 - 15, are still needed.
"Our membership is full of the most experienced pilots, instructors and FAA designated examiners," said David St. George, SAFE chair. "From the beginning, SAFE has been a professional organization and passing on wisdom with a seminar or three at this year's Sun 'n Fun is worthwhile."
Speaking slots tend to fill up quickly as the show dates near, said Laura Vaughn, Director of Events at this year's Sun 'n Fun. "You get to pick the topic as long as it is aviation-related and educational, and not just selling or promoting a particular product."
Fifty-minute seminars are scheduled Tuesday-Sunday from 9am until 1pm, with the last presentation finished by 2pm. Forum registrations are
available online
, and St. George asked that SAFE members presenting
notify SAFE
of their subject and time slot scheduled so the seminar can be advertised as widely as possible.
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FAA Agrees To
Add
Full-Stall Recovery to Commercial Test
Next ACS Revisions due June 2018
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At December's ARAC ACS Working Group meeting, the FAA agreed to add full stalls to the Commercial Pilot Airplane ACS
The change addresses a concern raised by many in the training community who believe it is important for pilots to be proficient at recovering from both full and impending stalls and that it is important to include in the ACS.
SAFE members had questioned the wording in the Commercial Airplane ACS, which now calls for recovering from a stall at the "first indication", such as the stall-warning indicator. The old Commercial PTS called for recovering at the "onset" of the stall, such as the buffet. SAFE representative Donna Wilt said the group agreed to keeping the current skill element to recover at first indication and adding an element to recover from a full stall along with a note that the examiner can select either element in the Stall Task. The wording of the full-stall element would be similar to the wording in the Private ACS.
Wilt said "the recommended change requires pilots be trained and prepared to perform a stall recovery from either a full or impending stall as directed by the examiner. By giving the examiner the flexibility to pick either stall, the length of the practical test will not increase."
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Mock Checkride, Checkride Tips Seminars Available
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Have you ever had a primary student NOT ask how to prepare for his or her checkride?
Now you can help your student answer that question by pointing him or her to two free video interviews produced by
Gold Seal Ground School.
The most recent is titled
Mock Check Ride
, with 2015 AOPA Best Flight Instructor Todd Shellnutt. The hour-long program brings private pilot applicant Steve Lee face-to-face with Shellnutt, who has been an FAA designated examiner for many years.
The second checkride preparation video, titled
Checkride Tips
, features SAFE Chair David St. George and Russ Still of Gold Seal Ground School. "An applicant who comes in with a PTS instead of an ACS is an early warning sign," said St. George. "In the pre-test briefing, we have to make sure the pilot-to-be knows what it's about."
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Make A Difference: Become A SAFE Board Member
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The SAFE Governance Committee is seeking nominations for three board member positions. Each position is for a 3-year term starting at the end of July 2018. New Board members will be seated at the Annual Members Meeting during AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh, WI.
You may nominate yourself or someone else, provided your nominee is agreeable to run for the specified term and meets the requirements listed below.
As you know, SAFE is an entirely volunteer-led organization. If you'd like to help advance aviation safety and educator excellence, please
access this form on-line
and tell us about yourself and why you want to serve. We do need people with enough time to work and actively participate in growing SAFE and spreading
our mission
of aviation safety and educator excellence.
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Trump FAA Nominee Lists Airline, Military Experience
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Daniel Elwell |
Daniel Elwell, a former Air Force lieutenant general and former commercial pilot for American Airlines, has been named Acting Administrator of the FAA, replacing Michael Huerta, who led the agency for five years. Elwell is currently the FAA's deputy administrator.
Elwell's resume lists extensive military and airline experience, but no experience in GA or flight instruction. He was previously a senior vice president for safety, security and operations with Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group promoting major airlines. That group has been actively promoting ATC privatization, which SAFE and virtually every other GA organization opposes.
"We hope Mr. Elwell will take seriously the concerns of all aviation, not just the well-being of the airline industry," said SAFE Chair David St. George. "We're looking forward to working with him and other top officials at the FAA to keep GA, especially flight instruction, strong and effective in the coming years."
He will now be leading the agency while Congress tries to pass a long-term reauthorization of the FAA, which has been operating under a short-term extension.
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New SAFE Blog Entries
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Stall Spin On Final. Are CFIs (Partly) to Blame?
This well-thought-out article by SAFE charter member Alan Davis raises the awful thought that CFIs are partly to blame for the rash of low-altitude LOC-I accidents that are very often fatal. Davis cites the case of student pilots who enter steep, pulling banks while turning base to final, and says the pilot's response is often, "I had to roll out on final lined up with the runway."
I Wish All Emergencies Ended This Well!
SAFE Chair David St. George notes the ninth anniversary of the "Miracle On The Hudson" and tells how Captain Chesley Sullenberger kept his cool and skillfully flew the crippled airliner to the Hudson River. "The major obstacle to effective action in every emergency is the startle/surprise incapacitation," says St. George. "It's when our mental circuit breaker trips offline and the human psychology says, "why me?" or "this can't be happening."
Impossible Or Improbable?
You'd think something as simple as takeoff and climb out wouldn't cause so much trouble, but it does. That's reflected in NTSB statistics that show takeoff and climb out together are the most fatal phases of flight. SAFE Chair David St George has contributed this article to the SAFE Blog to accompany the SAFE livestream seminar scheduled for February 8 online.
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Master Instructor Updates
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Robert K Gawler |
Robert K. Gawler
of Bethesda MD renewed his Master Instructor designation in January, 2018 for the 10th time, representing 20 years as a Master Instructor. The certifying authority was the
Master Instructor LLC
program.
Bob first earned this national professional accreditation in 2000, has held it continuously since then, and is one of only 11 worldwide to earn the credential 10 or more times. He is an independent flight and ground instructor at Gaithersburg's Montgomery County Airpark. He also works with the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol and serves as a FAASTeam representative for the FAA's Baltimore FSDO.
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Timm Preusser
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Timm Preusser
of Kleinwallstadt, Germany, a 10-time Master and charter SAFE member, renewed his Master CFI at the end of December, 2017 with re-accreditation by the
Master Instructors LLC
's MICEP program. A mechanical engineer and assistant professor at Darmstadt Technical University, Timm serves on COPA's board of directors and is a Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot
(CSIP)
. He is also the chief flight instructor and president of the
Darmstadt Flying Club
as well as the chief instructor for the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association
(COPA)
in Europe.
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Again, thanks for your support and
Fly SAFE!
David St. George, Chair
Society of Aviation and Flight Educators
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Copyright SAFE, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved.
SAFE, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Public Charity
[email protected] -- [email protected] -- www.SafePilots.org |
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