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| 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. |
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Executive Director Notes
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by David St. George, SAFE Executive Director
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David St George
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Hi SAFE members and supporters. Please join us for our
"Weather Wisdom" FAA seminar
this Thursday. Also, visit or follow us in
Santa Fe next week
at the AOPA Fly-In.
Thanks for all you do for aviation safety on a daily basis and for helping SAFE grow and spread our mission of aviation excellence.
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Visit SAFE at Santa Fe Fly-In, Sept 14-15
New Members Get a FREE Sporty's FIRC
Booth Volunteers Get Free SAFE Shirt, Cap
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SAFE Executive Director David St George will be in Santa Fe NM September 14-15 to meet, greet and listen to members at AOPA's Fly-In at Santa Fe (SAF). He will have the latest information on today's top CFI concerns, including the status of the long-anticipated Instructor ACS.
"New SAFE members signing up in Santa Fe will receive a FREE flight instructor renewal clinic online from Sporty's Pilot Shop, worth $99," said David. "That alone is enough to pay for two years of SAFE membership." Members are still needed to help staff the SAFE booth at the Santa Fe event.
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OFFICIAL NOTICE TO SAFE MEMBERS FROM
BOARD CHAIR ERIC HAKE
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SAFE Chair Eric Hake
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Dear Fellow SAFE Members:
SAFE has been growing at a tremendous rate. Membership has nearly
doubled in the last two years. Growth in membership is best served by additional oversight and leadership.
In keeping with our Bylaws, the Board on July 25 appointed David St. George as Acting Executive Director to provide interim oversight and leadership. At the same time, we opened the application window for members who wish to be considered for the Executive Director position. If you are interested, please send an email before September 30.
Following applicant consideration, contract negotiation and selection, the Board will appoint the Executive Director on or around November 30, 2018. In lieu of any other applicants, David St. George will transition from Acting Executive Director to Executive Director following this process.
Updates will be posted in eNews and on SAFE's other communication channels to keep members informed of the process. Any questions, feel free to email us.
Eric Hake
SAFE Board Chair 2018-2019
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SAFE Live "Weather Wisdom" Online Program Thursday, Sep 6
With Meteorologist/CFII Scott Dennstaedt
WINGS Credit Available
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This free webinar shifts safety focus from Loss of Control, the subject of three live SAFE webinars in the past year, to another common aviation hazard, weather risks.
"Weather is a causal factor in 35% of fatal aviation accidents," said David St. George, who is one of the three aviation education professionals who will present the program at 8 PM on Thursday, September 6. "We need to get better at developing a comprehensive weather picture."
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IAP Cancellations:
Is The Approach You Need Still There?
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With GPS-based instrument approach procedures (IAPs) being rapidly implemented, conventional approaches such as VOR are being cancelled in droves, sometimes before GPS approaches that offer the same access are in place. SAFE is asking members affected by such cancellations to check the FAA's Instrument Flight Procedures Information Gateway to stay informed of proposed IAP cancellations and provide feedback to the FAA.
Most affected are circling IAPs and circling approach minima. The loss of approaches is largely tied to the FAA's efforts to reduce the VOR network to the minimum needed to provide backup capability for navigation in the event of GPS failure.
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Demand Up For Training Aircraft
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Great news from the General Aviation Manufacturer's Association (GAMA), which reported last month that more training aircraft were sold in the first half of 2018 than the same time last year, helping total airplane shipments rise by five percent, from 1,001 units to 1,054.
Since the per-unit price tag of trainers is generally less than for heavy iron aircraft, manufacturer billings shrank by five percent, from $9.03 billion to $8.58 billion. Although GAMA President Pete Bunce expressed disappointment at the lower income, he was "glad to see that demands for training aircraft are driving an increase in the piston and rotorcraft segment."
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New SAFE Board Officers Appointed
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| SAFE Board Members 2018-2019 |
At its regular August meeting following the addition of two new members and one re-elected member, the SAFE Board appointed its officers for the coming year. Eric Hake will be the Board Chair and Charlie McDougal assumed the Vice Chair role. Cres Wise was elected Secretary and Parvez Dara remains as Treasurer.
Other members of the 2018-19 Board are David Dempsey, Michael Vivion, Mike Garrison and Hobart Tomlinson. Board members are elected to three-year terms, so one-third of the nine-member board is fresh every year. There is also a two-term limit in effect for Board members.
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ACS-Compliant Syllabi Available in SAFE Resource Center
Active CFIs Also List "Need More" Items In CFI Teacher's Lounge
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As active CFIs (should) know, using an ACS-compliant syllabi is one of the "best practices for all CFIs." The most recent syllabi are available (FREE) as PDFs to all aviation educators in the
SAFE Resource Center, t
hanks to our generous sponsors.
Other "best practices" and often-ignored items for active flight instructors nationwide are accumulating on a Facebook list of "things I wish other CFIs would teach, or at least place more emphasis on." The items are on the CFI Teacher's Lounge page on Facebook, which is administered by SAFE member Rich Gross.
Among the requests from CFIs for additional emphasis so far:
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Flight following.
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Having a Plan B for takeoffs.
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Actual IMC for instrument students.
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Full stall landings.
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Proper trimming.
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ADM.
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Soft fields on grass.
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Proper rudder use.
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Spin training.
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SAFE Member Patty Wagstaff Calls For "Unlearning" Bad Habits
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Noted aerobat and SAFE member Patty Wagstaff told the National Transportation Board at a safety gathering in Oshkosh that unnecessarily aggressive rudder movements in low and slow flight, along with a natural instinct to pull back on the yoke, was part of the reason for the
distressingly high loss of control accident rate in GA.
Wagstaff was the keynote speaker at the NTSB's "Safety Road Show" stop in Oshkosh WI on July 24, during AirVenture 2018. She joined NTSB safety investigators, an FAA analyst, and other GA experts who advocated for better attitude awareness through additional training and use of modern technology, such as angle of attack indicators (AOA).
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SAFE Urges Customizing (Not Demonizing) Scenario-Based Learning
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In a SAFE blog entry last month
, SAFE Executive Director David St George urged CFIs to exercise creativity in applying scenarios to flight training. St. George is a long-time CFI, former manager of a Part 141 flight school and an active FAA Designated Flight Examiner.
"Scenario-based training has been overused and abused until many aviation educators practically gag at mention of the word," he wrote. "But properly done scenario training is the most important tool in an experienced educator's arsenal. More to the point, scenarios are now the required core focus of all ACS evaluations."
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Your Next Trainer May Be A Plug-In
But Will It Have Keyless Ignition?
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Sun Flyer 2
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The successful April test flight of the innovative Sun Flyer 2 in Colorado (shown in photo) is lifting hopes of both electric-enthusiast environmentalists and CFIs wishing for new training aircraft.
Are we nearing the age of the Plug-In Plane? Inventor George Bye of Bye Aerospace is claiming a 138-knot top speed for his new two-place Sun Flyer 2 electric trainer, as well as a useful load comparable to a Cessna 172. The range can be as much as three hours on a sunny day.
Oh, and the total operating cost is $14 per hour, 84 percent less than that of an average Skyhawk, at $88.31 per hour.
Bye says he hopes his KAPA-based Bye Aerospace company will earn an FAA type certificate for an all-electric aircraft sometime in 2020. The company has also started work on a four-seat version, the Sun Flyer 4.
The Sun Flyer is powered by a 90-kilowatt (115 horsepower) Siemens electric engine.
Want to buy one? Make a reservation at today's base price of $289,000 and the company says it will talk to you later about an avionics package.
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Tucker's Oracle Challenger III NASM-Bound
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Famed stunt pilot Sean Tucker will donate his famous Oracle Challenger III biplane to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for the museum's "We All Fly" GA gallery.
"I want them (visitors) to understand that it has a practical purpose, that it affects their life every day and they don't even realize it," said NASM curator Dorothy Cochrane.
Tucker used the aircraft for - among other things - a 13-minute
Sky Dance performance, which involved Tucker pulling more than nine positive Gs and more than seven negative Gs. The Sky Dance routine always began with a breathtaking three-quarter loop with eight to 10 snap rolls in which Tucker reached speeds up to 280 miles per hour at more than 400 degrees per second and six positive Gs.
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Looking For Even More Students?
Yakima CFI Shows How To Get Free Advertising
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Reporter Bridget Turrell |
Even in the current booming market for flight schools, free advertising never hurts, and a veteran CFI in Yakima, WA found one way to get some of the best free advertising possible.
CFI Mike Butterfield of Yakima Aerosport took a local reporter, Bridget Turrell, for a discovery flight in January of this year, which resulted in a large article in the June 22 issue of the local Yakima Herald magazine. The writer's description glowed with the excitement of learning to fly.
"There's something magic about the moment of liftoff in a small plane," wrote Turrell. "One second, you're gaining speed and rolling down the runway, with all your senses poised to feel the departure - then suddenly you realize the runway is already dropping beneath you and you're soaring up into the sky, trying to absorb an entirely new perspective of the world unfolding below."
In the article, Turrell interviewed three of the school's current students.
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US Reps Push for Bessie Coleman Aviation Education Program
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A bill to have the FAA establish the Bessie Coleman Aviation Education Program has been introduced by Georgia U.S. Representative Henry C. "Hank" Johnson and 26 co-sponsors. The measure seeks to improve representation of students, particularly women and minorities, in aviation-related fields.
HR 6005 was introduced on June 5 and referred the next day to the House Subcommittee on Aviation. As of press time, it is awaiting action.
If passed, the program would provide grants through a competitive peer review process for internships in aviation, introductions for students to unmanned aircraft operations, career exploration and educational programs and programs to increase underrepresented minorities in college aviation degree programs.
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More Funds Proposed For Pilot Training
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A bill designed to increase the number of military veterans taking flight training was introduced last month by Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-WI and Senator John Hoeven, R-ND. S.3322, called the American Aviator Act, would make $5 million dollars each year from 2019 through 2021 for training grants, which should help regional airlines in need of more pilots. Funding would be through the FAA.
At press time, the bill is awaiting action by the Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation.
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Air Force Cuts Flight Training Time
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 In its effort to get new pilots, the US Air Force has cut as much as five weeks from the time required to teach novice pilots to earn their wings. But some military instructors are wary of the change, warning that the syllabus makeover is too much, too fast and could lead to deadly consequences.
The new syllabus will trim the duration of undergraduate pilot training - called UPT - from 54.7 weeks to an average of 49.2 weeks. It's the first such change in decades. Proponents say it will allow the best students to be able to finish the course faster, but veteran instructor pilots believe the change pushes priority for new pilots ahead of safety.
Proponents argue that advances in technology - including more realistic simulators - allow the lower training time without serious compromise in quality of resulting aviators. The 80-plus instructor pilots at Randolph near San Antonio TX, along with civilian simulator instructors, found that novice pilots who spent more time in simulators did better in T-6 trainers. "I think what this is about is acknowledging some training capabilities that we have now that we didn't used to have, and at the same time kind of examining ourselves and how we teach," said Col. Randy Oakland, acting commander of the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph.
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Master Instructor Updates
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David A Simpson
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David A Simpson
, a 6-time Master and
SAFE
member, recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation through the
Master Instructors LLC
. A Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP), Dave owns and operates
Take Flight San Diego
at Gillespie Field where he specializes in accelerated primary, commercial, and instrument ground and flight training.
He also serves as a FAASTeam remedial trainer as well as a FAASTeam representative for the FAA's San Diego FSDO.
Master Instructors LLC
is the international accrediting authority for the six Master Instructor designations as well as the home of the industry acclaimed and FAA-approved Master Instructor Continuing Education Program (MICEP).
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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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