The country's first LEARN-DO-FLY pilot proficiency clinic is set for Caldwell ID on October 7-9, 2022. Cost for the weekend event is $295 for the first 30 registrations and $349 after. The fees include a light breakfast and lunch each day and a banquet Saturday night.

SAFE is co-sponsoring the weekend sessions, led by the 'Spin Doctor' and SAFE co-founder Rich Stowell and SAFE member Billy Winburn of Community Aviation, who designed interactive simulator training now used at the annual EAA Pilot Proficiency Center. Other sponsors are Avemco Insurance and the Idaho Aviation Foundation.

Sessions at Air-O-Drome Aviation on the KEUL airport will consist of interactive LEARN hands-on ("and minds-on," said Winburn) seminars, with simulator sessions following in Redbird MCX and TD devices, using training exercises like those used in the EAA PPC at each year's AirVenture. Among the WINGS-approved sessions will be:

Learners will also participate in three unique challenges: Effective Communication, First Principles, and Teach It to a Sixth Grader.

Winburn said the clinics will also help develop collaborative networks of instructors and training centers that can offer year-round PPCs.

Stowell and Winburn helped SAFE create the first pilot proficiency programs in 2010. That SAFE initiative evolved to become an essential for part of each year's AirVenture. Just this year, the EAA Pilot Proficiency Center moved into its new permanent home in a new wing of the EAA Museum.

More information and registration for the Caldwell proficiency training is here.

When an applicant shows up for an FAA evaluation with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), the first step is validating the applicant’s experience and endorsements; “qualification.” According to a gathering of 36 senior DPEs at Oshkosh, approximately 1/5th of scheduled flight tests never even start due to incorrect CFI preparation of the applicant. A DPE cannot legally accept the IACRA 8710 and begin a certification activity, unless all the applicant’s experience and endorsements are correct and meet the regulatory standards. We are wasting 20% of checkride opportunities! We could boost availability dramatically by just getting the qualification part correct. Read this SAFEblog.

The SAFE Toolkit App provides all the required pilot experience (landings/hours) necessary for all the FAA certificates and ratings. It also contains the FAA-approved 61.65 endorsements and ACS and PTS test codes that need to be endorsed for every flight test (CFR 61.39 the "meta-endorsement"). More from SAFE member Meg Godlewski in Flying Magazine on this problem.

The skills we teach CFI applicants to pass their FAA CFI Checkrides - endless talking while monopolizing the controls and radio - are actually very bad habits for effective aviation educators! See this SAFEblog: bit.ly/SAFE-CFItemp The real CFI learning starts *after* the FAA temporary; and unfortunately involves lots to unlearn!

The SAFE CFI-PRO™ in-person training is available to flight schools and academies to address (and hopefully correct) these bad habits and build CFI professionalism; get in touch!

SAFE member Paul Nadas offers advice to new CFIs on how to "stay alive and thrive!" Those first hours can be "interesting" as you figure out where the real threats are and try to make a living. Job one is keeping it safe and then how exactly does this education thing work anyway?

Remember, from day one you are now s "business" and the SAFE CFI Insurance is a necessity. SAFE worked hard to develop this program with STARR. Our agent is Aviation Insurance Resources (and every agent is a pilot!)

SAFE members Jane Carpenter and Rex Shoell point out two compilations of the FAA's Letters Of Interpretation (LOI) on a variety of commonly misunderstood aviation training topics. The legal interpretations answer such questions as:

"And they answer the ever-popular infamous question on what is meant by known icing," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. These two compilations are invaluable for any CFI who is serious about understanding complex subjects involving regulations. The first is on Reddit. The second, which groups FAA LOIs by subject and provides a brief explanation of each letter, is found on Facebook at Academic Flight.

AOPA Weather Survey, an annual look at how pilots obtain and use weather data, is now available. Read the full report for yourself. The results showed a need to encourage PIREPS and for more pilots to familiarize themselves with the FAA's latest AC 91-92 on self-briefing weather.

While there have been advancements and weather service products launched in recent years, the 2022 report found that there has been little change in the resources pilots turn to for weather data in initial briefings, immediately prior to flight, and during the cruise phase. Pilots in the continental United States primarily use aviation apps and flight service more than any other resources—though the latter‘s popularity has decreased 20 percentage points in the last five years. Conversely, pilots in Alaska turn to FAA weather cameras and flight service specialists for their preflight weather information.

Other pilot use weather topics included the NOAA cloud cross-section product, ASOS/AWOS phone access, the Graphical Forecasts for Aviation, and more.

Today's hot topic: avgas prices, which have recently been in the $7 to $8 range throughout the US. Former Shell aviation fuels employee Ben Visser provides a straight answer in a recent GA News article to the one of today's most pressing problems: why are oil companies charging so much for gasoline? "Because they can," explains Visser.

Visser's article explains how the world economy affects aviation gasoline. Spoiler alert: the three main causes are rising crude prices, lack of refinery capacity and the culture of gasoline sales organizations, meaning that companies charge as much as they can for their product.

"To understand how they operate, just ask yourself: If I could get paid any amount for my work, how much would I ask for?" writes Visser. "It probably wouldn’t be $10 an hour. You’d probably ask for as much as you could, but not so high that it would bankrupt the company you work for, (and) that is what OPEC and the crude oil market is doing."

Wheels Up and ATP Flight School are establishing a hiring pipeline for pilots, with ATP flight instructors eligible to interview with the charter company once they reach 1,000 hours of flight time. At 1,200 hours, successful candidates can be hired as first officers in Citation CJ3, Beechjet 400 or King Air 350 aircraft.

Daher Aerospace, maker of the popular TBM single-engine turboprops, revived its 15-year-old internship program for American students after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. EAA co-sponsors the opportunity.

Winners for 2022 were Lauren Meyer from Murfreesboro TN and Anthony Garza of San Antonio TX. Both worked five weeks in France at Daher's facility, then wrapped up their internships at AirVenture 2022. Both worked during five weeks in June and July at Daher’s facility in France, near the Pyrenees mountains. The internship covers all costs, including lodging and more, according to Daher officials.

Applications for the 2023 internship will be available later this year, with the winners revealed at the 2023 SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo. More info is available from Daher.

In the old days, flight schools had few options to track students, instructors, and/or renter use of their aircraft. If the school didn’t physically see an anomaly, a bad behavior, or a potential maintenance concern, all they had to go on was word of mouth.

Now, flight schools are using FlightAware and other recent technologies to enhance safety and lower costs, according to an article in AOPA Flight School Business newsletter. It can spread aircraft between different practice areas during the dispatching process, find a wayward aircraft or debrief a student.

Another available resource is data produced by the aircraft and its systems. Many modern aircraft have data collection systems that include multiple data points that range from engine data to GPS position and even data from accelerometers detailing multiple times a second G loading.

CFIs can now search the ASRS (NASA Form) for mistakes reported by other CFIs.

"It's been said that you should learn from the mistakes of others," said SAFE Communications Director Kevin D Murphy. "Because you'll never have enough time to make all those mistakes yourself."

To search the database specifically for training accidents or incidents, go to the database section on Aircraft and click on "Mission," then select 'Training.'

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