Superbowl Flight Restrictions

The SF Bay Area is about to become a hotbed for private jet activity, with those who can fly themselves to the SuperBowl coming in. The FAA and our local controllers have begun to provide information to local pilots about what to expect.

In a nutshell, VFR operations at SQL will be largely unaffected prior to the start of the game, although VFR Radar Traffic Advisories will be unavailable from Feb 4-8 for up to 100 nm from San Jose. IFR departures will be so limited that pilots should not expect to be able to depart SQL IFR for the duration. On Superbowl Sunday, expect a TFR from 1430-2030 PST with no flight allowed within 10 NM of the Levi Stadium and no training flights within the range of 10 NM to 30 NM of Levi Stadium.

As more information is released, the most current and official information will be at www.faa.gov/superbowl 

SQL Airport Card Keys are Now Required

San Carlos Airport has begun converting vehicles and pedestrian gates to key card access. The plan has been years in the making.

With 400 members, San Carlos Flight Center has tried to get ahead of this access control change by including an online training invitation for members. After we tell the airport to invite you, our role is complete. It’s up to members to follow up with the airport’s online training, email the airport a photo, and pick up the badge from the main airport office when instructed to do so.

If you don’t have your airport keycard yet, you are at risk of not reaching your airplane when you want. Please check your past emails for training links from the airport, or contact the SCFC front desk for help.

Get Involved in Safety Community Adventure!

The Flight Center is looking for people to help fill some key positions at the club. If you are looking for a way to become more involved send us an email. There are many ways to volunteer. Here is one specific opportunity:

Seminar Host (volunteer): welcome and introduce guest speakers, greet audience and collect sign-ins for seminar credit

Instrument Ground School Starts Feb 23

IFR Ground School begins the last week of February at San Carlos Flight Center. Join CFI Herb Patten for this 12-week course which teaches the aeronautical knowledge you need for the airplane instrument rating knowledge test and for the ground portion of the practical test.

We will be using the training materials that we have developed for our instrument syllabus, so this is a great fit if you are currently or planning to do your instrument rating at San Carlos Flight Center.

Classes begin Monday, February 23rd, and will occur weekly through May 11th. The classes start at 6:30pm.

Safety

Hold onto Children in the Ramp

The airplane parking ramp is a dangerous area, with airplane engines running, vehicles moving, and other hazards to pedestrians. As a pilot, you are 100% responsible for ensuring the safety of the passengers you bring into the ramp area.

If you or your passengers bring a child into the ramp area, ensure a responsible adult is physically in contact or restraining the child at all times. Noises can disturb children and cool things to look at may suddenly grab their attention. Being nearby is not enough, as children can suddenly run without notice - you must physically hold the child. Lack of a secure hold on children could result in their serious injury.

Winter Brings Carburetor Ice

Carburetor ice is always a problem in our oceanside location, but this is especially true in colder winter months. If flying a carbureted aircraft, be alert for signs of engine RPM decay, roughness, or power surges and be quick to apply carburetor heat to remedy the issue.

The sound of a suddenly rough-running engine is terrifying in flight. Prepare yourself to smoothly follow engine emergency procedures, starting with a flow check that includes application of carb heat. Keep your enroute flights with plenty of altitude and always know where you’d turn in the event of an engine loss.

Carburetor icing is a known issue of these engines, and pilots should be well prepared to respond if it happens to them.

How NOT to Touch the Rudder

One general guide for preflight inspection is to check that all moveable control surfaces move, and all other support structures do not. Be alert to what NOT to do when checking the moveable ailerons, elevator, and rudder.  

Externally moving ailerons and the elevator generally don’t cause harm to the aircraft. The rudder is structurally different for two reasons.

Reason #1: The rudder is more fragile than most ailerons and elevators, often with just a long single-ply piece of folded aluminum. Grabbing the rudder from mid-fold means you are likely to dimple the fold and weaken the rudder surface.

Reason #2: Rudder control rods and cables can be physically connected to nose wheel steering, which won’t be able to move while weight sits on the nose wheel. On those planes, it may not be able to move the rudder manually, and may damage the control systems.

If your aircraft allows the rudder to be moved during preflight, grab only on the lower rudder cowling. Do not grab the folded aluminum middle of the rudder.

Most of our training fleet has a mechanic-adjusted rudder trim tab attached to the lower rear of the rudder. This trim tab has been set by mechanics and should not be adjusted by pilots.

Hypoxia Training Recap

San Carlos Flight Center, in conjunction with the San Carlos Airport, hosted the FAA Portable Reduced Oxygen Training Enclosure (PROTE) and over 150 pilots participated. We would like to thank the San Carlos Airport Manager Michael Byrne and his staff for providing the space to conduct the training.

PROTE simulates flight at 25,000 ft MSL, giving pilots the opportunity to determine their unique symptoms of hypoxia.

What was insightful to many participants was how their cognitive ability diminished, which then impacted their ability to comprehend that they were experiencing hypoxia. This continued to the point of not being able to take action to use the oxygen mask.

Participants’ comments include:

“As a new private pilot, it was a very valuable experience to participate in the PROTE training.”

“The PROTE folks ran a safe and professional operation. My heart rate doubled and my limbs felt like tingly sausages, but I was capable of completing an 8-by-8 word search.”

"The PROTE helped me in recognizing decreased concentration and difficulty making decisions even before I could observe any of the textbook physical symptoms. While I did not observe any blue nails or tingling sensations, my resting heart rate doubled, and my breathing got heavier. This was an invaluable learning experience."

"The experience exceeded my expectations, showing very clearly my physiological limitations."

In the debrief after each session, the FAA recommended using a pulse oximeter when flying above 10,000 feet MSL. A blood oxygen saturation reading of 92% or below is the threshold when it is advisable to use supplemental oxygen.

SCFC Member Profile: Yulin Zheng

SCFC: How long have you wanted to be a pilot? What moment made you decide to start flight training?

YZ: It first came to me about five years ago, when my husband and I were stuck in traffic on a snowboarding trip to Tahoe and he joked, “If only we could fly there.” I remember thinking, that’s actually not a bad idea. Life finally slowed down enough for me to start flight training last summer, and I decided to go for it.

SCFC: How would you describe what it feels like to do training exercises at 3,000 feet for someone who's never left the ground?

YZ: It feels like an equal mix of intensity and calmness. Intensity comes from the need to stay hyper-focused while working through each maneuver. Calmness is harder to describe, but when everything on the ground looks small and quiet, it feels like a different world in the cockpit.

SCFC: Congratulations on your first solo! What memories will stick with you from the flight?

YZ: It was the perfect day: sky clear, wind calm, and very few planes in the pattern. I asked my instructor how many landings I should do right, before he stepped out of the plane. He said usually three, but four if everything felt really good. I did four.

SCFC: What aircraft type have you chosen for training? What influenced your decision?

YZ: I'm training in a C172S G1000. The Cessna 172 is a very reliable and forgiving aircraft, and the G1000 felt like the best fit for how I plan to fly long term.

SCFC: What are some of your long-term goals in aviation? Any specific flight adventures you're looking forward to?

YZ: Flying in itself is so enjoyable and rewarding that I haven’t thought much about long-term plans. The current plan after getting my private pilot certificate is to complete my instrument rating, mountain and high-performance checkouts so I can safely fly family and friends to Tahoe and Mammoth.

Fog Lunch: Half Moon Bay

On Friday, February 6th join FOG for a flight down to Half Moon Bay for lunch on the airfield.

After landing, we will taxi to the ramp on the northeast side of the airport. After securing our aircraft, we’ll walk through the gate to meet at Pilot Light at 12 PM. Since its opening in January 2022, Pilot Light has far exceeded customer expectations with great hospitality and delicious food.

It’s always hit or miss on picking a good time to visit Half Moon Bay. Low fog and clouds may prevent VFR traffic from participating. If this is the case, the FOG coordinator will advise those who registered if a change is needed.

Please RSVP below so we can inform the restaurant of our headcount.

Click here to learn more and register

FOG Lunch: Paso Robles Air Museum

Come join us on a FOG trip to Paso Robles Municipal Airport and visit the Estrella Warbirds Museum on February 21st.

This is a great opportunity to see some historic vehicles and build cross country time. We will first meet for brunch at Joe’s One-Niner Diner at the airport terminal at 10:30 am. After brunch, we will taxi our planes to the other side of the airport where the museum is. The museum has space for us to park our airplanes. There will be no tie downs so make sure you bring chocks. We will have a group tour planned to begin at 12 pm for the museum.

Airplane parking is limited and the museum requires groups to be a minimum of 10 attendees so be sure to invite back seaters for this trip.

Click here to learn more and register