Happy New Year

Welcome to 2026. While it may not be a perfect square like 2025 was, it's something just as important, a momentum year.

2026 sits right in the middle of the decade, being far enough in to have direction while still being early enough to make course corrections. It’s a year built for consistency, discipline, and stacking small wins towards something bigger. Plans finally stop being ideas and start becoming patterns.

May 2026 be the year you let momentum move you forward. We’re excited to continue the journey together.

Young Aviators Summer Program

The Young Aviators Summer Program is a 9-week intensive flight training program hosted by San Carlos Flight Center designed specifically for young pilots that takes place in the summer between high school years. It is comprised of daily ground briefing sessions, flight training, classroom training, and associated homework assignments. 

Students enrolled are expected to attend Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm for nine weeks throughout summer months. If successful, the student should be able to complete nearly all of the training required to prepare them for their Private Pilot checkride.

The program has multiple requirements and prerequisites. To find out about them or learn more about the program click here.

Flight Center Holiday Party Recap

The 2025 Flight Center Holiday Party was a success! Hosted in our large maintenance hangar, we had attendees ranging from students, instructors, staff, airport personnel, members, and friends of the airport community. 

For the first time, we had music provided by Greg Goddard, who curated a live playlist with his DJ set. We also had lots of holiday decor, as well as food and drinks provided by our in-flight cabin attendants, Herb and Travis.

2025 was a great year of flying, and we look forward to the adventures we'll share in 2026! If you couldn't make this party, don't worry, we'll have plenty more social events this year!

XWind 200 Crosswind Landing Simulator

San Carlos Flight Center offers the XWind 200 landing simulator, putting you in the cockpit during a crosswind landing. The machine simulates crosswinds of varying strength and only has a sight reference of the runway centerline in front of you, mimicking a real airplane and situation. The muscle memory and visual practice you develop will directly translate to improved skills the next time you fly.

Some of the many benefits of using the XWind 200 landing simulator are the ability to simulate the final approach portion of a landing without having to fly a traffic pattern, experiencing crosswinds of varying strengths to find your personal limitation, and learning how wind shear, turbulence, and gusts can affect your approach to landing.

To learn more, either contact San Carlos Flight Center or click here.

Safety

Flying in the Rain

The Bay Area sees its fair share of rain in the winter season. Rain doesn’t limit flight training, but there are several things to consider to safely fly in the rain.

A risk to consider is reduced flight visibility. Heavy rain will usually have an impact on flight visibility to the point that it is not safe or legal for VFR flights. You can see this in the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) below where visibility decreases as rain intensity increases.

FM030000 17025G35KT P6SM VCSH OVC050

  TEMPO 0302/0304 3SM RA OVC035

FM030500 13020G30KT 2SM +RA OVC035

Pre-flighting the airplane in the rain can be challenging. Even though it is raining and wet, don’t rush the preflight. Wear the proper gear including a waterproof jacket. Pay extra attention to checking the fuel for contamination due to water.

It is likely you will experience condensation inside the airplane cabin. This can cause restricted visibility if the windshield fogs up. To help with this, use the windshield defrost controls. Review the “Airplane & Systems Description” chapter, section 7, of your airplane’s operating handbook for details.

You will encounter wet runways which reduce braking effectiveness. The ability to brake can be completely lost when the tires are hydroplaning because a layer of water separates the tires from the runway surface. Aerodynamic braking should be used to its fullest advantage.

With proper planning and risk management, you can safely fly in the rain.

Autopilots and Task Saturation

One way to improve as a pilot is to become more aware of your personal task saturation. Humans can do a few things well at a time, but flying can often involve managing pitch, bank, yaw, speed, mixture, course interception, ATC instructions, data gathering, and avionics management.

Student pilots are taught to prioritize when faced with multiple tasks - Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. When those priorities are all managed, there are two more that pilots have to handle. Systems Management is the periodic monitoring of all the various airplane systems to ensure they are functioning and set appropriately. Flight Management is the big picture decision to Go or No Go based on all the available flight information.

Automation can help pilots facing task saturation, or can be more trouble than it’s worth. An autopilot that can be quickly engaged to hold heading and altitude, frees the pilot to review or change charts, adjust radio frequencies or GPS waypoints, or analyze fuel mixture and engine temperatures. This is a tremendous advantage to a pilot with multiple tasks.

However, an autopilot that is not well understood or under the positive direction of the pilot is a distraction and adds to the workload of a pilot. All pilots should practice to ensure they can quickly and confidently engage the autopilot to hold heading and altitude when needed.

Want to be better at this? Ask your favorite CFI to devote some time to this on your next currency flight or flight review.

Hypoxia Training

Hypoxia can be experienced by pilots as well as passengers when flying at high altitudes. Reactions of the average person become impaired at an altitude of about 10,000 feet, but for some people impairment can occur at an altitude as low as 5,000 feet. The physiological reactions to hypoxia or oxygen deprivation are subtle and affect people in different ways.

San Carlos Flight Center will be hosting the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) Portable Reduced Oxygen Training Enclosure (PROTE). The reduced proportion of oxygen in the chamber will allow you to experience the effects of hypoxia and help you recognize its symptoms in the future.

From Wednesday January 14th through Saturday January 17th, the PROTE will be onsite at the San Carlos Airport. This is a rare and unique opportunity to experience conditions that can simulate hypoxia but in a controlled and safe environment. To participate in this training, you must be at least 18 years of age, have a current FAA Medical Certificate or Basic Med, and have a valid government issued ID.

You can register online here.

SCFC Member Profile: Liam Ely

SCFC: You started flight training young, how old were you when you took your first training flight? What inspired you to begin a path towards becoming a pilot?

LE: I completed my first demo flight at San Carlos Flight Center when I was 14 years old. I enjoyed the experience and the learning aspects of aviation so much that I wanted to continue my aviation journey.

SCFC: How did you find San Carlos Flight Center? Did you already have any connections to SCFC pilots? 

LE: I had heard that the San Carlos Flight Center ground school and flight training was highly regarded, so I decided to become a member. A friend of mine had done the Upwind program, and spoke very highly of SCFC, giving me all the more reason to begin my aviation journey here. 

SCFC: What flight task of pre-solo training came the easiest to you?

LE: The flight task of pre-solo training that came the easiest to me was slow flight and landings. I was most comfortable with these maneuvers.

SCFC: Congratulations on your first solo! Who did you invite to observe the big event?

LE: I invited my parents to come and observe my first solo. My parents, after watching the big event, were very proud of me. 

SCFC: How would you describe the feeling of soloing an airplane to someone who hasn't done it before?

LE: I would describe flying solo as a bit nerve wracking at first, but once you settle in, you feel free and light and an immense sense of joy. 

Donate Auction Items for Upwind

Every year, the Upwind Foundation organizes a silent auction to raise funds for the Upwind Summer Scholarship. As we prepare for the 2026 campaign, the Foundation is seeking donations of items or experiences to kickstart the event.

In previous years, we’ve received a variety of donations, including aviation supplies, gift cards, bottles of wine, and memorabilia. Experiences are also highly valued, with donations ranging from flights in unique aircraft to VIP tours of exclusive aviation facilities, ski passes, and even weekend trips.

If you have an idea for an item or experience you’d like to donate to the Upwind auction, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please reach out to Herb Patten via email (upwindscholarship@gmail.com) to initiate the conversation. We welcome donations of any size or scope, and we are always grateful for your support. 

The SF Bay Area FlyOutGroup (FOG)

The SF Bay Area FlyOutGroup is a group of student pilots, private pilots, and flight instructors who all participate in flying adventures. FOG comes up with a fun reason to fly, picks an airport, and meets there.

FOG is organized and often hosted by the staff at San Carlos Flight Center, but it is a completely free and independent group open to all pilots. We welcome FOG members who fly their own planes, rent from other local flight schools, or even just want to ride along as passengers. FOG is and will always be a fun way to share aviation with others.

A few of the many adventures FOG has hosting in the past include lunch at Shelter Cove, dinner at Monterey,

and mountain flying around Lake Tahoe, air traffic control facility tours, and air museum visits. To view upcoming FOG events, click here.

In order to sign up, you will need a login account to the SCFC website. You can create an account here.