Hangar Hofbrau - October 4!

The Flight Center is hosting a "Hangar Hofbrau" BBQ on October 4th! Think beer, bratwursts, beer-cheese burgers, and the overall Oktoberfest theme! Come enjoy the warm fall air and celebrate all the flying you did during the summer!

There will be plenty of complimentary food and beverages, both pilot and passenger-friendly. We'll also have our gigantic inflatable obstacle course and activities for kids, too. Don't miss activities led by our maintenance team, including hands-on training, inspection challenges, and airplanes on display.

Feel free to bring your family and friends! The event runs from 11 AM to 2 PM, so swing by and enjoy some fun at the Flight Center!

RSVP and Learn More here

Private Pilot Ground School starts Oct 5

Private Pilot Ground School begins this month on October 5! Whether you are just starting training or are looking for a refresher, this is a great course to get all the current knowledge you need to be a private pilot. Included in the course is our workbook to help you study and retain the information.

Current members - don't forget that if you refer a new student to SCFC, they can receive free admission to the Ground School course! Ask the Front Desk for our referral form.

Classes begin Sunday, October 5, and will occur weekly on both Sundays and Tuesdays through December 15th. The classes start at 10am on Sundays and 6:30pm on Tuesdays. You may go to either session, or both.

Learn more and sign up here.

FOG SoCal Airspace Challenge - Sign up Now!

The FlyOutGroup Team is excited to announce our multi-day trip for the Fall! By popular demand, FOG is heading to Los Angeles and Southern California for a three-day course. We'll depart in the afternoon of Friday, November 7th, and return on November 9th.

The trip will cover how to navigate to and from SoCal from the Bay Area. Once we're on the ground at our base in Santa Monica, we'll cover a variety of airports, including John Wayne (Santa Ana), Long Beach, Torrance, Burbank, Van Nuys, and others. A special highlight will be flying across the water to Catalina Island, where we'll have lunch at the famous "Airport in the Sky."

This trip is designed for both private pilots who'd like to get more experience flying in SoCal, as well as student pilots, who will find the experience invaluable, especially if they are working on cross-country flight skills. If you're interested, please sign up on the event page. Space is limited, so sign up now!

Learn more and register here

Security Clearance Required - New Badging Coming to San Carlos

The County of San Mateo Airports has completed the installation of new cardkey/badge readers at the vehicle gates at both San Carlos and Half Moon Bay Airports. Cardkey readers will eventually be installed at pedestrian gates as well.

The Airport has begun the process to issue cardkeys to all Airport users, including SCFC employees, and eventually, SCFC renting members. This includes taking and passing a short online Non-Movement Area Training course. Once that has been completed, a photo will need to be provided that will be used on the cardkey.

The cardkeys are being rolled out in phases over the next several months. Members will be sent an email when it is their turn to begin the process with details of how to take the course. Additional details will be provided as soon as the plans for activating the card readers are known.

Safety

Never Rush the Landing

The quickest way to ruin a perfectly good landing it to rush to put the plane on the ground. Get-There-Itis is one of the hazardous flight attitudes in cross-country flying because a pilot acting in haste makes poor decisions and exposes themselves and their passengers to unnecessary risk. The same is true of the landing flare.

Normal approaches to land typically come in with a bit of extra airspeed. This is good. It protects the pilot from minor windshear and increases the ability to correct for crosswinds in the sideslip. It’s always better to come in with a bit of excess energy, to avoid the hazardous opposite - coming in with too little energy. The only time a pilot would come in with zero extra energy would be in an emergency situation, or landing on a dangerously short field or runway.

Because normal landings come in with a bit of excess speed and energy, a normal flare will result, with time for the pilot to dissipate the extra energy while positioning the plane in a perfect landing attitude over the runway. To reiterate, a normal landing will have a normal flare.

Safe pilots of nose wheel airplanes learn to use the time in the flare to smoothly raise the nose to a protected, nose-up landing attitude. For most planes, this means raising the nose until the engine cowling blocks most of the runway stripes ahead, but still leaves the far end of the runway visible for the pilot to see and guide off. This takes time. While in the flare, energy is dissipating, and the plane is losing its ability to generate lift for flight. This is exactly what we want. We want the plane to touch down without any doubt about whether it will remain on the ground or lift off again.

Challenge yourself to wait for the correct nose-up attitude, and NEVER force the airplane onto the ground before that attitude is established. The nose-up attitude will help to aerodynamically slow the aircraft and increase energy dissipation. Raising the nose smoothly and extending the flare will actually aid in shortening the overall ground room by touching down at a slower airspeed.

Join us for more conversations about landing tonight at our 7 pm safety seminar, Landing Secrets Revealed. Or watch the recorded seminar in our Recorded Seminar Archive.

Learn more here

Unleaded 100R: Fuel Update

We are approaching one year since we started using Swift Fuels 100R unleaded fuel in our Cessna 172 R/S airplanes. This initiative supports the Flight Center’s commitment to sustainability, but it also enhances aircraft performance and extends engine life. It is also helping lead the aviation community to a fully commercially available unleaded fuel that will work for all piston engines. Swift Fuels 100R is designed to fully replace 100LL Leaded Avgas across the entire global piston fleet.

During the past year, San Carlos Flight Center fleet has used 40,000 gallons of 100R over 7,000 flight hours. Our experience has demonstrated that there are no negative impacts to the use of 100R, and our maintenance team has reported positive results from using 100R.

Recently, Swift Fuels received ASTM certification, which is a major milestone in the process of expanding the STC to cover more airplanes. Swift Fuels is now waiting for the FAA to do a final review before granting approval to expand the STC to a broader list of models. This obviously will be impacted by the government shutdown. We are looking forward to the day that 100R becomes widely used and we can proudly look back and realize that we had a significant role in the deployment of 100R.

SCFC Member Profile: Chris Haire

SCFC: Congrats on your recent first solo. Can you share what the experience was like when the plane lifted off the ground for the first time with you alone at the controls?

CH: I've been looking forward to flying solo for months. After my CFI, Matthew, got out of the plane and wished me luck, I was struck by an odd feeling of normalcy. I was going to do something I've done countless times before. I would takeoff, take a lap in the pattern, make a stabilized approach, and land. It would be yet another practice lap in a long chain of practice laps. 

My first landing attempt was too high, and I went around. As I turned to the right seat to explain how a lighter aircraft doesn't sink as quickly in the round-out, I realized I was talking to myself... That's when it hit me. Going forward, I'd be talking to myself. I laughed, landed, and laughed again with Matthew.

SCFC: During training, what tasks did you find easiest to master? What was challenging - and how did you break through it?

CH: Situational awareness of other aircraft came quite naturally. Most pilots act logically. So just like in sports, it's straightforward to identify those who are out of position and accommodate as needed. Landings were by far the hardest skill to master. It took a while to develop a feel for the right amount of back pressure in the roundout.

SCFC: You had a unique experience of being a pre-solo student pilot on the FOG Pacific Northwest Trip to Canada. What big takeaways did you gain from the trip?

CH: To anyone thinking of going on a FOG trip; do it! First and foremost, the level of proficiency and competence you gain during multiple full days of flying is unmatched. Flying in a variety of conditions, and between fields with 2-mile runways (Boeing Int'l) and short untowered runways (Orcas Island), has made me a more confident pilot. Secondly, it's paid dividends as I've rocked through post-solo topics like cross-country training, en route services, non-towered airports, and short-field operations. Lastly, it's created a shorthand for instructions with my flight instructor. If we're drilling a scenario like shortfield operations with a 50' obstacle, Matthew simply says, ".. pretend like we're departing from Roche Harbor." We both know the size and shape of that runway, departure procedures, and the necessary radio calls.

SCFC: What was the main motivator for going on the trip, especially early on in your training journey?

CH: I discovered flying later in life. As commitments and responsibilities multiply, I don't have time to evaluate a wide variety of hobbies. The FOG trip allowed me to see if my preconceptions would measure up to reality. The litmus test was on Sunday. As we landed at SQL, I was excited to go on another trip.

SCFC: As a participant on FOG trips and a recent SCFC seminar speaker, what advice would you give fellow student pilots who might be looking for ways to get outside their comfort zone?

CH: Generic but true; growth happens outside of your comfort zone. FOG trips expose you to conditions beyond your current skill level (ex., mountain flying, international crossings, or flight through IMC). It also shows you "life after your private pilot or instrument rating". Flight training is time-consuming, and it's easy to get discouraged and lose the forest through the trees. But a FOG trip brings the joy and exploration of flight into sharp relief. I would highly encourage the cadre at SCFC to do at least one FOG trip!

SCFC Introduces Pilot-to-Pilot Flight Share Board

We have added a Pilot-to-Pilot Flight Share board to our Members Only section of the website.

A great way to feel the SCFC community experience is to share a flight with another member. Solo flying is fun, but so is having someone to share the views, the new airports, and the adventure of flying. Some IFR pilots need qualified Safety Pilots. Some people going on a long trip would value having another pilot to talk with. Some pilots make friends with other pilots specifically for sharing pilot trips and adventures.

For clarification, this list shows SCFC members who are open to coordinating shared flight experiences for the fun of it. It is not a ride board, nor is it a way for passengers to get flown to another airport. It is for pilots to meet other pilots to create adventures together.

Check the board out here. If you’d like to be listed as open to meeting other pilots for flight adventures, e-mail the Front Desk to get added.

View the Pilot-to-Pilot Flight Share Board

Harris Ranch Dinner: Recap

Last month, our FlyOutGroup hosted a dinner at the famous Harris Ranch Airport (3O8). We had over 30 people show up, bringing 15 aircraft. It was so crowded that we ran out of parking spots! We enjoyed some great food, and the night flight back home was smooth.

Numerous student pilots were able to share the joys of flying with a loved one, while also completing their required night cross-country flight. If you missed out on this adventure, don't worry, as we're planning a trip to Monterey on October 6th of this month

Full Moon Flyers - Monterey - Oct 6

This month, join us on Monday, October 6th, for dinner at Tarpy’s Roadhouse in Monterey!

Whether you take the coastal route or over Highway 17, the flight down is an easy one from the Bay Area. Monterey Airport doesn’t have a transient parking ramp, but we will park at the Del Monte Aviation FBO. After parking, we’ll grab a quick ride-share to the restaurant. This upscale restaurant is a great destination to treat a new passenger to the joys of flying or to treat yourself to a great flight.

Are you a student pilot looking for more flight time? Monterey lies just outside the 50 NM requirement and counts towards your cross-country time! Looking for some practice flying IFR? Monterey and nearby airports offer various types of approaches. Reward your approaches with some great food!

We will be meeting at the FBO, so please make sure to arrive and secure your aircraft no later than 7:00 PM. Make sure to RSVP so we have an accurate headcount!

This is a great opportunity for student pilots to complete their night cross-country, as well as current pilots to share their love of flying with others. (Students looking to ride-along can look for aircraft with an open seat on the sign-up page linked below.)

Learn more and register

FOG Dinner: Livermore Corn Maze

How many pilots does it take to get through a corn maze?

We’re taking the customary FlyOutGroup (FOG) dinner flight and adding a fun Halloween twist. Just right off final to the 25 Runways at Livermore Airport is a little gem called G & M Farms. Each year in October, they turn their farm into Halloween HQ with an impressive corn maze, pumpkin patch, and kids' activities.

After the corn maze fun, we plan to hang around and partake in the food trucks. Bring your friends and family for a great pre-Halloween experience!

Everyone is welcome to join us. Please RSVP, and we will see you there!

Learn more and register here