The SAFE 2021 Sun 'n Fun booth will be near the entrance to the Bravo Hangar by the food court, space #22. There will be incentives at the show for SAFE membership sign-up and renewal. The SAFE discount code gets you close to 20 percent off for a weekly prepaid ticket (see link above).

Volunteers are needed to help staff the booth during the April 13 to 18 show, as usual. Sign up on Doodle. There will be incentives for members renewing and new pilots joining at the show.

The previous DOT rule, called "Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures” (84 FR 71714), required that cumbersome formal rulemaking be used to develop government guidance that contained 'mandatory' language, such as the ACS.

The Flight Instructor ACS form has been complete for more than a year, but the soon-to-be-repealed rules stopped its release. Last month, SAFE joined other alphabet groups, including AOPA, calling for resumed issuance of the ACS series, particularly the Flight Instructor ACS. SAFE also asked for publication of 11 other pending ACS documents, including those for helicopter, powered-lift, lighter-than-air and remote pilot.

Reform of the old Practical Test Standards (PTS) has been a SAFE project since the SAFE-sponsored Pilot Training Symposium in Atlanta in 2011. The first ACSs, for private pilot airplane certification and airplane instrument rating, were released in 2016. The ACS project has also overhauled standards and procedures for flight training and updated many FAA handbooks and training texts.

The Master Instructor Program, which officially affiliated last month with SAFE, has opened a new website and made submitting applications easier for prospective Master Instructors.

This Master Instructor Program new website has a new and easier submission portal. "If you are a busy professional educator, you probably already have all the experience to qualify as a Master Instructor!" said St George, who added that industry recognition and program benefits of a Master Instructor easily cover the cost of application. SAFE's CFI insurance gives a 10 percent discount for Master Instructors.

Master Instructors are what FAA Administrator Marion Blakey called "the best the right seat has to offer" in aviation. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt addressed the assembled SAFE Masters as the "movers and shakers of the flight training community." Studies show that earning Master Certificated Flight Instructor credentials adds to aviation community recognition, respect and business. According to St George, himself a 12 time Master CFI, annual savings on aircraft insurance for MCFIs more than pays the Master Instructor application fee.

The FAA has further expanded the responsibilities of the Designated Pilot Examiners by tasking this group with the administration of Special Medical Flight Tests. These flight tests result in the issuance of a Statement Of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) but need a flight verification to proceed. Examiners will soon be receiving guidance and training on performing these tests which include color vision, single vision and various kinds of disabilities for which medical approval may be granted by the FAA Medical branch with a SODA.

Another recent change on the national level for DPEs is to avoid combining certain maneuvers on flight tests. Specifically mentioned was combining slow flight with the approach-to-landing stall. It has been a traditional progression to reconfigure a plane for slow flight and then segue into the approach-to-landing stall demonstration. The FAA now wants CFIs and DPEs to require a full recovery from the slow flight configuration back into normal cruise flight (on heading and altitude). The reconfiguration for approach-to-landing stall should be separate.

At first, I personally did not see the need for this. But having trained and tested this additional part of the maneuver, I can see the benefit. This additional task is challenging for many pilots and definitely builds skills in "energy management." This term is used 20 times in the ACS but teaching this skill is largely ignored in primary flight training. That is about to change!

One of SAFE's newest partners in advancing CFI professionalism, CFI Bootcamp is providing a FREE CFI-oriented live program every Saturday at noon (eastern time) called the Power Hour.

The featured speaker on March 13 was SAFE's Hobie Tomlinson covering multi-engine aerodynamics. Hobie is a 10X Master CFI, a former TWA B-747 captain and has served as a DPE for over 40 years. His expertise on the hour-long program on the nuances of twin training was immediately apparent, providing a wealth of information for multi-engine instruction. This program was not turned into a YouTube, but the outline is here and the slides can be viewed as a pdf here.

Hobie is developing this program as a comprehensive course for Community Aviation, which also has individual and small group sessions with famed aviators Doug Stewart and Rich Stowell.

CFI Bootcamp provides comprehensive accelerated training largely for the working professional. Many graduates are already "life-experienced" and provide stability and longevity for local flight training organizations all over the country (most of these people are not aspiring to get a job with the airlines. Both Enrico and David at our CFI-Pro Workshop were graduates of the CFI Bootcamp program and both impressive professional educators.

The NTSB is calling for a regulatory framework and safety enhancements for revenue Part 91 operations, such as sightseeing flights in hot air balloons and helicopters and parachute jump flights.

The NTSB met March 23 to discuss concerns about the safety of various revenue passenger-carrying operations conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, such as sightseeing flights conducted in hot air balloons, helicopters, and other aircraft and parachute jump flights. These operations carry thousands of passengers for compensation each year but are not held to the same maintenance, airworthiness, and operational standards as operations conducted under other commercial operations.

Investigators discussed the findings of eight accidents occurring between 2010 and 2019 that highlighted our safety concerns related to these types of flights. The new NTSB recommendations focus on addressing a lack of FAA oversight, a lack of structured pilot training, deficiencies in pilot skills and decision-making, and inadequate aircraft maintenance.

Flight planning industry leader ForeFlight, a long-time SAFE supporter, is adding SayWeather advisory information to their airport METAR reports and new flight binders. (Full disclosure: SAFE members get 1/3 off any Foreflight software subscription. Yearly Foreflight subscriptions sell for between $100-$300.)

The company said ForeFlight METARs will include the SayWeather advisory information along with added text for density altitude and humidity, particularly valuable in preflight planning, and will be updated several times an hour.

The new ForeFlight flight binders automatically suggest airports and procedures for a flight from the Maps or Flights views. The new binders organize plates by category in a vertical column on the left side of the screen, with all airport diagrams, SIDs/STARs, approaches, and miscellaneous plates grouped for each airport and accessible with a single button.

SayWeather advisories typically broadcast wind speed and direction, gusts, temperature, dew point, and altimeter setting. Optional sensors for the company's PRO+ units can add visibility, sky condition, cloud height and precipitation for about $10,000. For a 3:48 minute video explaining the unit's operation, click here.

This year's CFI Of The Year is Ronald Jay Timmermans of Orlando FL. His award, along with the awards for top Aviation Technician and FAASTeam Rep Of The Year, will be presented at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh WI in July.

Timmermans has been an independent instructor since 1998, and he has logged more than 4,000 hours of dual given, with almost 1,300 of those hours in the last five years. He holds certificates that include ATP-AMEL, Commercial-ASEL, CFI-IA, MEI-IA, AGI-Instrument, and Remote Pilot.

The FAA and industry sponsor the General Aviation Awards each year, naming not only the year's top CFI but also the top aviation technician and FAASTeam Representative for the year. The awards for all three will be presented at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July.

This year's Aviation Technician Of The Year is Michael Colin Dunkley of Coshocton OH, who has a fascinating life story.

Dunkley spent his early years in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), apprenticed at Air Rhodesia/Air Zimbabwe and became a full-time technician for the airline. He began work in general aviation maintenance through the Mission Aviation Fellowship, eventually moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and assuming the role of Director of Maintenance for a program operating Cessna 185s, 206s, 210s and Caravans. He is currently with MMS Aviation in Coshocton OH.

The newest Safety Team Representative Of The Year is Adam Timothy Magee of Swisher, IA. In 2015, he co-founded The Balloon Training Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to training and providing continuing education for LTA pilots. Magee is a commercial LTA pilot with instructor privileges and is an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) for private and commercial balloon certifications.

“I am very excited to announce the selection of the National Honorees for the 2021 General Aviation Awards,” said Sandya Narayanswami, board chair for the GA Awards. “These awards highlight the important role played by these individuals in promoting aviation education and flight safety. The awards program sponsors are pleased that these outstanding aviation professionals will receive the recognition they so richly deserve before their peers in Oshkosh."

A March 22 podcast by NBAA explores the problems - and possible solutions - for US military interference testing of the GPS system, which is the basis for much of the FAA's NextGen air traffic management system.

“When you create and develop a system that is reliant on GPS technology as your primary comm/nav/surveillance [system], then when you impact that infrastructure, there are going to be operational impacts,” said NBAA Director of Air Traffic Services and Infrastructure Heidi Williams. “We absolutely have to have mitigations in place so that we do not see a critical safety event as a result of one of these intentional jammings.”

In this episode of NBAA’s “Flight Plan,” host Rob Finfrock speaks with Jack Allen, managing director, air traffic management for Airlines for America (A4A); Jim McClay, director, airspace, air traffic and security for AOPA and Heidi Williams, NBAA director, air traffic services and infrastructure.

Runway incursions, which we all know to be a bad thing, fall under the broader category of avoiding accidents on the airport surface. Fortunately, the March/April 2021 issue of FAA Safety Briefing has arrived, providing CFIs and lesser mortals a “road map” to the various tools, resources, and strategies for steering clear of risk during the ramp-to-runway segment of their journey.

This issue explains technology advances, both inside and outside the cockpit, that are effective in reducing runway incursions and other surface safety events.

The FAA Safety Briefing is including two free PDF downloads that can be useful for CFIs: a crossword puzzle on surface safety, and an airport sign and marking quick reference guide. It's also possible to download the whole magazine as a PDF.

This month's feature articles include:

The Anatomy of a Wrong Surface Event Discernment Through Dissection

Hot Spots! Part Deux Don’t Get Burned at Airport Hot Spots

Right Stuff — Wrong Place, Wrong Time Fortune and Misfortune in Surface Safety

The Cost of Frost on Runways A Look at Heated Pavement Technology

Safe and Sound on the Ground An EFB APP-roach to Improving Surface Safety

Surface Safety Done Right Meet the FAA’s Runway Safety Professionals

What constitutes 'sharing expenses' for a non-commercial flight? That question has been answered by a new Advisory Circular 61-142 created in response to a Congressional requirement in 2018.

An airline consultancy group says the pilot shortage didn't go away but was only alleviated temporarily by the coronavirus pandemic that left airliners empty. Now, says consultant group Oliver Wyman, the shortage will return with a vengeance.

The group calls COVID-19 a “momentary reprieve” for pilot shortages. For passenger recovery, estimates range from early 2022 to 2024 and beyond, but commercial demand for pilots is drive by aircraft departures, not passengers.

The company concluded that it is not a question of whether a pilot shortage will occur, but when it will occur and how large the gap will be between supply and demand.

Redbird's 2021 Survey and Report on the flight training industry is now available for download. (Registration required).

"It is important to note that these results did not include the large foreign student flight training market," pointed out David St George, SAFE Executive Director.

Hobart C. “Hobie” Tomlinson of Burlington VT, a CFI for 56 years and a DPE for 42 years, is now a 10-time Master Flight Instructor.

Hobie operates Montair Flight Service, LLC in Burlington and is a retired 37-year captain with TWA and American Airlines. At TWA, he spent 14 years in the training department, including a stint as the TWA B-747 Fleet Manager. After retirement, he spent 8 years as a training captain and director of safety for a Part 135 operator.

He has logged 40,500 hrs, including 1028 North Atlantic Crossings and 15,500 hrs of flight instruction. He was awarded National CFI of the Year in 2012.

The recently expanded Master Instructors program became part of SAFE earlier this year. To learn more, go to Master Instructors.

SAFE is a 501(c)(3) educational, not-for-profit professional organization building aviation educator excellence and aviation safety. Our more than 3,300 members include many of the best-known, best-credentialed and most experienced CFIs as well as many FAA Designated Pilot Examiners.

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