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| SAFE represents more than 1,500 of the industry's top aviation professionals in 49 states and nine foreign countries, including the majority of Master Instructors and numerous General Aviation Awards winners in all four awards categories. |
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Chair's Corner
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by David St. George, SAFE Chair
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David St George
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Thanks for your support of SAFE, and our warmest wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.
Please remember SAFE while shopping on-line. Simply adding SAFE to your Amazon Smile account provides dollars for SAFE (and costs you nothing). Simple instructions here.
All of us at SAFE are working hard bringing you resources to improve your safety and increase instructor professionalism. We appreciate your support. Please access those SAFE discounts and fly safely.
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2,500 Registered for SAFE Live Stream
460 Master Wings Credits Issued!
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Some 2,500 CFIs and other aviation educators registered for SAFE's live streaming presentation "Preventing Loss of Control Inflight" on November 16, created by SAFE and sponsored by Russ Still of
Gold Seal Ground Schools
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The November program is
still available on YouTube
and at the Gold Seal Ground School site
. Panel participants included famed aerobatic performer Patty Wagstaff, "The Spin Doctor" Rich Stowell and FAA Designated Examiner David St. George, and was streamed live from 8 PM to about 9:30 PM, eastern time. Pre-registered pilots were eligible for credit toward FAA Master Wings; some 460 completed the process and earned the recognition.
Generous SAFE supporter Lightspeed donated one of their popular Zulu 3 headsets to the 10th caller immediately after the event, but the crush of calls initially crashed the phone lines. The lucky winner was CFI Gordon Hudson of California.
After the program, SAFE member Tom Gilmore said he was impressed. "Very informative and illuminating statistics, even for us old dog pilots," said Gilmore. "Thanks, Russ, for making your Gold Seal videos available to the flight instructor community. Keep up the great work!"
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GA Fatal Crash Rate (Not Total) Down Slightly
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A list of transportation fatalities released by the NTSB last month showed that the 2016 rate of general aviation accidents involving fatalities declined slightly from the year before, to just under 1 per 100,000 hours flown. 
The 386 people killed in GA accidents in 2016 was slightly higher than the 2015 total of 378, but the fatality rate - which is the number of deaths per 100,000 hours flown - declined slightly because the FAA-estimated number of hours flown increased in 2016. The NTSB report cautioned that the numbers are preliminary, because not all final determination reports have yet been issued.
Year after year, about 75 percent of GA accidents are determined to involve 'pilot error,' which SAFE Chair David St. George said is an opportunity for CFIs. "Teaching a primary student is the first - and sometimes the last - opportunity we have to inculcate better pilot judgement," he said. "SAFE has a large library of teaching-related materials on our web site and we hope SAFE members will take advantage of those."
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New Charts, User Guide Published
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"(The chart users guide) is intended to be a 'live' document, with updates made as often as the charting specifications are altered," said Valerie Watson, and FAA aeronautical information specialist who helped usher in the
publication. "When a new symbol appears...it will be included and explained in the Chart User's Guide for the same effective date cycle."
"You know how students will puzzle for hours over a symbol on the chart?" asked Kevin D Murphy, Communications Director for SAFE. "Using this up-to-date users guide, which is free, may encourage them to educate themselves instead of asking you every time."
New symbols for VFR charts include a magenta rocket indicating a spaceport, thin blue circles depicting permanent temporary flight restrictions (TFR) that surround California's Disneyland and Florida's Disney World, and magenta diamonds signifying sporting event TFRs. On approach charts, a snowflake will now note cold-weather restricted airports, and low altitude
enroute charts
now feature outlined flags to signify minimum turning altitude, squares to indicate stand-alone distance measuring equipment, and more.
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CFIs: No Need For Panic Yet, But...
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 Although laughed about by many instructors, the day of pilotless airliners may be nearing.
A spokesman for large aircraft manufacturer Airbus said last month that the company is working toward the day that single-pilot operation of air carrier aircraft will be routine. Then, he said, the next goal may be a pilotless airliner.
"We're pursuing single-pilot operation as a potential option," said Airbus Chief Technology Officer Paul Eremenko, as reported in Bloomberg News. "A lot of the technologies needed to make that happen has also put us on the path towards unpiloted operation."
Aircraft manufacturers, including both Airbus and Boeing, are rushing to develop artificial intelligence toward that goal, but experts say there are many hurdles before pilotless airliners would be accepted. "It's unclear whether passengers or their insurers or carriers would accept or permit it," said Robert Mann, a former American Airlines executive. He noted that the Germanwings pilot who flew an A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 on board, reinforced the argument for a multi-person cockpit. Also, no transport-category aircraft are currently certificated for either single-pilot or pilotless flight.
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Ownship Display, Geo-Referencing Now OK
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Your own aircraft's GPS position ("ownship display") may now be legally used by commercial operators, the FAA announced last month.
The change affects commercial operators only. Flight instruction and private flight using GPS moving map displays should not be affected, but CFIs working with commercial pilot certificate applicants should pass along the changed information.
New
AC120-76D
replaces the C version issued in 2014, which for commercial operators specifically prohibited use of geo-referencing or own-ship position display while using moving-map features in the air. Use of geo-referencing on the ground was previously considered acceptable by the agency.
This new guidance applies to Part 91, 91K, 121, 125 and 135 commercial operators, but only 91K through 135 operators are required to seek FAA approval of their EFB programs. Part 91 operators can use EFBs as they wish, without formal approval, and many pilots have been using geo-referenced moving maps and approach charts to aid situational awareness since the iPad entered the market in 2010.
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New SAFE Blog Entries
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Combat LOC-I; Train Turning Stalls This article follows on our recent
National LOC Seminar and adds some tips for CFIs to build client confidence and capabilities in the turn. DPE Dave St. George points out this maneuver is included in both the Private and Commercial ACS.
To Err Is Human
, by SAFE member MCFI-I and MEI Parvez Dara, asks the question "are mistakes always a bad thing?"
The answer, Dara says, is a qualified NO, pointing to the steadily declining GA accident rate. "However, with a caveat, to repeat an error made by others, which has been used as a learning event, is definitely a bad thing," he says. "It is important to know that the NTSB data was created out of bent metal and loss of life. Errors made by expanding the envelope of flight teach us what not to do."
Aviation Safety: We Can Do Better
. Current SAFE Chair David St. George writes about the recent Icon A5 crash involving Roy Halladay, noting that there seems to have been some avoidable risks contributing to that accident.
"Identifying and mitigating risks is the essence of aviation safety and this includes the psychological discipline of saying NO to "having too much fun," writes St. George. "Exercising "executive function" and knowing where and when *not* to fly is critical to safety."
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Master Instructor Activity
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Mark King
, a first-time Master and a member of SAFE as well as IAC, earned his Master CFI-Aerobatic accreditation in November through the
Master Instructors program
. A veteran of the United States Navy, Mark is an aerobatic flight and ground instructor with
CP Aviation
at California's Santa Paula Airport. He specializes in tailwheel, aerobatic and emergency maneuver training, averaging over 800 instructional hours each year.
Mark Szpak
of Prescott, AZ last month earned his Master CFI accreditation through the
Master Instructors program
. A graduate of ERAU-Prescott, Mark instructs with
Wright Aviation LLC
at Prescott's Earnest Love Field and other venues where he specializes in insurance approved initial and recurrent training in the Cessna Citation Mustang. Additionally, he is working toward becoming a FAASTeam representative for the FAA's Scottsdale FSDO.
The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA and is earned through a rigorous process of continuing professional activity and peer review. This process parallels continuing education regimens used by other professionals to enhance their knowledge base while increasing their professionalism.
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Fly SAFE!
David St. George, Chair
Society of Aviation and Flight Educators
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Copyright SAFE, Inc. 2017. All rights reserved.
SAFE, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Public Charity
Editor@SafePilots.org -- Safe@SafePilots.org -- www.SafePilots.org |
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In the July LOC-I SAFE seminar, again hosted by 
Brandon David Wynn of Eugene, OR earned his Master CFI accreditation last month through the