Volume 10 | August 2019

SAFE eNews The Monthly Bulletin of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators

SAFE is a 501(c)(3) educational, not-for-profit professional organization building aviation educator excellence and aviation safety. Our more than 2,200 members include many of the best-known, best-credentialed and most experienced CFIs and many Designated Pilot Examiners. Join SAFE now! Donate to SAFE (tax deductible)

Current SAFE Executive Director David St George (center) and SAFE co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus Doug Stewart (right) breathlessly extinguished all ten candles on SAFE's birthday cake party, The "blowout" event was held at the annual member dinner at OSH.

SAFE Celebrates 10! "Amazing" Track Record Celebrated at OSH New Membership High of 2.200 Reached at Show SAFE was started by a passionate group of volunteer educators 10 years ago and has since built an enviable track record of success and growth. During the AirVenture2019 show, SAFE reached a new peak in membership, with more than 2,200 professional CFIs and other aviation educators. (SAFE is a tax-deductible educational not-for-profit organization ) Executive Director David St George explains, "SAFE represents the power and passion of all our members, and we are making great changes in aviation safety and professionalism. SAFE started the Pilot Proficiency Center 9 years ago and now it is a hit at Oshkosh every year. Our GA Pilot Reform Symposium with FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt led directly to the new FAA-ACS. "By request of members, we created our very own CFI Insurance Program , which is the best in the business , and our CFI Mentoring Program is continuously busy . We are representing our SAFE members on the FAA ACS Working Group and the also the GA Joint Steering Committee . And we have expanded our national reach to include all the AOPA regional shows and we will be at Tullahoma, TN (KTHA) on Sept 13th and 14th - (see you there?) "Most recently, we added the new  SAFE CFI-PRO™ workshop   which is open for registration  here.   We are taking our  aviation educator mission   on the road all around the country! The first workshop is at AOPA on October 2nd and 3rd (please spread the word). For only $375 you get two days of learning with amazing nationally famous educators and dinner at the  National Aviation Community Center   with the AOPA." In routine SAFE business during AirVenture2019, SAFE's Board of Directors welcomed new board members Alfredo Wayman and Joshua Hart. At the member business meeting/dinner, some $3,500 worth of donated prizes were raffled from generous SAFE supporter companies, among them Lightspeed , Cirrus and MyGoFlight

DPE System Under Microscope SAFE: "More Bureaucracy Seldom Leads To Improvement"

The FAA is taking action to improve the DPE testing system. This was obvious with the removal of geographical boundaries in the fall of 2018. And now they are convening an Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee to fast-track a complete review of the DPE system to be complete in a year. "There is a definite need for improvement in the system," said SAFE Executive Director David St George, "but more bureaucratic oversight and rules seldom leads to bettering any system. A more complicated process might further disincentivize qualified candidates. People don't realize most professional pilots do better flying than examining. Flight testing is a service." He pointed out that when DPEs were first designated in the 1960s, they were never intended to be full-time "professional evaluators." Originally, DPEs were professional pilots recruited to assist the FAA in testing airman competency for certificates. Today, many DPEs have become "professional evaluators" who may not have flown professionally or taken a checkride themselves in years. Recent changes to combat this trend have recently been added such as the requiring 60 hours of PIC annually for all DPEs. This rule was enacted after it was discovered some DPEs had not flown any PIC in over 5 years! On the other hand an airline pilot with no GA experience might not be a good fit as a DPE. Selection is critical to obtain a balance of good skills and appropriate demeanor. "Today, with the critical pilot shortage and rapidly rising student starts, DPEs perform 99% of the flight testing nationally" said St George, "so proficiency and a high moral standard are critical." SAFE is working with the Aviators Code Initiative to finalize a new DPE Model Code of Conduct to codify "Best DPE Practices" and help bolster integrity while combating arrogance in the system. "Testing should not be a difficult or adversarial process," he said. "There are certainly too many bad stories circulating out there; something needs to be done."

Gary Reeves Is CFI Of The Year Top CFI 2019 Is SAFE Lifetime Member

Lifetime SAFE member Gary Reeves, of Decatur TX (left), took top honors as National CFI of the Year at this year's annual AirVenture show and exposition. Karen Ann Kalishek of De Pere WI (center) won FAASTeam Member of the Year. She has been a FAASTeam representative since 2013. Dave Monti of Gardnerville NV (right), owner of Rebuilt Aircraft, won this year's Aviation Technician of the Year award. He is an icon in the Beechcraft maintenance world, doing specialized training for Bonanzas and Barons for more than 30 years.  Full bios with additional photos of the trio ran on the GA Award Website.

FSS Adds Services New Mobile Site Converts To ICAO Flight Plans

Your friendly Leidos FSS people have some new pilot-friendly features they'd like you to try. One of the most useful is an entirely new mobile website accessed via a link at the top of the main Leidos FSS page. If you've already established an account with Leidos, the link to add to your phone or tablet is https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/#!/mobile-website The mobile friendly version provides many of the same capabilities as the main site, including new interactive map graphics and weather charts, in addition to METARs, TAFs, and NOTAMs.A new feature automatically converts your favorite stored flight plans from domestic to the soon-to-be-required ICAO format.   Leidos officials say they are moving forward with what they call Advanced Services, which are at this point largely text and email based. They include: Pre-Flight Summary Email  – an email containing a summary of your interactions with flight service via the pilot website, mobile website, text messages, voice, or your favorite app that interacts with flight service.     EasyActivateTM/EasyCloseTM  – Setup text messaging to activate and close flight plans with the touch of a button.  And if you are an Alexa or Google Assistant aficionado, here's some great news: Leidos has just deployed new voice capabilities for those electronic assistants. Download the "Leidos Flight Service" skill to try it.

SAFE Advisory for CFIs: Metars, TAFs Now Available By Text

Last Sunday, SAFE advised members via its Facebook page and the organization's own blog that instant METARs and TAFs are now available via a text to your mobile phone. To get the instant reports and forecasts, send a text to FLT-SVC (358-782). Add MT (for Metar-TAF) and the K-airport ID e.g., MT KORD. If you're still having trouble reading the coded reports, add PT to your request, which will return plain text. No special software or download is needed, since it's a text-only function.

Aerovie To Continue As SAFE Benefit

The leading flight planning app Aerovie has been purchased by Appareo, the company that developed the Stratus line of ADS-B products. Despite the purchase, Appareo officials say Aerovie will remain free for SAFE members. Aerovie offers a range of pilot products include an electronic flight bag (EFB) suite that includes AHRS and synthetic vision, VFR sectional, IFR low and high charts and geo-referenced approach charts.  "Aerovie was one of the first to creatively combine the Leidos FSS weather and flight plan functionality from the FAA," said SAFE Executive Director David St George. "SAFE members report they love the product and we're delighted that Appareo is maintaining the product and service for free use by SAFE members.

$10,000 WINGS Sweeps Now Open To All CFIs Funded by Paul And Fran Burger

SAFE is a strong supporter of recurrent pilot proficiency and reminds its members that $10,000 will be distributed via sweepstakes again this year to CFIs who help their clients attain a full phase of WINGS. To be eligible,CFIs need to independently register on the Wings Industry Advisory Council website and record each successful client who attains a WINGS level. The annual sweepstakes includes two $500 prizes, four $750 prizes and four $1,500 prizes. We all acknowledge the WINGS website is a challenge, but there are specific instructions on the website on how to sign up a new pilot for WINGS and also enter a successful pilot for their credit. Pilot instructions are also available on the website. The Sweepstakes is funded by Paul Berger, a retired Connecticut aviator who believes that more widespread adoption of the WINGS program by pilots would decrease the GA accident rate. For more information go to Wings Industry Advisory Council.

FAA Safety Briefing Addresses Safety Culture

Aviation safety cultures vary widely, from the "kick tire and light fire" approach to flying to the carefully regimented safety culture that has produced the corporate and commercial aviation world that is the safest ever. The July;/August issue of the FAA Safety Briefing explains how the FAA's Compliance Program contributes to the safety culture and how a single-pilot can still have a safety culture of his or her own, among other articles.

eFlyer Explained May Be Coming Soon To A Ramp Near You

Any school or institution with a fleet of training airplanes will want to pay close attention to what's happening in development of all-electric training airplanes. Most recently in the news was George Bye's eFlyer, which recently made its first flight in Denver. The company, which partnered with Siemens engineering last year, is actively working with the FAA on certification of the eFlyer under Part 23 by 2022. Aviation newsletter AvWeb did a thorough report in May on this revolutionary airplane, in case you'd like to know more about what is increasingly looking like the future of flight training aircraft.

Clearances Direct More Clearance Delivery Phone Access

A fondly-remembered part of aviation history is flickering to a close as FSS stations stop relaying ATC clearances in the Lower 48. Alaska operations are unchanged. Gone will be the "can they give me a 15 minute window instead of 10?" dance among pilots, clearance delivery specialists and the FSS. Pilots will now be speaking directly to the clearance delivery position. It's all part of a years-long plan to increase efficiency of the National Airspace System. Relaying a clearance is fraught with chances for mis-understanding or mis-copying, so the Flight Service NAS Efficient Streamlined Services (FSNESS) initiative has published the direct-access phone numbers to clearance delivery positions for more than 600 airports nationwide. It's with the airport listing as "Clearance Delivery Phone." Airports that already have another way for pilots to get clearances, such as RCOs, GCOs or a full-time control tower, are not scheduled to have clearance delivery numbers published, but SAFE has joined AOPA in asking the FAA to publish those as a backup method of clearances at remote locations.

Your Student Is Overdue! What Happens Behind The Scenes

What really happens when an aircraft is declared missing? NTSB Investigator Mike Hodges, writes an account of the August 9, 2008 Cessna 182E that was reported overdue near Juneau, Alaska, and provides a good look at what is actually happening behind the scenes when your student's solo cross-country is more than overdue and declared missing. As it happens, Hodges stumbled across the accident scene he describes, nine years later, in 2017, and his easily-readable account of the 'cold case' accident is full of insights into the way air crash investigators work. It's an excellent real-life description of NTSB work, found in the NTSB's Safety Compass blog .

Register Now For First SAFE CFI-PRO™ KFDK October 2 And 3 Two-Day Class: $375

Online registration is now available for SAFE's initial SAFE CFI-PRO™ Clinic, to be held Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 3 at the AOPA Learn to Fly Center on the Frederick, MD airport. The two-day classroom tuition is only $375 and includes top-level learning from a team of the country's best aviation educators, led by SAFE founding member Rich Stowell, AKA "the spin doctor" and industry expert at the NTSB Loss of Control hearings (YouTube). Discounted rooms at both Marriott and Hilton are available, and a dinner with AOPA people will be held Oct. 2nd at the National Aviation Community Center. The focus of the SAFE CFI-PRO™ workshop is on improving aviation educator professionalism and increasing understanding of basic flight dynamics. The course includes SAFE ' Envelope Expansion' maneuvers. These are skill-building techniques that can (and should) be flown in any Part 23 trainer. "By improving aviation educators, we hope to move the needle on Loss of Control accidents" said St. George. He cited as a model the 60% reduction in accidents achieved by the Orlando FSDO CFI Special Emphasis Program. The course will include Rich Stowell's "Learn to Turn" content, which focuses on loss of aircraft control inflight, exactly the core issue that is by far the leading cause of fatal GA accidents. The weekly SAFEblog has covered many of the critical topics that will be handled in detail during the clinic.. "When we bring a CFI from good to great that can be a brand new CFI seeking the next level of professionalism, or a somewhat rusty long-time CFI looking for motivation and new ideas," he continued. "Our goal is to turbo-charge aviation educators, providing ideas and resources to improve and expand the skill and knowledge of every pilot flying."

SAFE Sponsors ‌

FAA Pressured By Congress More Training Needed, Congressmen Say Congressmen are reportedly putting pressure on the FAA to increase training requirements for pilots, particularly foreign pilots. Any changes are expected to particularly impact US CFIs working at schools with a large foreign student bodies. The push comes following the Asiana 214 crash at KSFO about six years ago, in which pilots took no action to correct a low glidepath that resulted in the airplane impacting the ground before the runway threshold. The NTSB's conclusion noted crew overreliance on technology and lack of emphasis on manual flying skills in modern flight training programs. The FAA issued SAFO 17007 last year and it is increasingly in the news. Over-reliance on automation was the subject of a series of NBC Bay Area television reports last year, which concluded that lack of hand-flying skills can put safety in jeopardy. 'Plane English' Debuts Smartphone App For ESL Pilots English is the official language of aviation the world over, which is very convenient....if English is your native language. For the flight training industry, with an increasing number of English as a Second Language (ESL) students, it's an issue. Enter Plane English, an app in both the Google Play Store and the App Store. It's an aviation-language app that shows the ESL student what to say, records the student's effort and critiques it immediately for words mispronounced or missing, Each lesson follows a flight's radio communications in its usual sequence, such as departing a towered airport. Once a lesson is over, the ESL student is rated for speech accuracy, rate and delay. "Active CFIs are quite aware of the challenge ESL students face to make themselves understood on the radio," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "This ingenious little app can do wonders, not only for current students but non-native English speakers already in the system." A monthly subscription to the service is $9.99; annually $59.99. The company also offers customization and licensing options for flight schools and institutions.

Last Month's SAFE Poll Testing Center Availability

It's been a year since PSI CATS won the FAA contract for nationwide knowledtge test centers. At that time, SAFE expressed fears that the award could lead to relocation of airport testing centers, perhaps to more distant downtown locations. The poll question asked if FAA testing center convenience had changed. The three choices for answers in the July eNews survey were: 1) Better, more convenient now, 12% 2) No change in convenience 71% 3) Worse, less convenient now 17% "We're keeping an eye on the situation," said SAFE Executive Director David St George. "Keeping testing centers convenient to airports is important to our members."

This Month's SAFE CFI Poll How Many CFIs Per Private Pilot? CFIs who instruct only until reaching 1,500 hours are causing a major turnover problem for flight schools nationwide, too often leaving students to find new CFIs repeatedly. SAFE Executive Director and FAA DPE David St George recently had a practical test applicant for a Commercial certificate who had been flying for 14 months, with 14 different instructors due to CFIs leaving for airline jobs. What was your own experience in earning your private pilot certificate? If you'd like to make additional comments or offer solutions to the short-time instructor crisis, please send them to SAFE by email. Unless you instruct otherwise, all comments may be considered for publication in a future eNews.

How many CFIs did you have in your own training for Private Pilot? 1 Select 2 - 5 Select 6 - 10 Select 11+ Select

"The Master Instructor accreditation singles out the best that the right seat has to offer." FAA Administrator Jane Garvey

Master Instructor Achievements

The Master Instructor designation is a national FAA-recognized professional accreditation and parallels the continuing education regimen used by other professionals to increase their professionalism. The designation must be renewed biennially and significantly surpasses the FAA requirements for renewal of the candidate's flight instructor certificate. Of the 101,000 flight instructors in the US, fewer than 800 have earned the Master Instructor designation, and most are SAFE members.

Mark Frederick Miller, MCFI

Mark Frederick Miller of Bellingham WA earned his Master CFI accreditation July 27 through Master Instructors. He works with Las Vegas's Part 121 airline Allegiant Air  as a line check airman as well as an A320 series and MD80 (DC-9) series captain. He also serves as a flight and ground instructor with Bellingham's Whatcom Young Aviators   and Command Aviation's flight school    Mark also holds a Master Aviation Educator (MAE)accreditation and is one of only 24 aviation educators worldwide to hold two or more Master accreditations concurrently.

Meg Godlewski, MCFI

Meg Godlewski , an 8-time double Master and a charter SAFE member, renewed her Master CFI accreditation through the Master Instructors LLC on July 27, 2019. Meg is a flight, ground, and Redbird FMX simulator instructor with Pro-Flight Aviation   at Renton Municipal Airport (RNT) where she specializes in simulator training, ground instruction, seminars, and curriculum development.    Additionally, she is a nationally recognized aviation writer and photographer. Her articles and photos appear in Women in Aviation and AOPA's Flight Training magazines as well as SAFE eNews.

Pat Knight, MCFI Emeritus

Pat Knight , a 12-time Master and a charter member of SAFE, was granted Master Instructor Emeritus status through Master Instructors. She is the only CFI to date to have recorded 12 Master Instructor renewals, totaling 24 years of professional service. The award, on July 27, was in recognition of Pat's many years of commitment to excellence, professional growth, service to the aviation community and quality aviation education.   A longtime pilot examiner (DPE) and CFI, Pat is currently an Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI) with the FAA Flight Standards program at Alliance Airport (AFW) in the Fort Worth area where she specializes in human factors in aviation, accident prevention and investigation and glider, as well as multiengine training.