SAFE eNews
The Monthly Bulletin of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators
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SAFE is a 501(c)(3) educational, not-for-profit professional organization building aviation educator excellence and aviation safety.
Our more than 2,500 members include many of the best-known, best-credentialed and most experienced CFIs and many FAA Designated Pilot Examiners.
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Visit SAFE At AOPA Fly-Ins
Enjoy the aviation fun - visit SAFE!
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SAFE will be at every
AOPA Regional Fly-In again this year to greet members and welcome new CFIs. The regional Fly-Ins have grown in popularity and excitement in recent years, with air shows, STOL contests and even rock bands. Some locations have topped 500 aircraft fly-ins and 10,000 participants, and SAFE would like to hear from every CFI at the event.
SAFE Executive Director David St George, who is also an FAA DPE, will be presenting for AOPA at each 2020 Fly-In, encouraging new student pilots to more carefully select their CFI and DPE for flight training success. (See
Select Your Own Professional CFI and DPE, below)
"We love meeting our members from every part of the country and sharing ideas and techniques," said David. "Attendees we met in Livermore CA also attended our recent
CFI-PRO™ in Fredrick, MD just a few days after that fly-in. As SAFE grows, we need more committed members helping on committees and at shows to
spread word of our mission of safety and professional excellence."
AOPA Fly-Ins 2020 start with San Marcos TX on May 29-30, then move to Casper WY for June 19-20. The final Fly-In of the year will be in Rochester NY, September 11-12. Interested SAFE members should get in touch soon to volunteer and staff the SAFE booth.
SAFE membership has soared in the past several years and now exceeds 2,500 CFIs and FAA DPEs, with membership tilting toward higher-time, more experienced aviation educators. The organization promotes better CFI professionalism and is currently holding a nationwide tour of two-day CFI-PRO workshops, next set for Sporty's Academy in Batavia OH on June 10-11.
Registration for the $375 workshop is here.
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IACRA Required
For All Knowledge Tests After January 13
SAFE Offers Guide For Members
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Among other changes, new ACS codes on the test report better help airmen review subjects missed on the knowledge exam. Formatting changes will help make it more legible, says the FAA, but the old embossed or raised seal will be gone.
One clear advantage to knowledge tests taken after January 13: a lost/stolen report can simply be reprinted from the testing center's web site. For results of tests taken before January 13, the applicant must contact the FAA for replacement embossed copies.
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Free Flight Test Guide
SAFE's DPE Guide To Preparing Applicants
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A free six-step guide for CFIs preparing students for checkrides is now available in the SAFE blog.
Titled
Ace Your Oral, the blog was written by SAFE Executive Director David St George to help CFIs avoid the embarrassment of sending a poorly prepared student for an FAA practical test.
"The easiest road to success on the oral portion of any check ride is to first read and understand the
Airman Certification Standards (ACS) ," said St George. The ACS is free, online and fairly succinct, and details what DPEs must examine on a flight test.
He said that some students believe DPEs have a free hand in conducting a flight test, but one look at
this SAFE-provided guidance will disabuse the student of that notion. These represent the FAA-required “rules of engagement” that your DPE must follow. Both CFI and student should know this document before even starting training. but understand more and more detail in each item as test time approaches.
"Unfortunately, this document is often missed in the crush of getting ready for a checkride, and many applicants come totally unprepared," he said. "It's like, 'that’s on the test'?”
St George has been a DPE for more than 20 years and ran a Part 141 flight school in upstate New York for many years. He has been SAFE Executive Director since 2018.
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June 10-11 At Sporty's
Stowell, Stewart, Turner, Hobie, Dorcey, Share Essential Techniques!
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Think how much you have learned since originally earning your instructor certificate.
SAFE CFI-PRO™ provides the opportunity to accelerate your CFI professionalism with experts from every area of aviation. Our last SAFE CFI-PRO™ included five FAA National Award winners offering ideas! We have another great line-up and new topics for our second workshop.
This workshop is for both veteran CFIs seeking refreshment and challenge to commercial pilots looking to add a CFI and learn from the best in the business. The networking and shared experience alone is worth the price of admission.
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All-star presenters scheduled at Sporty's include: the
'Spin Doctor' Rich Stowell sharing his secrets for teaching pilots to avoid loss of control inflight. LOC-I is responsible for nearly half of GA fatalities each year.
Mike Vivion, with 30 years of Alaska back-country flying will talk about CFI Ethics and Professionalism.
Tom Turner from BPPP will discuss effectively teaching emergency procedures.TWA Captain and 2008 CFI Of The Year
Hobie Tomlinson
will reveal what he's found in his lifetime of teaching multiengine students. SAFE Board Chair
Eric Hake, former 'employee #1' at ForeFlight will share his advice on how CFIs can keep up with evolving technology.
Master CFI
John Dorcey will explain the delicate art of preparing initial CFI applicants, long acknowledged to be the toughest CFI hill to climb. SAFE Executive Director
David St. George
will present the core
SAFE Extended Envelope Training and show how this works for both student pilots and experienced pilot-clients.
At SAFE's first
SAFE CFI-PRO™ workshop in Frederick MD, most of the 39 attendees were CFIs, but there were three almost-CFIs and a flock of FAA DPEs. "It's the mingling and mutual learning during breaks and before or after scheduled presentations that Frederick attendees liked most," said St George, "and remember, this is for everyone - even if you're just preparing for your CFI."
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PC 12 Crash Preliminary
Lots Of Clues, But...
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The
NTSB preliminary report on the November 30 crash in South Dakota of a Pilatus PC-12 provides significant clues to what went wrong on takeoff, but the final report may take a year or more. The flight departed the non-towered Chamberlain, Idaho airport destined for Idaho Falls. The weather was reported as 500 and one-half mile with snow.
The preliminary report says "..the stall warning and stick shaker became active approximately 1 second after liftoff. The stick pusher became active about 15 seconds after liftoff. All three continued intermittently for the duration of the flight....the airspeed varied between 89 and 97 knots during the initial climb; however, it decayed to approximately 80 kts as the airplane altitude peaked at 460 ft agl and the roll angle reached 64° left." The wreckage was found about 3/4 mile west of the departure airport.
The preliminary report noted that 12 persons were aboard the aircraft, which is certificated for a maximum of 9, but did not give the ages of the passengers.
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Aircraft Crash Info
NTSB Provides Trove Of Sources
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In survey after survey, majorities of pilots say they read NTSB accident reports to learn what NOT to do for a safe flight. As a CFI, you can help direct their search by knowing what the NTSB offers and where to find it. This list of NTSB resources was assembled for SAFE members.
Accident Database: This is THE NTSB aviation accident database, including summary information and links to investigation reports from 1962 to present for civil aviation accidents and selected incidents within the US. Searchable by date(s), city, state, aircraft category, type of operation and more than a dozen other criteria.
The Docket is where you'll find the nitty gritty on any particular accident or incident - including all the investigative files, photos and reports.
Statistical Summaries of aviation accidents and trends including annual accident totals, fatalities, and rates. This also links to the Annual Review of US Civil Aviation Accidents, which provides further analyses of aviation accidents and trends by purpose of flight, aircraft type, and accident category.
Aviation Accident Reports are probably not what you were looking for. These are a list of recent major accidents, with links to the reports on corrective actions requested by the Board. These omit most GA accidents and incidents.
Aviation Information Resources: A compendium of all NTSB aviation safety products, including links to the accident database, dockets, safety studies, safety recommendations, and other important aviation-related resources.
In compiling this list, NTSB sources told SAFE that the agency would be introducing "some significant improvements" to its databases, including an easier search/query function, in this new year.
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Need An ADS-B Exemption?
FAA's Jamal Wilson Explains How
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Any aircraft owners who haven't yet installed ADS-B but need to fly in newly-limited airspace will have to ask for a waiver before each and every flight.
In usual government fashion, there's an acronym for the waiver: it's called an
ADS-B Deviation Authorization Preflight Tool (ADAPT) request. As the local authority on all things aeronautical, you may be asked how to apply for an ADAPT request. Simply refer them to the FAA's Jamal Wilson for a short video
demonstrating how to submit a request
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Create Your Own Flight Training Success
Select Your Own Professional CFI and DPE
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The social media forums are full of horror stories of inept and uncaring CFIs and "demon DPEs" seemingly determined to ruin motivation and fail applicants. Though it is natural to feel intimidated when assigned a CFI at the beginning of training, there is no reason to keep this person if the process is not working. The embarrassing 80% drop-out rate in aviation is fueled by this inhuman process.
Take charge of your flight training
and select your own caring professional. Since you pay the bills, pick a professional with solid credentials and a track record of success. We hire professionals carefully every day in our lives; extend this skill to your flight training experience and assure your success. A solid professional educator will make your flight training enjoyable and successful. And remember, the DPE is your choice too and during an FAA flight test is just "checking" the work of your CFI. Every qualified applicant begins an FAA flight evaluation with 100% and perfection is not the standard.
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SAFE Executive Director David St George will be presenting this topic at each of the AOPA Fly-Ins in 2020, at San Marcos TX on May 29-30, Casper WY on June 19-20 and Rochester NY on September 11-12. He will be offering advice on how to succeed in flight training by selecting your professional CFI and DPE. St George provided similar interactive seminars at the annual EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh for many years.
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SAFE Members Publish,
Don't Perish
Prove Value Of Early AvEd
SAFE members
Rich Stowell and
Linda Castner have again collaborated on a project proving the value of aviation education for children, titling the study
Aviation-Themed Activity Improves Executive Function Skills, Transportation Career Awareness in Preschoolers.
The paper chronicles the 22-month pilot project called Katie Doo in which preschoolers maneuvered a conventional tricycle then a pedal plane around a mock airport traffic pattern while maintaining visual contact with the control tower and windsock.
"Tricyclers around the pattern were judged 44 to 59 percent higher on executive functions by their teachers, but those who pedaled the plane were judged 78 to 94 percent higher," the researchers reported.
"Next steps include improving and expanding the activity and encouraging additional research into the benefits of Katie Doo at the Pre-K level," said Stowell. In addition to Castner and Stowell, associate professor Dr. Ronke Olabisi in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University participated in the study.
SAFE has encouraged classroom aviation education since its founding in 2009, and annually gives four small grants to classroom teachers across the country who design and implement an aviation-related project as part of STEM activities at a school. The annual grants are made possible by generous SAFE donors concerned about the future of GA.
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Boeing Stops MAX
"We're Hoping The Effect Will Be Modest"
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At least some parts suppliers for the general aviation market will be hit by Boeing's announced 737 MAX production line shutdown, scheduled for this month. Major suppliers for Boeing are in Wichita KS, Cincinnati OH and Stamford CT, but there are some 900 worldwide.
"This has potential to be big," said SAFE Executive Director David St George. "Boeing's a major part of the total aviation market. We're hoping the ripple that comes down the aviation food chain will have only a modest effect on flight training, because the underlying need for pilots remains as desperate as ever."
Boeing says it does not plan to lay off any of its 12,000 workers in Renton WA. Analysts note that although Boeing is currently in a strong financial position, many of the smaller companies worldwide that supply parts for the 737 MAX planes are not and could go bankrupt while waiting for FAA approval.
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Gulfstream Windshields Break
At Least 20 Failures Since 2013
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At least 20 Gulfstream jet windshield failures have occurred since 2013 that resulted in arcing, cracking, smoke and/or small fires The company says it has an improved heater terminal block that can be used to replace the defective units in affected models.
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SAFE CFI Toolkit App Free
Has All Endorsements, Requirements, Resources
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SAFE's CFI Toolkit app, a veritable Swiss Army Knife of aviation applications for flight instructors, has added a
CFI-finder function
where SAFE members may 'hang their shingle' for students requiring excellent instruction. And you can create your own linked "
CFI Profile" with picture and bio on the SAFE website.
The Toolkit App, is available in both Android and Apple versions, has all the endorsements, experience requirements and resources for active professional CFIs and numerous other CFI-specific resources. It is free for all CFIs.
"The updated CFI Toolkit will be updated with the new ACS codes that will be used on knowledge test results notice starting a week from Monday," said developer David St George.
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Sun 'n Fun 2020
Visit SAFE March 31- April 5
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For the third year in a row, SAFE will be occupying its familiar triple booth
C53-55 at Sun 'n Fun, complete with live SAFE TV streaming on YouTube and Facebook.
Each morning at 8:00 AM during Sun 'n Fun, SAFE will be hosting a
CFI Roundtable breakfast at the Sunset Grill. All CFIs are invited to contribute their ideas for solving the myriad problems that plague the flight training industry and individual CFIs.
Coffee and breakfast will be available with presenters each day.
This year's Sun 'n Fun will be from Tuesday, March 31 through Sunday, April 5. As always, SAFE members at the show are asked to help staff the booth for two hours or more.
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More Pilot Jobs...Maybe
190 Aircraft, 430,000 Urban Air Taxis
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Delta Air Lines and Wheels Up have announced plans to combine the already-large air taxi operator Delta Private Jets with Wheels Up, an air taxi startup based at Cincinnati (CVG), which will offer a combined fleet of more than 190 private aircraft.
Meanwhile, a new study by international consulting firm Frost and Sullivan predicts 430,000 urban air taxi drones will be needed by 2040. Operations could began as early as 2022, the firm said, first carrying mostly cargo but expanding to human passengers as trust in the drone-like vehicles spreads.
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SAFE Member Notes
Things You May (Or May Not) Care About
Among recent actions that may be of note to SAFE members:
No Doors Off Helicopters
operations is what the NTSB recommends after reviewing the March 2018 accident where five passengers died in New York's East River. Apparently a portion of a tether holding a passenger caught the helicopter's fuel shutoff lever. The NTSB blamed the company, FlyNYON, for having
dangerous supplemental restraints that could get tangled or caught on something and hamper escape.
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HIWAS Ends One Week From Today, but you may not notice. The recorded voice broadcast of Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS), broadcast over some VORs since the 1980s, will cease January 8 . It was indicated on charts with a small H circle in the top right of the facilities information box.
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Mooney Aircraft Reopens...Sort Of. Mooney Aircraft in Kerrville TX mysteriously shut down on November 11, but Flying Magazine has reported the company is back. The company now says it is finalizing negotiations with a group of investors, but will not identify the group. Stay tuned.
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Deaths Up In Aircraft Crashes.
The number of aviation-related deaths ticked up in 2018 to 393, compared to 2017's 347 deaths according to a report from the NTSB. GA flights accounted for 381 of the 393 total aviation flight deaths in 2018, underscoring airline safety records.
The board also reported a fatal GA accident rate of 1.029 accidents per 100,000 flight hours for 2018. That rate is up only slightly from 2017's 0.935 per 100,000 flight hours, the lowest ever achieved for fixed-wing GA aircraft.
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"The Master Instructor accreditation singles out the best that the right seat has to offer."
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey
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Master Instructor Achievements
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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.
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Quay Carlton Snyder Jr, MCFI
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Quay C Snyder
, one of a handful of 9-time Master Instructors worldwide, renewed his Master CFI accreditation in December through the
Master Instructors LLC
professionalism program,
Quay is the
P
resident & CEO of
Aviation Medicine Advisory Service,
specializing in aeromedical certification for pilots and air traffic controllers. He is also a pilot examiner
and FAASTeam representative for the FAA's Denver FSDO as well as the Black Forest Soaring Society's chief glider CFI
from 1999-2019
at Kelly Air Park,
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A graduate of ERAU-Prescott, Mark provides flight, ground, and simulator instruction with
JetWright Aviation LLC at Prescott's Earnest Love Field (KPRC), Cottonwood Airport (P52) and Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (KDVT). He specializes in flight instructor training and jet transition training.
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Robert Gawler, MCFI Emeritus
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Robert K Gawler, an 11-time Master and charter SAFE member, was granted Master Instructor Emeritus (MIE) status in December through
Master Instructors, LLC. The award was in recognition of his many years of commitment to excellence, professional growth, service to the aviation community, and quality aviation education.
Bob is an
independent flight and ground instructor at Gaithersburg's Montgomery County Airpark (GAI). He was one of the first aviation educators to earn the Master designation when the accreditation program was first introduced by then-FAA Administrator Barry Valentine at Oshkosh AirVenture 1997.
A recently retired designated pilot examiner (DPE) , Bob also continues to work with the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and serves as a FAASTeam representative with the FAA's Baltimore FSDO.
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