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 2,600 members include many of the best-known, best-credentialed and most experienced CFIs and many FAA Designated Pilot Examiners.
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"Clear On Top!" (Panel in a Mooney Ovation owned by SAFE member Bob Cree)
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A core value of SAFE is electing our board of directors from the membership every year by a vote of our membership. We are proud to present five well-qualified applicants for three openings on the SAFE Board of Directors. The election will be held this month, the week of June 15-21 at election site will be set up at
http://votingplace.net/safe.
Email instructions on voting online will be sent to all eligible SAFE members the week prior to the election. Please spend some time reviewing and deciding on our webpage listing these candidates.
SAFE's founding charter ensures that the organization will be controlled by members by imposing a two-term limit for the nine Board members and specifying three-year staggered terms. Thus, three Board positions expire each year, requiring annual election in June. The new Board members are (usually) installed at that year's AirVenture in Oshkosh. .
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Andrew Chan
of Florida, is founder of Right Rudder Aviation and Chief CFI
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Michael P. Hare
of Florida, a 15,000+ hour veteran military and airline pilot, now a CFI at University Air Center.
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Michael McCurdy
South Carolina, former law enforcement officer owns and operates two flight schools in Charleston.
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Newlan Parker
, is a Navy Pilot with airline experience now flying a Mustang Jet. Also a DPE with the Helena FSDO.
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Wayman Alfredo Luy
, formerly Scocata's chief pilot, is vice president of Wayman Aviation Academy in south Florida.
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If you are interested in serving on a committee of running for the board of directors
next year, please
get in touch ASAP!
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Airplane Instructor Handbook
Newest CFI Handbook Available NOW Online!
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The FAA's revised Aviation Instructor Handbook (AIH) is
available online
, SAFE member Dr. Donna Wilt reports. Dr. Wilt has been SAFE's representative to the FAA for the last five years, including the working group that helped update this handbook.
Dr. Wilt said, "I’m
excited
that the long-awaited AIH is finally being released. Several of us from the flight-training community worked closely with the FAA to bring the AIH up to date and have it ready to support the upcoming Instructor ACS."
Changes in the new AIH include an expanded section on scenario-based training and an entirely new chapter on teaching practical risk management during flight instruction.
References to Airman Certification Standards have been added, alongside Practical Test Standards. The oft-thumbed examples of endorsements formerly found in Appendix C are no longer there, but refer pilots to the current AC 61-65 for up-to-date endorsements. Information for Remote pilots has been added.
In a nod to a more civilized and equal society and
to standardize terminology throughout all levels of training
,
there are several name changes in the new AIH. 'Cockpit' has been replaced by 'flight deck' and 'student' by 'learner' throughout the book. The FAA's intent is to standardize terminology across the training spectrum, which some CFIs see as unnecessary and potentially confusing, but Dr. Wilt pointed out that the panel on most training aircraft have evolved beyond needle, ball and airspeed and now arguably can be called flight decks.
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FAA Informational Letter to Pilots
Is It 91 Or 135? Continued...
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The FAA last month reiterated its opposition to so-called "semi-legal" charter flights flown by pilots under FAR Part 91, instead of Part 135 as the regulations require. In some cases, private pilots have flown the trips.
"Sorry, but semi-legal is illegal in the FAA's eyes," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "If your passengers are paying you or the aircraft operator to fly them, it sounds like a commercial operation to the FAA." The Part 91 vs 135 question has come up before, and there was an excellent article explaining the difference in the
October 2011 BizJetOnline
by Jeff Wieand.
"As a general rule... to engage in air transportation a pilot must hold a commercial or airline transport pilot license and must operate the flights in accordance with ...(135). requirements To meet the operational requirements, the pilots must be employed as a direct employee or agent by the certificate holding 135 operator," said an FAA spokesperson.
"Are you as the pilot also providing the aircraft involved in the dry-lease?" she continued. "If so, you may be in violation of the FARs for those flight operations if you do not have ...a (Part 135 certificate)." She noted that private pilots are by definition not allowed to fly paying passengers, and that opportunities for commercial pilots flying under Part 91 only are slim.
Among private pilots, "sharing expenses" is an always-simmering cauldron of hope, avarice and creative interpretations of FAA rules.
Here are the rules,
about which Murphy says, "they are straightforward, and require three things: pro-rata flight expenses, a shared purpose for the trip and evidence the pilot was not "holding out" by representing himself as a charter operator." Murphy, who once ran AOPA's telephone technical support group, said it was an article of faith that the more a pilot tries to make the flight sound innocent, the more likely it is that the FAA will decide it's a commercial operation.
For more information on sharing flight expenses, common purpose, and holding out see:
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Remote Sim Training Approved
Liberty University Wins FAA OK
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Flight students at the Lynchburg VA-based Liberty University can now train on the school's advanced simulator, learning from a CFI who may be in the next room or across the world. Liberty's School of Aeronautics
received FAA approval last month
for remote instruction, just as the Covid-19 crisis was in full swing.
Although the students must use the school's simulator on site, the faculty member or flight instructor can be located almost anywhere, and can control the flight simulator through a secure network connection. Using a remote camera, instructors can interact with the students and monitor each step of their progress.
Rick Roof, interim dean, said the school has for years tried to find instructional talent from airlines and other aviation professions. “The problem is trying to take somebody who is retiring or is at the end of their career and have them relocate to Liberty," he said. "But if you can have them teach via simulator part time from wherever they live, now you are starting to really draw on a much larger pool of potential instructors.”
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Drones In The Pattern
Only 7% Utilize LAANC
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SAFE is alerting its members to a
study by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
at Daytona Beach FL. That study found that "the vast majority"of drones in the vicinity of the DAB airport did not have FAA approval to be there. Currently in the United States, there are more than 1.4 million registered, and likely many more unregistered drones, and they continue to proliferate.
According to the study, only seven percent of the 271 drones detected during the experiment at DAB had used the FAA's Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) to get permission to pen
etrate the airspace. In addition, more than one-third of the devices exceeded 500' AGL, with three ascending above 1,500' AGL.
"Those cover all the usual altitudes used by CFIs doing patterns or ground reference maneuvers," said Executive Director David St George. "The
FAA's LAANC approval system
for commercial and recreational drone flights had been predicted to reduce non-compliant UAS operations by at least a third within six months, but this service needs more aggressive promotion in the UAS community."
Previous studies have shown that revealed that pilots approaching a runway
usually can’t see drones
encroaching on their airspace, especially if those drones are hovering.
The study will boost the FAA’s recent proposal to require Remote Identification — electronic tracking devices on drones, similar to the ADS-B tracking technology now mandatory on manned aircraft in certain airspace.
The study
was published in the International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace (IJAAA). It was co-authored by Wallace, Robbins, James K. Holliman, Don S. Metscher, and Taylor R. Rogers at Embry-Riddle, in collaboration with Jon M. Loffi at Oklahoma State University.
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Inspiring excellence and "selling safety" is essential for a CFI conducting a flight review.
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The toughest place to conduct quality flight training and get beyond the FAA minimum requirements is probably during a flight review. Any hope of conducting serious training is often trampled under the cultural expectations of FAA minimums and the “lunch date flight review.” Maintaining a high standard and digging deeper to address "the killers" is essential to keeping pilots safe. As the FAA says in
AC 61.98C
"it is up to the instructional service provider to determine what type of instruction is required and how much additional training time, if any, is required to ensure that the pilot has the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct safe flight operations"
The FAA gives the CFI total control to decide the flight review content and required duration. The
FAA required-minimum of an hour flight and an hour of
ground study on part 91 is just as suspect as the "3SM day viz"; a bare minimum. (And the multi-engine ATP who flies a flight review in a Champ is legal for 24 months in a Baron!) Ultimately, we need to appeal to every pilot’s better angels here and inspire a personal desire for greater proficiency and safety we cannot legislate this.
An hour flight may scrape off some of the serious rust and discover and correct some bad habits, but we can’t assure consistency and actual skill in an hour. And we never get beyond basics to “the killers” (important safety items) in only an hour. So let’s default to three hours and work plus or minus from that more realistic baseline.
SAFE contributed extensively to the development of the
Focused Flight Review with AOPA. This excellent toolkit was created to provide the resources for a more extensive (hopefully annual) review and also works hand in glove with the
FAA WINGS program.
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CFI Toolkit App Updated
All New ACS Knowledge Codes Now Integrated
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The
SAFE app
that has almost everything a CFI needs for professional flight instruction has been updated to include all the new ACS codes.
"It's
the "go-to news and tools" app for the professional aviation educator," said app creator David St George. "It includes quick reference guides for instructor endorsements, Test Codes Key, ACS/PTS/FAR/AIM, Tail Number Lookups, FAA Wings Decoder and so much more."
SAFE's CFI Toolkit app is available free to SAFE members in both
Android
and
iOS
.
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SAFE Sponsors Step Up
"COVID Specials" As Training Recovers
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As flight training starts rebuilding, manufacturers and distributors of pilot-type items are eager to help flight training reopen. We're happy to note that many of the industry leaders are long-time SAFE supporters. A few of these are:
ForeFlight,
The world's leading EFB maker is maintaining their
1/3 off discount
for SAFE members buying any of their navigation subscriptions despite uncertain times for CFIs. For SAFE members using the Performance Plus package, that's a $100 per year savings, and the only requirement is a current SAFE membership, which is $45 a year. Thank you, ForeFlight!
Lightspeed Aviation
has tripled their original 30-day full money-back guarantee on all of their headset products to 90 days, acknowledging that buyers may not get to fly in the original guarantee period. Purchases through the company's Trade Up Program are not eligible.
Aviation Insurance Resources
has added a blog entry addressing the crisis in aviation insurance rates. It provides
10 practical tips for aircraft owners
preparing for
the annual renewal process, which is apparently even more painful than usual. Aircraft insurance rates are particularly susceptible to volatility in the financial markets.
Starr Aviation
has introduced what they call a "transformative buying experience" for pilots purchasing aircraft renters insurance. It's called Starr Gate, which will sell renters insurance by the month if pilots have or foresee a break in their flying activity for several months.
Starr has also added a Starr Gate app (iOS only) hooked to flight analysis service
CloudAhoy,
which can track pilot performance on a flight. Although Starr offers premium
de
creases for measurable improvements in pilot skill, use of the app is not required for pilots buying renters insurance. "You can enjoy the insurance without flight scoring," said former SAFE board member Jim Anderson. "But flight scoring can save you as much as 30 percent on premiums." The company's
Starr Gate web site
is here.
The Modern Pilot
slashed its price on the Foreflight Mobile Power User series by 30%, to just $69.96. The 28 online video shows power-user tips, techniques and strategies for industry-leader ForeFlight, taught by the original ForeFlight Evangelist.
FLYING Magazine
is offering a free copy of its "Learn To Fly - Special Issue 2020" (registration required).
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Updated Coronavirus Guidance
For GA Pilots And Instructors
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AOPA has released
updated guidance for GA and instructors
grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. Hyperlinked topics include advice on resuming and sustaining operations, handling airports with newly abbreviated control tower schedules and a list of local restrictions by state.
The resources include a full webinar on "Practical Considerations During the Covid Pandemic" when flying from point A to point B.
SAFE will keep members informed of critical developments for CFIs and flight schools as this fluid situation continues.
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FAA May/June Safety Briefing
May/June 2020 Focuses On Aviation Communication
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The May/June 2020 issue of FAA Safety Briefing focuses on the importance of proper communication in aviation and its critical role in furthering safety. Feature articles include a refresher on the basics of good "aviation" grammar, how to use correct phraseology to avoid confusion or misunderstandings, and how to best leverage the technology and equipment at your disposal to maximize communication efficiency and accuracy.
Among this month's articles - which were all written before the Coronavirus-19 pandemic - include:
The Importance of Speaking Plane-ly:
Aviation’s General Spoken Medium
Do You Suffer From Push-to-Talk Phobia?
Improve Your Aviation Communication with Virtual Reality
From Paddles to PEDs
:
A User’s Guide to Modern Day Aviation Communication Equipment
No-Go on the Radio
:
What Not to Say
Getting to Yes With NOTAMs:
Why They Matter and What’s in Store
The Century Club:
It’s Not Your Father’s Flight Service
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Special FAR Confuses
FAA C-19 Guidance Is Confusing
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Do provisions of the 94-page Special FAR (SFAR) published by the FAA in May extend your CFI expiration date? How about your medical certificate? In each case, it depends.
Originally developed by long-time CFI Dan Namowitz, the flow charts have been updated as the pandemic continues.
"They're the best, most easily understandable guides for this 94-page document written in government-speak," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "Until our national nightmare is over, these flow charts will keep us legal."
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SAFE Single-Point Update
bit.ly/SAFEnow
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Just one short URL has been proving invaluable as SAFE distributes critical information for aviation educators during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic.
bit.ly/SAFEnow
collects all of SAFE's Tweets, Instagrams and Facebook posts, making any of them easily available to SAFE members and others. "It puts anything of interest to the instructional community out there, instantly," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. "One stop shopping for the latest info of interest to CFIs. Pretty cool, huh?"
The URL is
bit.ly/SAFEnow
and displays SAFE news from all media instantly.
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Smoking Wires Inflight
Pandemic Cleaning Cited
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An ASRS alert bulletin issued last month warns that an alcohol rubdown on electrical parts of the aircraft in these days of the Coronavirus-19 pandemic might have unintended consequences.
It displays an ASRS report filed by a commercial flight captain reporting "(At) cruise, smelled like wire burning. (We) put masks on (and) opened the windows. Opened door, smell dissipated, deplaned. Mechanic found wires burnt. He told me Maintenance Control advised him this (has happened to several) airplanes. They believe alcohol from sanitizing wipes is shorting out wires."
Garmin issued an advisory last month recommending no more than a damp cloth for cleaning avionics, using only 70% isopropyl alcohol without ammonia. They caution that ammonia will harm the anti-reflective coating on many Garmin aviation displays.
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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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Rochelle Oslick of Oxnard, California earned her initial designation as a
Master Instructor - Aerobatic
on May 18, 2020.
Rochelle learned to fly at the Edwards AFB Flying Club while stationed there as a USAF Flight Test Engineer. She started flying tailwheel / aerobatic airplanes at Santa Paula Airport in 1988. As an aerospace engineer, her work included service with Lockheed, Douglas Aircraft and Boeing, so she has excellent familiarity with several airports in southern California and in western Washington.
In 2003, Rochelle started flight instructing part-time, mostly in tailwheel and aerobatic airplanes, in the Seattle area. After retiring from Boeing, Rochelle returned to her favorite airport, KSZP, and is currently a CFI providing flight training at CP Aviation.
For more information on the Master Instructors Continuing Education Program,
click here
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David St. George of Ithaca, NY, renewed his Master Instructor certification for the 12
th
time on May 19. That represents 24 years of continuous certification.
David, an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner and former Chief CFI of a successful Part 141 flight school, specializes in mentoring CFIs and training pilots in technically advanced and tailwheel aircraft.
He is currently Executive Director of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and flies for Northern Safety out of Rome, NY.
Master CFIs are recognized as outstanding aviation educators for not only their teaching excellence but their continuous learning activity, both for themselves and their clients. An MCFI designation must be renewed biennially but serves as an FAA-approved means of revalidating CFI certificates.
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Ian Billington a CFI based at Mesa, Arizona, has been designated a Master Instructor for the first time.
Ian is an Advanced Instructor Pilot with Aviation Performance Solutions where he teaches all facets of Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) in the Extra 300L. He provides training in both the simulator and in the classroom.
His dream of flying began early in life and was pursued at the Air Force Academy, followed by Active Duty and the National Guard, where he earned thousands of hours as an instructor in the T-6 Texan II and the F-16 Viper. He resides in Arizona with his wife Kimberly, his son Lauden, his baby daughter Isla, and their four Labrador Retrievers.
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