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At SAFE's annual membership meeting August 18, held via Zoom, Executive Director David St George announced the organization was "within a whisker's breadth" of reaching 3,000 members, a milestone he pre-announced just as SAFE was celebrating its 10th year. (The actual 3,000th SAFE member signed up on August 29th, 11 days after the annual meeting).

Treasurer Parvez Dara and several SAFE Board members described the remarkable growth of the organization in the last several years for the 72 SAFE members attending the virtual meeting.

"SAFE's stature in the flight instruction world is partly due to the resources we've gathered to help professional CFIs become extraordinarily successful," said Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications Director. Highlights of SAFE activity for the year included:

The coveted SAFE Founder's Award was presented in the meeting to Treasurer Parvez Dara, who has tracked SAFE's ascent since first joining the Board in 2015.

Former SAFE board member David Dempsey emphasized the need for continuing volunteer participation. "It is in our DNA," he said, "SAFE was founded on the principle of full-member involvement since we elect our board from the members." Dempsey asked for volunteers for the committees and especially the Governance group. The high-time SAFE Board member was honored during the meeting with the SAFE Service Award.

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A unique perspective from the insurance industry may help CFIs decide which pilot skills deserve extra attention, based on a measure not usually considered in flight training: which errors cause the biggest insurance premium hikes.

AOPA's Air Safety Institute has released the five-minute Costliest Insurance Claims video which reveals which aircraft insurance accidents are most costly.

Not surprisingly, the most expensive accident claims are flight into terrain, crashes on approach, inflight breakup and weather-related crashes, where loss of life is likely. But there are relatively few of those big-payout cases, so they're not the major part of an insurance company's premium-setting decisions.

The most common and thus expensive aircraft accident insurance claims were non-fatal accidents causing lots of engine or hull damage. Examples include:

To avoid prop strikes and gear-up landings, ASI suggests checking gear down indications at several points in the pattern, pledge not to perform cockpit tasks while taxiing and landing on speed/centerline.

See also the recent SAFE Blog "The Killers" which focuses on serious safety items often neglected during flight reviews.

The large aerobatics and unusual attitude training provider Aviation Performance Solutions, based in Arizona, is surveying CFIs and other pilots on the impact of COVID-19 on inflight operational safety.

"Your personal perspective is needed in this investigation," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director. "APS promises to protect your privacy, with only high-level, generalized results shared with participants."

To take the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GHZLYP5

SAFE Instructors who answered last month's quiz were almost evenly split in their opinions of listening to tunes while flying. The results: a 51%-49% split. (Numbers rounded).

Red represents the 45% of SAFE members who flatly reject tunes in the cockpit, saying any distraction is bad. Another 6% (yellow) would allow listening only during NORDO flights. All naysayers totaled 51% of CFIs responding to the survey.

The Green sectors represent the 49% of SAFE CFIs who saw no problem with listening to entertainment while enroute, if VFR in uncongested airspace and not occupied by ATC. Lighter green represents the 15% of instructors who said they unreservedly OK'd tunes while flying.

For those on the "don't even think about it" side of this controversy, we found some supporting evidence, sort of. An early June accident near Duluth MN, involving an Icon A5 LSA, blamed an entertainment device for the crash. The pilot had been washing his airplane at the dock while enjoying tunes blaring from portable speakers he had set on top of the airplane.

Apparently the pilot failed to remove the speakers before firing up the popular amphibian, said the NTSB. The speakers slid from the top of the airplane and into the rear-mounted prop blades about five seconds after the pilot applied full power for takeoff. All three prop blades departed the aircraft after a "loud bang," the pilot reported. The amphibian sank after the aborted takeoff due to holes punched in the fuselage by the departing props. Fortunately, said police, the pilot could swim.

A detailed guide for CFIs using Zoom for teaching has been released as the newest SAFE member benefit.

The comprehensive guide, free to SAFE members. includes the basics of setting up a Zoom teaching session, with multiple practical tips added, such as camera placement. "There's nothing more frustrating for your student than spending the whole session looking up your nostrils," said David St George, SAFE Executive Director.

Assertiveness during the session is key for instructors. "We have to teach differently in this space," said St. George. "It’s like the difference between teaching in a small classroom and teaching in a large auditorium. In the auditorium, we have to project our voice, perhaps exaggerate our expressions, and move about the stage to address different segments of the audience. Different spaces demand different approaches. The primary solution for this clumsiness that comes with the videoconference classroom is to become more assertive in how we lead our students." SAFE did two Zoom video presentations of the SAFE CFI-PRO™ Program this month.

A new production of the FAA's CFI-friendly series "In 57 seconds..." provides valuable information and advice on finding and using all available weather services.

The 57-second productions are hosted by FAA's Phil Dixon, an operations inspector at the FAA's Memphis FSDO office. They are 57-second explanations of topics essential to safe flying. All are on YouTube, free and invaluable as additional helps for students. A downloadable electronic "enhancement topic" accompanies the free video.

Previous productions have included just-under-a-minute explanations of flying patterns precisely, the WINGS proficiency program, Safety Wiring, Mountain Flying, stabilized approach and landing, pilot proficiency training and regulatory roadblock reduction.

SAFE is delighted to report to members that CFIs are now listed as "essential workers" in the latest version of the Department of Homeland Security's guide, issued August 18. Their status had been in doubt since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Because CFIs weren’t specifically listed in earlier DHS coronavirus guidance, but instead under another section, flight training industry professionals were left to guess whether they could continue operation during that time. As a result of the lack of clarity (along with health concerns), some schools closed while others remained open. Recent reports from across the country indicate the flight training industry is flourishing despite the mass layoffs due to Covid 19.

SAFE has campaigned since April for CFIs to be listed as essential on the DHS web site.

In Charleston WV, (KCRW) a 3-year-old border collie named Hercules is bringing back the tradition of an airport dog, patrolling KCRW's perimeters to chase away birds and wildlife that attack moving aircraft. Recent-year collisions at CRW have pitted all types of aircraft against hawks, cuckoos, a chimney swift, at least two coyotes, two deer, three bats, three geese, a yellow bellied sapsucker and a ruby crowned kinglet.

With Hercule's arrival at KCRW, though, that changed and the airport reported "an astounding" zero bird or coyote strikes through its third fiscal quarter, thanks to the collie. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that the dog harassed nearly 900 birds and other animals during the quarter, chasing them away from airport operations.

Adam Ruscitti of Rockford IL completed a fifth renewal of his Master Instructor designation in August, marking a decade as a Master Instructor.

Ruscitti is a SAFE member specializing in training and mentoring owners and operators transitioning into single-pilot light jets, as we as offering initial jet type ratings and recurrent jet training. He is also a B-737 captain with a major airline.

He holds an ATP certificate with type ratings in thirteen aircraft, including single-pilot ratings in the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300, Citation Mustang, Citation CJ series, Beechcraft Premier and the Eclipse 500.

The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA. Candidates must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth, and service to the aviation community, and must pass a rigorous evaluation by a peer Board of Review. To learn more, go to Master Instructors.