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Society of Aviation and Flight Educators eNewsletter
IN THIS ISSUE
Destructive Winds at SnF
SAFE Mentoring Program
FAA Releases New AC
Changes to Website
Members in the News
Recent Master Instructors
About reCAPTCHA
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POST SUN-N-FUN ISSUE, April 16, 2011  

SAFE represents nearly 600 of the industry's top aviation educators, including numerous local and national General Aviation Award winners in the flight instruction, aviation maintenance, avionics, and FAA Safety Team categories. SAFE is also chairing the Pilot Training Reform Symposium in Atlanta, GA on May 4-5, 2011.

Destructive Winds Ravage Sun-n-Fun
SAFE Tent Among the Casualties

Aftermath of SnF Storm   

by Doug Stewart, SAFE Chair

As many of you have probably heard by now, an intense storm ripped through Sun-n-Fun on the third day of the event, causing significant property damage. Injuries were thankfully few; no one at the SAFE tent was injured. The tent and its contents (including electronic equipment), however, were all but destroyed.

 

Our organization was born from adversity when a small but dedicated group coalesced to form SAFE. Our membership is replete with "doers" as evidenced by how far SAFE has come in just two years. So a mere tent wrecked by Mother Nature's fury was no match for this organization of doers:

  • The tent was resurrected from the soggy earth and open for business by late morning on following day, thanks to the efforts of Sun-n-Fun staff and SAFE volunteers.
  • The SAFE breakfast went on as scheduled in spite of a three-hour, storm-related traffic jam.
  • A press conference to announce the availability of our new Aviation Educator Mentoring Program went on as scheduled.

On behalf of SAFE I want to acknowledge and thank the wonderful help of all those who volunteered their time and energy to make the SAFE exhibit a success: Glenna Blackwell, Bill Castlen, Cliff Chetwin, Jim Covington, Alan Davis, Chuck Ebbeke, Richard Funcheon, Rob Lindstrom, Ralph Polmiller, Jonathan Shorey, and Jack VanDeventer. A very special thanks to Debbie and Keith Peterson, who showed up at the damaged tent site before the wind and rain had stopped and proceeded to help rescue all that was salvageable.  

SAFE Mentoring Program Now a Reality
Mentors to be Paired with Mentees Based on Need

SAFE Chair Doug Stewart unvelied the SAFE Aviation Educator Mentoring Program during a Sun-n-Fun press conference. This first-ever, nationwide effort provides support, leadership, and professional guidance for aviation educators. The program is currently available only to SAFE members, but may be expanded in the future.

 

According to Mentoring Program Committee Chair Donna Wilt, "We are very excited about this program." She added, "The Mentoring Program was developed based on input from members who participated in a needs survey last year." The goal is to match those seeking mentoring with experienced educators who have the specific expertise being sought.

 

To learn more about program, or to apply to be a mentor or a mentee, visit http://www.safepilots.org/programs/safe-initiatives/mentoring-program

FAA Releases New Advisory Circular
"Airmen Transition to Experimental or Unfamiliar Airplanes"

Working in cooperation with industry, the FAA has released a brand new Advisory Circular (AC) "in record time." According to the FAA, the new advisory circular provides "needed guidance to owners and pilots of experimental airplanes and to flight instructors who teach in these airplanes [emphasis added]." This is important information for SAFE member-instructors. The AC is available on the SAFE website.

Changes to SAFE Website
  

We've made a number of changes to the SAFE website, including:

  1. Adding a new main menu tab labeled "Bulletins, NPRMs, Etc." for links to public documents that may be of interest.
  2. Eliminating the "Governance" menu tab and placing governance pages under the "About SAFE" tab.
  3. Eliminating the "Networking" tab and adding a "Networking" widget to the sidebar with links to our Forums, Member Directory, and Social Networking pages.
  4. Rearranging the order of several main menu tabs.
SAFE Members in the News

Montana Pilot of the Year: Member and Master Instructor Jeanne MacPherson of Helena, MT was recently named 2011 Montana Pilot of the Year by the Montana Pilots Association. The award "honors a pilot, who through many years of dedication, has made significant contributions to aviation in Montana, and perhaps in other areas. This award epitomizes our thoughts for someone who shares their intelligence and energies in community and/or education projects." MacPherson recently retired from the MT Division of Aeronautics and now operates Mountain Airdance LLC.

 

Training U.S. Air Force Pilots: Member Lori MacNichol of McCall, ID has been providing flight instruction to Air Force pilots since last fall, and will be conducting training through the 2011 flying season. Training includes confined area operations, overhead surveillance, and short field take off, landing and ground handling techniques. According to MacNichol, who owns and operates McCall Mountain/Canyon Flying Seminars, "the mission is to give the pilots and their crews the tools and real time experience they need to maneuver in and out of some very tight areas." She added, "I am proud to be able to help our country's fine young service men. This opportunity is the pinnacle of my teaching career." 

 

Back from New Zealand: Member and Master Aerobatic Instructor Rich Stowell recently returned from 18 days on New Zealand's North Island. During his visit, Stowell conducted 16 hours of safety seminars and 8 hours of preflight briefings to more than 170 Kiwi pilots. Stowell also flew 38 sorties in 19 different airplanes from five airports, logging 31 hours, 75 landings, and 114 spins over lush green paddocks. Amazingly, no Sic-Sacs were deployed during the training flights. 

Recent Master Instructor Designations
Congratulations to These SAFE Members

Chuck Ebbecke, Santa Rosa Beach, FL -- Two-time MCFI
Tom Hendershot, Lone Tree, CO -- Initial MAE
Tom Karcz, Salina, KS -- Initial MCFI
Elaine Kauh, Green Bay, WI -- Initial MCFI
Ed Murphy, Palm Beach Gardens, FL -- Initial MCFI-H
Quay Snyder, Monument, CO -- Five-time MCFI
Greg Soter, Orem, UT -- Four-time MCFI
Matt Wise, Tulsa, OK -- Two-time MCFI

All recently earned their designations through SAFE benefits provider Master Instructors LLC.
A Word About reCAPTCHA
Challenge-Response Generator Cuts Down on Spam

reCAPTCHA is the automatic challenge-response test (e.g., "type in the characters you see above") plugged in at the end of many of SAFE's  forms to ensure they are not being submitted by a computer spam bot. This greatly reduces the amount of spammed forms volunteers have to wade through to get to legitimate submissions from our members.

 

reCAPTCHA characters, however, can sometimes be difficult to discern. SAFE has no control over the character generator, but users do have some control over the reCAPTCHA generator.

 

CAPTCHA

 

The generator shown in the graphic above has a column of three blue boxes on the right side of the character box. Clicking the top button (a circle with arrows) generates a new set of characters. You can continue do this if necessary until a character string appears that is easier to discern. Clicking the bottom button (the question mark) will provide further information/instructions about using reCAPTCHA.

Copyright SAFE, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.
[email protected] -- [email protected] -- www.SafePilots.org
 

Have a SAFE day!


Doug Stewart, Chair
Society of Aviation and Flight Educators