If you are planning on attending Sun-N-Fun this year and can devote some time to help out in the SAFE tent during the event, please visit the SAFE website (link below) to sign up.  Volunteers will receive a SAFE shirt or hat, custom name badge*, and special recognition at the SAFE breakfast.  Don't miss this opportunity to spend time with fellow educators and Board Members.

*Custom name badges, compliments of Russ Still at Gold Seal Flight, will be provided to each volunteer who has signed up not later than two weeks prior to the event. Deadline is March 10,2012.

 

There was a lot of traffic on the web (blogs, email, websites) recently due to an interpretation of a recent change/update the FAA published to 14 CFR 61.57. The FAA has cleared this up by confirming that there is no change to the meaning of the  regulation -- only a technical correction.  The meaning of the rule had not changed.  

Specifically, if a pilot goes out of his six-month Instrument recency of experience requirement, he has an additional six months to complete the tasks/maneuvers needed to regain the recency experience requirements through the use of a safety pilot, or simulator/training device. Note: the pilot is non-current during this time period and cannot act as PIC of an aircraft operating under IFR, or in weather conditions that are less than those prescribed for VFR.  If the pilot does not complete all of the tasks/maneuvers in that six-month period, he can only regain currency by obtaining an IPC.

For more information please see the link: FAA technical correction to 61.57

From time to time, an aviation safety advocate will propose a new generic checklist for dealing with emergencies.

About once a year, an aviation columnist will write a well-reasoned piece against checklists.

The 21st Century Instructor Series will feature checklists as its topic for the second segment.  Besides chiding students for not using the pre-flight checklist, what are your best practices for checklist usage?

• Checklist or Flow Plus Checklist?
• Which Checklists do you allow (or demand)memorization?
• Do you require they use checklists in the POH?
• What are your favorite third-party checklists?
• Do you allow or encourage clients to make their own checklists?
• How do you brief safety checklists (ABC, PARE, etc.)?
• What's your biggest complaint about checklists?
• What is the most glaring item missing from checklists?
• Tell us a checklist success story.

The first one is the abbreviated version located in the Find a SAFE Educator look-up table. It contains the basic information you provided when you joined; your name, location, email and phone number, and the kind of teaching you usually do. You get a Find a SAFE Educator listing by joining; everything else is automatic.

 

But there is another profile, one that you create yourself, with much more information, including a picture if you wish. It's called your SAFE Member Profile. These greatly expanded profiles are your best marketing tool. They are found on the website, from the Home page, under the Learn About Members tab, Member Profiles Directory. Once on the directory page, you will find two listings; New System Profiles and Old System Profiles. Profiles created under our old membership management software system are unfortunately not editable. The only way to change them is to re-enter the entire profile. The good news is that any profile entered after August of 2011 is in fact a New System Profile and is fully editable, field by field.

 

If you have never created a detailed SAFE profile for yourself, you should take a few minutes and do it. Go to the www.safepilots.org home page and login. In the yellow box to the right click on Manage Your Account. In the screen that comes up, select Submit SAFE Profile at the upper-left. Fill in the expanded data, answer the questions, and upload a photo. Now your potential students and others will have all the information you want them to have.

 

For those of you who have an Old System profile, you are encouraged to enter a new one. This is a good opportunity to update your information. A re-entered profile automatically comes into the New System, and hereafter will be fully editable as your information changes over time. Your old profile will be removed by our webmaster when she periodically checks and sees that a new one has been entered.

 

Thanks for being a member of SAFE.

 

Larry Bothe, SAFE Treasurer

FAA Mobile is an easy-to-use mobile website that provides quick access to popular FAA.gov tasks for aviation enthusiasts on-the-go.  You can look up N-numbers, find Advisory Circulars, browse airport delays and more.

You can find FAA mobile at: FAA Mobile

 

 

Santa Paula, CA-The Chamber of Commerce for the City of Santa Paula, CA recently named CP Aviation, Inc. its 2011 Business of the Year. Presented annually since 1983, CP Aviation is only the second airport business in Santa Paula to receive such recognition. The flight school will be honored at an awards luncheon on February 7, 2012.

 

Started by Clay Phelps in 1987, this year also marks CP Aviation's 25th anniversary on the Santa Paula Airport. The business has thrived through five U.S. Presidencies, two significant economic downturns, the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and a flood that washed away one-third of the airport's only runway. Perhaps best known for its world-renowned Emergency Maneuver Training and tailwheel transition programs, CP Aviation is a full-service, Part 61 FBO and Cessna Pilot Center.

Nowadays, Phelps manages the maintenance side of the business, while wife Judy Phelps manages the flight school side. The operation currently has 25 employees and 19 aircraft. Rental aircraft range from the Cessna 162 Skycatcher to the Cessna 182RG, and from the 7ECA Citabria to the Pitts S-2B. The fleet logs 6,000 hours annually. CP Aviation has a Designated Pilot Examiner on staff, and is home to two National Flight Instructors of the Year: Judy Phelps (2011) and Rich Stowell (2006), both of whom are Master Aerobatic Instructors and Charter Members of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE).

 

According to Clay Phelps, "Our business is really about building relationships. We have been privileged to operate from an historic general aviation airport located in a scenic valley, work with a very supportive local community, attract wonderful employees, and enjoy the best customers a business could ask for." CP Aviation is planning a 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 2nd.