Flight School also Celebrates 25 Years in Business

NEWS—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.

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) presented its 2011 awards during the organization’s annual dinner meeting held in Oshkosh, WI. More than 120 members and guests applauded the efforts of the following individuals:

• Robert Wright, Founders Award, in recognition for selfless service in support of SAFE’s Mission and Vision. Wright chairs SAFE’s Pilot Training Reform Symposium committee, which not only orchestrated a highly publicized gathering of key government and industry stakeholders in Atlanta last May, but also continues to advance the training reform initiative.
• Glenna Blackwell, Service Award, in recognition for outstanding contribution and selfless service to SAFE. Blackwell designed the logos, graphics, and promotional materials for SAFE as well as the Pilot Training Reform Symposium.

According to SAFE Chair Doug Stewart, who presented plaques to the recipients, “Our Awards program recognizes outstanding or unique contributions to the growth and promotion of the organization in particular, or to the broader aviation community as a whole.” He continued, “Bob Wright and Glenna Blackwell are volunteers, and SAFE greatly appreciates their tremendous contributions of time and talent.”

SAFE represents nearly 700 of the industry’s top aviation educators, including the majority of Master Instructors as well as numerous local and national General Aviation Awards winners. SAFE is also leading the Pilot Training Reform initiative.

“Go-Arounds” Created by Michael Phillips

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) recently delivered the third of eight planned “Seminar-in-a-Box” (SIB) products for use by the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam). Entitled Go-Arounds, the SIB was created by Master Instructor Michael Phillips, who has provided more than 4,900 hours of flight instruction, 2,000 of which have been in high performance aircraft. Pilot Workshops has also contributed two audio tips from aviation safety expert Bob Martens.

The FAA has identified loss of control during the initial climb as a top fatal accident category. According to Phillips, “The go-around might seem to be such a fundamental exercise, yet it can prove fatal if mishandled. We need to focus more attention on go-around decision making and piloting skills.” Other SAFE members have likewise volunteered to develop and present new CFI Forum topics.

The SIBs are designed to facilitate interactive discussion among instructors, examiners, and FAASTeam members on topics related to flight training and accident prevention. Prior to nationwide deployment, each SIB is reviewed and accepted by AFS-850. The next product being developed by SAFE will address takeoffs and landings.

Anyone interested in either developing or presenting a CFI Forum should contact SAFE Chair Doug Stewart.

“Excellence in Communications” goes to Guy Maher

The Helicopter Association International (HAI) recently announced the 50th anniversary winners of its “Salute to Excellence” awards program. According to HAI President Matt Zuccaro, “Since helicopters first flew, this industry’s members have been using exceptional skill and dedication to aid and support the public greater good.” Zuccaro went on, “The latest honorees continue that outstanding tradition.”

SAFE member Guy R. Maher of Vertical magazine and Lanier Media has earned the Excellence in Communications award. A widely known and respected aviation photojournalist, Maher has spent 30 years providing a vital and unique firsthand perspective on the helicopter industry, while tangibly promoting a focus on safety.

Maher and other winners will be honored on March 7th during the HELI-EXPO 2011, in Orlando, FL.

Prevalent in Flight Instructor & FAASTeam Rep Categories

The General Aviation Awards committee recently announced the Regional winners for 2011. Twenty-five individuals are representing seven FAA Regions in the Flight Instructor, FAASTeam Representative, Aviation Maintenance Technician, and Avionics categories. One-in-four of the winners is a member of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE).

According to SAFE Chair Doug Stewart, “SAFE congratulates all of the 2011 Regional GA Award winners. We are especially proud of our members in this year’s class, who now join the ranks with many fellow award-winning SAFE members.”

Members awarded in the Regional Flight Instructor of the Year category:

• MCFI/MGI Ted Matthews from Colorado
• Janice Newman from New Hampshire
• MCFI-A Judy Phelps from California
• Mike Wagers from Kentucky.

Members awarded in the Regional FAASTeam Representative of the Year category:

• MCFI Bill Schroeder from Nevada
• MCFI Vicki Sherman from Florida.

Formed in 2009, SAFE represents nearly 550 of the industry’s top aviation educators. The organization has negotiated member benefits from two dozen providers, including a robust flight instructor liability insurance program. SAFE is also chairing the GA Pilot Training Reform Symposium in Atlanta, GA on May 4-5, 2011.

Four-Part Program is WINGS-Approved

Members of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) recently developed an online course for the FAA Safety Team entitled, Night Vision Goggles (NVGs). Night vision technologies can offer great safety enhancements for select nighttime flight operations. If not properly used, however, NVGs have the potential to cause accidents.

According to course content creator Pat Knight, who is a Master Instructor and Designated Pilot Examiner, “Operational use of NVGs should be undertaken only after pilots have received extensive ground and in-flight training with the equipment. The new course provides an important part of the overall training required.” The presentation incorporates a review of pilot vision with video incorporated from the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI), including details of night vision, impairments of night vision, and principles of dark adaptation. The course explains the basic operation of NVGs, how they increase safety during nighttime missions, how an accident can occur when misusing or failing to use NVGs, the advantages and limitations of NVGs, and the operations, training, and currency requirements from the Code of Federal Regulations.

Master Instructor Russ Still of The Gold Seal Aviation Network packaged the content into the final product for use by the FAA Safety Team. The NVG course is divided into four parts: Introduction, Section One–Video, Section Two–Course Material, and Review/Exam. The course is available at FAASafety.gov.

SAFE represents more than 500 of the industry’s top aviation educators, including numerous local and national General Aviation Award winners in the flight instructor, aviation maintenance, avionics, and FAA Safety Team categories. SAFE is also chairing the GA Pilot Training Reform Symposium in Atlanta, GA on May 4-5, 2011.

For more information:

FAA Safety Team – www.FAASafety.gov

SAFE – www.SafePilots.org

SAFE Director John Dorcey on Aviation Advisory Board

As the airline industry braces for a shortage of pilots, Lakeland College announces the establishment of Wisconsin’s only four-year college aviation program.

In a partnership with Frontline Aviation, a flight school with locations at the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport and Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport, Lakeland will offer an aviation minor. The program will prepare students for professional careers in aviation and give them the added benefit of a four-year college degree.

“Research suggests that the airline industry needs more pilots, but they want pilots with four-year college degrees,” said Kathy Rath Marr, chair of Lakeland’s Natural Science division. “Graduates from Lakeland’s program will have the technical skills needed to fly, along with the critical thinking and other academic skills that come with a four-year liberal arts education.”

A recent study by the International Civil Aviation Organization reported that between 2010-2030 airlines around the world will need an average of 49,900 pilots per year, and current training is not keeping pace with that need.

“The pilot population is aging and heading towards retirement, and the economy has resulted in less people learning to fly,” said Bruce Bressler, president of Jet Air Group, Frontline’s parent corporation. “The industry faces a fairly substantial deficit of pilots to work for commercial airlines and other flying careers in the future. This program is for students who are considering aviation as a career or simply as a personal endeavor.”

“Over the next 20 years, the demand for pilots will be as great as it’s ever been in the history of aviation,” said 2009 Lakeland graduate John Dorcey, operations manager at Winnebago County’s Wittman Regional Airport and a flight instructor for 35 years. Dorcey is part of Lakeland’s nine-member aviation advisory board, a talented collection of aviation industry experts that informed Lakeland’s program.

“There is a higher demand for air travel, and people are waiting in longer lines in airports,” said Dorcey, who spent 22 years as an aviation consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. “The timing for the creation of this program is ideal.”

Lakeland will offer aviation courses beginning in the fall of 2011. Since students must pursue a four-year degree, they can enroll at Lakeland and begin their general studies and major coursework as early as this spring.

Bressler said the four-year degree will provide graduates of the Lakeland program a broad academic foundation that will allow them to explore a variety of aviation careers.

“Aviation is not just flying airplanes, it’s a host of endeavors above and beyond becoming a pilot,” Bressler said. “Aviation students learn about weather, the physics of flying and managing a business that uses aircraft. The coursework they will be taking as part of their major will be invaluable in their development as pilots.”

In considering this new program of study, Lakeland realized that is has two advantages – access to diverse airport facilities and airspaces, such as the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport (SBM) and Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) in Green Bay, and Wisconsin’s dynamic weather.

Sheboygan County has a long aviation history. The airport, located six miles south of the college, has been a base for flight instruction, air charter, aircraft sales and service and fuel sales since its opening in 1960.

SBM is ranked as one of Wisconsin’s top 10 busiest airports and connects several of the state’s largest manufacturers to global markets. In addition, the airport is home to the Aviation Heritage Center, a hands-on learning facility offering educational and community programs and events, including an aviation museum, library and laboratory.

“This area is blessed with a beautiful facility,” Dorsey said. “The lack of scheduled commercial air traffic allows more time and space for a training environment, but we are a short flight away from busier facilities, such as Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport, that can give pilots experience working with a control tower.”

While you might think Wisconsin’s always-changing weather would be too challenging for a flight school, officials said it makes for an ideal location for flight training.

A contributing factor in the February 2009 regional airliner incident near Buffalo, N.Y. that killed 50 people was the pilots’ lack of experience in icing, a condition that is common for pilots in Wisconsin. The incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to require training in actual weather environments.

“We have it all – rain, snow, sleet, fog, high winds, thunderstorms,” Rath Marr said. “Obviously, learning how to make decisions based on the weather is an important factor in learning to be a professional pilot. Our students will be exposed to dynamic weather, which prepares them for the rigors of a professional aviation career.”

Lakeland’s aviation curriculum will mirror an industry shift in flight training that is leading to changes in curriculum and equipment used to teach student pilots.

“For the last 50-60 years, very little had changed in the way we taught people to fly,” Dorsey said. “We’re being forward thinking in the way we will present the ground school and integrating it with the flight portion using a variety of Frontline’s equipment. It will mirror the Student as Practitioner focus of Lakeland’s curriculum.”

Frontline, a division of Jet Air, will provide basic training aircraft to more advanced glass cockpit airplanes to multi-engine aircraft. “We are excited to be partnering with Frontline,” Rath Marr said. “Our students will be well served by this arrangement.”

Lakeland’s aviation minor is 31 credits of coursework, which includes ground school courses at Lakeland’s main Sheboygan County campus, and flight training at the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport.

For more information about Lakeland’s aviation program, including a list of courses and a video about the program, visit http://lakeland.edu/aviation.

SAFE member Thomas E. Hendershot of Littleton, Colorado, was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Historical Society’s Hall of Fame on October 23, 2010.

An independent FAA certificated flight instructor and ground instructor from the Denver area, Hendershot has given more than 6,200 hours of instruction and amassed more than 23,000 total flight hours. He is also an Airframe & Powerplant mechanic with inspection authorization (A&P/IA). A highly skilled aviation educator, Hendershot held a Master Certificated Flight Instructor (MCFI) designation from 2003 to 2007. His other accomplishments include:

• Being one of only a handful of individuals worldwide to receive both the FAA’s Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic award and the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot award
• Being named 2003 National Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) of the Year and serving on the General Aviation Awards selection committee for the annual National Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) of the Year
• Having been an Aviation Safety Counselor for decades and now serving as an FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) lead representative for both the operations and airworthiness safety programs in the Denver area.
• Currently acting as executive director of the AMT Society as well as serving as a long-time member of the board of directors of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA).
• Serving as a consultant on the AMT’s Model Code of Conduct.

Congratulations Tom!

Hendershot is flanked by fellow SAFE members JoAnn and Sandy Hill during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

In the SAFE booth at AirVenture, Wipotnik (seated to the left in the photo) sealed the deal with a handshake with Starr Aviation Solutions’ Jim Anderson as SAFE Chair Doug Stewart looked on.

At the SAFE dinner-meeting, Wipotnik was congratulated by Aviation Insurance Resources’ Chris Wolbert as Doug Stewart looked on.

The SAFE insurance plan offers up to 25% in discounts for SAFE members, including discounts for instructors who participate in the Master Instructor Program (administered by Master Instructors LLC), those who participate in the FAA Wings Program, and those who are claims free. Qualified members can also finance their premium payments. A few of the coverages under the SAFE plan include:

• Flight Instruction, checkouts, check rides, and personal or business use in single-engine and multi-engine landplanes, sailplanes, single-engine seaplanes, LSAs, standard and experimental categories
• Negligent Instruction Liability coverage (including ground instruction)
• $1,000 Medical Payments, including the insured CFI
• $1,000 Personal Effects (headphones, charts, handhelds, etc.)
• $25,000 Search and Rescue expense
• $25,000 Runway Foaming and Emergency expense
• $25,000 Damage to Hangars and Contents expense

The SAFE insurance program is made available to members through Aviation Insurance Resources and Starr Aviation Solutions and is underwritten by Chubb Insurance.

Nathan R Zucker, now a three-time Master CFI.  Nate provides both initial transition training and advanced instruction in technically advanced aircraft (TAA) with Platinum Aviation at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE).  In addition, he administers flight checks for pilots completing Platinum’s Cirrus transition training.

Jonathan E Shorey, now a first-time Master CFI. Jonathan is a flight instructor anad contract pilot with FlightSource at Odessa-Schlemeyer Field (ODO) but will soon relocate to Saint Cloud, Florida. He also serves in the Texas Wing of the CAP and is a FAASTeam representative in the FAA’s Lubbock FSDO area.

Susan K Parson, now a four-time Master CFI and Master Ground Instructor. Susan is a special assistant to the FAA’s Flight Standards director as well as an independent flight and ground instructor in the Leesburg Virginia area. She also serves with the Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing and is a FAASTeam representative in the Washington FSDO area.

David St George, now a seven-time Master CFI and Master Ground Instructor. David is the chief flight instructor with East Hill Flying Club, a Part 141 flight school at Ithaca’s Tompkins County Regional Airport (ITH).  He also serves as a designated pilot examiner and a FAASTeam representative in the Rochester FSDO area.

Joseph D Suarez, now a three-time Master CFI. Joe is a professor of aviation and an assistant chief flight instructor with the University of Dubuque’s Part 141 aviation program at Dubuque Regional Airport (DBQ).  He also serves as a FAASTeam representative in the FAA’s DesMoines FSDO area.

Timothy J Brill, now a first-time Master CFI-Aerobatic. Tim is the owner of the Aerobatic Company and Flight School, specializing in emergency maneuver and aerobatic training at Reno Stead Airport (RTS). He also serves as a FAASTeam representative in the FAA’s Reno FSDO area.

Patrick T Carter, now a two-time Master CFI-Aerobatic. Patrick owns Acroflights, where he specializes in unusual attitude and aerobatic training at Tri-City Airport (PPF) in Parsons, KS. He also works as a production test pilot for the Cessna Aircraft Company in Independence.