Incentive Provides 37 Minutes of Practical Information to Pilots

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) recently announced that it is providing new and renewing members with complimentary copies of the 37-minute CD, “Flying Tips.” Produced and donated to SAFE by GoldSealFlight.com, the CD features sixteen audio tips recorded by SAFE member and Master Instructor Rich Stowell on subjects ranging from human factors, to the fundamentals of aircraft control, to flying in the traffic pattern, and more.

The next 200 aviation educators to join or renew with SAFE will each receive three copies of the CD. According to SAFE Executive Director Doug Stewart, “We are grateful to Gold Seal for personalizing the CDs with the SAFE logo, and hope that our new and renewing members will pass the extra copies along to their students.”

SAFE represents nearly 700 of the industry’s top aviation educators in 49 states and nine foreign countries. The membership includes the majority of Master Instructors as well as numerous local, regional, and national General Aviation Awards winners. SAFE also administers a needs-based, mentoring program for aviation educators and is leading the Pilot Training Reform Initiative.

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FMI:     http://www.safepilots.org/join-safe/reasons/

Responses from Key Stakeholders were Substantive, Positive

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has published a progress report based on comments received from key industry and FAA stakeholders to the six proposed projects distilled from the Pilot Training Reform Symposium held earlier this year. The ten-page update summarizes the responses received from stakeholders and SAFE’s analysis of those responses, and identifies additional concerns and recommendations.

According to the progress report, “SAFE is encouraged by the comments received [and] the related training reforms that are currently underway.” AOPA, Aviation Supplies & Academics, Cessna Aircraft, CFI Professional Accreditation Committee, Cirrus Aircraft, Diamond Aircraft, EAA, FAA, FAA Safety Team, Flight School Association of North America, GAMA, Gleim Publications, King Schools, MCFI Jeanne MacPherson, and Sporty’s Academy all provided responses to SAFE.

The report goes on to commend AOPA for instituting its Flight Training Student Retention Initiative; the GA Joint Steering Committee for implementing the Safety Analysis Team; the FAA for initiating the knowledge test Aviation Rulemaking Committee; and representatives from AOPA, Cessna, Master Instructors LLC, and the University Aviation Association for forming the CFI Professional Accreditation Committee.

However, the SAFE report also warns that the long-term success of training reform depends on defined benchmarks, greater collaboration, and grassroots implementation. Engaged stakeholders are encouraged to press on with their initiatives. Stakeholders who have thus far chosen not to participate in the reform process are urged to commit to this effort in a meaningful way.

SAFE plans to issue another progress report in 2012.

Download the progress report

FMI: www.PilotTrainingReform.org, www.SafePilots.org, http://vimeo.com/channels/safe/

SAFE to Provide Detailed Report-Out in 30 Days

Following the Pilot Training Reform Symposium in Atlanta last May, SAFE issued a 35-page preliminary report to government and industry stakeholders with a request for action. Recipients were given 90 days to respond to the six projects distilled from two days of intense work by more than 150 symposium attendees.

According to Training Reform Committee Chair Bob Wright, “By the September 30th deadline, SAFE has received substantive responses from various segments of the aviation industry, with commitments from FAA, AOPA, and a few others to provide their responses in a matter of days.” Once the outstanding responses have been received, SAFE will issue another public report in 30 days. That report will include the next set of action items and milestones in the reform process. Wright noted, “SAFE will continue to push training reform with our stakeholder partners on an aggressive timetable.”

As the organization spearheading the Training Reform Initiative, SAFE represents nearly 700 of the industry’s top aviation educators from 49 states and nine foreign countries, including the majority of Master Instructors as well as numerous local, regional, and national General Aviation Awards winners.

FMI: http://vimeo.com/channels/safe/, www.PilotTrainingReform.org, www.SafePilots.org

Application Packets due at Local FSDOs by September 30th

The deadline for applications for the 2012 General Aviation Awards Program (GAAP) is September 30, 2011. Begun in 1963, the GA Awards program has evolved into a joint program between the aviation industry and the FAA to recognize excellence in four categories: Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year, Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year, FAASTeam Representative of the Year, and Avionics Technician of the Year. Applicants are evaluated against at least four required metrics: professional involvement, pro bono service to the aviation community, continuing education, and the strength of three letters of recommendation.

The annual awards process begins at local Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs), where applications are collected and local FAA personnel select their FSDO winners. FSDO winners are forwarded to FAA Regional offices where FAA personnel then select their Regional winners. Regional winners are then forwarded to the GAAP committee, which passes that information on to four panels of judges (one panel for each awards category). These industry judges—themselves previous National GAAP winners—then select the year’s National winners.

Those wishing to nominate deserving individuals in any of the four awards categories must ensure that application packets are received by their local FSDOs no later than September 30, 2011. Eligibility information and nomination forms are available at http://www.GeneralAviationAwards.org/page/nomination-forms.

In a letter from the IRS dated July 7, 2011, the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has learned that its application for tax exempt status has been approved. SAFE is now officially a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, classified as public charity under sub-section 509(a)(2). The effective date of the tax exempt status is October 8, 2010.

SAFE will soon announce several initiatives aimed at receiving tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers, and gifts consistent with its tax exempt status.

Six Projects Consolidated from Symposium Recommendations

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has announced the publication of its preliminary report stemming from the Pilot Training Reform Symposium. Thirty recommendations generated during the symposium have been consolidated into six project proposals intended to improve and modernize accident root cause analysis, flight reviews, doctrine and standards, flight instructor training and testing, flight instructor accreditation, and training curricula.

According to the Executive Summary, “the changes that may result from the proposed work require no lengthy regulatory change. Rather, they may be implemented via changes in policy, publications, and procedures.” The Summary continues, “it is important to acknowledge that these six projects do not constitute the whole of pilot training reform. Instead, these projects represent the beginning of a multi-year process that likely will branch off into other projects necessary to effect reform.”

Symposium protocols called for issuance of a preliminary report within 60 days of the event; SAFE volunteers, however, produced the document in half the scheduled time. Copies of the report will be transmitted to stakeholders identified as potential project leads/co-leads by June 15, 2011. Stakeholders will have until the end of September to respond regarding their involvement in the proposed projects. The 35-page report is available at http://www.pilottrainingreform.org/documents/Symposium_Prelim_Report_06Jun2011.pdf.

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Additional Background Information: Excerpt from Appendix A. Consolidated Symposium Recommendations

The Pilot Training Reform Symposium breakout groups generated thirty recommendations addressing safety, industry growth, doctrine, standards, curricula, and aviation educators. Each of the six groups reported out on their five top recommendations either to reduce fatal accidents, or to increase student starts and retention, or to serve both goals.

SAFE consolidated the thirty recommendations into six specific projects that can be acted on and implemented by FAA and/or industry groups. It is important to note that these projects can be achieved by non-regulatory FAA and industry actions, with an emphasis on correlation with accident root cause analysis, impact on the current pilot population as well as new entrants to general aviation, and implementation in a reasonable time frame.

Although SAFE did not want to lose the goals contained in the individual recommendations, we wanted to avoid duplication to ensure that scarce industry and FAA resources are properly and efficiently allocated, while still allowing symposium attendees to clearly see how their recommendations are being acted on. Thus the six projects incorporate all of the breakout group recommendations as individual elements. SAFE believes such consolidation offers the best means for accomplishing the objectives contained in the various recommendations.

The general aviation pilot training system is a crucial element that influences fatal accident causality, student pilot intake and retention, and the activities of the current pilot population. Accordingly, the following proposals focus on new pilot trainees, existing pilots, and the flight training community as a whole:

1. Conduct a thorough general aviation fatal accident root cause analysis to pinpoint underlying accident causality as a means to create effective remedial actions.
2. Create a new flight review option that can be enabled as an FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency award program.
3. Revise FAA doctrine and standards to implement scenario-based testing, risk management, and other higher order pilot skills.
4. Modify flight instructor doctrine, initial testing, and renewal procedures to include the teaching of higher order pilot skills.
5. Implement voluntary flight instructor professional accreditation programs and continuing education that emphasize higher order pilot skills, scenario training, and interpersonal relationship skills.
6. Create and implement model curricula that incorporate higher order pilot skills, scenario-based training, and integration of simulation and other teaching methods to include interpersonal relationship skills.

Videos Show Depth and Breadth of Pilot Training Reform Initiative

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) announces that high definition video of the Growth Panel has been uploaded to the 2011 SAFE Symposium channel. Moderated by Cessna Pilot Center Manager Julie Filucci, the hour-long presentation includes remarks by AOPA Director of Flight Training Initiatives Jennifer Storm; Sporty’s Academy President Eric Radtke; Redbird Flight Simulations Founder Jerry Gregoire; and Remos Aircraft COO Gretchen Jahn. View the Growth Panel video

Also available for viewing is the hour-long Safety Panel moderated by J.J. Greenway, Chief Flight Instructor and Safety Director at the AOPA Air Safety Institute. Panelists include Avemco President Jim Lauerman; Aerworthy Consulting’s Dr. Bill Rhodes; King Schools Co-Owner John King; and Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association President Dr. Carol Jensen. View the Safety Panel video

The Aero-News Network produced the various segments and is in the process of uploading the massive video files. In time, the entire symposium will be available for viewing on the SAFE Symposium channel.

Training Reform Symposium Continues to Yield Positive Results

As founding members and an early provider of member benefits of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE), Qref recently announced its support for the goals of pilot training reform. Consequently, Qref is now offering PDF versions of its syllabi and acclaimed checkride checklists at no charge.

Acting on a recommendation from the training reform symposium, Qref joins ASA, Sporty’s, and SAFE in providing free syllabi. According to a Qref representative, “We praise ASA’s and Sporty’s lead on this and challenge other courseware providers to similarly offer online versions of their syllabi at no charge. With a wide selection of syllabi freely available, instructors and students should be able to find syllabi that work best for them. All of aviation will benefit from this.”

Qref syllabi address all FAA requirements as well as the reality of learning to fly in today’s complex and highly regulated environment. With a combined thirty years of flight instructing experience, the syllabi have been excerpted from Flight Instructor Notebooks created by Bridgette Doremire and Gene Hudson. Additionally, Qref’s Instrument Rating Syllabus was designed for use with flight simulators, allowing students to practice in a simulator before proving their knowledge and skills in flight, thereby reducing costly flight hours. The free Qref syllabi and checklists for Private, Instrument, and Commercial are available at http://www.qref.com/aviation/lesson-plans/

FMI: www.PilotTrainingReform.org, www.qref.com

Safety Panel Available, Others to Follow

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has announced that the first in a series of high-definition videos of its Pilot Training Reform Symposium is now available for online viewing. Produced by the symposium’s official media partner, Aero-News Network, the Safety Panel has successfully been uploaded. In time, the entire symposium will be available for viewing.

The symposium proceedings were recorded using two HD cameras. Even with a high-speed Internet connection, the massive 62-minute Safety Panel video file alone required the better part of a day to upload. Additional segments are currently being uploaded and will populate a unique 2011 SAFE Symposium channel created on Vimeo.com. Viewers can select a number of options as well, including full screen, like, embed, and share.

Other post-symposium information is being posted to the training reform website as it becomes available. Moreover, the symposium committee is in the process of generating a preliminary report that will soon be publicly released.

In light of concerns raised about recent changes to the FAA’s Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) knowledge test, the FAA recently announced that six test questions have been withdrawn. This action comes as a result of consultation with academics and others who have expertise in test writing and validation. According to an email from FAA’s Stanley Roberts, “the FAA intends to involve the flight training industry and academia in the process of developing future revisions to testing and guidance documents.” The email continued, “The FAA is also developing more detailed knowledge test guides to assist airmen and aviation instructors in preparing for knowledge exams.”

The announcement is consistent with key recommendations presented by SAFE to the Airman Testing Standards Branch (AFS 630) on April 20th, as well as recommendations made during the SAFE-chaired Pilot Training Reform Symposium on May 4-5.