Three years ago, the FAA began a sweeping replacement and upgrade of their set of practical test standards booklets that describe the checkride process.  The new document, Airman Certification Standards (ACS), integrates the ground knowledge, flight skills, and risk management elements of every aspect of piloting, and serves as a pilot’s guide to the checkride.  As with any new document of this sweeping scope, the structure can seem intimidating without a high-level introduction.  That is what this seminar will bring. Are you close to doing your private pilot checkride?  Before you even demonstrate the required maneuvers for the DPE, you must answer questions demonstrating your knowledge based on the Airmen Certification Standards (ACS).  For many of us, we learned the material during ground school, retained some/most of it for the written test and somewhere along the way, forgot some of it.  In order to successfully pass the check ride, you must know ALL of the knowledge areas covered by ACS.

Nathan Flores is a Private Pilot who learned to live and breathe the ACS while preparing for his private pilot checkride.  His experiences can serve as your introduction to this important book, and the role it should be playing in your training process. The purpose of this seminar is to share my experience with the ACS and pass along my mistakes so you will be more prepared to pass the ground portion of your check ride.

Most pilots learn to fly at Class D or Class G airports.  At Class G airports, radios aren’t required.  And while Class D airports may be busy, it’s unlikely they have air carrier operations typically found at Class C and Class B airports.  Class D air traffic control towers only provide basic services to protect and coordinate use of the runway and the surrounding airspace.

Compared to Class D or G airports, Class B and Class C airports are busier, and have more structured rules for approaching, entering the airspace, and landing.  Even departures from Class B and Class C airports pose interesting new challenges for pilots who have only ever operated at Class D airports.

This seminar is the fourth in a series of SCFC’s Radio Communication Safety Seminars and focuses on Class B and C airport operations.  This seminar will help newer pilots understand the structure of radio calls at these airports and how to improve their own radio skills.

Herb Patten, Assistant Chief Pilot, AGI and CFI and Dan Dyer, Chief Pilot and CFI will walk participants through a foundation of the ATC services offered at these airports and the radio communication phraseology to use.  Learn how to make operate more cleanly and safely at these busy airports.

Are you the master of the skies? Or have you just met the minimum capability to be a Private Pilot. Challenge yourself! The Private Pilot certificate is a license to learn. Start on the path to add enough knowledge and skill to truly master the sky!

Last year, San Carlos Flight Center launched a Mastery Badge program for pilots who want to be the best pilot they can be. Although the FAA defines only the minimum standards for airman certification, and 70% is considered a passing grade on the Knowledge Test, SCFC thinks we should all aim a little higher. The Mastery Badge program defines the knowledge, risk awareness, and skills required to demonstrate that a pilot has reached the top of each of twelve mastery areas.

In this seminar, CFI Dan Dyer will introduce the standards that SCFC has set for Mastery of Powerplant operations. Pilots training for this Mastery Badge will develop high proficiency in:

Basic engine operation

Function of component subsystems

Various engine start scenarios and when to use them

Mixture management

Engine monitoring systems

Basic competency in these areas can often come quickly, even though mastery may take years and a different approach. We encourage you to invest in your knowledge and abilities, and refocus your attention on powerplant operations as you become your own master of the sky.

Is it that time again? Need to do a flight review but don’t want to sweat through the details? Do I really need to remember how the E6B works? Flight Calculations? FAR mumbo jumbo? VFR weather minimums?  CFI Sid Basu will unravel the details of what it will take to make your next flight review a walk in the park! Want to know what to read in advance? Check - Sid will cover that! Want to know the three ways to meet the legal requirements for completing the flight review? Check - Sid covers that. Want to know what to expect during the flight? Check - Sid covers that too! We all need to do a flight review on a regular basis so why not make this one a snap!

The IFR Rating is a logical next step for pilots after becoming a private pilot. Transitioning from flying with your eyes outside on the natural horizon to flying by reference to instruments is a big shift. There are new charts, new procedures, and a new set of regulations that need to be learned. Understanding nuances of weather and ATC communications becomes even more relevant for an IFR pilot.  Although the IFR Rating is challenging, earning it will definitely make you a safer pilot! It also opens up new options for departing on your cross country trip even when the weather is less than VFR.

Join Alyce Gershenson, Mike Lloyd, and Beth Kirkpatrick as they share their experience of working towards an IFR Rating. They will share the challenges they encountered and the rewards of the rating.

Every pilot wants to call an airplane their own, but with factory-built aircraft being so expensive, many turn to kit planes as a cheaper alternative. With most kit planes taking thousands of hours to build, a project like this requires a lot of planning, time, and commitment. In addition to building the plane, there are many regulations that need to be followed for the airplane to be airworthy.

Join Tim Roberts and Thomas Carlson from San Carlos Airport EAA Chapter 20 as they share their experience of building a kit plane and show the progress they have made in the “Build-a-Plane” program - an airplane build project with EAA and young people.

Have you ever wanted to win on Jeopardy?  Well now you have that chance, and the prize is a career as a professional Charter pilot.  Join us as master of ceremony Ben Taber reveals the top 35 questions used by intake recruiters to test pilot knowledge.  Do you have what it takes? Are you willing to risk your aviation reputation on the final Jeopardy?

But seriously, some of you may be interested in a future career as a professional pilot.  We have invited Ben Taber, noted aviation lecturer, to share with us the intake questionnaire used in screening pilot applicants at his charter organization.  Passing this quiz is the first step in the hiring process. It lets them weed out the future captains from the sky jockeys.

The Cessna 210 is a six-seat, high-performance, single engine, all-metal fixed-wing aircraft.  It is known as the Centurion and is known for having a high payload. For private pilots who are looking to travel farther and a little faster, this is a natural progression up from the Cessna 182 Skylane.

Last fall, San Carlos Flight Center brought online a 1979 Cessna T210 Turbo Centurion with a 285HP engine.  The Centurion is a complex, high performance airplane that is suitable for a variety of flight missions. It is well-equipped for IFR flights, and the cockpit is comfortable and stable.  If you are new to turbocharged aircraft, this will be a great introduction to the new engine components, instrumentation, and operating procedures.

Join CFI Stephen Heesacker as he reviews the systems of this aircraft and why it has earned its reputation as a workhorse in the industry.  This seminar is a fundamental part of the ground training required of pilots planning to get checked out and fly this aircraft at San Carlos Flight Center.

If you are taking allergy or asthma medications, are you aware the impact these medications have while flying? Allergies are a common issue that people deal with in life, and they can have a detrimental impact on pilots.

Doctor Brian Lipson, an Aviation Medical Examiner, will explain the impact of allergies from an aviation perspective. Pilots often treat allergies with medications but may not know the impact they have on decision making in the cockpit. In this seminar, we will review common medications and their impacts on pilots, as well as the rationale for why certain medications are allowed and certain medications are not. In order to understand how medications work, Doctor Lipson will explain the mechanisms and physiology of allergies and asthma and how the various medications work with an emphasis on the consequences of taking these as pilot in command.

Are you the master of the skies?  Or have you just met the minimum capability to be a Private Pilot.  Challenge yourself! The Private Pilot certificate is a license to learn.  Start on the path to add enough knowledge and skill to truly master the sky!

Last year, San Carlos Flight Center launched a Mastery Badge program for pilots who want to be the best pilot they can be.  Although the FAA defines only the minimum standards for airman certification, and 70% is considered a passing grade on the Knowledge Test, SCFC thinks we should all aim a little higher.  The Mastery Badge program defines the knowledge, risk awareness, and skills required to demonstrate that a pilot has reached the top of each of twelve mastery areas.

In this seminar, CFI Dan Dyer will introduce the standards that SCFC has set for Mastery of Flight Fundamentals.  Pilots training for this Mastery Badge will develop high proficiency in:

Pitch, bank, and yaw control

Straight and level flight

Precision climbs and descents

Coordinated shallow, medium, and steep turns

Primary and secondary flight controls

Airspeed and power coordination

Flight control coordination

Traffic Avoidance

Surface movement

Basic competency in these areas can often come quickly, even though mastery may take years and a different approach.  We encourage you to invest in your abilities, and refocus your attention on Flight Fundamentals as you become your own master of the sky.