Flying in and out of the many airports in California requires a high degree of situational awareness and sophisticated radio skills. And yet, radio communication is rarely taught as a specific subject during private pilot training. Usually, new pilots just absorb what they hear on the frequency around them, both good and bad. Although some radio techniques are covered in ground school, rarely do student pilots get the time devoted to demystifying this often-confusing subject.

This seminar is the third in a series of SCFC’s Radio Communication Safety Seminars and focuses on non-towered radio communications. Although Federal Aviation Regulations don’t require pilots to make radio calls at non-towered airports, it is strongly advised for safety. This seminar will help newer pilots understand the structure of radio calls for non-towered 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 non-towered radio communication phraseology and use, from the basics through advanced. Learn how to make radio communication easier and safer for all pilots.

For pilots who want to give back to the world, there are a few charities that combine aviation with charity. One of these charities is Angel Flight West.  Mark and Josh will share his experience as a mission pilot and Executive Director for Angel Flight West including the process to become a pilot for Angel Flight West.  

In this safety seminar, a collaboration between San Carlos Flight Center Fly Like a Girl (FLAG) and Angel Flight West, we will explore the extra pressures pilots experience when other people are relying on them.  Presenters Mark Merrill and Josh Olsen will draw on their experiences as Angel Flight members to share how to recognize external pressures and how to manage them.

Have you taken a hiatus from flying and are you itching to get back into it after a year? Two years? A decade? More?

Pilots who are away from flying for more than a few months or years often have a hard time regaining their former skills.  Rules change. Skills atrophy. Confidence slips. For pilots who have grown rusty, it may seem daunting to find a path back into general aviation.

Join us on Saturday, February 2nd as Nello Franco, a commercially-rated multi-engine pilot, shares his experience coming back from a 15 year break from his passion.  He’ll discuss the fears and challenges he faced, and what finally convinced him to start a path toward regaining his skills. As someone who successfully made it back, he now hopes to share his insights on the challenging journey back to currency with others who may be as out of currency as he was.  He’ll share both his personal experiences as well as best practices and references for getting re-current and re-proficient.

Whether you’re contemplating coming back from a short or long (or very long) time off from flying, or if you are in the process of coming back, we invite you to come hear about the process as well as one pilot’s experience.

When you are learning to fly, the first several flights may seem overwhelming. You are manipulating the flight controls, looking outside at the horizon, scanning the aircraft instruments and performing specific maneuvers. That’s a lot. At some point, your instructor will ask you to also do the radio calls, which is an additional task to perform. It may seem overwhelming while you try to learn what seems like a new language and new terms.

This seminar is targeted for student pilots that are just starting to use the radio. We will review typical radio communications at San Carlos airport. During this seminar we will listen to the typical radio communication between pilot and the Ground controller as well as the pilot and tower controller. We will also listen to and analyze some of the some of the one-off communications that occur to better familiarize student pilots with what to expect.

In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is moving.

In aerodynamics, angle of attack specifies the angle between the chord line of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft and the vector representing the relative motion between the aircraft and the atmosphere.

 

The critical angle of attack is the angle of attack which produces maximum lift coefficient. This is also called the "stall angle of attack". On most airfoil shapes, as the angle of attack increases, the upper surface separation point of the flow moves from the trailing edge towards the leading edge. At the critical angle of attack, upper surface flow is more separated and the airfoil or wing is producing its maximum lift coefficient. As angle of attack increases further, the upper surface flow becomes more fully separated and the lift coefficient reduces further. Above this critical angle of attack, the aircraft is said to be in a stall. Staying below this angle is life saving and awareness is paramount.

 

Join CFI Kyle Smathers as he discusses this important topic and ways to stay out of trouble by avoiding this angle.

Do you remember hearing the term “airworthy” during your Private training or your last checkride? How well did you understand the concept? How sure are you that the plane you're flying is airworthy, and who decides? After flying for several years James decided to buy an airplane, and  was driven to learn a great deal more about this nuanced topic that he had not previously understood. In this seminar, James will share a deeper look at airworthiness for those who are considering ownership or those interested in expanding their knowledge beyond the basics. This is highly recommended for all as you can never know too much about this important topic.

Part 91 allows pilots to fly with the minimal regulations to keep everyone safe whereas Parts 135 and 121 is the opposite, since paying passengers are usually not aware of all the risks of flying.  

Private pilots may not be compensated in any way for their role as a pilot. Even pilots with a commercial certificate are limited to accepting payment for only a very small number of operations. Every year, both private and commercial pilots run afoul of regulations by inadvertently doing something that can be interpreted as acting as an air carrier. Part 135 is the section of the Federal Aviation Regulations that oversees Air Carrier Operations, and as most pilots don’t want to get anywhere near it unless he or she is actually working for a Part 135 air carrier operation.

Mission success and safety relies upon crewmember functional state. Since stressors affect cognitive processing, NASA requires that the cognitive state of all crewmembers remain within clinically accepted values (NASA STD 3001). NASA is in the process of developing a test battery for the assessment of crewmember cognitive performance before, during and after spaceflight. This battery is referred to as the Cognition Test Battery, or CTB. One purpose of this project is to determine normative scores in high-functioning individuals. Since half of the U.S. astronaut population (and all of the European astronauts) pilot either aircraft or rotorcraft data are being collected in certified pilots. These baseline, or normative, data will inform as to when an individual’s performance is degraded. In this talk, what these tests can tell us about astronaut cognition and what we currently know about changes in astronaut cognition will be discussed.

CFI Herb Patten will guide us through an exploration of unusual airspace

boundaries, seeking how to remain compliant with regulations in spite of confusing

charted airspace. Think you know about Class A, B, C, D, E, and G? There's so much

more. Together we will discover the unusual and different airspace defined in 14 CFR

part 93 special air traffic rules. We will investigate unique special military areas and

tools to check their status. Herb will elucidate the differences between VFR corridors

and VFR flyways. Finally, the discussion wouldn't be complete without exploring class

Echo surface areas and a nod to history with a review of airspace classified as TSRA.

Pilots of all backgrounds and ability levels are welcome to attend and participate in this

interactive review and exploration of airspace.

Discussion will encompass the many aspects of flying drones in the Northern California area. Sally will cover the latest rules around determining if an area is a safe drone flying zone considering the numerous airports and restricted zones in the bay area. Requirements for drone flying will be address as well as the steps needed to obtain a commercial license. Current laws will be explained to determine the difference between commercial and hobby flight enthusiast.