Are you working on an instrument rating and training in a G1000?  Maybe you are instrument rated and are thinking about flying with a G1000. Or, perhaps you have flown a G1000 for many years and wish to share your insights.  A good pilot is always learning and shares their learnings. If you fit into any of these categories or you just want to learn about another system for fun, this seminar is for you.  

 

The G1000 is a excellent and widely used avionics system in general aviation and there is usually 3 ways to perform each task it does. You will leave this seminar more confident in working with and investigating the G1000.

Winter is here with all its IMC. The game is real and this is what we train for.  You probably have a general understanding of IFR charts including Victor airways and MEAs, but this is the last time to really looked closely at all the information available on a chart. Do you recall how to decipher MRAs? How about the different type of fixes found along an airway? We will take a close look at some hidden gems of details on the IFR enroute charts.

 

SCFC Flight Instructor Herb Patten will  present a safety seminar that will help to end the confusion.  He will demystify the numbers and markings on the FAA’s IFR Low Enroute Charts and help pilots develop a better understanding of the details on these charts.   Herb will explain waypoint and navigational aid symbology, and describe the various altitudes shown on the charts. This is a valuable safety seminar for new IFR Students and a great refresher for pilots that are already instrument rated.

Not many of us have on-board radar, but if we did, would we know how to use it and what information it can provide?  On-board radar can give us a wealth of tactical information, but it can also fool us if we do not know what we are looking at or what the immediate weather in front of us can mask further down the line.

 

If you fly with radar, or want to learn more about the advantages of radar, or just hear about a few weather traps that can happen when flying around storms, join Tom McGrath, a TBM pilot who has flown all over the Western Hemisphere and Europe, and has gathered a plethora of knowledge and experience.

Turbochargers compress the ambient outside air, providing a denser oxygen-rich input to the combustion system.  More oxygen can burn more fuel. More burn means more power. More power means more skills and knowledge required of the pilot.  If the most power you’ve flown with is a 180HP Cessna, you’ll need to learn many new things to safely operate our new Turbo Saratoga and Turbo 210.

 

Attend this seminar to learn about turbocharged engine systems and operating procedures, and how to keep a turbocharged engine safe and happy. We'll highlight how turbocharging systems have evolved over the years from primitive and workload-intensive to complex and pilot-friendly. We'll also demystify concepts like critical altitude, bootstrapping, and upper deck pressure.

 

You will learn that turbocharging demands changes in engine operation compared to normally-aspirated engines, from engine start to shutdown. Finally, we'll sample some actual turbocharged aircraft installations and describe how their differences are perceived and managed by the pilot.

The Piper PA-32R is a six-seat, high-performance, single engine, all-metal fixed-wing aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft. The design began life as the Piper Lance, a retractable gear version of the Piper Cherokee Six. Later models are known as Saratogas. The primary difference between the Lance and early Saratoga is the development of a tapered wing on the Saratoga. Later Saratoga models provided updated/improved avionics, engine and interior touches but retained the same airframe design.

The 1980 Turbocharged model was given the name Turbo Saratoga SP. The name and model designation stayed the same through the 1996 model year, despite several updates to the airplane during that time. Starting with the 1997 model year the airplane received a new designation, the Saratoga II TC, and a new Lycoming TIO-540-AH1A engine.

Last fall, San Carlos Flight center brought online a 2004 Piper PA-32R-301T Saratoga with a 300HP Lycoming TIO-540-AHIA Turbo engine. The Saratoga is a well-designed complex high performance airplane that performs well in several categories. If you don't fill the 107-gallon tanks, it really can carry six adults. If you watch your load, it really can go 800 miles non-stop at 145 knots. It is well-equipped for IFR flights, and the cockpit is comfortable and stable.

A-682 or better known as Travis Airspace surrounds Travis Class D airspace in Fairfield California.  We local pilots cross it all the time. Most of us talk to Travis ATC and some us do not. For the some who do not, how does this affect Travis operations and what happens to their military flights both navigational, time and financially?

 

How can we as pilots facilitate their operations and thus help the men and women of the armed services?  Join Captain Bruce Bain, as he will explain their operations and what we can do to really help them out. If you attended the Travis AFB Fly-In held this past August, you can appreciate even more this General Aviation outreach.

Turbulence is one of the most unpredictable of all the weather phenomena that are of significance to pilots. It  spills your drink, jostles luggage, makes your passengers nauseous and can rattle nerves.

 

Except that, in all but the rarest circumstances, you will not lose control of your aircraft. With the exception of heavy wake turbulence, a plane will not be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket.  Turbulence is an aggravating nuisance for everybody, but it’s also, for lack of a better term, normal.

 

Weather is always changing, and predicting the where, when, and how much of turbulence can sometimes be challenging.  Avoiding turbulence is a combination of art and science. Join Dave who will categorize turbulence, explain it and discuss how and when to avoid it.

How do you know where icing is and what the level of risk is? What conditions do you need for it to form and what type of icing can you encounter? Is all icing created equal and if not where will you find the bad boys? Join Dave as discusses Scott Deansteadt’s (former NWS meteorologist, CFII and developer of Aviation Weather Workshops and the Weather Sprk APP) approach to icing and how to avoid it.

ADS-B or Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B for short), will replace the ground-based radar system used by ATC to track air traffic throughout the US.

 

This seminar will discuss what ADS-B is and its benefits.  We'll take a look at how you can take advantage of ADS-B In capabilities today as an aircraft renter and important limitations.  We'll also discuss some options for aircraft owners to equip for the 2020 ADS-B Out mandate.

We've all seen them flying around before, but how do they actually stay up there? What lets a helicopter hover, or fly backwards? How do you control something inherently unstable? What even is autorotation? "Black magic" is close, but not quite. In this seminar, we'll take an introductory look at how a helicopter flies and how to control them. The flight controls and mechanisms controlling the movement of the helicopter will be covered, as well as the aerodynamic phenomena that occur around it.