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“Negative” Stall Training (Bad Habits!)

In a stalled condition, the nose of every conventional aircraft falls toward mother earth. This is physics and happens every time. And the natural human reaction is to pull back away from the ground making the control situation worse.  Only high-quality flight training, both initial and recurrent, can overcome this deep human reaction of “panic and pull.” Education in the classroom yields understanding, but training on the controls in flight is necessary to build deep, reliable, and correct habits.

A good pilot is a healthy mix of mathematician, scientist and athlete, part mechanic and all curiosity.  They must know everything about their airplane;  control surfaces, power plant, the avionic systems, tire pressure.  Because, while the heart of an airplane is metal, fabric or composite;  the bloodstream fuel and oil, its brain is the person who flies it. Community Aviation

New pilots must be patiently taught the feel of slow flight and the correct reaction to an excessive angle of attack and full stalls. It is necessary to train deeply here and to slowly overcome the initial fear. It takes time and persistence to reach a level of comfort and control in high AOA flight. Our fatal accident statistics still demonstrate that we all need better initial education and more current repetition and review; Loss of Control Inflight (LOC-I) is the #1 pilot killer.

Unfortunately, especially in larger airframes, pilots were taught for years to “power out of the stalls.” Even if initial training was accurate, many years of “negative stall training” overwrites habits. Historically there was very little emphasis on reducing the angle of attack in larger, powerful aircraft. Instead, the emphasis was on preventing altitude loss. The FAA recently added Expanded Envelope Training to the 121 regulations for every airline pilot recurrency. And the new ATP ACS puts a clear emphasis on reducing the angle of attack for stall recovery. But this may be “too little and too late” for many veteran pilots who experienced and reinforced “negative stall training” for so many years.

During my recent recurrent training in Florida, I witnessed a very experienced (though somewhat rusty) pilot attempt to recover an intentional stall with power and no reduction in angle of attack. This was shocking but eye-opening for me. He panicked, fought the controls, and eventually put the large jet simulator into the (virtual) ground. This was identical to the mishandling that resulted in the landmark accident of Colgan 3407. Negative initial stall training is very persistent and hidden away in our deepest habits. One important purpose of recurrent flight training is to discover, correct, and retrain these very deep habits we all depend on as pilots. Accurate habits must be immediately available or our lives are at risk in an upset situation.

Proper stall recovery training requires time and patience. Complete and thorough stall recovery training is seldom included in our current accelerated flight training environment. It is also the professional responsibility of every CFI to not only train correctly but also to create safe and complete pilots beyond the minimum ACS requirements. Many important skills are not required in the ACS test and are consequently not taught. The FAA puts its trust in professional educators here. Eradicating deeply embedded “negative stall training” takes even longer. Panic and pulling, combined with incomplete understanding, are the root problems behind many pilot deaths.  Releasing and unloading in a panic situation is a trained and very unnatural response.

Various versions of the FAA ACS initially allowed stall recovery “at the first indication” of a stall. Consequently, many recent pilots (and even CFIs) have never experienced, or gotten comfortable with, full stalls. These pilots often panic when full stalls are requested for higher-level certificates. Old-school flight training often included ballistic “falling leaf” stall recoveries during flight training, teaching rudder usage and demonstrating control of the nose-low stalled condition. Every pilot can benefit from this “extended training!”

Every pilot (and especially CFIs) should invest the time to take Rich Stowell’s FREE Learn-To-Turn Course. Then put these ideas to use with a good instructor practicing SAFE’s Extended Envelope Training. This builds comfort and correct control during high AOA flight conditions. Until the unload instinct overwrites “panic and pull” you are not a safe pilot. Safety requires expanding your flight envelope and training out of your comfort zone. Build correct and reliable habits; fly safely out there (and often).


See our newly launched SAFE website HERE

Join SAFE and get great benefits. You get 1/3 off ForeFlight and your membership supports our mission of increasing aviation safety by promoting excellence in education.  Our FREE SAFE Toolkit App puts required pilot endorsements and experience requirements right on your smartphone and facilitates CFI+DPE teamwork. Our CFI insurance was developed by SAFE specifically for CFIs (and is the best value in the business).  10 Tools for New CFIs Here

Injecting “Wisdom and Experience:” SAFE CFI-PRO™

In the current aviation training environment, a new pilot becomes a new CFI in a matter of months. This CFI then immediately teaches the next new pilot, in a spiral of decreasing skill and knowledge.” This distortion and lack of new experience with each exchange resemble the old game of “telephone” with the quality diminishing continuously with each replication; a downward spiral.

Currently, 2/3rds of “active CFIs” have taught for less than a year and often only have 5 hours of real solo time. Consequently, there is no real experience or wisdom to impart to a new learner. Current flight training needs more of this “wisdom and experience” injected to increase the level of flight training safety and efficiency. This is exactly what SAFE CFI-PRO™ provides directly to flight programs. SAFE CFI-PRO™ travels to flight schools on request with a curriculum tailored to motivate and build professionalism in each flight program and in every new CFI.

At accelerated schools, there is no time to master and solidify the aviation skills learned at the private, instrument, and commercial levels. Once the required FAA test minimums are met, these hard-won skills and knowledge rapidly become stale and are often forgotten (never reinforced or improved). Ask an instrument applicant about the significance of E/G airspace and the implication for IFR safety on approach to a non-towered airport; crickets! “That is private-pilot-level knowledge,” and already gone. With accelerated training, each discrete skill set is abandoned as soon as it’s completed and it’s off to the new challenges. As a result, the instructional cadre demonstrates limited skill and real-world experience. Many essential skills are missed because of this repeating “cycle of beginners.” Crosswind landings are just one example of an alarmingly rare, neglected piloting skill. Since they are not required to be demonstrated in any ACS, they are not taught (ot mastered) at any level. A recent blog compared this to the Multi-Crew License Europe tried years ago that was intended to just train co-pilots with a new certification level.

The pedagogical skills of new CFIs are also severely limited to the methods they were taught to pass the FAA CFI practical test. Unfortunately, this test is an artificial construct and not how we actually teach flying. The typical new CFI, monopolizes the radio and micro-manages the flight controls out of fear and an attempt to create precision. SAFE CFI-PRO™ provides the “missing manual” of how real education happens in aviation and accelerates the effectiveness of the new eager CFIs. These tools are eagerly accepted in our classes; “good to great!”

By targeting new CFIs, SAFE CFI-PRO™ raises the level of safety in *ALL* pilots. Every CFI reaches 30-50 pilots a month, so improvement in CFIs leads to an exponential improvement in pilots. There is nothing wrong with building hours, but this must be done in a professional (not selfish) manner. Otherwise, the consequence for *ALL* of aviation is less skillful and safe pilots. And General Aviation flying requires a much broader range of skills, encounters a much more diverse set of challenges, and has a much greater risk profile than the narrowly focused world of more sterile airline operations.

Dream diminished?

Several other blogs in this series have pointed out the essential items usually skipped in the current pilot training environment. If a skill, like a crosswind landing, is not required on any piloting evaluation, it definitely will never be taught in an academy program. The professional educator is responsible to provide this more complete pilot training (mastery beyond the minimums). The CFIs are the primary “influencers” of aviation attitude and safety. New learners are entirely dependent upon the level of excellence of the CFI they get bonded with during flight training. Fly safely out there (and often).


See our newly launched SAFE website HERE

Join SAFE and get great benefits. You get 1/3 off ForeFlight and your membership supports our mission of increasing aviation safety by promoting excellence in education.  Our FREE SAFE Toolkit App puts required pilot endorsements and experience requirements right on your smartphone and facilitates CFI+DPE teamwork. Our CFI insurance was developed by SAFE specifically for CFIs (and is the best value in the business).  10 Tools for New CFIs Here

FAA Wx Cams in the “Lower 48!”

If you have not seen how effective weather cams can be, please log into the interactive FAA map and pull up a few cameras in an area experiencing challenging weather. This technology is a perfect example of “seeing is believing.” These cameras are sighted at airports and METAR locations but also at strategic “weather chokepoints,” like mountain passes. The FAA is busily deploying cameras rapidly in the “Lower 48” after great success in Alaska. Many of these local cameras are supported by EMS operators who benefit greatly from accurate depictions of local conditions at hospital sites. A “lifesaver” in more ways than one.

With a co-located METAR example below, though the airport METAR is accurate, the camera adds context, showing many of the mountain passes in the distance obscured by clouds. In Alaska testing, these cameras resulted in a 69% reduction in weather-related flight interruptions and an 85% reduction in weather-related accidents; an impressive record. These cameras clearly save lives and adoption by the pilot community has been enthusiastic.

In Maine, the FAA is partnering with LifeFlight of Maine, which provides medevac service throughout the state. This 3rd party service has installed 18 cameras that are up and running. This cooperative venture is adding more continuously and hoping for full coverage soon.

The FAA’s Weather Camera Program began in Alaska more than 20 years ago. SAFE member Mike Vivion was a long-time Alaska back-country pilot and an advocate for the expansion of this system. There is an estimated potential for over 330 sites in the “lower 48” that would immediately benefit from weather cams. The FAA has been amazingly creative with locating and powering these facilities. Some are obviously powered by the grid and wired connections at hospitals, but many are in remote locations with solar power and satellite uplink connections.

I flew with a friend in a C-210 up the Alcan to Fairbanks and toured Central Alaska. Transiting to Anchorage through Windy Pass with a stop in Talkeetna really runs you through some challenging weather and terrain; these cameras are a lifesaver.

Obviously, this camera data needs to be added to the synoptic picture and nearest forecast for a complete weather picture, but please add this data to your risk-management decision and share this service with your students! Fly safely out there (and often).


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

 

Fix Your “Pilot Back Pain!”

Yup, most pilots have some distress here…just mention “back pain” with any high-time pilot and you will probably get an earful about fused and removed discs, or stories of continuing misery and medication. “Lots of hours” means lots of sitting – the “new smoking” – and this often results in back pain issues. (Even athletes with regular exercise routines often miss the real source of “pilot back pain.”)

A great article in “Agricultural Aviation” inspired this blog. A focus on fitness, and especially walking and stretching, can often bring relief and avoid the continuous discomfort many pilots accept as an “occupational hazard.” A targeted focus on the true cause will usually be more effective. For newer pilots, please consider your seated posture carefully and exercise to avoid creating what can be a very painful condition:

Keep your buttocks against the back of your seat with a cushion or support that fits the curve of the lumbar spine.

You should be able to easily slide your fingers under the thigh at the front of your seat and a fist between the back of your calf and the front of your seat.

These are great suggestions to *avoid* a bad back, but it doesn’t help a pilot already suffering from serious pain. I personally got into such a bad state with my lower back that I could not sit for more than an hour without excruciating pain shooting down my legs (sciatica symptoms). That certainly ruins your fun and effectiveness as a pilot. I was well into the MRIs and X-rays and well-meaning doctors insisted back surgery was my only viable solution.

I am no doctor, so this is just friendly advice, but for me walking and targeted stretching fixed my problems with a daily commitment. With your doctor’s blessing, you might try some targeted exercises and stretches before resorting to “the knife?”

The piriformis muscle is a very common, and seldom suspected, cause of back pain from sitting. Even if you exercise regularly, most routines do not adequately focus on hip flexibility. “Piriformis syndrome” presents exactly like a herniated or ruptured disc with similar sciatica symptoms. When this muscle spasms, it puts pressure directly on the sciatic nerve that results in tingling, numbness and eventually excruciating pain; “pilot back!”

Massaging your piriformis muscle may help ease your piriformis syndrome symptoms. Regular self-massage and stretches can help loosen the muscle and reduce pressure on your sciatic nerve.

Just search for “piriformis syndrome” and you will find lots of advice on how to better care for this unhappy muscle. Relief from suffering comes pretty quickly, but also requires a commitment to regular exercise and hip stretching. But your whole core musculature will benefit. Fly safely out there (and often)!


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

Learning Requires Continuous Corrections!

All complex successes are built on less-than-optimal early attempts. Learning at any level is iterative, continuous, and occasionally emotionally painful. Everyone can play the role of “superior critic,” judging from the stands or with 20/20 hindsight. But the credit goes to the one who keeps pushing forward continuously:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena [See all]

Productive learning requires a positive attitude toward all these less-than-perfect first attempts. Any whole-hearted effort in a positive direction is a “learning opportunity” if it is carefully reviewed and analyzed. But we humans tend to erroneously only celebrate ultimate success and ignore the value of “failures.” Think of how many more setbacks there will be to becoming an “interplanetary species.”

Approaching less-than-optimal first attempts with a positive attitude of improvement is critical to ultimate success and every educator should carefully frame expectations to inspire and motivate their learner. Every brand-new learner is going to be a “stumbling baby” making all kinds of errors; it is the nature of the process. And though it is perfectly human to want to just discard any early efforts and move forward, more rapid success requires continually sorting through the wreckage and improving from every error. We need to meticulously harvest ideas/components/techniques from early attempts; this is data to review and improve future performance. A good CFI needs to guide this process in the learner and make this a lifetime habit. This is called de-brief culture. This is critical to lifetime learning. Every flight, successful or not should be followed by a careful after-action reflection (and improvement).


Learning and change are the continuous processes of every human mind. Our focus can be online trash (social media?) or intentionally directed to more adaptive outcomes; becoming smarter in knowledge and more skillful in action. Intentionality and focus are the first keys to improvement. Aviators must be passionate learners to stay safe. Focused and effective learning requires feedback and error correction. As pilots we need to learn early and often before the big surprise occurs – the accident – “game over no replay!” We live in a “high-consequence” world.

There are four pillars to the total learning process: attention and active engagement (the focus), feedback and error correction, and consolidation. “How We Learn” by Stanislas Dehaene is a great book that describes this process in detail. He explains how AI was developed (in our lifetime) and is powered largely by an amazing tool called “backpropagation” (error correction). Stanislas compares this process to a target shooter calibrating a sighting scope by taking repeated shots and methodically removing errors with small, constant adjustments. This is the primary process that allows convolutional neural networks to learn so rapidly.

Machines have no ego problems that slow down (or prevent) error correction. They don’t make excuses to hide their mistakes. Honestly admitting, “oops, I was wrong,” is the first and most essential step in learning and improvement – recognition and acceptance. Computers don’t worry about their social image and what their friends will think. Instead, computers aggressively recalibrate their learning and have consequently surpassed humans in many areas. Error correction should not be an embarrassment or aberration, it is an expected and valuable part of all growth.

“With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.” SpaceX

We basically all blunder through the world with a set of predictions – intentional actions that are based on our past experiences. We extrapolate collected memory data into future hypotheses of intended results. The degree to which we can accurately recall (memory) and apply previous lessons determines our success which retunes our future understanding of the world. Every action is a challenge requiring (honest) observation, memory retrieval, and recalibration.

The accurate reflection part- after-action reporting – is the critical key to the learning process (backpropagation). We need to be humble and hungry to honestly recalibrate our actions and improve. Attitude and ego are the biggest impediments in our human system. “Garbage in” (online trash) also creates poor results. It is essential to purify your environment and your methodology. Mentors and great instructors are the best accelerators of this process. Fly safely out there (and often).


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

 

Maintaining Our Vital “Safety Margin!”

Every properly prepared pilot can fly safely, even with a minimum level of skill, *IF* they accurately match their skills to the real demands of each mission. (That’s why CFIs can impose “limitations” on solo endorsements). In the vernacular, we are safe if we “don’t write checks we can’t cash.” The central problem, however, is the impossibility of accurately and objectively determining the two sides of this equation (see graphic above). Just about every pilot overrates their own skills and also underappreciates the threats they face. We inadvertently close that safety margin with our flawed analysis of both risks and skills. This is something I call “magical thinking.

To be safe we must accurately assess our real pilot skills and compare those to an equally accurate analysis of the demands of the flight. If an objective and honest analysis were actually available, maintaining safety becomes a simple physics problem; just maintain a margin of safety. Unfortunately, we are usually only capable of honest assessment during “20/20 hindsight.” (The “error correction” only arrives by virtue of a crash). Most often when we examine accidents in retrospect we end up puzzling “what were they thinking?”

The real culprit of failed safety is our numerous cognitive biases. As a funny example, 93% of American drivers think they are “better than average.” This impossible statistic is humorous in “Lake Wobegone” where “all the children are above average,”  but very dangerous when we assess our personal capabilities in a high-consequence activity like flying. Most pilots rate their abilities much too highly. They look in the mirror and see Chuck Yaeger staring back at them.

Similarly, when we assess the seemingly objective flight risks of weather, terrain, and workload, we exhibit confirmation bias; we “see what we want to see.” Another side of this problem is erroneously assuming the challenges are fixed and linear. But the weather, wind, and workload change continuously and require different levels of skill throughout each flight. Some of the highest workload requirements occur just when fatigue is diminishing our skill and knowledge capabilities; narrowing the safety margin.

To accurately analyze “the safety margin” and maintain a comfortable “gap” of residual capability, every pilot should assume the worst level of weather; the highest challenge. Assuming minimal pilot capability is also wise since self-assessments are usually optimistic. In short, don’t try to be a hero and over-commit to a flight at the limits of your perceived capability; these walls are permeable. Flight planning with past successes (which may be only luck) can put any pilot in an unworkable “coffin corner.”

There are four essential elements to human learning: attention, engagement, error correction, and consolidation. Error correction only comes from an honest reflection of our flight in an accurate “after-action review” (was my success due to skill or just luck?) If we fail to catch our “lucky survival” and squash our errors, the next “wake-up call” might be an accident or incident (too late)!

External forces like time pressure and perhaps “having too much fun” are the most pernicious external pressures that push us all toward failure. Analyzed in the “perfect worldview,” the “flight risk assessment tool” can, unfortunately, be an Ouiji board more than a guarantee unless we are diligently honest; we expect “results” but we get “consequences.” There are really no EZ-PZ flights. Fly safely out there (and often)!


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)


From SnF23: Mitigate This Silent (Underappreciated) Risk!

As pilots, we are trained from day one to identify and mitigate risks. Unfortunately, most serious threats do not “self-announce!” Hazards are sneaky and are often masked by our own cognitive biases (there are 47 total). We humans normalize all our daily activities – and that includes pilots. We see what we are used to seeing (confirmation bias). A silent killer I was aware of, trained for, but not actively monitoring is carbon monoxide poisoning. I have been disabled twice by well-maintained aircraft. The beautiful new Lightspeed “Delta Zulu” headsets are attractive ANRs but also actively monitoring for this risk. They adjust audio precisely with an associated app, but my favorite feature tis the continuous CO poisoning; some planes are quietly trying to kill you.

Our average GA plane is about 50 years old, and as CFIs we are especially vulnerable to CO since we swap from one plane to another continuously (they might be quietly trying to kill you). Since I have been wearing these new Lightspeed Delta Zulu headsets, I have found three planes with a toxic levels of poison gas. The client/pilots always point to their (state-of-the-art) plastic spot monitoring system (a $4 device?). They confidently believe they are safe. Wow, what a wake-up call for this CFI/DPE. Please consider active monoxide monitoring for safety (this muffler heating system was outlawed in automobiles years ago). Lightspeed Aviation is collecting (and anonymizing) data from users and the preliminary results are already shocking; many planes seem to be leaking poison gas into the cockpit (early data). I strongly suggest you actively monitor the CO levels in every plane you fly.

And yes, you can win this very headset in our SAFE spring sweepstakes. That is not a coincidence…our sponsors are all safety-oriented companies. Scott Ashton at Aerox has supplied a PrO2 oxygen system as a prize, and SPorty’s is providing a PJ2+ handheld! Consider a “step-up” or donation to enter our sweepstakes. Fly safe out there (and often).


See you at Sun ‘N Fun 2023 at “Charlie Hangar” Booths #19/20. SAFE sponsors and members please join us at Sunset Cafe for a free SAFE breakfast Thursday (March 30th), 8am. (Get your free ticket here) Watch for SAFE Forums and events on the SAFE Toolkit App (allow notifications for alerts!)

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

Safely Managing IFR Terminal Transition

What are the primary risks of circling approaches and can they be adequately managed to lead to a safe procedure? The NTSB just finished its meeting and analysis of the Challenger crash at Truckee. There are lots of risks and no magic here. The NTSB recommendations on this will probably follow established guidance from many other groups.

Start with careful consideration of the straight-in approaches and practice getting stabilized; developing standardized pitch, power, and attitude settings to achieve your desired performance. If you are a light plane driver, AvWeb has an excellent (historic) recommendations HERE “pre-brief carefully, determine sensible targets and fly a known stabilized profile!” IFR magazine offers their advice HERE. The NTSB safety series covers this same material nicely HERE.

Once the straight-in is comfortable and consistent, the circling approach adds the challenge of managing proper power application (level-off) with the low-level maneuvering flight. Numerous badly managed approaches have resulted in accidents that put the focus back on the high-risk nature of circling approaches. Most airlines prohibit circling approaches for that reason.

But his high workload maneuver is still a requirement for an IPC under CFR 61.57(d) and on type ratings and recurrents. The FAA requires the IPC demonstration of the circling maneuver to be flown in an airplane  or high-fidelity simulator (for good reason).

AATDs can be utilized for the majority of the IPC as specified in the Letter of Authorization issued for the device. However, the circling approach, the landing Task, and the multiengine airplane Tasks must be accomplished in an aircraft or FFS (Level B, C, or D). A BATD cannot be used for any part of the IPC. IFR ACS

See the (historic) NTSB recommendations HERE (summarized below).

What can you do?

✈️ Fully understand the risks involved with performing a circling approach and use sound judgment if deciding to perform this approach.

✈️ Consider your personal experience and limitations and the performance capabilities of your aircraft when planning the execution of the circling approach. Weather, runway configuration, and your aircraft’s current position, altitude, and airspeed should also be considered.

✈️ Understand that if ATC issues you a clearance for a circling approach, you can request a different approach or divert to an airport with more capable approach facilities. It is always better to make ATC aware of your concerns rather than to attempt an approach you might not be comfortable performing.

✈️ Acquire recurring, scenario-based training in realistic environments that includes circling approaches. Practicing these approaches routinely will increase your proficiency and make you more comfortable performing them when needed.

✈️ If you decide to perform a circling approach, conduct a comprehensive briefing that specifies when the circling approach will begin, descent altitudes and locations, airspeeds, aircraft configuration, and go-around (or missed approach) criteria and procedures.

✈️ When conducting a circling approach, remain at or above the circling altitude until the aircraft is continuously in a position from which a descent to a landing on the intended runway can be made at a normal rate using normal maneuvers.


✈️ To ensure the stabilized approach criteria are met while conducting
a circling approach, it is imperative that pilots continuously monitor the airplane’s altitude even when flying in VMC.

Good advice for every instrument-rated pilot, continuous knowledge review added to continuous skill practice is the price of admission for all IFR flying; fly safe out there (and often)!


See you at Sun ‘N Fun 2023 at “Charlie Hangar” Booths #19/20. SAFE sponsors and members please join us at Sunset Cafe for a free SAFE breakfast Thursday (March 30th), 8am. (Get your free ticket here) Watch for SAFE Forums and events on the SAFE Toolkit APp (allow notifications for alerts!)

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)


Add Safety (Awareness) *Before* Flight!

Takeoff and initial climb are very simple operations in most GA planes. But surprisingly, this area of flight is statistically quite dangerous. The considerable risk here is under-appreciated due to the lack of challenge and obvious threat. That ILS to minimums or a gnarly crosswind more naturally grab your attention!

Pilots are usually in their “happy place” during takeoff, doing what they love. There is not much challenge – or awareness – on the usual takeoff. Adding intentionality and awareness to our preparation and takeoff is a simple (but necessary) step that creates a much safer flight.

Hopefully, every pilot performs some personal mantra before adding power on the takeoff. My current personal version is “H-A-L-T-T.” This enforces an extra moment of mental focus to assure “Code Yellow” before applying power. This thoughtful pause also assures Heading, Altimeter, Lights, Transponder and Time are completed. Inserting greater awareness into your personal “runway recipe” (habit stacking) brings your awareness into a “normalized” activity. As CFIs we are guilty here. Better training during every dual takeoff is a CFI mandate to increase safety (training the killers). It is hard to “surprise” yourself as a pilot, so CFIs need to create these “learning opportunities.”

All humans continually “normalize” daily experiences for efficiency. This down-regulates our neurological response to a level of “automatic processing” though. The first time for any new complicated procedure is stressful. Very quickly repeated actions become familiar habit patterns that do not engage the conscious mind; we are on autopilot – sleepwalking through life. This mental level of awareness is dangerous in any phase of flight, but especially on takeoff. The red key fob above – not the usual “remove before flight” but rather “add safety” – is designed for your airplane key to inspire greater preparation and awareness before every takeoff. As pilots, we need to be “code yellow” on takeoff; ready for anything! Stop by our Sun ‘N Fun booth (C-19/20) for one of these and commit to greater preparation and increased awareness during take-off. It is designed to be attached to your aircraft keys: Add awareness because risk hides in the familiar! The “Cooper Code” above is from military firearms training; a similarly dangerous sport where risk can easily be normalized. Most pilots are “Code White” on takeoff; happy and unprepared. The correct awareness level is “Code Yellow;” prepared and vigilant. The weapon is loaded and the safety is off.

Situational awareness is a mindset that you have to purposefully cultivate. You want to get to the point that it’s just something you do without having to think about it. To get to that point, you have to practice it regularly…Don’t be paranoid, just mindful.

If you remember your first flights, fear is the most common reaction during early take-off experiences. Those early takeoffs are terrifying for most people. Every experienced CFI is familiar with that sweating blank look in the left seat. A new pilot-in-learning is unfortunately often “Code Red” during the first few takeoffs and only starts breathing again at pattern altitude. In this state, the human senses are narrowed with fear, and learners neither see nor retain/understand very much from these first few experiences (note to flight instructors). This is the hazard of the startle response; overwhelming fear.

“Fat, dumb and happy” is a sure recipe to turn a shiny aluminum plane into beer cans; a little fear is a good thing. Mario’s Rules

One thing is certain here. More time spent on preparation before takeoff, with appropriate checklist usage and briefing, would go a long way toward increasing safety. Aviation is a high-consequence activity that requires respect for the embedded risks. Please stop by our booth at Sun ‘N Fun to say “hi” and pick up an “Add *Safety* Before Flight” keyfob for your plane keys. See you at the show!


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

See you at Sun ‘N Fun 2023 at “Charlie Hangar” Booths #19/20. SAFE spnsors and members please join us at Sunset Cafe for a free SAFE breakfast Thursday (March 30th), 8am. (Get your free ticket here)

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

Safety Gifts From Technology!

If you have been flying for more than a few years, you were trained with the “see and avoid” technique of traffic avoidance. And if you are like me, you have also come to realize the limitations of this separation method. The new ADS-B capability to view traffic conflicts miles away enhances mere “Mark One Eyeballs” and has been a true technological blessing for safety. Training and testing in busy airspace is almost unthinkable without this new technology (and it has literally saved my life twice since its inception).

Of course, every improvement comes with weird complications. Now we constantly her friends conversing while airborne (and clogging up Unicom). Seeing a friend’s ADS-B target aloft seems to require conversation; “Hey Bobby, is that you over the reservoir?” Unfortunately, the same pilot often will not self-announce at a non-towered field. And it’s also easy to forget there are many aircraft still not participating and operating blind (my Champ). Check the accuracy of your unit (and the latency in the system) HERE.

Another amazing development I discovered this summer was the new Lightspeed “Delta Zulu” headsets with their enhanced audio quality and continuous monoxide monitoring. It is easy to forget that every piston plane has the potential to kill you in a very silent and stealthy way with a deadly monoxide leak. The very first time I tried these headsets on they detected a very bad leak in a plane I was teaching in. As a CFI and DPE, I had no past history with this plane and there was no odor. Ironically, many planes are equipped to the hilt with all kinds of expensive avionics designed to maximize safety only have a (useless) plastic CO detector. My headsets again went critical yesterday in a well-maintained Mooney I was teaching in. Get a pair of “Delta Zulus.” They are durable (and beautiful) and will save your life!

A nicely equipped legacy Mooney quietly poisoning its occupants!

Cloud Ahoy is an amazing innovator in the flight training world. Their clever tracking and grading system provides immediate feedback for every flight training experience. The first time I saw anything like this was at Flight Safety years ago. The learning advantage of a “playback and grading” system was immediately obvious but also exotic and expensive at the time. Now every CFI can have this immediately available on their iPad (and SAFE membership gets you 1/3 off the subscription 🙏). Cloud Ahoy also just released a FOQA software for flight departments to monitor the safety and stability of their operations. These systems have been standard in the 121/135 world for years but now they are available to every pilot to grade and improve their flight.

And of course, the leader in aviation technology is ForeFlight. Their continuously improving technology enhances flight planning and flying in more ways than I can mention. If you are not using ForeFlight (or a budget substitute) you really are not leveraging your in-flight safety. But mastering the basics of “packing” and “briefing” in any app. is a required skill necessary to enjoy the real safety advantages. Like every technology tool, there is a level of familiarity necessary to achieve comfort and fluid operation. See the ForeFlight library of training videos to bring your knowledge up to speed. It is a mistake to assume every youngster automatically uses this app wisely (not!). Every CFI should search through this archive for training videos to recommend.  If they use an EFB on a check-ride, an applicant needs a fluid working level of competence. Fly safely out there (and often)!


Enjoy the new courses available to members on the new safe website. And please download and use the (free) SAFE Toolkit App. This contains all the references a working CFI needs plus provides continuously new safety content.

See you at Sun ‘N Fun 2023 at “Charlie Hangar” Booths #19/20. SAFE spnsors and members please join us at Sunset Cafe for a free SAFE breakfast Thursday (March 30th), 8am. (Get your free ticket here)

SAFE developed an insurance program just for CFIs! When you are an independent CFI, you are a business (and have legal exposure). This program is the most reasonable but also comprehensive insurance plan you can have (and every agent is a pilot!)

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