Welcome to the Safety Section of the Flying Clubs Newsletter, Club Connector!
Every month we provide resources for flying club safety officers to keep their clubs informed and safe. We include links to PowerPoint presentations (and smaller PDFs) that we use at our own meetings, so there is always a topic ready for your club’s next safety meeting. Along with the presentations, we also provide links to relevant articles, videos, and other media that you may also find useful. You can find this month’s safety article and the full archive, here: https://youcanfly.aopa.org/flying-clubs/flying-club-newsletter/safety
So, let’s get on with this month’s safety topic!
September Safety Topic of the Month: Vestibular and Other Illusions
Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation
Background:
A report from the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) study entitled “Fatal General Aviation Loss of Control Accidents” found that a significant number may have been caused by the pilot’s inappropriate response when reacting to illusions of various types.
An understanding of human information processing, sensing, and illusions, together with scenario-based flight training, may reduce the frequency of these illusion-triggered LOC accidents.
Learning Points:
References:
Other Safety Resources:
Here is a reminder of just some of the safety resources available to all pilots:
FAASTeam:
The FAASTeam website is the portal to a vast array of courses, videos, links, and much more. Remember that WINGS not only encompasses knowledge activities, but also flight activities. Use the search options to narrow down to say, flight activities for a basic phase of WINGS, and you’ll be able to find a syllabus and often a worksheet for various flight activities. Use WINGS to keep you proficient and think of the flight activities as a progressive flight review—earnt over 12-months, rather than at the end of 24-months.
Wait…you don’t do WINGS?
That’s a big shame—you are missing out on a free pilot proficiency program that will help you enjoy your flying even more, allow you to earn a flight review every 12-months just by flying, and may provide insurance discounts.
The FAASTeam WINGS pilot proficiency program is the best way for general aviation pilots to ensure they are competent, confident, and safe in their flight operations. Oh, and being perpetually proficient will save you money in the long run.
If you are interested in using the FAASTeam WINGS program for your personal flying or with your flying club, create an account on the FAASTeam website, http://www.faasafety.gov, and explore the collection of courses and flight activities. Also, feel free to contact me (Steve Bateman, Lead Representative and WINGSPro), and I’d be pleased to walk you through the program. More on “WINGS for Clubs” can be found here in Flying Clubs Radio Episode 8 and the May 2020 Question of the Month.
Other FAA Resources:
Don’t forget to regularly revisit these FAA safety gems, as new material is frequently added:
AOPA Air Safety Institute:
https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute
AOPA’s Air Safety Institute (ASI), which by the way is funded by the AOPA Foundation just like the Flying Clubs Initiative, is packed with exceptional content, including exceptional videos, podcasts, accident analysis, online courses, recorded webinars and more. Completing ASI activities may also earn WINGS credits. Of particular interest to flying club safety officers is the updated Safety to Go section. There, you can download a selection of topics, each coming with PowerPoint slides and speaker’s notes!
