Welcome to the Safety Section of the Flying Clubs Newsletter, Club Connector!
Each month we provide resources for flying club safety officers so that they can keep their clubs informed and safe. We also include links to the FAASTeam Topic of the Month PowerPoint slides providing talking points for your next safety brief. Along with the slides, we often provide links to relevant articles, videos, and other media that you may also find helpful. To learn more about this section, be sure to check out Episode 15 and 15b of Flying Clubs Radio!
If you are interested in using the FAASTeam WINGS program with your flying club, feel free to contact Steve, who is a Lead Representative and WINGSPro, and uses the program in his club.
More on WINGS for Clubs can be found here in Flying Clubs Radio Episode 8 and the May 2020 Question of the Month.
Before we get to this month’s Topic of the Month, let’s do a quick reminder of just some of the resources available to all pilots:
- 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 various search options to narrow done, to, say flight activities for a basic phase of WINGS and you’ll be able to find a syllabus and often a worksheet for each flight activity.
- AOPA’s own Air Safety Institute, which by the way, is funded by the AOPA Foundation just like the You Can Fly program, is packed with amazing content, including exceptional videos, podcasts, accident analysis, online courses, recorded webinars and more. Completing these activities may also earn WINGS credits. Of particular interest to flying club safety officers is the recently updated Safety to Go section. Here, you can download a selection of topics, each coming with PowerPoint slides and speaker’s notes!
August Topic of the Month: Pre-Flight and In-Flight Weather Resources
Alright then, let’s get on with this month’s safety topic!
Summary:
The last few years has brought an unparalleled level of information to our portable devices and general aviation flight decks. Near real time graphical and textual weather products may contribute greatly to pilot situational awareness and decision making, but we must be fully aware of the limitations and capabilities of the source, equipment, and the information it provides, to really benefit from this technology.
Learning Points:
- More pre- and in-flight weather information is available than ever before, but with that wealth of information comes complexity and the potential for complacency. Pilots must be comfortable with their choice of weather information services, and they must be competent in making critical flight decisions based on assessments of the information provided.
- A thorough understanding of the capabilities and limitations of weather information resources is essential for safe flight.
- Weather information procurement and weather decision making should be covered in all proficiency training programs and should be practiced before—and during—every flight.
- Never let an "app" fool you into making poor weather decisions. Use the amazing resource of live flight service briefers and representatives as your primary source of weather information...if we don’t, they'll disappear and then we will be on our own.
LINK TO AUGUST PDF
August Topic of the Month: Pre-Flight and In-Flight Weather Resources
