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Safety: Topic of the Month: Making the Numbers

December 2023 Safety Topic of the Month: Making the Numbers

Every month we provide resources for flying club safety officers so that they can keep their clubs informed and safe.   We also include links to slides that we use for our own club meetings, so that you always have a topic for your club’s next safety meeting.  Along with the slides, we also provide links to relevant articles, videos, and other media that you may also find useful.

Okay then, let’s get on with this month’s safety topic!

Here is the link to the PDF of the presentation slides—please use them at your next club meeting:

December 2023 Safety Topic of the Month:  Making the Numbers

Summary:

The General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) has determined that many accidents are the result of inaccurate and/or unreasonable expectations with regard to aircraft performance.  Here, we’ll see how the 4-H Club (hot, high, humid and heavy) conspire to change aircraft performance.  We’ll also remind ourselves how to predict aircraft performance, by using manufacturer’s data, useful rules-of-thumb and the practical calibration of your aircraft.

Learning Points:

  • General aviation accidents continue to be associated with inaccurate or unreasonable expectations about aircraft performance.
  • The use of aircraft performance information is essential for every flight and in all flight regimes.
  • Running the numbers is not difficult and a “take-off and landing card” should be part of every pre-flight action plan.

Other Safety Resources:

Here is a quick reminder of just some of the resources available to all pilots:

FAASTeam:  faasafety.gov:

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 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 each flight activity.

Highly topical is the FAA’s new Human Factors course.  This ten-module course (with WINGS credits) includes videos, quizzes, workbooks, and tests.  If you are serious about understanding the role of human behaviors in aviation safety education, then please, invest the time to complete this course.

Log into faasafety.gov, go to activities-> courses-> all available courses and scroll to find these ALC codes—one per module:  ALC-730, 731, 732, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830.

Here is a link to get you to modules 1 and 2 (ALC-730 and 731): https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/CourseLanding.aspx?cID=730

Don’t forget to regularly visit these FAA safety gems:

Pilot Minute

57 Seconds To Safer Flying

FAA Safety Briefing Magazine

From the Flight Deck


AOPA Air Safety Institute:

https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute

AOPA’s own Air Safety Institute, which by the way, is funded by the AOPA Foundation just like the Flying Clubs Initiative, 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.  There, you can download a selection of topics, each coming with PowerPoint slides and speaker’s notes!


WINGS for Clubs:

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 introduced the program to 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.



Stephen Bateman
Contributor, You Can Fly Program
Steve retired from AOPA in April 2024, but continues to contribute to You Can Fly programs. Contact Steve at [email protected]

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