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 PowerPoint 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 often provide links to relevant articles, videos, and other media that you may also find useful.
Alright then, let’s get on with this month’s safety topic!
May 2023 Safety Topic of the Month: The $300 Dollar Annual Inspection
Inadequate maintenance and inspections are common accident causal factors. Aircraft owners seeking bargain-priced mechanical services may see unairworthy aircraft returned to service following cursory inspections .
Teaching Points:
- Periodic aircraft inspections are necessary in order to detect and correct discrepancies that cannot be discovered in the course of normal preflight inspections..
- Aircraft owners and pilots should insist on regulatory compliant inspections and documentation..
- Owners of light single-engine airplanes should expect an annual inspection charge to include fifteen and thirty hours of labor. Airworthiness Directive compliance, oil changes, repairs, parts, and supplies will be additional charges
- Aircraft Owners should seek reputable mechanical services and expect to pay a fair price to obtain them.
References:
- 14 CFR 43.15 - Additional Performance Rules for Inspections
- 14 CFR 43 Appendix D – Scope and Detail of Items to be Included in Annual and 100-Hour Inspections
- AC 61-67C – Stall and Spin Awareness Training
Other Safety Resources:
Here is 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 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. Here, 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 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.
