Read more…(zoan)

Winning the National Best Flight School award was SkyTrek Alaska. Customers of the school who responded to the Flight Training Experience Survey “raved” about the owner, Jamie Patterson-Simes, who they said, “promotes the aviation community with lots of events, is organized with the training and overall provides a great educational experience.” Customers are “impressed with the aircraft and the attention to safety in all operations.”
Winning regional flight schools included Take Flight Aviation, in Montgomery, NY; FL Aviation Center in Tallahassee FL; Blue Skies Flying Services and Pilot Shop of Lake In The Hills Airport, IL; and Texas Flight Aviation in Tomball TX.
Regional Flight Instructors of the Year for 2017 were instructor Jim Fellers of Blue Skies Flying Services and Pilot Shop of Lake of the Hills Airport in IL; Robert Keleti of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, NY; Chris Dupin of Destin Flight Works, of Destin, Florida, and Scott Campbell of Sierra Charlie Aviation in Scottsdale AZ.

Read more…(redbird)


The Redbird Migration was held at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh this year. David said it was wonderful to see the close working relationship between Jack Pelton at EAA, Mark Baker at AOPA. and Craig Fuller at Redbird, making a strong, unified GA force. We had many SAFE members in attendance and an inspiring and educational show from the Redbird organization. Sean D. Tucker was the keynote speaker with his remarkable energy and enthusiasm.

The VFR and IFR Redbird training scenarios developed by SAFE for the Pilot Proficiency Project under Doug Stewart will now be nationally distributed to all Redbird Simulators to benefit pilots at every location. They can be downloaded from the Redbird site or at Community Aviation.

Read more…(privatization)

SAFE and nearly 200 other GA groups have voiced opposition to the bill, noting that it would add $100 billion to the federal deficit, slow down ATC modernization and grant unconstitutional power to a private board to impose fees on passengers.
SAFE urges members to call their elected representatives to voice their opinion on the ATC privatization issue.

Read more…(symposium)

“What could be more exciting for a teacher than discovering aviation resources that can be used in the classroom?” asked Kevin D Murphy, SAFE Communications. “SAFE has long promoted aerospace education for students. It uses the excitement of aviation to encourage tomorrow’s scientists, technology leaders, engineers and mathematicians.”
SAFE has annually provided education grants for teachers to help bring aviation-related activities into the classroom. This year, thanks to a generous, anonymous SAFE member, four such grants were awarded to teachers from Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio and South Carolina.

Read more…(blog)

“But then there is that one in a thousand NTSB report that makes your heart sink,” he writes. “Preflight is where you can find contaminated fuel, a broken spring in the landing gear, cowl plugs plugged in deep, a bird’s nest in the engine, an open baggage door, a fouled plug or broken ceramic spark plug, low oil, a flat spot on the tire ready to go, a blocked pitot tube or other maladies best caught on the ground.”
To read Dara’s full column, go to Preventable Tragedies in the SAFE Blog.


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