Adopting “Charlie”

I don’t think anyone really gets to own an airplane. Instead, I think you become a caretaker of a machine with a soul. You adopt it, become its protector and promoter and if you do a good job it takes you on adventures. Yesterday we adopted “Charlie”.

Charlie is a 1947 Stinson 108-1, who has had a bunch of upgrades and was originally born in February of 1947 in Wayne, Michigan. She turned 70 years old this year.

She lived most of her life with a couple of owners in Michigan. Beginning in 1977, she sat for many years without use. In 1994 a new caretaker decided it was time for her to be rebuilt.

With an extensive effort, by 1995 she was again ready to fly with new fabric, a bunch of upgrades, and a new engine. She served her new caretaker well from what we can tell from the logbooks but eventually transitioned to new homes. A short stint in Florida, then to her most recent home in Palestine, TX, where we met her most recent caretaker. Brian Rucker.

We arrived in Palestine, TX to find Charlie tucked into the back of Brian’s hangar, ready for a new adventure.

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Changes to AC on Currency Requirements and Guidance for the Flight Review and Instrument Proficiency Check (AC61-98D) Open for Public Comment

The FAA has proposed changes to AC 61-98D, Currency Requirements and Guidance for the Flight Review and Instrument Proficiency Check.

This a good opportunity for the flight training community to review the document and any proposed changes and then provide feedback before any changes to the document become final. Comments are due by November 13, 2017.

The proposed document is now open for public comment and is now available at http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/afs_ac.

Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) Recommends Removal of Experience Requirement for CFIs to Train New CFIs

A recent recommendation of an FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) proposed that the FAA change long-standing requirements under FAR 61.195(h)(2)(iii) that a CFI must have been a CFI for more than 24 months before they are authorized to train a first-time instructor applicant. (For the full text of the current qualifications for training a first-time instructor applicant, click here).

The ARAC recommends that this requirement be changed to requiring that the CFI,

“Have held a flight instructor certificate for at least 24 months or has completed a FAA approved standardization course at a part 141 training school that provides instruction on the intricacies of training a flight instructor applicant.”

The rationale for this recommendation is given as,

“The turnover of CFIs across the nation is tremendous and there are very few full-time/permanent CFIs. The flight instructor profession is a transient position for the vast majority of pilots on their way to fly jets professionally. As a result, instructors are moving fast to Regional Airlines; our turnover (and the turnover across the training industry) is approaching 90% annually. This turnover is severely limiting the number of flight instructors available that meet the requirement of 61.195. This regulation sets the requirements for an instructor pilot to train individuals in the CFI course. As of right now, we have about 40 students waiting to start their CFI training who cannot start due to the lack of human resources that meet the requirements of 61.196 (and the backlog is growing).”

It is worth noting that, at this time, this is just a recommendation to the FAA. No official rulemaking has been made on this recommendation, but it is possible that it will be taken up in future rulemaking processes.
A further note is given that,

“A shortage of CFIs increases the training time of new flight students thus increasing the time it takes for new pilots to complete their flight training and ATP requirements. This delay further exacerbates the pilot shortage problem.”

This recommendation seems to be a business consideration, not a quality of training consideration. It is highly focused on providing relief of this business concern that would only provide a remedy to part 141 FAA approved training providers, predominantly provided by university and collegiate training providers. This recommendation, without further modification, would not provide an opportunity for non-part 141 training providers to develop an equivalent CFI training curriculum that would allow those training providers to take advantage of potential staff that could provide initial CFI training who had not been CFIs for more than 24 calendar months.

The FAA regularly tasks FAA and Industry representatives with providing feedback to the regulatory process in our aviation industry. This particular recommendation is a part of a larger report back to the FAA that responded to a task that was given by the FAA that included potential changes to FAA pilot training requirements. Specifically, “the FAA assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) a new task to consider (1) recommendations on existing regulations that are good candidates for repeal, replacement, or modification and (2) recommendations on regulatory action identified in FAA’s regulatory agenda.” (The tasking can be found at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/FR-2017-04-28/2017-08564).

The full text of all ARAC recommendations can be found by clicking here for the pdf document.

There is much discussion that should likely take place before any implementation or rulemaking on this recommendation. It is important for the industry to consider how this would affect the quality of training for CFIs and how it would affect different types of training providers and environments. A more global assessment is needed to consider whether the simple premise that is assumed, that CFIs are transitory, is in the best interest of safety and quality of training. Instead, perhaps the industry should be using this as an impetus to develop a business model wherein CFI jobs would be less transitional and more permanent, as a career goal that develops a core of professional permanent instructors who become highly competent and provide better, more efficient, and in the end, more cost-effective training to customers of flight training businesses.

9 Free Subscriptions to Help an Instructor Stay Up-To-Date

A good instructor must stay up-to-date on what is happening in the aviation training industry to be able to provide quality training to their students. The hard part is finding resources that keep you up-to-date, without having to go digging all the time. The good news is that there are a variety of free resources that can help keep an instructor in-the-know.

There are a number of FREE resources that I recommend any instructor start receiving and browse regularly to keep aware of changes and industry happenings that could affect the training they provide to students. There are others that you can get as members, but at a minimum, these free resources can help. Continue reading