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OCTOBER WEBINARS
MOSAIC: Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft 2.0 Update
Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, AT 7 P.M. CDT
Presenter: Tom Charpentier
The upcoming MOSAIC rule will provide exciting opportunities for many, including new and existing pilots, aircraft owners, and manufacturers. An expansion of sport pilot and light-sport aircraft privileges will make it easier and less expensive to fly. Join EAA Government Advocacy Director Tom Charpentier as he reviews the basics of how the upcoming MOSAIC rule change will impact you and your aircraft options. Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit.
Fly the Easy Way
Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, AT 7 P.M. CDT
Presenter: Larry Bothe
Why are you working so hard to fly your airplane? FAA Master CFI Larry Bothe will share 21 tips and tricks you can do to make your flying easier, safer, cheaper, and a whole lot more enjoyable. Tune in and prepare to learn some new techniques your instructor may not have taught you. Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit.
NOVEMBER WEBINARS
Distrust and Verify
Qualifies for FAA WINGS and AMT credit
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2024, 7 P.M. CST
Presenters: Mike Busch
The Russian proverb "Trust but verify" made famous by President Ronald Reagan was later morphed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo into "Distrust and verify" when he spoke about China. Pompeo's version is just as applicable to aircraft maintenance as it is to arms control. Far too often, A&P mechanics attack an aircraft with tools in an attempt to fix an issue based solely on a squawk by a pilot or aircraft owner without actually verifying for themselves that the description is accurate. Frequently this results in costly and time-consuming maintenance that doesn't resolve the issue. In this webinar, Mike Busch A&P/IA offers two real-life stories to illustrate this problem and talks about what pilots and mechanics can do to prevent it from happening. Qualifies for FAA WINGS and AMT credit.
Christen Eagles
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024, 7 P.M. CST
Presenter: Chris Henry and Amelia Anderson
Frank Christensen built a legend when he designed the Christen Eagle. The airplane is enjoyed by so many in the aerobatic world, and EAA's heritage is deeply tied to the aircraft type. Join EAA Museum Manager Chris Henry as he discusses the museum's Christen Eagles and this legendary aerobatic aircraft.
Scanning the Gauges: Surviving VFR Into IMC
Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024, 7 P.M. CST
Presenter: Prof. H. Paul Shuch
Federal Aviation Regulations are very clear as to the training, currency, equipment, inspections, and clearances required for flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Still, far too often, pilots stumble into IMC without meeting those requirements. In this FAA Safety Team WINGS webinar, Prof. H. Paul Shuch will review the pertinent FARs, explore the reasons for these deviations, and discuss lifesaving training and techniques to follow if you should ever find yourself flying VFR into IMC. Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit.
EAA Ray Aviation Scholarship – Update for 2025
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2024, 7 P.M. CST
Presenter: Chris Gauger
The Ray Aviation Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship program to help young people learn to fly. Funded by the Ray Foundation, managed by EAA headquarters, and administered by EAA chapters, this program has allowed almost 600 youths to obtain their pilot certificates to date. Christopher Gauger from the EAA Chapters staff will provide an overview of this successful program for both newcomers and those already familiar with the program.
IFR Departures: From Planning to the En Route Environment Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024, 7 P.M. CST
Presenter: Tom Turner
Instrument training, proficiency, and currency requirements are built primarily around instrument approaches. But getting from the airport to the en route environment under instrument flight rules is equally as complex and requiring of study, training, and practice. In this webinar Tom Turner will cover planning and execution of the following:
Qualifies for FAA WINGS credit.
EAA gratefully acknowledges the support of Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. for its generous sponsorship of our webinar programs.
A renewal based on activities is still required.
The FAA is removing the expiration date of flight instructor certificates, it announced Tuesday.
The agency’s new rule aligning flight instructor certificates with other airman certificates goes into effect December 1.
However, according to the FAA, instructors will still need to renew their certificate every 24 calendar months by completing a Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic (FIRC), acquiring an additional instructor certificate, or by additional instructional activity. That activity, according to the rule, includes, "at least 15 flight activities recognized under the FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency program, during which the flight instructor evaluated at least five different pilots and has made the necessary endorsements in the logbooks of each pilot for each activity."
Additionally, the rule said that CFIs who endorse at least five applicants for a practical test in 24 calendar months and have a 80 percent passage rate can also use this per 61.197(b)(2)(i) to renew their certificates.
According to the 35-page document published in the Federal Register, the removal of the expiration date will bring the CFI certificate in line with the private and commercial certificates that do not have expiration dates.
Additionally, it is seen as a cost saving measure as it will save the FAA the expense of printing and mailing reissued plastic certificates.
The final rule amends Part 61 of Title 14 in the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) on the reinstatement requirements for flight instructor certificates providing a CFI who has let their certificate lapse a three-month grace period to do an FIRC to regain privileges. Prior to the rule the only option was for the lapsed instructor to take a checkride.
The removal of an expiration date will mean a change in the way instructors endorse a client’s logbook per FAR 61.51, as instead of noting the CFI certificate expiration date, the CFI will note recency of experience.
This final rule also adds two new methods for flight instructors to qualify to train initial applicants and relocates and codifies the requirements for relief for U.S. military and civilian personnel who seek to renew their expired flight instructor certificate but are challenged because they are outside the U.S.
This week the FAA published a long-awaited rule that will make transition training and other specialized instruction easier in experimental, primary, and limited category aircraft.
The rule, entitled Public Aircraft Logging of Flight Time, Training in Certain Aircraft Holding Special Airworthiness Certificates, and Flight Instructor Privileges, makes several changes to Parts 61 and 91 of the regulations. The rule was proposed in the summer of last year and EAA submitted comments alongside Warbirds of America..
The rule codifies the final resolution to a legal situation that arose three years ago that briefly made it impossible to pay an instructor to train in one’s own aircraft. The FAA rectified this situation at the time by requiring Letters of Deviation Authority (LODAs) for pilots or instructors in experimental aircraft, and an exemption held by EAA for limited category warbirds.
The LODA requirement was eliminated by legislation in December 2022, however the fix had not been officially adopted into FAA regulations until this final rule. Additionally, the legislation did not address training in limited and primary category aircraft. This rule allows compensated flight training in limited category aircraft in a similar manner to experimental aircraft and restores the ability of primary category aircraft to be used in flight training operations.
Flight training involving the compensation of both the aircraft and instructor, i.e. a flight school or flight training experience offered to the public for a fee, has historically carried additional requirements in both experimental and limited category aircraft. This rulemaking, however, makes approvals for these operations more streamlined and creates more opportunities for this safety-enhancing training to occur.
Notably, the rule allows instructors with experimental aircraft to offer training under a LODA for endorsements, primary training toward a sport pilot certificate in certain cases, and re-enables experimental light-sport aircraft (E-LSA) to be used in compensated training. These changes were championed by EAA over almost a decade of advocacy.
Under previous rules, a person receiving transition training under a LODA would need to have all necessary endorsements first. For example, a person building a tailwheel experimental aircraft with no tailwheel endorsement could not receive the endorsement with a transition training operation. Instead, they would first need to get the endorsement elsewhere. Under the new rule and upcoming supporting policy, a person with a “specific need” to receive the training, such as building or purchasing a similar type, can receive the endorsement in an experimental aircraft under a transition training LODA.
The new rule adds important training avenues in some of the lightest aircraft in the community. The 2004 light-sport rule envisioned that all training toward the operation of Part 103 ultralight vehicles, previously conducted under exemptions, would eventually transition to special light sport aircraft (S-LSA). Therefore, the regulators at the time added a specific rule that E-LSA, many of which were aircraft previously operated under these training exemptions, could not be used for any compensated training after 2010. Unfortunately, the ultralight and “lightplane” training market remains underserved. Therefore, EAA successfully pushed for the prohibition on E-LSA training to be repealed in this rulemaking.
In a similar vein, the rule and follow-on LODA policy will allow for experimental aircraft weighing less than 650 pounds empty and with a VH of less than 87 knots to be used for training toward a sport pilot certificate in a commercial flight training operation. Training opportunities in very light fixed-wing, powered parachute, and weight-shift control aircraft are minimal in many parts of the country, and this change aims to address that. There had already been a precedent for allowing experimental gyroplanes to be used for training in a similarly sparse training market.
Under this change, a flight training operation with a properly issued LODA may offer training toward the operation of an ultralight vehicle, including student solo, and may offer an upgrade path to a sport pilot certificate, all while using an E-LSA or other experimental aircraft to provide the training.
There are several other issues that EAA is still working to address in this rule change, most notably the ability of multiple trainees to fly in large multicrew warbirds and cycle through a crew station on a single flight. Overall, however, this rule resolves many issues with specialized training and is a milestone in a long advocacy effort by EAA to address training in homebuilts, light-sport aircraft, and ultralights.
The rule becomes effective on December 2. An advisory circular further explaining the rule and detailing the application process for a LODA will be issued in the coming months.
Some troublesome restrictions may be on the way out.
The FAA today announced a public filing in the Federal Register of a 118-page final rule that states it will open up several areas of operations enabling pilots to credit flight time toward civil regulatory requirements. Notably, under the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the final rule amends the operating regulations “for experimental aircraft to permit certain flight training, testing, and checking in these aircraft without a letter of deviation authority.” Also, under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, “the same relief will be extended to certain flight training, testing, and checking in limited category, primary category, and experimental light sport aircraft.” That ruling also revises certain amendments related to logging recent flight experience, flight instructor privileges, flight training in aircraft holding special airworthiness certificates, and “the related prohibitions on conducting these activities for compensation or hire.”
The new ruling also allows pilots conducting public aircraft operations to log that time toward their civil regulatory requirements, consistent with the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. Effective dates for the changes are specified as 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
By: EAA Government Advocacy Staff
Perhaps it was inevitable, but here we are. Private companies are sprouting up advertising turnkey solutions for airports to collect automated landing fees. Scheduled, nonscheduled, ADS-B, transponder-free, it doesn’t matter. Through a system of monitoring open-source data and optically capturing N-numbers, they can track just about any landing aircraft.
We’re still working on the regulatory and legal implications of these systems, though landing fees have been a fixture at large commercial airports for years. They are rarer at small GA airports, as they have been impeded in the past by the lack of an efficient collection system for aircraft that never park and drop by the FBO desk or honesty box. Now there apparently is one.
Landing fees in general aviation set a dangerous precedent. They rank alongside air traffic fees in penalizing safe practices, as the cash register ticks over with each landing. Landing an aircraft is probably the most fundamental — and perishable — skill in aviation, and it is important to be able to practice it at a variety of airports and settings. There are indeed countries where it is commonplace for all airports to charge by the landing. We simply cannot permit that here. Does your local basketball court charge by the free throw practiced?
This is not to say that airports cannot collect fees to sustain themselves. Self-sustainment is an important concept at airports, and there are unique funding challenges at facilities that do not receive federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding, such as privately owned, public-use airports. Probably the most equitable fee an airport can charge is a fuel flowage fee. Like the federal fuel tax that funds the FAA, fuel-based fees are scalable to the type, size, and frequency of operation, where heavier aircraft or frequent fliers pay a bit more. As we say with regard to federal user fees, we have no problem with funding the infrastructure we use, but not in the form of à la carte fees that disincentivize the use of certain parts of the infrastructure and could affect safety as well.
Not to mention, this form of fee collection does feel like an invasion of privacy. In today’s interconnected world, many of us are accustomed to being tracked when we fly, but a technology that identifies even those aircraft that opt out of ADS-B? Pilots in the United States have a unique ability to navigate the airspace with few restrictions, which is a cherished privilege. Getting a bill in the mail that identifies which airport you visited on which date — and how much you now owe — erodes that feeling of freedom.
The most effective pushback against these sorts of fees may well be at the local level. Absent new legislation or regulatory action there may not be a way to prevent these pay-to-land schemes. So engage with your airport sponsors. Let them know this is a bad idea that could easily drive traffic away from the airport.
While each airport — especially those with federal funding — is a node in a national system, the taxpayers and constituents on the local level will likely decide whether these fee systems are successful. It’s yet another reason to engage positively with your local community and airport leadership to show them the value of a healthy GA airport.
It’s time to recall some of the things you learned in ground school but haven’t thought about for a while—at least not since last summer. You remember the old memory shortcut about “high, hot, and heavy” degrading performance. “Heavy” is obvious. And while we all know that our aircraft don’t perform as well at high altitudes and hot temperatures, it’s important to understand why not.
If you’ve walked across a hot parking lot, you know it’s even hotter on the pavement. Paved surfaces, especially black asphalt, absorb the sun’s rays and make the air above them even hotter. Of course, this happens on runways too.
Runway temperatures can be as much as 40°F hotter than what the AWOS or ATIS says on a sunny summer day. Plan for that and adjust your takeoff distance calculations appropriately. You might want to get the temperature from your airplane’s Outside Air Temperature gauge in addition to the AWOS or ATIS to use on your takeoff performance chart.
When we’re talking about “high altitude,” it’s density altitude that we’re talking about. At high altitudes, the air is less dense because heat expands things. The hotter the air, the less dense it becomes. As you know, wings generate lift by interacting with air, and engines develop power by combining fuel with air. Then propellers turn power into thrust by reacting with the air. Anything that reduces the density of air will reduce the airplane’s performance. Hence, “high” and “hot.”
But what about humidity? Though it might seem counterintuitive, air loaded up with water vapor is lighter than dry air. According to the FAA’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge1:
“The small amount of water vapor suspended in the atmosphere may be almost negligible under certain conditions, but in other conditions, humidity may become an important factor in the performance of an aircraft. Water vapor is lighter than air; consequently, moist air is lighter than dry air. Therefore, as the water content of the air increases, the air becomes less dense, increasing density altitude and decreasing performance. It is lightest or least dense when, in a given set of conditions, it contains the maximum amount of water vapor…” Then, we add heat to the equation. “…As temperature increases, the air can hold greater amounts of water vapor. When comparing two separate air masses, the first warm and moist (both qualities tending to lighten the air) and the second cold and dry (both qualities making it heavier), the first necessarily must be less dense than the second. Pressure, temperature, and humidity have a great influence on airplane performance, because of their effect upon density.
Take a look at the performance section of your POH. If the humidity is high — say, above 50 or 60% — it may be wise to add additional length to the runway requirements over what the takeoff performance chart says to account for moist air. You might also want to plan for a decreased rate of climb, especially if you have to clear an obstacle.
The NTSB files are full of accidents caused by pilots who didn’t take heat and humidity, let alone altitude, into account before blasting down a runway.
To make sure you don’t become one of them, please spend a few minutes in the books accounting for takeoff performance loss next time you fly.
1 The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge 2016. Published by the FAA and currently located at https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/
We’d love to know what you think of this PIREP. Please email us at PIREP@Avemco.com and let us know.
Reprinted by permission from AVEMCO
According to an FAA spokesperson: "Generally speaking, the FAA will accept [a pilot’s] last airman certificate application (Form 8710-1) or what they reported on their last medical application (Form 8500-8)." You should have access to at least one of those documents.
Pro tip: Moving forward, you may want to invest in an electronic logbook and save the information to the cloud, or at least record a digital image of each page of the paper logbook when you fill it up. If you rent aircraft, sometimes you can re-create your experience by cross-referencing your receipts.
(from: Flying Magazine)
Most aviators and air traffic control personnel are aware of the dangers of the wingtip vortices generated by large, fixed-wing aircraft, and we often hear on the radio: “caution wake turbulence.” But did you know that helicopters can generate turbulence equally as hazardous? You should avoid operating aircraft within three rotor diameters of any helicopter in a slow hover taxi or stationary hover and use caution when operating behind or crossing the path of a landing/departing helicopter.
From the FAASTeam
Notice Number: NOTC3401
Using a checklist is a fundamental part of any safe flight. During preflight, a checklist ensures pilots inspect an aircraft’s components and systems for proper operation and structural integrity and allows them to verify airworthiness. On taxi and during flight, they help ensure the airplane and engine are functioning properly and are configured appropriately for each phase of flight. Checklists provide important structure to the things we check often, usually in a prescribed order of priority. Bottom line: checklist usage is a sound and proven way to reduce errors and improve flight safety.
But just like airplanes change with upgrades or modifications, so too should checklists to include those new items and procedures or omit those that are obsolete. Maybe you’ve added some new avionics equipment or installed a new fire extinguisher. Or perhaps you’d like to reorder your instrument and gauge checks in a more logical manner. Or maybe you’d prefer to use a more specific term to verify a desired state than the sometimes vague “check and set” response. The question for some might be - how exactly do I modify a checklist?
While there is no approval required from the FAA to modify or customize a checklist, pilots and aircraft owners should start by consulting their aircraft’s Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) or Airplane Flight Manual (AFM), or panel placards with some older aircraft. These steps should constitute the baseline for your checklist. If there is a manufacturer-prescribed task or procedure you wish to omit -- perhaps due to concerns about mechanical wear and tear on a particular component – you should consult directly with the manufacturer to ensure safety is not compromised.
The FAA issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO 17006) in 2017 that addresses safety concerns with using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or personally developed checklists. The notice was prompted by an accident involving a landing gear failure in which the pilot used a COTS checklist that lacked key steps regarding manual gear extension. The SAFO urges pilots to ensure any COTS or personal checklist is consistent with what the manufacturer states.
Another important reason for this consistency is apparent during practical exams for a pilot certificate or rating. Designated pilot examiners may require an aircraft manufacturer’s procedure is demonstrated when testing applicants. Those who use a checklist that differs from the manufacturer may omit or incorrectly perform an important step, impacting their ability to successfully pass the exam. If you are providing flight instruction it is essential that you show, demonstrate, and explain any omitted items to students to avoid this potential pitfall. The student should be able to demonstrate the procedure and be able to explain why it has been omitted from the modified checklist and is not performed routinely.
Having checklists that are efficient, logical, and that account for changes to an aircraft’s systems can greatly improve safety and even increase the likelihood of them being used. Just be sure the information you use for those revised checks is correct, complete, and consistent with the manufacturer’s safety standards.
Bonus Tip: Want to take your preflight checklist to the next level? Check out the FAA Safety Team’s Advanced Preflight M-Pamphlet here. This pamphlet helps pilots obtain valuable maintenance history on their aircraft like ADs, ACs, and any manufacturer service-related information, and then develop an Additional Items Checklist that can be used in conjunction with your aircraft’s preflight checklist.
The lack of transition training has been cited as a causal factor in many GA accidents. Accidents frequently result from pilots being unprepared for challenges presented by the new, or different, aircraft they are flying. Even when pilots are legally certificated to operate aircraft within a specific category and class, significant differences can exist among different types of aircraft within that category and class — thus necessitating the need for effective transition training. Click the button below to learn more.
This Concept of Operations is the foundational document for managing the integration of commercial space launch/reentry operations into the NAS. The scope encompasses the FAA’s mid-term to far-term time frames. It provides focus on and methods for efficiently integrating the operations with other NAS operations.
The development of the Commercial Space Integration into the NAS (CSINAS) ConOps is a Level 2, or Service Level, ConOps. This classification indicates that all future efforts will trace to this document as the high-level, long-term vision.
This ConOps will be used as guidance to derive concept-level requirements for services, systems, technologies, tools, procedures, training, and policies that support commercial space launch/reentry operations integration. It can also be used as a reference for assessing concept feasibility through research validation activities.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED! IF YOU'RE A BUILDING AN AIRCRAFT AND WOULD LIKE TO DOCUMENT YOUR BUILD, I WOULD STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE THE EAA'S BUILDER WEBSITE
TO SEE AND USE THE WEBSITE GO TO:
https://eaabuilderslog.org/?blhome
Thanks go out to Don White from Merritt Island (and also one of our members) who voluntarily created this site for EAA!!!
TO SAVE TIME AND SEE JUST WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE BUILDING
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW
Slovenia-based Pipistrel is the only company currently selling a certified electric training aircraft. In this week’s news, we learned that Textron Inc., the U.S.conglomerate that includes Cessna and Beechcraft, has added Pipistrel to its stable of companies. In this video, which first appeared in 2019, find out what Textron got in the deal with an undisclosed price tag.
A new course developed by Flight Service and available on FAASafety.gov provides students and VFR pilots guidance on how to conduct a safe and regulatory compliant preflight self-briefing using automated weather resources. The objective of the course is to ensure that the pilot understands aviation weather basics and learns to apply meteorological and aeronautical information in a systematic manner to plan a safe flight. The course includes scenarios, real-life examples, videos, reference materials, and practice exercises for pilots to conduct on their own or with their flight instructor. Access the WINGS credit course here: http://bit.ly/ALC683.
(FAA-H-8083-9)
Designed for ground instructors, flight instructors, and aviation maintenance instructors, the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook was developed by the Flight Standards Service, Airman Testing Standards Branch, in cooperation with aviation educators and industry to help beginning instructors understand and apply the fundamentals of instruction. This handbook provides aviation instructors with up-to-date information on learning and teaching, and how to relate this information to the task of teaching aeronautical knowledge and skills to learners. Experienced aviation instructors will also find the updated information useful for improving their effectiveness in training activities.
This handbook supersedes FAA-H-8083-9A, Aviation Instructor’s Handbook, dated 2008.
The FAA has recently issued a general notice with regard to Surface Safety. Several recent Runway Incursions have been attributed to communications. The most important concept in pilot-controller communications is understanding. Pilots must acknowledge each radio communication with Air Traffic Control (ATC) by using the appropriate aircraft call sign and confirming all hold short instructions.
Please touch the Drug List Button below to go directly to the FAA Document covering the subject. It's very informative!!
A selection of EAA-branded merchandise is now available through an EAA storefront via Amazon.com, bringing The Spirit of Aviation to more people via the worldwide online retailer.
The storefront at Amazon.com/EAA features some of EAA’s most popular items, from books and calendars to caps and aviation-themed metal signs. A selection of EAA and Flight Outfitters co-branded merchandise is also available through the Amazon site.
“Fascination with the world of flight stretches worldwide, so creating this outlet through Amazon allows EAA to reach aviation enthusiasts anywhere,” said Scott Powers, EAA’s director of retail operations. “Working with Amazon is an outstanding complement to the full line merchandise available through the EAA website store and in-person right here in Oshkosh.”
For shoppers who have active Amazon Prime accounts, they will be able to receive two-day free shipping as EAA merchandise will be shipped direct from Amazon’s distribution centers. In addition, shoppers using the Amazon Smile program can direct Amazon to donate 0.5 percent of the purchase price to the EAA Aviation Foundation to support EAA’s programs that grow participation in aviation. Amazon users can activate the Smile program on their accounts and designate the EAA Aviation Foundation as their favorite charity.
AOPA has a great article about these two inventors
WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE WRIGHT BROTHERS
You’d think Milton Wright would be disappointed by his two youngest sons—high school dropouts who wouldn’t move out of the family home, fussed over their appearance, never married, and jumped from job to job. First, his boys tried a newspaper and printing business, then a bicycle shop, and finally they got the dang-fool idea that they could fly.
Continue reading the article by clicking the button below