The conference highlights included briefings from FAA staff on upcoming regulatory changes that may affect flight training, from TSA staff regarding the health and volume of training for international students, and specifically from FAA reps in the aero medical focal area. The FAA is working to modernize how it manages behavioral health reporting, approvals for return to flight for pilots who report and seek appropriate treatment, and safety concerns related to behavioral trends in the pilot community.

Discussions also included consideration of future technology integration into the entire aviation sector but also specifically the aviation training landscape. With exciting and unique technologies on the near horizon, some of the speakers and discussions hinted at what may be coming soon to implement technologies in aviation training.

“We are excited to continue the growth of this conference, the communication it drives between all participants, and the importance of sharing of information it facilitates to improve flight training services in the entire system,” said FSANA CEO and president Robert Rockmaker.

FSANA is already beginning to plan for the 2025 conference that will take place in Orlando, Florida, next February. If you are a participant in the flight training sector, keep an eye out for more information on the next event.

The post FSANA Conducts Annual Flight School Operators Conference appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Attendees were able to take part in sessions covering topics as wide ranging as pilot medical concerns, national weather service forecasting support, emergency operations, and air traffic control (ATC) coordination to name a few sessions. Presenters from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Detroit’s approach control facility, National Weather Service, and industry writers and professionals brought expertise and experience to share.

Some of Michigan’s best flight instructors, promoters of safety, and mechanics also were recognized at the event. As part of the General Aviation Awards program (GAA), Michigan’s winners will be entered into consideration for regional and national recognition. The long-standing awards program is a cooperative effort between many different sponsors and organizations from the aviation industry and FAA.

For more than 50 years, the GAA program has recognized aviation professionals in flight instruction, aviation maintenance, avionics, and flight safety for their important contributions to the general aviation community.

Stephen Tupper was named the East Michigan FSDO CFI of the year’ Daniel Holtzclaw was recognized as the East Michigan FSDO and overall Michigan FAASTeam representative of the year; Marty King earned the Grand Rapids FSDO and overall Michigan aviation maintenance technician of the year; and James Whittles was honored as the Grand Rapids FSDO and overall Michigan CFI of the year.

​The GAA said these awards highlight these individuals’ important leadership roles in promoting aviation safety, education, and professionalism. 

If you missed this year’s Michigan Aviation Safety Forum, keep an eye out for 2025. The MASF is held each February in Ypsilanti and hosted at Eastern Michigan University.

More information on  the MASF event can be found here and here.

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Over the years, the collected data has proven invaluable, aiding decision-makers in strategic planning and revealing trends. The inaugural survey in 2021 focused on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent reports have addressed the aviation industry’s recovery and operational efficiencies.

• READ MORE: Redbird‘s New Flight School Survey Digs Up Fascinating Data, Including: How Much Does It Cost?

Responses to the survey will be accepted until February 23 and will be unveiled at the 2024 Redbird Migration Flight Training Conference on March 5 through 6 at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston. Firecrown Media CEO Craig Fuller will be a featured speaker at the event, along with retired NASA astronaut Charlie Precourt and Helicopter Association International president and CEO James Viola. 

Kyle, Texas-based Redbird Flight, known for delivering innovative training devices worldwide, encourages learners, pilots, instructors, and organizations to contribute to this vital snapshot of the industry.

For more information about the survey and conference, visit Redbird Flight and the Redbird Migration event page.

The post State of Flight Training: Redbird’s Annual Survey Is Live appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The pilot had been flying for decades, logging 3,500 hours. He’d owned the 1946 North American T-6G for a while, accumulating more than 300 hours in type. The T-6 Texan (known outside the U.S. as a Harvard) is a 600 hp, two-seat aerobatic World War II advanced trainer—a very nice airplane. Accompanied by his 13-year-old grandson in the back seat, he circled back over the airport and flew 7 miles to the south.

Now over some fields and woods, he started a sequence of low-level aerobatics. Data from ADS-B and an onboard GPS recorder show many course reversals, with altitudes varying but rarely higher than 1,000 feet agl. Eyewitnesses corroborated the variations in altitude and reported the air show smoke system was on. A Snapchat video shows the T-6 maneuvering overhead just above the treetop level.

According to the accident report, the airplane ripped into trees at a steep angle and then impacted the ground, leaving a tightly contained accident site. Both the pilot and his grandson were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident. Both airplane and pilot were properly certified with current airworthiness documentation. The NTSB found “postaccident examination of the airframe and engines revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.”

There was no distress call, no other airplane around, no medical complications, and no issues with the fuel or weather. The recently released final report simply states the probable cause to be “(the) pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from trees while maneuvering at low altitude.” This was not an isolated or unique accident.

A few weeks earlier, on June 18, 2021, another experienced pilot went down while maneuvering at low altitude.

The 4,000-hour flight instructor and his 20-hour post-solo student took off from the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport in Florida (KFHB) at about 11 a.m. It was 84 degrees Fahrenheit, and the lowest clouds were at 9,000 feet with high visibility and light winds. They were in the flight school’s 1971 Cessna 150L. After flying about 7 miles to the north, they practiced air work, turns, and slow flight.

Air traffic control radar records show several turns and airspeed changes consistent with training exercises. The altitudes seemed low, ranging between 800 and 1,000 feet agl. To see if this was normal practice, the NTSB interviewed the student who flew the accident airplane with the accident instructor earlier that morning. He said they “performed clean stalls, dirty stalls, and a power-off glide at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,200 feet” above the St. Mary’s River. They then returned to KFHB for some uneventful touch-and-gos. The instructor’s next flight followed a similar profile. Except that this time during the air work there was a sudden change.

One eyewitness reported the airplane as circling and turning while descending. Another said the aircraft descended nose-down in a “corkscrew” path. By the descriptions, it appears the Cessna stalled and spun, quickly smashing into the river in a near-vertical, nose-down attitude. Witnesses said it sounded as if the engine was running the whole time. After it struck the water, it quickly sank. Both pilots were killed.

Again, both airplane and pilot were properly certificated with current airworthiness and airman documentation. NTSB’s examination of the wreckage “did not reveal evidence of a preexisting mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.” The student pilot was described by an instructor as “Sharp…She took her lessons seriously and was always prepared.” There was no distress call, no other airplane, no medical complications, and no concerns with the fuel or weather. The only issue was performing the maneuvers at low altitudes.

The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C) addresses the altitude for performing maneuvers that involve significant changes in altitude or direction. It states there should be sufficient altitude available for recovery before executing the maneuver. This, of course, depends considerably on the airplane and the maneuver, and in jets can be thousands of feet. More prescriptively it recommends “that stalls be practiced at an altitude that allows recovery no lower than 1,500 feet agl for single-engine airplanes.” Additionally, the FAA private pilot-airplane airman certification standards lists a requirement that all slow flight and stall tasks “be completed no lower than 1,500 (feet agl) for single-engine aircraft.”

The flight school followed a similar policy. However, this instructor was starting maneuvers at and below 1,000 feet agl.

The NTSB’s recently released final report determines the probable cause of the accident to be the “flight instructor’s decision to conduct slow flight training at an altitude below the flight school’s minimum recovery altitude and his delayed remedial action when an aerodynamic stall occurred.”

These accidents both feature the same root cause. The pilots went down because they were doing maneuvers too close to the ground. Maybe people do this because it looks cool or feels exciting. Maybe it’s because climbing to higher altitudes takes a lot of time. But setting a reasonable minimum altitude to finish slow flight, stalls, loops, or rolls gives a basic safety margin and is essential risk management.

This airmanship concept made it into the movie Top Gun. In air combat maneuvering training—also known as dogfighting—fighter pilots simulate flying down to the ground by setting a “hard deck” of (for example) 10,000 feet as a required safety buffer. Maverick busts the hard deck and is chewed out about it in the debriefing, but he gets to fly again. In reality, his Top Gun course would have ended there.

Hard decks are a serious safety rule. Setting a minimum altitude gives us lifesaving time and space to correct errors. Except in special circumstances, when that close to the ground we should be doing only one of two things—climbing or landing. 

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine.

The post After the Accident: Hard Deck Lessons appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Schweizer has finished the first of its factory refreshed S300CBi helicopters. The new program will put certified pre-owned rotorcraft in the hands of customers for well below the price of a new model, according to the company.

The OEM Certified Helicopters Program replaces several key components, including the engine, blades, and interior, applies new paint, and introduces other low-time parts to the finished product.

“The former owners of the Schweizer brand did not maintain parts availability, leaving a number of aircraft to be cannibalized,” said Schweizer’s president and CEO David Horton. “We created our new OEM Certified Helicopters Program to help bring the fleet back to life and provide a more affordable way for customers to get into helicopter ownership or upgrade to a new helicopter.”

According to the company, the program is the only one of its kind in the light rotorcraft industry segment. To feed it, Schweizer now accepts used helicopters “regardless of their airworthiness” for an extensive inspection, repairs, and replacement of those components listed above. 

“Customers can trade in their older Schweizers for either a discount equal to the value of the aircraft on a new helicopter or receive a percentage of their aircraft’s sale price when Schweizer sells it after it completes the program,” said the company in a release.

Once in the program, the S300CBi-series aircraft take one of two tracks: “refreshed” or “refurbished.”

Refreshed aircraft start with a low- time aircraft “requiring few repairs and/or part replacements.” The finished product includes “an intensive OEM inspection,” with with parts and components needing replacement or nearing life limitation replaced, and carry full 400-hour, 800-hour, annual, and 24-month inspections. 

READ MORE: Enstrom’s Helicopter Also Returns

The aircraft are also professionally detailed with any blemishes repaired.

Refurbished aircraft follow a similar model, but involve those S300CBis needing more work. “These aircraft receive new or overhauled engines, new blades, component replacements where needed to ensure overall low- time components, a completely new interior, and fresh paint,” said Schweizer. “Avionics are entirely customizable to a customer’s request. The aircraft also undergo full 400-hour, 800-hour, annual and 24-month inspections.” 

Both come with a 1-year/1,000-hour warranty on parts replaced or repaired by Schweizer.

The post Schweizer Creates Like-New S300CBi Copters with Factory Program appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Sheltair and Avfuel, prominent players in the aviation industry, have announced the six recipients of their second annual Future Takes Flight Scholarships. Each recipient will receive $5,000 to advance their education and careers in business aviation.

This year’s scholarship class includes dedicated individuals from various regions, each pursuing different aspects of the aviation field—Lei Huot, Joel Mink, Justin Hernandez, Katrina Kienitz, Bailey Pollard, and Kyle Keyser. The scholarships are intended to support areas of aviation education such as primary training or obtaining advanced pilot ratings, aviation technician training, or continuing education.

The recipients also bring diverse aspirations to the aviation field. Pollard, for example, aims to inspire the next generation of women in aviation by obtaining her instrument rating and commercial certificate. 

“It is truly an honor to be awarded the Sheltair and Avfuel: Future Takes Flight Scholarship,” said Pollard in a press release. “Receiving this scholarship will allow me to continue and complete my instrument rating after putting it on hold for a few years …This opportunity is putting me one step closer to having my dream become a reality.”

Keyser is pursuing a career in aerial firefighting, with a strong desire to support those working on the ground. Huot is pursuing a degree in aviation maintenance science and seeks to work on jet aircraft, potentially maintaining military aircraft, as her grandfather did. Mink’s passion for aviation has driven him to earn FAA airframe and powerplant certifications, with the ultimate goal of becoming an aviation maintenance technician. Hernandez’s scholarship will support his aviation studies as he aspires to become a professional pilot.

This scholarship program not only provides financial assistance but also encourages and supports individuals to achieve their career goals and make valuable contributions to the aviation industry. With their diverse backgrounds and career aspirations, these recipients represent the future of business aviation.

In its second year, the Sheltair and Avfuel: Future Takes Flight Scholarship program plays a crucial role in helping aspiring aviators pursue their dreams and achieve excellence in their chosen fields. Applicants interested in the next round of scholarships will have the opportunity to apply beginning in December, with a June 1 deadline. The selection process for the 2024 scholarship recipients will involve evaluating essay submissions and giving special consideration to applicants facing financial hardship. The winners of the next scholarship class will be announced at the NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in 2024.

The post Sheltair, Avfuel Award $30K in Scholarships appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Everybody has memories of the original Microsoft Flight Simulator software versions. Then not too many years later, computer programmer Austin Meyer developed his Archer II simulator which morphed into the famous X-Plane simulation program we fans have grown to know and love. Today, when talking of PC civilian sims, most of us immediately think of just two. MSFS2020 and X-Plane 12 dominate the market. However, others exist for military and civilian fans and won’t be neglected in future articles.

But I want to focus on how both X-Plane and MSFS can benefit newly certificated pilots and students alike, so I will look at a few scenarios the fairly new pilot would benefit from flying virtually in a snapshot of both sims, both pros and cons.

Slow Flight, MCA, Stalls, and Spins

For this scenario, I started by using X-Plane 12, basing the simulation at Alpine Airport (46U) in Wyoming, for a somewhat high-altitude challenge (airport elevation is 5,600 feet msl), along with variable weather conditions. After starting up the Cessna 172XP in a realistic manner—partially leaned for takeoff and using live weather—I climbed up over the local area to roughly 2,000 feet agl to practice slow flight and minimum controllable airspeed (MCA). I noticed the X-Plane 12 Cessna handled all this quite realistically from what I remember years ago as a CFII: full flaps, with speeds in the 50- to 60-knot range. Then I flew some MCA with the stall horn beeping and mushing controls, watching the vertical speed indicator stay at zero with power but not too much back pressure to induce a stall—just an aerial dance of working feet, pitch, and throttle.

Slow flight and MCA were extremely realistic and accurate in XP12 as if the aircraft was alive and reacting to the world as it should.

Soon I decided to go all the way into some stalls at a fairly unsafe altitude. At only about 1,500 to 2,000 agl, I started with power-off and power-on stalls, both in turns and straight ahead. Then it was time to see if the airplane spins as I remember from CFI training days. The feeling of the flight model during this was very high and precise.

Power to idle, then back pressure into a squealing stall horn and a turn rolled me rapidly into a left-hand spin—shockingly real and startling.
Sure enough, the back pressure in a turn did the trick, with a fully breaking stall—horn screaming—and bam, the rapid roll into a spin was shockingly real. The recovery inputs felt natural and realistic—slightly sloppy but well modeled—and I recovered at about 300 agl after probably two rotations. It’s certainly not the way we teach in the real world, but having poor risk management skills is the norm on a PC. The fluidity of X-Plane 12 aerodynamics is on full tilt here.

I tried the MSFS2020 Cessna 172XP, at the same airport for the same tests, and the same live weather, only this time as MSFS interprets it.

MSFS never used to model spins nor have a really high-fidelity flight model, but in this test the modeled airplane produced a realistic spin. This was prompted by a power-on stall that resulted in a rapidly winding spin. Sounds of the stall and spin were pretty much on par with X-Plane 12, with the exception being the stall horn X-Plane 12 sounded more realistic and dynamic.

Once airborne in the MSFS 172, I tested slow flight, MCA, and spins in the same manner. Where the MSFS franchise was never known for realistic flight modeling in the past, it is clear this newest version represents a breakthrough. It felt very similar to X-Plane 12’s reactions, with still a wee bit of the “flying-on-rails” feeling we know from previous MSFS versions—but a massive improvement overall in flight modeling for this scenario. I was impressed it spun—and spun well. Recovery was realistic and responsive.

Failure and Emergency Training Scenario

No pilot training would be complete without failure and emergency options, and this is where X-Plane has always smashed the competition, with hundreds of possible failures and emergencies you can either precisely set to occur or randomize each and every option for a nerve-wracking experience.

In this example, I set up a bird strike to occur at exactly 200 feet agl. Despite this setup, I was still startled when it happened. The results were unknown until the engine oil pressure and temperatures started trending to the bad side. I cheated by looking outside and was shocked to see fire and smoke trails.

The scenery is compelling, but the overall lack of failure scenarios and a slightly less fluid flight model makes the emergency practice slightly less beneficial and startling. It’s too predictable since you must pretend a failure or emergency is unfolding. But the visual beauty and accuracy of the world around you are awesome. You’ll gain knowledge, crisis handling, and emergency off-airport planning in either sim.

The birds came out of nowhere fast in the simulation. I had nowhere to go and was coping with a big startle factor at that. You could cope in real life far better by having had the ability to experience that sudden event in simulation.

This engine had really taken a hit. Time to secure and shut down or choose to delay your response to see what might happen next.
I aimed for a road along the shore with some scrubby areas that could provide a safe landing site, although there were houses and bigger trees at the far end of the view.

With a comparable setup in MSFS2020 but without failure modeling, I cut the engine at a similar location and altitude. The scenery is more realistic as it’s based on true Earth images that load by default as you fly. Subscribing to Ortho scenery photorealistic terrain is possible on X-Plane 12 as an option.

I made a safe touchdown in MSFS in a grassy area, dodging road traffic. This is where MSFS takes the cake, “off-roading” with very photorealistic scenery by default. X-Plane will provide similar scenes via downloads and simple installations but by default isn’t as sharp as MSFS.

Convective Dangers and Weather Modeling

Simulating thunderstorms is a thrill, especially when the danger and risks involved can be simulated realistically. Fortunately, both simulations do this quite well now—a new breakthrough for MSFS and an old tried-and-true risk/danger model for X-Plane reworked and improved for X-Plane 12. I manually set up thunderstorms to begin developing, with a trend toward deteriorating weather, so storms would slowly increase in coverage and intensity, making for some cloud shots as well as danger. I know X-Plane has an advantage here.

I looked toward the bad weather and compared it to what I saw on ForeFlight. It’s easy hooking up any X-Plane session to ForeFlight to get the exact thing you’d see in real life. ForeFlight can be added to X-Plane 12 readily.

The depiction on radar, based on my area, was pretty realistic, I must say. What I really wanted to test was the weather over time, and a particularly fun exercise in X-Plane 12 is to park somewhere, use the outside view, and watch and wait. You’ll see and hear the weather forming around you and moving in.

MSFS does something similar, yet I felt the special effects, especially the audio world of these storms approaching, in X-Plane 12 was a bit more dramatic. The things that really caught my attention were the violent wind and rain noises. The rain sounds in X-Plane 12 are loud, especially in flight. Hitting rain at twice highway car speed is dramatic; at 500 knots in a jet it is mind-blowing. I recall once icing up so severely during an X-Plane 12 session that I had to set it down in the bush, with smoke billowing about. I waited, listened, and heard severe wind, rain, and hail lash the cockpit. The water was pouring over my view outside my broken world. The view out the window was scary, and I was trapped and needed rescue.

Iced-over windows as thunderstorms in high altitudes can quickly turn rain into snow and hail as happened to me in this manually set scenario.

What is this?! I had left for lunch while “tied down” as storms were approaching only to return to my horror to see the severe weather had dropped the temperatures from 20 degrees Celsius to about 5 degrees with snow or hail covering the ground. The windows actually had some ice clearly on them. The airplane had been blown far off the ramp into the grass. What amazing realism, danger, variability, and great fun this was. I wish I had stuck around to watch. On second thought, another advantage in X-Plane 12 is replay mode.

Convection building in MSFS2020 is okay. There are great skies and graphics for sure—just slightly less exciting and it just quite doesn’t have that feeling of danger I got with X-Plane 12.

Both sims have amazing weather. The realism of storms in X-Plane 12 wins in my opinion. The turbulence and dangers are genuine, with consequences. The daytime chop, thermals, and under-cumulous base roughness are all better modeled in MSFS2020, which recently had a massive weather engine redo. The cloudscapes and textures looked almost photorealistic in MSFS currently and are beautiful, but thunderheads in X-Plane 12 form, tower up, and stand more realistically than MSFS.
In X-Plane 12, using live weather was far too smooth in thermals, or sunshine versus shade. I felt that a few jumps, jarring, and/or nauseating motion was needed in X-Plane 12 when flying on a sunny day down low. All this can be tweaked by manually setting conditions.

Our two front-runner civilian sims undergo frequent enhancements and refinements. By using either sim or both, as many of us do, any level from beginner to airline pilot can find something to enjoy and use as a tool of proficiency, exploration, and adventure.

There’s never been a better time in the past 40 years to enjoy this hobby since almost daily there’s something new to discover.

The hottest links to visit often for X-Plane and MSFS include www.x-plane.to, www.x-plane.org, and www.flightsim.to. Don’t forget to grab the Honeycomb Starter set from our friends at Sportys as well to launch your sim into the next level of realism and precision.

Finally, I am a huge advocate of both XPRealistic and FSRealistic add-ons, as both sims need that extra sound, vibration, head action, and motion thrown in. 

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine. 

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50 Hours After Private Certification

An experienced CFI once told me: “They are at their sharpest when you sign them off.” I share this knowledge with my learners, and I caution them to work hard to maintain their skills. It is not uncommon for the private pilot—as they gain more hours and experience—to become more relaxed, and procedurally, they may start to get sloppy. It starts slowly. Maybe it’s forgetting to use the checklist during the preflight inspection or engine run-up. Or maybe it’s using the “look out the window” technique to check the weather.

For the pilots that don’t pursue additional certificates or fly on a regular basis, their skills and attention to detail may wane until just before their first flight review. That’s when they practice again with great intensity with the purpose to pass the review.

It can be alarming when they realize how much their skills and knowledge have degraded. I encourage these pilots to make a list of their soft spots and the things they want to work on and bring those to their flight review. You can’t fail a flight review, but you can practice things until both you and the CFI are satisfied you are flying to the level of your certificate.

Losing Your Landings

Sometimes working toward an additional certificate can create soft spots in other areas. For example, the learners’ procedural skills increase during their training for the instrument rating because they have to stay two steps ahead of the aircraft. However, their landings may suffer because most instrument approaches are practice approaches followed by missed approaches. You just don’t do as many landings for the instrument rating as you did for private pilot certification. Expect this, and take action to prevent it.

Set aside a few hours to focus on pattern work to keep from getting too rusty.

Failure to Practice Pilotage

If the pilot is enrolled in a Part 141 program, there is often a black hole where the learner needs to build hours to qualify for the commercial pilot certificate. The pilot often flies multiple cross-country flights usually to the same airports over and over again, often following the magenta line. Basic pilotage skills are lost. It can be especially challenging if the training organization limits where the learners fly to. When you fly to the same seven or eight airports, it is easy to see why some pilots burn out during this phase and start to zone out in the aircraft, often letting it arrive someplace well before their brain gets there.

Overconfidence Can Kill

Overconfidence can sneak up on any pilot. It often manifests as the “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” syndrome, when a low-time, low-experience pilot tries to do something beyond their capabilities, like flying into the backcountry or doing a mountain crossing in an underpowered airplane. It can bite higher-time pilots as well, such as those with thousands of hours flying a turboprop or light twin who decide to attempt a cowboy maneuver like flying between buildings or doing a buzz job at an airport for sport.

Milestone Metrics

Reaching certain metrics, such as 500 or 1,000 hours, can also inspire a pilot to do something silly. If the majority of those hours are so-called junk hours—the same laps in the pattern at the same airport and no stretching of skills or practicing maneuvers or proficiency—they might as well not be in the logbook at all.

CFI Challenges

If the pilot is pursuing the flight instructor certificate, there will be a learning curve as they adjust to flying from the right seat. Once certification is acquired, their basic VFR skills may soften a bit because CFIs usually don’t do much of the flying beyond demonstration of a maneuver—especially landings. CFIs need to make time  to stay proficient.

Many CFIs, unless they have their instructor-instrument rating, will find their instrument procedures get rusty as well. CFIs are required to have an instrument rating, but it is very common for instructors to have their instrument skills become soft because they don’t have the time—or money—to practice instrument procedures. Some flight schools try to thwart this by giving their CFIs an allowance for proficiency flights.

When a CFI-rated pilot reaches 750 hours, this appears to be a time when they take more chances, sometimes with poor results. Why? It is pure conjecture, but it might be because the pilot, if a time builder, is at the halfway point to the minimum hourly requirement for the airline transport pilot certificate.

Pretty much every flight school has a story about the 700-hour-ish pilot that ran out of fuel, flew VFR into IMC, and got themselves in a situation with a learner, or took an airplane without permission at night to get some more hours. And the list goes on.

Tedium

For those building their hours as instructors, the 1,000-hour mark can be dangerous.

Although you’re keeping busy, training and endorsing  people for check rides, the road to 1,500 hours can seem very long, and it’s easy to get bored with teaching and burn out.

If you are a CFI and this is happening to you, please find a time-building program that is something other than teaching, because just going through the motions with learners isn’t fair to them—and might even be a little dangerous.

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on flyingmag.com. 

The post When Are Pilots the Most Dangerous? appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Why Get Your A&P?

Obtaining your mechanic certificate, more commonly known as an A&P, for the airframe and powerplant ratings on it, offers many advantages. As pilots, we all need to understand how the systems on our aircraft operate. Beginning with initial flight training, we need to understand how the aircraft, engine, electrical, and other systems function—or malfunction—to ensure a safe outcome in any situation. Having a deeper understanding of aircraft systems can help you make better preflight or en route decisions or simply help you to operate your aircraft more efficiently and take better care of it.

For aircraft owners, the biggest attraction is the cost savings from doing your own maintenance. Even if it’s something you can’t do yourself, you’ll be better informed to evaluate and make decisions about the work your mechanic recommends. In addition to doing your own maintenance, having your mechanic certificate can create the opportunity for some extra income, working part time as aside gig or retirement job.

If you are interested in a career change, there’s never been a better time to find work in aviation maintenance. While the pilot shortage has been widely publicized, alls ectors of aviation are desperate to fill mechanic slots as well. General aviation shops are especially shorthanded, causing lengthy delays in scheduling annual inspections, engine overhauls and other maintenance for aircraft owners.

Requirements

The requirements for obtaining an aircraft mechanic certificate are outlined in 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D. You must be at least 18 years old; read, write, speak and understand English; and complete the required testing. No medical is required. Like pilot certificates, a mechanic certificate is issued with no expiration date. To maintain currency, you must work as a mechanic or in a supervisory capacity for six months out of the preceding 24 months.

As with pilot ratings, the experience, knowledge and skill requirements are outlined in the FARs and the newly-revised Airmen Certification Standards (ACS), which replaced the existing mechanic practical test standards on September 21, 2022. Applicants must demonstrate experience and knowledge in a range of subjects under three categories: general, airframe and powerplant. The general portion includes topics such as basic math and physics, materials, basic electricity, an understanding of the FARs, and safety. Airframe topics include fuel systems, assembly and rigging, landing gear, sheet metal, and more. Powerplant subjects cover everything engine-related, including piston and turbine powerplant operation, ignition systems, fuel and lubrication, and propellers.

After acquiring the required knowledge and experience, applicants must pass a knowledge (computer-based) test with at least 70 percent for each category. After passing the knowledge test, the applicant will schedule their “check ride,” that is, the oral and practical test (O&P) with a designated mechanic examiner (DME). You must pass the oral and practical tests within 24 months after taking the knowledge test.

The mechanic certificate cannot be issued for general alone; it must be combined with either an airframe or powerplant rating for initial certification. After that, you can complete a separate knowledge and O&P test for the other rating. While getting both airframe and powerplant ratings is not required, as a practical matter, most people do obtain both to give them the knowledge and privileges to work on the entire aircraft.

Privileges and Limitations

Like your pilot certificate, a mechanic certificate is a license to learn. The FAA has designed the requirements to ensure a broad foundation in aviation maintenance. With your ticket in your pocket, it is up to you (or your employer) to seek out information and training specific to the aircraft or equipment you will be working on.

The privileges and limitations of a mechanic certificate are outlined in 14 CFR part 65. Mechanics can perform maintenance, minor repairs, minor alterations and 100-hour inspections as permitted by their rating—airframe and/or powerplant. A&Ps may not work on certain equipment, such as propellers and avionics, which must be serviced at an appropriately certified repair station. Major repairs, major alterations and annual inspections must be performed by a mechanic holding an Inspection Authorization rating (IA).This is an additional rating that can be added after three years’ experience as a mechanic and passing an additional knowledge test.

Knowledge

To become an A&P—also called an AMT, or aircraft maintenance technician—you will need to build a foundation of maintenance knowledge. The Part 147 Airmen Certification Standards detail the specific items you must know and understand. The FAA publishes general, airframe, and powerplant handbooks covering all the required material, and they are available for free in PDF format on the FAA website or can be purchased in paperback from various retailers. Test prep programs and apps are available to help you study for the written and oral tests.

• Read More: King Schools Launches New Curriculum to Address Aviation Mechanic Shortage

Experience

Part 65.77 states that prior to taking the knowledge tests, applicants must have “at least 18 months of practical experience with the procedures, practices, materials, tools, machine tools, and equipment generally used in constructing, maintaining, or altering airframes, or powerplants appropriate to the rating sought” or a minimum of 30 months’ practical experience for both airframe and powerplant. This experience is typically interpreted as the equivalent of working full-time hours for the given period of time.

Two pathways exist for gaining the knowledge and experience you need to become an A&P: attending a Part 147 AMT school or on-the-job training (OJT) through civilian or military experience. The path that works best for you depends on your individual situation. If you have already served in the military in certain aircraft maintenance roles, you can use your time in the service toward the experience requirements. You will need to present specific documentation of your time to the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) for review. Additional information about what is required can be found on the FAA website Experience Requirements page.

The on-the-job route appeals to many people because it can be the most cost-effective way to gain necessary experience because you are getting paid while working in a maintenance facility. The rates for apprentices or mechanic’s assistants are at a lower, entry level of pay than for certified mechanics. However, you have the opportunity to gain valuable industry experience and connections, which are especially helpful if you plan to seek future employment in the field. OJT can be part of a formally structured program at a large repair station or employment working at your local FBO. In some cases, if you are rebuilding or restoring your own airplane under the supervision of an A&P, you can log that time, too.

Whatever your situation is, you are responsible for carefully tracking the hours worked and type of work you do. The FAA does not specify a particular format for documenting your time. You can use an electronic spreadsheet or written log. Maintenance logbooks, just like pilot logbooks, are available from aviation shops and online retailers. Whatever format you choose, you must include the following information: type of maintenance task performed, amount of time spent on each task, and validation by a certificated Airframe and/or Powerplant Technician. Just like the military pathway, when you have completed your experience, you will need to present your documented time to the FSDO for review to receive a signoff to take the knowledge test. The on-the-job training route provides interesting, real-word experience, as you never know what type of work might roll into the hangar.

However, depending on the type of shop you work at and the position you hold, you may get to see a wide range of maintenance issues that meet many of the FAA requirements, or your work may be focused on a narrower range of jobs on specialized systems or equipment. Whatever the case, it is up to you to seek experience with the range of tasks the FAA expects. Similarly, it is up to you to gain the knowledge required through self-study, test prep books and apps, online courses or other instructional tools and prepare for the written, oral and practical tests.

Because it can be a challenge to piece together the necessary experience in a working shop, many people choose the school route. Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools (AMTS) are technical programs that operate under the requirements of Part 147 and design their instructional programs to meet the requirements of the Part 147 ACS. AMTS may be run by for-profit companies, public and private universities, community colleges or other technical schools.

The big advantage of the school setting is that the curriculum is designed to cover the range of FAA-required subjects and tasks in a structured, organized manner. The maintenance ACS dictates the specific knowledge, skills and risk management elements required to pass the knowledge test and O&Ps. Part 147 AMTS programs typically take around two years of full-time attendance to complete, but the actual schedule varies by school. These programs prepare you for the knowledge, oral, and practical tests.

Students who successfully complete the program receive certificates of completion that authorize them to take the knowledge tests. College and university programs also provide opportunities to earn associate’s or bachelor’s degrees by completing additional general education requirements.

When selecting a school, be sure that it is an FAA Part 147-approved program. The FAA website has a search engine that allows you to search for AMTS by state. Because all schools must meet Part 147 requirements, you will learn the same content wherever you go. Factors such as location, cost, schedule and school facilities vary, so you should research and visit the programs that interest you and choose the one that best fits your needs.

Tuition can range widely from $17,000 to $40,000 or more for a two-year program depending on the type of institution. Additional costs include tools, books, lab or materials fees, and testing fees.

Keeping Costs Down

While the costs of attending an AMTS may leave you with sticker shock at first glance, if you know where to look, you can find many ways to defray the expense. By choosing your program carefully, you can cut the overall tuition expense before you even start. All Part 147 AMTS teach the same FAA-required content and prepare you to get your mechanic certificate. Community colleges are usually the most cost-effective, as they have lower per-hour tuition rates than other types of schools, especially for in-district students. Because only a few AMTs operate in each state, you may live in an area served by a community college without a maintenance program. If this is the case, the community college in your district may have a charge-back or joint agreement with a nearby school that has an AMTS, allowing you to attend that school at in-district rates.

Retirees can do even better. In many states, senior citizens can enroll in and attend credit courses at community colleges tuition-free on a space-available basis (additional college, lab or testing fees are not covered). Restrictions vary widely and may limit which programs are eligible for this discount, either by policy or due to high demand and lack of available slots in the program. However, if the program rules and space allow, it is possible to earn your A&P for drastically reduced costs.

Discounted tuition may be available to veterans and active members of the military. Veterans can contact the individual school for information about using their GI bill benefits to pay for tuition. Financial aid, loans and grants are available at most institutions for military personnel, veterans and civilians.

Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets is the number of scholarships available—and you don’t have to be a perfect student or a young person to be eligible. If you’re willing to put in a little time to search for them and apply, there’s money to be found. National organizations such as the Association of Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM) and National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) and numerous maintenance and manufacturing companies offer scholarships every year. Check out the organizations’ websites to learn more.

Sometimes the best place to find scholarships is close to home. While the local organizations may offer smaller dollar amounts, every little bit helps. Most colleges have lists of scholarships available to their students set up by alumni or other donors. Scholarship money frequently goes unclaimed because of lack of qualified, or even any, applicants. Look to your local airport or groups in which you are already involved. Local chapters of national organizations, aviation clubs and museums may offer scholarships—and if you are already involved in these groups, you’re more likely to be considered. 

Getting Started

So, you’ve decided to get your A&P? Where do you begin? For an overview of requirements and answers to frequently asked questions about becoming a mechanic, visit the FAA website.

Next, talk to mechanics and pilots you know. Networking is a great way to learn more about the opportunities out there and anyone who can help guide you. Your own local mechanic may be looking for help in the shop or know someone who is. Plus, they will be able to give you some insight on the industry and day-to-day work.

If you are interested in going to an AMTS, start by searching for Part 147 schools in your area. Then, check the school website and contact the program administrator for information about the program requirements, costs and enrollment.

Ready to start learning? Check out the Part 147 ACS to learn more about the specific knowledge and skills you need. You can start reading up on them in the Aviation Maintenance Technician General, Airframe (Vol. 1 & 2) and Powerplant (Vol. 1 & 2) handbooks.

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the NOV/DEC 2022 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine.

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Finally, we give you a front-row seat to the teamwork extravaganza that is the CRM/LOFT Event. This year, the emphasis rests on giving competitors more hands-on time with the simulator, while still maintaining the intensity of the event. Each team navigates its short flight from Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, familiarizing itself with the crew expectations and the simulator’s navigational equipment. Autopilot isn’t an option here. It’s all about manual control and effective team communication.

So, get ready for this adrenaline-packed journey into the world of collegiate aviation in “Episode 4: The Ground Simulator.” The riveting world of SAFECON 2023 continues to unfold, and we’re thrilled to have you along for the ride. See you for Episode 5!

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