This year's gala 50th anniversary Sun'n'Fun in Lakeland FL runs from Tuesday, April 9 through Sunday, April 14. The NOTAM for the event is posted and covers both inbound and outbound procedures.

SAFE's double-wide booth B-83 and B-84 will be CFI Central for the event. Volunteers to help staff the SAFE booth in half-day increments are still needed; there are a limited number of SNF day passes available for volunteers (a $45 value!), so volunteer now.

Of special interest at this year's Florida gathering is SAFE's free "CFI Roundtable" on Saturday, April 13 at 4 PM, inside the same Prop 75 venue where the dinner was originally planned. It's an no-cost opportunity to gather with your peers, make new friends and acquaintances and avoid the blazing heat of the 4 PM Florida sun.

This event is open to all CFIs, and takes the place of the previously-planned SAFE dinner at the same Prop 75 facility. (Watch for refunds to those who registered for the dinner.)

Volunteer for SAFE Booth (Free Admission)

SAFE members who are willing to volunteer in the SAFE Booth at this year's Sun'n'Fun for a half-day shift may qualify for a day pass ($45 value) at the show. (Passes are limited; volunteer now).

Sign up now to join us in the SAFE Booth at SNF for one or more half-day opportunities to meet your fellow aviation education professionals and compare thoughts on the CFI business.

The Syracuse Safety Stand Down, sponsored by SAFE and other organizations, provided area pilots a full day of safety information (and FREE lunch). David St. George and former board member Veronica Coté presented programs at this event. The annual event brought more than 80 pilots to SYR for aviation enlightenment, despite an ice storm that arrived that morning.

The SAFE Strategies Live Webinars are drawing increasing attendance. This program was derived from an FAA initiative that reduced flight training accidents by 60% in only two years by requiring just one day of additional CFI training!

The first webinar (available on YouTube) provided an overview of the SAFE CFI-PRO™ curriculum.

The second webinar focused on "Flight Training Fallacies" and creating the optimal flight training environment we call "The Learning Zone."

The third webinar in this series is April 7th @ 8pm EDT and will explain a technique called "Incremental Mastery." Attendance in this webinar provides Master FAA WINGS credit.

Master Instructors is pleased to congratulate Andrew Michael Borash of Missoula MT, the newest Master Instructor.

Andrew was introduced to flight at age 7 by his grandfather. Read more..

SAFE Board Chair Andy Chan (left) represented SAFE members at ERAU's National Flight Training Symposium in March. He chatted with Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup (right) on issues such as medical certificate delays and FAA special issuances.

Congratulations are due SAFE Lifetime Member Bill Ziesenitz. The 40-year FAA DPE earned his multi-commercial seaplane certificate.last month. "He's an amazing example of lifetime learning,” said David St George.

Captain Jenny Beatty, a senior airline captain who worked her way up through instructing, acknowledges the prevalent belief that air carrier pilot standards dropped. "They have been lowered," she says, "but not for the reasons you think." Captain Beatty often writes on airline topics in her blog.

SAFE member John Mahany of Long Beach CA has earned his eighth Master Instructor accreditation, making him an MCFI for 14 years and ready for another two..

John is well-known and respected by the GA aviation community. Read more.

SAFE founding member Sherry Rossiter has released the second edition of her book, Flying Lessons, One Woman's Story. Sherry has personally broken new ground for women pilots many times. A generous 12-page excerpt of her book is available free from the Booklocker.

OSH 2024 Basics:

July 22-28 AirVenture 2024 website is here. Small SAFE member discount may be available.

B-29 Doc to perform; Burt Rutan returns.

Visit SAFE double-wide booth 2097 and 2098 in Building C. Work a half-day shift in the SAFE booth and get a one-day show pass for yourself, a value up to $60.

PPC Info For 2024.

SAFE is a Gold Sponsor for this year's Pilot Proficiency Center, which provides hundreds of pilots expert instruction by volunteer CFIs, largely SAFE and NAFI members. To volunteer to instruct, click here.

SAFE originated the scenario training on Redbird simulators. This year's PPC will be with a dozen Redbird LD AATDs.

AirVenture NOTAM

The EAA site for AirVenture 2024 has the NOTAM for the event, but it also has a clear visual path for the various OSH arrivals during AirVenture, allowing you to "fly" the arrival with video.

Called "Getting Here Is Half The Fun," the page provides not only the NOTAM but a free 32-page booklet (downloadable) with all arrival/departure procedures and more.

Airline, GA Concerns.....

• Used bizjet sales lots filling up; inventory up by a third over last year, heavy jets leading with a 37% increase. Average sales prices falling, overall down 5%.

• NBAA decidedly not happy with President Biden calling for an 84 cent per gallon hike for bizjet fuel. Increase is part of strategy to address national debt by raising the amount wealthy people and corporations pay.

• Homendy Blasts Boeing over alleged non-cooperation in NTSB investigation. Later report says Boeing "can't find" door plug removal records. Ooops. Company now faces probe; had been previously reprimanded by FAA.

• United is the latest carrier to pause pilot hiring.

• Is DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) the cause of increased air carrier errors and accidents? A senior airline captain says yes, you're right; standards have been lowered, but DEI didn't cause them.

Current CFI Concerns.....

• PSI testing sold to NJ non-profit ETS. Their main business is administering language testing. Changes ahead for written tests? Unknown. Stay tuned.
• The long-delayed Flight Instructor ACS was released just last week. It is FAA-S-ACS-25.

• You could soon be instructing in a Textron/Pipistrel Velis Electro light sport aircraft. FAA issued an exemption to light sport rules last month to allow the electric bird for training.

• AvWeb senior editor Mark Phelps penned a thoughtful column on Cirrus' new G7 version on SR-series aircraft. Is Cirrus portraying the new model as making learning to fly "so easy a caveman can do it?" Worth reading.

• Shorter training time, bigger bucks for new pilots. Annual State of Flight Training report shows students spending less time earning a private ticket in 2023, 24 weeks versus 30 weeks in 2020. But they're spending far more this year, average cost $14,000 versus $9000 in 2020.

• Virtual Reality training, using a VR headset, is quickly entering aviation training, both flight and ground.

• Status of MOSAIC and its effect on training is analyzed in Air Facts report.

• Nearly 20% of FBOs and flight schools responding to AOPA Flight School Business survey said they were planning an airport event around the April 8 solar eclipse. 72% said no event was planned; 8% responded, "there's an eclipse?"

FAA Safety Briefing

• March/April edition of FAA Safety Briefing particularly valuable for CFIs teaching weather. Articles explore tools, resources available for weather planning. Among them:
• Unleash Your Inner WX Briefer.
• Gambling On WX.
• Microscale Meterology.
• What Is A Briefing?

• FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, appointed in October 2023, is learning to fly. Yes, it's true.
• Interview With FAA Administrator Whitaker

Aviation Resources....

• There is a Learning Zone appropriate for both students and CFIs. This SAFE blog details that.

• AOPA Rusty Pilot seminars will be April 6 in St. Augustine FL and Berkeley Township NJ; April 13 in Madisonville TN and April 20 in Bucyrus OH, Truckee CA and Sparta IL; April 27 in Baltimore MD, Burlington WA and Midway AR.

• The SAFE CFI Toolkit, a compendium of current CFI knowledge, is being made available to all CFIs to help increase instructor professionalism.

• If air racing is your bag, there's a new podcast for you. Air Racing: Past, Present and Future will include interviews with racers, volunteers and fans.

• Dorothy Schick, SAFE's administrator for the Mentorship Facebook page, has released number of airman knowledge tests in 2023 and the average pass rate.

• SAFE's new Strategies LIVE debuted in March. Bi-weekly Zoom meetings focus on how new CFIs can learn from the most experienced CFIs. Free, but Zoom reservations required. Next session: Sunday, April 7, 8 PM ET (1200Z).

Government/Industry

• CFI Margaret Watt, who teaches in a Cessna 152 and Piper Archer from her own hangar at Hollister Muni in CA, won AOPA's Best CFI last month .

• Mike Smith Aviation, a flight school at Napa CA county airport, was named the National Best Flight School.

• A bit of good news: FAA is sending $13.5 million to 32 schools and colleges nationwide "to attract and train....pilots and maintenance technicians."

• How much does it cost to earn a Sport Pilot? Private? Commercial? Instrument? Initial CFI? Last month's flight training survey gives the average cost for each.

• FAA will be updating Part 141 soon. There are more than 500 of the 1,500 flight schools in the US that operate under Part 141.

2024 Sun'nFun

• Sun'n'Fun is April 9-14;, AirVenture 2024 is July 22-28. SAFE will be at both, as usual. S'n'F arrival procedures are now available.

• SAFE 2024 CFI Roundtable and Ice Cream Social will be Saturday April 13 at 4PM , before the night airshow. Free.

• Checkride Ready, a SAFE-built app to ensure a flight test applicant has everything together for his ride, now available on free SAFE Toolkit.

SAFE Mentors In Action

SAFE member CFIs get 1/3 off any ForeFlight subscription. Potential yearly savings: $133+

SAFE member CFIs get 25% off all Gleim Aviation products except kits, ATP, FIRC, IARC or sim hardware. Please call 800-874-5346 for the discount.

SAFE member CFIs get $100 off Zulu3 and Tango Wireless ANR headsets or $75 off Sierra ANRs.

SAFE members get 20% off select merchandise by clicking here.

Platinum Cirrus Training Center provides flight training, aircraft rentals and sales at KAXH.

SAFE member CFIs qualify for a $100 rebate on Bose A30 or ProFlight Series 2 aviation headset.

SAFE members get a 20% discount on ASA products. Use code Mdc4SAFE32024.

SAFE members get 10% off any MyGoFlight product.

SAFE members receive a 20% discount on all King Schools Training products. Use code SAFE.

SAFE members get 20% off all books/CDs by Max Trescott, Cirrus Platinum CSIP and author of several guides on using advanced avionics.

SAFE members get 5% off any Qref checklists. Use code SAFE5.

SAFE members get 20% off the Artful Flying book by Michael Maya Charles. Use code: SAFE20.

SAFE is a 501(c)(3) educational, not-for-profit professional organization building aviation educator excellence and aviation safety. Our more than 5,000 members include many of the best-known, best-credentialed and most experienced CFIs as well as many FAA Designated Pilot Examiners.

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