What's in this Issue:

The Valley "Tule" Fog and You
Review your fog knowledge in time for winter

Fresno Seminars 2000
The New Millennium in Aviation

Notes for Pilots
Oakland, Taft, Merced, Atwater, Modesto & Fresno

SIC SAC - Significant Information for Pilots
This month: Winter Flying

FAA Websites

For Salinas/Watsonville
For San Luis Obispo
For San Carlos
For Palo Alto
For San Jose

For Fresno Area
For Oakland Area
For Sacramento Area

Wings Awards
For Fresno FSDO
For Sacramento FSDO
For San Jose FSDO

From the Central Valley Aviation News

Many pilots in the district have intermittently been asking questions concerning "how does the Wings program work?" Well, to help refresh all of you aviators out there, in a nut shell here it is.

Here’s Everything You Need To Get Started!

OBJECTIVE

Regular proficiency training is essential to the safety of all pilots and their passengers. The objective of the Pilot Proficiency Award Program is to provide pilots with the opportunity to establish and participate in a personal recurrent training program. Aviation safety is a cooperative effort among all members of the aviation community. Recurrent training is the key to proficiency. Also, a pilot need not accomplish the flight review requirements of 14 CFR part 61, 61.56 if, since the beginning of the 24^th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command, he or she has satisfactorily completed one or more phases of this program.

WHO MAY PARTICIPATE

All pilots holding a private pilot certificate or higher and a current medical certificate (if required) may participate. Requests to participate should be made to a flight instructor, an Aviation Safety Counselor or the Aviation Safety Program Manager at your local FSDO.

THE AWARD

When you complete each phase of the program you are awarded a distinctive lapel or tie pin (your WINGS), and a certificate of completion. Each phase of WINGS is different and you must earn the privilege of wearing the pilot proficiency WINGS tie pin.

TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

Select the category and class of aircraft in which you wish to receive your flight training. All training requirements for each phase of the program must be completed within 12 months after you begin the training for your WINGS. Here are the requirements for the categories of aircraft for this 20 phase program:

Airplanes

• One hour of flight training to include basic airplane control, stalls, turns, and other maneuvers directed toward mastery of the airplane.
• One hour of flight training to include approaches, take-offs, and landings, including crosswind, soft field, and short field techniques.
• One hour of instrument training in an airplane, FAA-approved simulator or training device.

Seaplanes and Amphibians

• One hour of flight training in a seaplane or amphibian to include a demonstration by the applicant of a complete seaplane or amphibian passenger safety briefing, a weight and balance computation and interpretation for the actual flight, a review and evaluation of the current and forecast weather, and on-the-water training in docking, beaching and anchoring, and maneuvering in confined areas.
• One hour of flight training in a seaplane or amphibian to include landing area assessment, safe approaches and departures, takeoffs, and landings, including crosswind, rough water, and glassy water techniques. (Conditions may be simulated.)
• One hour of flight training in a seaplane or amphibian to include power-on and power-off stalls in various configurations with minimum altitude loss, power-off emergency landings, step taxi, step turns, rapid decelerations from the step, and emergency procedures. In addition to the 1 hour of flight time (not included in the 1 hour), there must be a discussion of stall avoidance and prevention techniques.

NOTE: If the applicant is not qualified and current in accordance with x 61.57 for instrument flight, 1 additionally hour of basic instrument training with emphasis on partial panel approached, inadvertent penetration into instrument meteorological conditions, (180° turn), descent into visual meteorological conditions, and safe operations shall be accomplished in an airplane, seaplane , FAA-approved aircraft simulator, or training device for each odd-numbered award phase i.e. (Phase I, III,V, etc.)

Rotorcraft

• One hour of ground training to include use of the rotorcraft flight manual to determine operating limitations, weight and balance computations, performance data, aircraft servicing, use of optional equipment, and standard emergency procedures.
• One hour of flight training to include airport and traffic pattern operations, including departures from hover (helicopter), normal and crosswind approaches and landings, maximum performance take-offs, steep approaches.
• One hour of flight training to include system orientation, autorotative descents, power failure at a hover, settling-with-power, pinnacle/rooftop takeoffs and landings, and navigation procedures.

Actually, the new millennium begins next year, but only the mathematicians know that.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday season. This year, the Fresno FSDO plans to embark upon another aggressive aviation safety-education program. Always remember that the meeting schedule for our well received seminars are as follows:

• 1st Thur. of the month -- Announced airports
• 2nd Thur. of the month -- Bakersfield Meadows (BFL)
• 3rd Thur. of the month -- Merced/Castle Airport
• 4th Thur. of the month -- Fresno-Chandler Airport

• ---

Fresno’s "State of the District" Presentation

Our analysis will look at types of operations, pilot age groups, pilot error vs mechanical failures and finally, the quality and quantity of training. Be sure to attend.

The Fresno Safety Program is hosting a special CFI Up-Date briefing for all district CFI’s on February 22^nd at Chandler. Attend and discover the latest information concerning Parts 61 and 91. Refresh your FAR knowledge to help your students.

Notes for Pilots

Visalia Pilots -- Heads-Up!

News flash! We have received a few complaints recently concerning low pattern altitudes when using Rwy 12 at Visalia. Airport management there wishes to advise all aviators not to make any turns after departing Rwy 12 until you are at or above 1,300 MSL.

THE YEAR 2000

Gordon Campbell, Safety Program Mgr., Airworthiness
Reprinted from the Sacramento Aviation Safety Review

Well if you are reading this newsletter the world has not come to an end and you are probably getting ready to make your New Years Resolutions work. Some of you will be trying to quit a particularly disgusting habit like smoking, or drinking too much, or overeating, or not going to one of the Aviation Safety Seminars, or crashing airplanes.

As we at the FAA have no detectable disgusting habits our resolution for the year is to help you to eliminate one of yours. (Disgusting Habit that is).

One particularly disgusting habit of a very small notorious group of pilots in the aviation community, is the practice of crashing airplanes (as previously mentioned). We at the Aviation Safety Program of the FAA have made it our

Mission

to promote safety and technical proficiency by providing guidance and support for the aviation community through education and cooperative efforts.

In other words, we want to eliminate the practice of crashing airplanes.

This coming year, we at the FAA, specifically the Safety Program, are going to provide Safety Seminars on just about everything to do with aviation. However as we have been tasked by our Administrator’s (Jane Garvey) Safer Skies Agenda, our efforts will be centered on the following:

For General Aviation,

• Pilot Decision Making,
• Loss of Control,
• Weather, Controlled
• Flight into Terrain,
• Survivability, and
• Runway Incursions.

For commercial Aviation,

• Controlled Flight into Terrain,
• Loss of Control,
• Uncontained Engine Failure,
• Runway Incursion,
• Approach and Landing, and
• Weather.

Each one of these items and more will be discussed at individual Safety Seminars during the coming year.

In my opinion the Pilot Proficiency Wings Program has probably made as much of an impact on General Aviation Safety as any other program that the FAA has implemented. Attending one of the aforementioned Safety Seminars and completing a phase of the Wings Program will make you a safer pilot. Or at the very least give you an opportunity to be a safer pilot. However all of the safety seminars in the world won’t help you if you do not attend one.

So to help you make the decision to come to one of our seminars and be a safer pilot and eliminate a disgusting habit, I am going to define the General Aviation portion of the Safer Skies Agenda, to give you an idea of the reason for our choice.

1. Pilot Decision Making: Pilot decision making often is a fundamental element in accident causal chains, where a pilot did not make the best safety decision about a flying or non-flying situation. It is estimated that about ¾ of all fatal general aviation accidents are attributable to pilot performance. Pilots must work to improve communications between maintenance and controller personnel to gain more information in an effort to avoid an accident.

2. Loss of Control: Loss of control refers to accidents resulting from situations in which the pilot should have maintained or regained aircraft control but did not. Many loss of control accidents occur when the pilot has divided his or her attention among other flying related activities, such as map reading, communications, etc. Maneuvering flight accidents account for 26 percent of fatal pilot-related accidents, most of which involve buzzing or other unauthorized low flight. Loss of control continues to be the most common type of fatal general aviation accident.

(Continued Next Month)

FAA Web Sites

A new way to find out about Safety Seminars, and much more, is available on the FAA Western-Pacific Flight Standards Internet WEB Site. You may view a complete listing of meetings available in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. There are options to search for meetings sponsored by SAC FSDO and for meetings at a particular airport. You may also register for the meetings on-line which will allow us to notify you via e-mail if the meeting is changed or canceled.

Check it out

Also, check out the new home pages for   San Jose, Fresno and Oakland

Human Factors
Your Body and Flight

Tue 7 - 9:00 PM Feb 1

Location: Inbound Aviation, 2655 Robert Fowler Way
Contact: Inbound dispatcher, Jonathan Page or Stephen Harms at (408) 272-0518

Operations at Towered and Large Metropolitan Airports

Thu 6:30-8:30 PM Feb 10

Location: Trade Winds Aviation, 2505 Cunningham Ave. (Next to General Aviation Terminal Building)
Contact: Trade Winds dispatcher, Jim McLaughlin or Wendy Hales at (408) 729-5100

End of
San Jose
Area
Seminars

WORK FOR YOUR WINGS.
THEY'RE WORTH A LOT MORE THAN THE
TIME IT TAKES TO GET THEM.

Norcal
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