San Carlos Flight Center

Women in Aviation @ SCFC March Meeting
2026-04-25 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | San Carlos Flight Center, Select a Country:
Join SCFC Women in Aviation in welcoming Candace Covington, Senior Director of Aviation at Adobe to speak about her experience! The meeting will be from 11am-12pm and food will be provided. Any and all are welcome!

Shrimp Boats and Corridor-Cakes: How Airspace Got Like This
2026-05-06 19:00 - 20:30 | San Carlos Flight Center, Select a Country:
Modern pilots know airspace in terms of the alphabet system: class A, B, C, D, E, and G. Those labels are a relatively recent facade on a beast whose unnatural evolution was written in blood and bitterly contested.
AGI/IGI Sal will reconstruct the National Airspace from cloud clearances in the forties to the “all-weather positive control concept“ in the fifties to today’s ADS-B requirements. Over one hundred years, personal liberty clashes with public safety and separation technology is tragically outpaced by aircraft performance.
Throughout the talk, Sal will discuss online government archives that you can use to solve your own regulation mysteries. If you have an interest in history or want to know how we got to the current airspace rules, join us for this insightful presentation.

SQL Tower Tour (1 of 3)
2026-05-23 09:30 - 10:00
Are you curious about what happens in the tower at an airport? Would you like to increase your knowledge of how air traffic is managed at the San Carlos airport?
The KSQL Air Traffic Manager has offered to host small groups of pilots to meet the tower controllers and take a tour of the San Carlos tower. During the tour you will get to see firsthand how the tower controllers update the ATIS, keep track of planes arriving and departing, as well as use radar to help manage the flow of traffic around San Carlos class Delta airspace.
The tours are approximately 20-25 minutes in length. Registration is required.

SQL Tower Tour (2 of 3)
2026-05-23 10:00 - 10:30

SQL Tower Tour (3 of 3)
2026-05-23 10:30 - 11:00

4-Day Monument Valley and the American Southwest
2026-05-28 - 2026-05-31 | San Carlos Flight Center, Select a Country:
Experience the ultimate adventure with the FlyOutGroups Tour of the Southwest. This 4-day trip will feature flying to the best of the Southwest United States posing unique challenges with stunning awards.
Start with a delicious lunch at Catalina Island (AVX), followed by a breathtaking approach into San Diego Lindbergh Field (SAN), a large yet accommodating Class Bravo Airport. After landing, go where you desire whether that’s exploring the San Diego Skyline, visiting the gorgeous and vibrant Balboa Park, or stepping onto the USS Midway. Take in the sights on the way to lunch at Sedona Arizona (SEZ) where you will be greeted by the vast amount of large red rocks unique to this area. Finish your day by heading to the stunning Meteor Crater and spend the night at a private airport in Monument Valley, where you’ll experience unparalleled views of the surrounding landscape. Starting with a tour of a Meteor Crater followed by a breathtaking visit to the Grand Canyon. After sightseeing, land at Harry Reid Las Vegas International Airport (LAS), making for two Class Bravo Airports. End your night with some fun in the vibrant culture of Las Vegas.
On Day 4, we’ll make our way back home via Bishop and Mammoth, posing the unique challenge of mountain flying with gorgeous views of the surrounding Sierras.
Fly in comfort in any of our Cessna 172s, 182s, or the 206. If low wing is your ride, use the trip to get experience to count toward a checkout in the the Piper Dakota with one of our experienced instructors. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to explore the beauty of the Southwest from a unique and exciting perspective. Stay tuned for more information on our website.
Deposit:
$500 deposit, per person (not per plane). This is a deposit towards aircraft rental and instructor time. This deposit is non-refundable within 2 weeks of the event. Please call the SCFC Front Desk at (650) 946-1700 to make your deposit.
Registration:
Registrations are not open yet. Check this page for more information in the coming weeks.
Questions:
If you have any questions, please contact the FOG Coordinator, Herb Patten, via email at herb@sancarlosflight.com

Weather Services Workshop
2026-05-30 09:30 - 11:00 | San Carlos Flight Center, Select a Country:
Are you checking the weather before your flight simply by looking at METARs? Have you struggled with trying to get a comprehensive view of weather? Are you looking to get an understanding of ways to conduct a weather briefing?
If you are a student pilot or recent pilot trying to better understand options for accessing weather for a flight then join us for this workshop to learn more about weather briefings. We will use a cross-country flight scenario and walk through the process of gathering relevant weather for a flight. We will show you how to get aviation weather information from www.aviationweather.gov, ForeFlight, 1800wxbrief.com and by speaking to a flight service station weather briefer.
If you want to better understand how all these sources of weather fit in a briefing, join us for this interactive session.
Herb Patten is the Assistant Chief Pilot at the San Carlos Flight Center, a CFI and an FAA certificated advanced and instrument ground instructor who teaches the private pilot and instrument ground school at San Carlos Flight Center. He is a commercial pilot with an instrument rating, has flown over 4,000 hours in more than 130 different California airports. He is the current chairman of the Upwind Foundation, famous for its Upwind Summer Scholarship Program. In 2025, Herb was named a Distinguished Flight Instructor by AOPA.
San Carlos Flight Center (SCFC) is the SF Bay Area’s most dynamic flying club, committed to building general aviation through safety, community, and adventure. AOPA has consistently recognized SCFC in their Best Flight School survey, most recently in 2023 as a Distinguished Flight School for the third year in a row.
SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Our seminars are free to watch when attended in person at our facility in San Carlos but live streaming and viewing recorded seminars are exclusively available to members. Click here or contact an SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web library of over 500 recorded safety seminars and live-streamed content.

Women in Aviation @ SCFC May Meeting
2026-05-30 11:00 - 12:00 | San Carlos Flight Center, Select a Country:
Join SCFC Women in Aviation in welcoming Ash Ahuja, sport pilot to speak about his experience of taking to the sky! The meeting will be from 11am-12pm and food will be provided. After the meeting between 12pm and 1pm join Ash as he will provide a tour of his airplane.

Ashwini “Ash” Ahuja grew up around airforce bases in India and dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a fighter pilot or a test pilot, but after becoming paralyzed at age of 11, that dream changed. A sport pilot since 2013, he has done coast-to-coast flying and hopes to inspire other aspiring pilots who use wheelchairs to take to the skies.

Any and all are welcome!

Young Aviators Workshop
2027-01-02 09:00 - 13:00
Are you a teenager interested in aviation but not sure where to begin? Are you looking to share your passion with aviation with other like minded young people?
The Flight Center invites all high school students to attend this workshop to learn about aviation. This event provides you the opportunity to discover the steps of becoming a pilot and career options, how to read and interpret aviation charts used by pilots, hands-on experience with aircraft engines and systems, as well as aviation scholarship opportunities.
If you are a budding young aviator we welcome you to participate in this event. Lunch is provided.
This event is a workshop for high school students and not eligible for the Seminar Engagement Program.
