SCFC Chief Pilot Herb Patten and CFI Dan Dyer are both very passionate about professional radio communication. The Flight Center offers many classes and safety seminars to help new pilots understand the structure and demands of radio communication, to better share the limited resource that air time represents. In this episode of Candid Radio, the spotlight is on the pilot, control tower, and ground controller communications at San Carlos Airport.  This Class D airport is located just 7 miles from the busy Class B San Francisco Airport, and is also the home to many flight schools and student training.  This makes for great listening, as we hear pilots ask for pattern work, request departures, and respond to the sometimes unusual directions from the control tower.  We’ve pulled together the best and worst of SQL radio communications over the last few weeks, and turned them into an informative presentation for all pilots.

If you’ve flown in the SQL area any time in the last few weeks, tune in to see if you’ve been highlighted, either as a radio star or a radio roadblock. Everyone should be able to improve their skills just a bit after joining us for this presentation.

Herb Patten is the Chief Pilot at the San Carlos Flight Center, a CFI and an FAA certificated advanced and instrument ground instructor who teaches private pilot ground school at San Carlos Flight Center.  He is a commercial pilot with an instrument rating, has flown over 2,500 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 2021, Herb was named a Distinguished Flight Instructor by AOPA.

Dan Dyer is the founder of the San Carlos Flight Center, and has built the motto of Safety, Community, and Adventure for over 8 years.  Dan was an instructor for 15 years, accumulated over 4,000 flight hours, and is the Bay Area’s local expert in crosswind landing instruction. He is known for finding simple and innovative ways to explain complex topics and regularly speaks on advanced ground school topics.  Find out more about Dan at www.sancarlosflight.com or contact him at dan@sancarlosflight.com

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of over 400 recorded safety seminars.

San Carlos Flight Center welcomes back experienced check airman and training Captain Ben Taber, who has pulled together some of the most challenging electrical issues. Capt. Taber will introduce us to “Electricity for Pilots” and review electrical use in everyday flight, static electricity buildup and discharge, and discuss possible failure scenarios and resolutions for each. With the introduction of Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) outfitted with sleek Garmin’ G1000TM, Avidyne’, and other assorted glass cockpit panels and FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) scenario-based training techniques to help pilots fly more safely, the training industry has finally recognized that pilots must be trained to a higher level of understanding of the electrical systems that supports all that equipment. The level of sophistication of the electrical system in singles tells you just how important electricity is for safe flight. Pilots who are willing to fly in the clouds with only one engine demand backups and redundancy for the critical avionics and other systems powered by electricity.

Join us as Ben Taber dives deeper into your pilot knowledge bank of electricity in this informative and challenging seminar.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of over 400 recorded safety seminars.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Assistant Chief Pilot Brian Eliot to review the current NOTAM system with special emphasis on how to classify, filter, and interpret NOTAMs. NOTAMs include airspace and controlling regulations in which all pilots are bound to comply with. It is imperative that pilots know where to obtain this time-sensitive information and check it before every flight. He’ll discuss various official sources for pilots to find current regulatory and advisory changes to the airspace system and point out major changes in NOTAM content. It’s important for all pilots to understand as failure to know about a NOTAM does not mean that you can’t have your certificate revoked for busting one.

Ignorance is not a protection. All pilots should attend this very special discussion and always operate with NOTAMs in mind. Join us as we look at the current NOTAM format and the upcoming ICAO NOTAM format, which the FAA plans to supplant in the future.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of over 400 recorded safety seminars.

SCFC often invites Dan Dyer to speak about his experiences teaching crosswind technique in high-wing aircraft, and in the Xwind 200 crosswind landing simulator that the Flight Center owns. His ability to simplify the technique for safe crosswind operations has helped many pilots improve their mastery of light to moderate crosswinds. In this presentation, we’ve asked Dan to approach crosswind landing from a different angle, by breaking down the list of fundamental pilot skills that are needed before the complex simultaneous mastery of the skills are used in crosswind takeoffs and landing.

You may be confident in your crosswind takeoff or landing capability, but this presentation may give you a different perspective on component skills that need a refresher or additional practice. If you’re a new student pilot trying to master crosswinds, or a high-time pilot looking for a different way to think about the skills you’re naturally using in the aircraft, this presentation is for you.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive.

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Instructors provide training to pilots to take them from zero time to ready for the practical test. One thing instructors realize after teaching for a few years is that every student is different. As a brand new instructor, how do you recognize student challenges? If you identify them, how should you deal with them? For a new instructor, this isn’t something you learn in CFI school, this is something that comes with experience.

In this safety seminar, Dan Dyer presents a methodology for handling student challenges. This methodology is based on human cognitive behavior to consider how humans learn. Dan will present an eye-opening basis for how CFIs teach knowledge vs risk management vs. flight skills. If you think these are approached in the same manner, you will want to tune into this seminar to learn a more effective method for teaching.

Regardless if you are a brand new CFI just cutting your teeth on a new student pilot, or a CFI with several years of teaching, this seminar will provide you with some key insights that you may not have considered before. Don’t miss learning about strategies for dealing with student challenges. After this seminar, you will no doubt approach a future student challenge in a more effective way.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of nearly 500 recorded safety seminars.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Commercial Pilot Nick Williams to investigate aircraft management. In this seminar, Nick will share how working with several large aircraft management firms has given him the knowledge to better operate and manage the aircraft he flies. For those who have never managed an aircraft before, it could be surprising how many intricacies and nuances have gone unnoticed over the years. This seminar will detail some concepts and strategies across ownership structure, financial accounting, maintaining, operating, and, of course, piloting your own aircraft. To conclude, he will share how his experience of operating and managing larger aircraft has helped him become a better pilot both inside and outside the flight deck.

Even if you are not an owner, this seminar will equip you with the knowledge needed to better understand the aircraft you operate. If you are an owner, join us to learn industry best practices and apply them to your everyday flying.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of over 400 recorded safety seminars.

To develop this understanding we will further investigate the systems in a Cessna 172. San Carlos Flight Center invites Herb Patten, Chief Pilot to go beyond the information in the POH. In this seminar, he will highlight details of the inner workings of the induction, oil, electrical, and fuel system as applied in the real world. For example, have you ever wondered how the alternate air works in the Cessna 172? Or what triggers the “OIL PRESS” annunciator? Through a combination of diagrams, pictures, and videos, Herb will demystify how the various systems are implemented.

If you ever wanted the answer to the question of “How does that work?”, this seminar will provide answers to many of those questions and provide a framework to fully understand any airplane you fly.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive of over 400 recorded safety seminars.

Now is your opportunity to improve your weather IQ! San Carlos Flight Center invites National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather specialists Rick Canepa and Sean Miller to discuss how they create aviation weather forecasts. Learn about atmospheric soundings common to clouds and fog formation that impact aviation. Listen in as they explain the role of the aviation weather specialist and how they compose TAFs, analyze local weather patterns, and provide crucial weather information for pilots.

If you have always been intrigued about weather, don’t miss this seminar. Rick and Sean will be ready to answer your weather questions. Don’t be left in the fog – put this seminar on your schedule.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Livestream access is free for everyone, but recorded seminars are available solely to members at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access to our web archive.