As pilots, we love altitude. So much that we’ve created a bunch of different kinds of altitude: true altitude, absolute altitude, indicated altitude, assigned altitude, and two kinds of confusing ones – pressure altitude and density altitude. For many pilots, this can lead to a mental overload. Many pilots don’t have a working understanding of pressure and density altitude. Are they even real altitudes at all?

In this seminar, join SCFC CFI Shelby Rebholtz as he introduces and explains the terms “pressure altitude” and “density altitude” and demystifies their meaning. Although the word “altitude” is used, these are clearly not measures of altitude. In fact, they are measures of atmospheric pressure and density just converted into units that pilots can understand. Confusing at first, yes, but once understood they serve a valuable purpose in determining aircraft performance.

Although few things are as important to a pilot as knowing the performance capability of the aircraft before taking to the skies, measuring the critical factor – atmospheric density – is not something that pilots can do directly. Instead we use rules of thumb, conversion factors, and our best understanding of how elevation, pressure, temperature, and humidity are interrelated. If you’ve ever opened your aircraft POH to the performance section and felt humbled, this seminar 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 of nearly 500 recorded Safety Seminars.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Alan Marcum, an instrument-rated pilot to discuss flying in the flight levels. In this seminar, we will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of flying high and the associated impacts on physiology, air pressure and density, weather, emergency planning, oxygen equipment, flight planning, and more. Many think of the flight levels as an escape from the weather below, but often that is not the case. Some challenges that come from extreme altitudes are ones you have never had to consider at low altitude.

This is a great opportunity to expand your current knowledge to greater heights. Join us to learn more.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center invites ATP, flight crew safety author, and flight instructor Dale Wilson to discuss some of the physiological and psychological limitations pilots exhibit when flying at night. In this seminar, he will touch on potential dangers associated with relying on outside references during VFR flight and the effects of flight conditions present on VMC segments of IFR flight at night. As our eyesight diminishes at night, our thought processes can too. While night flight brings reduced ATC workloads, often calmer winds, and cooler temperatures that help performance it is important to recognize the human factors’ limitations during this time.

Your decision whether or not to fly at night is based on a culmination of the knowledge retained within this seminar, and your re-evaluation of your night personal minimums.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Assistant Chief Pilot Brian Eliot to describe the functionality of  these capable units. He will review the buttonology and knowledge required to confidently operate the unit in various IFR scenarios. While many of these units are being replaced with newer technology, renter or veteran pilots might still encounter them and should know how to operate them. Take the time now to become better acquainted with the operations of these units. Knowledge on your aircrafts avionics package is crucial for flight safety, and the KLN89B/94 is no exception.

There is a reason why they are still approved by the FAA for IFR Flight. Join us to find out how to use this capable system on your next flight.

Brian Eliot is San Carlos Flight Center’s Assistant Chief Pilot and resident expert for IFR training and Garmin G1000 avionics. He has been flying since 1995 and received all his training in the Bay Area. Brian previously worked as a broadcast engineer, a software developer, and taught computer science at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He regularly presents at San Carlos Flight Center safety seminars and has a reputation for making complex concepts easy to learn and understand.

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 2022 as a Distinguished Flight School.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center has invited TBM owner Tom McGrath to share his experience of flying for your first time to Mexico. Tom devoted many hours of planning, flying, paperwork, and applications for customs clearing before stepping foot in the airplane. In this seminar, Tom will talk about the entry and exit procedures of international flying, provide an overview of the differences in flight rules, and describe some of the unique airport operations he experienced on the trip. Overall, this trip brought a whole new set of challenges, with unusual weather patterns, new ATC procedures, limited options in case of an emergency, and overall added stress. We hope that all pilots can use this information to become comfortable with their own new travel experiences.

Whether you plan on flying to Mexico or not, hearing this story from an experienced aviator is a great opportunity to develop a better thought process of how to plan for a complex flight.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Chief Pilot Herb Pattern to discuss local procedures including noise abatement, pattern operations, and where to find information for several local Bay Area Airports. Some examples will include PAO, HWD, and LVK. He will review common ATC instructions so you can be familiar with what to expect when operating at these airports. After attending this seminar, students and new pilots will have more confidence in operating safely at local Bay Area airports and understand what to consider when flying to a new airport.

We encourage any student pilot to attend, and pilots of higher rating to attend too. Do not miss out on this seminar, learn how to gain confidence, operate safer, and be on your A game flying to new airports.

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.

In this seminar, San Carlos Flight Center continues our radio communications series, this time focusing on general aviation operations at Class Bravo and Charlie airports.  SFO, OAK, and SJC come with a whole new set of challenges for GA pilots; increased traffic loads operating in the airspace, more frequency congestion, different entrance requirements, and a whole lot more.  This seminar can help you to become a more effective communicator within class B and C airspace, and prove to the controllers that you got it under control.

You surely won’t want to miss this seminar if you have ever felt uneasy operating within Class B or C airspace. This seminar is guaranteed to make sure that all pilots will feel safer on their next flight into these airports, don’t miss out.

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.

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.