San Carlos Flight Center invites CFI Sid Basu to talk about how a pilot might go about understanding the fluid environment of aerodynamics.  In this seminar, we will cover the four forces of flight and their effect on an airframe, airfoils, stability in the atmosphere, load factor, V Speeds, performance, and much more.  After this seminar, pilots will feel confident knowing that you have refreshed yourself on one of the most difficult parts of aeronautical knowledge.

If you have ever struggled with comprehending this material, or feeling like you need a refresher, you won’t want to miss this seminar.

Sid Basu is a CFII ASEL, Commercial ASEL, AMEL and Instrument rated pilot with over 2000 hours total time and over 1500 hours of dual given. He has been flying since 2008 and has been instructing at San Carlos Flight Center since 2017.

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 2019 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.

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Flying in and out of the many airports in California requires a high degree of situational awareness and sophisticated radio skills. And yet, radio communication is rarely taught as a specific subject during private pilot training. Usually, new pilots just absorb what they hear on the frequency around them, both good and bad. Although some radio techniques are covered in ground school, rarely do student pilots get the time devoted to demystifying this often-confusing subject.

This seminar is the third in a series of SCFC’s Radio Communication Safety Seminars and focuses on non-towered radio communications. Although Federal Aviation Regulations don’t require pilots to make radio calls at non-towered airports, it is strongly advised for safety. This seminar will help newer pilots understand the structure of radio calls for non-towered airports and how to improve their own radio skills.

Herb Patten, Chief Pilot, AGI and CFI and Dan Dyer, will walk participants through a foundation of non-towered radio communication phraseology and use, from the basics through advanced. Learn how to make radio communication easier and safer for all pilots.

This will be an important seminar for pilots struggling with radio communications.  If this is you, plan to attend.  Build your confidence, and be the pilot you want to be.

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 private pilot ground school at San Carlos Flight Center. He is a commercial pilot with an instrument rating, has over 1,500 hours and flown into at least 120 different California airports. He is co-founder of the Bay Area Student and New Pilot Support Group, and a board member of the Upwind Foundation, famous for its Upwind Summer Scholarship Program. In 2015, Herb was named a Master Instructor by the National Association of Flight Instructors.

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.
 

Michel will present the high-profile, controversial accident, and will discuss why the misunderstanding Va has been considered a contributing factor to the crash.  He will then delve into the aerodynamic principles and regulation behind the definition of the maneuvering speed, and will go over how maneuvering speed is actually determined by manufacturers and presented in Pilot Operating Handbooks.   Finally, he will show how the proper interpretation of V_A will help pilots fly safer.

Michel Vidal-Naquet recently received his flight instructor certificate and has accumulated over 750 flight hours. He started flying in 2013 after settling in the Bay area to work as a computer scientist and engineer.  His passion for aviation began during his early childhood when his family first took him on international flights.  He brings a scientific point of view to his flying, and is always learning.

Join Instrument Rated Private Pilot Brandan Dadoun as he shares how using flight simulators has benefitted his piloting career. In this seminar, he will cover the vast amount of flight simulation applications that you can use at home; how to set it up; and how to get the most out of it.  Flight simulation has been around for a long time and has proved extremely helpful for many aspiring to become a better pilot.  Along with flight simulation being an excellent procedural trainer, pilots can also practice their radio skills by talking with real Air Traffic Controllers.  The possibilities are endless.

If you want to become a better pilot, gain confidence, and discover many new things that you might have never known; you do not want to miss this seminar.

Brandan Dadoun is an Instrument Rated Private Pilot and SCFC’s Seminar Coordinator. He has completed the majority of his flight training at SCFC with over 300 flight hours and has extensive flying experience throughout all of California in both piston and turbine powered aircraft. He is actively involved within many aviation programs, and is currently pursuing his instrument rating. When he’s not flying, he enjoys playing the saxophone and staying active.

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 2019 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.

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Preventative Maintenance is often a topic that is confusing for most pilots, including who can perform the work, what work can be done, and how to make it legal. Mechanics work on airplanes daily and are familiar with all types of maintenance, and it’s crucial that pilots are aware of how to properly perform preventative maintenance.

San Carlos Flight Center invites A&P Tim Davis to discuss what preventative maintenance actually is, how pilots can actually perform it, and how to do so safely. In this seminar, Tim will discuss what tools you should have and how to use them safely, along with providing example scenarios based around the limitations of preventative maintenance for pilots. Furthermore, Tim will cover the basics of how to perform simple maintenance on aircraft including how to remove and install cowlings, install safety wires and cotter pins, put clamps on hoses, and including the all important logging procedure.

If you have ever wondered about how to perform preventative maintenance, or want to have a strong understanding of 14 CFR 43, this is the seminar for you.

Tim Davis is an aircraft mechanic at San Carlos Flight Center.  A Bay Area native, he worked as a Quality Analyst for Electronic Arts and Blizzard Entertainment before completing aircraft maintenance training at City College of San Francisco and earning his A&P licence shortly after.

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 2019 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.

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, SCFC CFI’s introduce and explain 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.

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

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 2019 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.
 

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We can observe the ceilings, look at satellite images for cloud tops and check the new graphical forecast tool aviation (GFA), but what’s happening in between? You can now find this in the GFA but reviewing each altitude for each time frame can be a bit cumbersome.  The Skew T Log P diagram is still one of the best kept secrets in aviation.

Now you can view the vertical profile of the atmosphere including its stability and wind profile based on weather modeling from a plethora of weather observations including soundings, radar, weather stations, satellites and aircraft. You can now review direct soundings and interpolated models of the vertical atmospheric profiles with a high degree of reliability.  This concise format will really aid in your mental construction of winds and cloud and freezing levels.

Join Dave Kramer, weather enthusiast, private pilot and ground instructor for a seminar on how to interpret Skew T Log P diagrams to further enhance your awareness of the weather around you

Dave Kramer MD, an ophthalmologist for over 30 years, is an instrument rated, tailwheel, complex and high performance endorsed commercial MEL pilot as well as a basic and instrument ground instructor with an interest in weather. He has been flying since 2012, has over 1100 hours of which over 500 have been in the IFR system.  He also enjoys long cross country flying, night flying and flying in the LA area.

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 2019 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.
 

With over 20 years of flying as a charter pilot, Capt. Ben Taber has had numerous unforgettable moments in the cockpit. In this seminar, he will discuss his memorable times as a charter pilot, often when something did not go as planned and he was forced to adapt to a situation.

If you have ever wondered about the daily experiences professional pilots face, this is ought to seek your interest.

Capt. Bennett Taber is a check airman and training captain with over 20 years and 18,000 hours of air charter experience throughout the western United States. His first 500 hours of flying were conducted in Alaska. Captain Taber manages flight operations and charter sales for Dreamline Aviation in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a Dreamline Training Captain in Beech King Air aircraft.

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 2019 as a Distinguished Flight School.

SCFC is committed to promoting safety in general aviation through our regular safety seminars and guest speaker programs. Space is often limited so it is important to sign up early. SCFC members may choose to watch the seminar live over the web at home, or recorded at a later date. Click here or contact a SCFC member service rep at (650) 946-1700 for more information about online access.