San Carlos Flight Center invites Chief of CAL FIRE Flight Operations Stu Sprung to provide an insight of their daily operations, a summary of the types of aircraft used, and a description of the various mission profiles flown in fire areas. In this seminar, Stu will detail the typical flight operations that are active around TFR’s and the “Fire Traffic Area”. He will share observations about typical conflicts between CAL FIRE and GA aircraft and provide recommendations to mitigate them. With rapidly growing wildfires, it’s imperative that GA pilots understand the activities that take place in fire operations so they can remain well clear.

If you have ever wanted to gain an insight into the aerial firefighting operations of CAL FIRE and how it pertains to you; don’t miss out on this seminar.

Stu Sprung is the Chief of Flight Operations for CAL FIRE.  CAL FIRE is the second largest fire department in the United States, with the largest dedicated aerial firefighting fleet in the world with over 70 aircraft.  Stu primarily flies the C-130H Hercules, UH-1H Super Huey, and OV-10A Bronco.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center invites King Air Captain and check airman Ben Taber to share with us the things that grate on the ears of other pilots and air traffic controllers. After 30 years of flying throughout North America, Ben has developed a keen ear for quality radio practices, and useful tips & tricks that can improve your radio skills and make you sound like a pro. Sounding like a professional on the radio doesn’t have to be just for airline pilots – take this opportunity to see if you have been developing bad radio habits over the years, and find a solution to remedy the issue.

Join us for this ear-opening opportunity to discover key radio practices that you might’ve missed out on for all these years.

Captain Bennett Taber is a check airman and training captain with over 20 years and 17,000 hours of air charter experience throughout the western United States. His first 500 hours of flying were 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.

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.

Join Herb Patten, Chief Pilot at San Carlos Flight Center for this “Devils in the Details” seminar on IFR currency. In this seminar we will take an in-depth look at the regulations instrument rated pilots must follow to maintain their IFR currency. Pilots sometimes remember this as six approaches within the last six calendar months. What counts as an approach? Oh, and there is something about tracking and holding. What is meant by holding? Can I do these in a simulator instead?

Don’t let the fog of the regulations put you in a hold. This seminar will clear you for the approach as we descend via the FAA regulations and legal interpretation to clarify some of the ambiguity in the regulations.

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 1,500 hours into at least 120 different California airports.  He is the current chairman 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. 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.

What we learn first, we learn best.  The Law of Primacy says it is critical that some things should be learned early in flight training giving you the best chance of learning them well, and retaining those skills.

Dan Dyer is a nationally-recognized flight instructor that has spent years thinking deeply about pilot training and how best to sequence the transfer of ground knowledge and in-flight skills to student pilots.  He has a degree in Cognitive Science and that gives him interesting insights into the ways humans think and learn.  At SCFC, he brought that background to the development of the SCFC private pilot training syllabus, which has become known for its structure and effectiveness.

In this seminar, Dyer reveals the four most important skill areas that all early student pilots should learn, and sadly, why they are often overlooked. If your pilot training didn’t provide you with solid ability in these four skill areas, you may have real difficulty learning and perfecting them later in training. Primary skills must be presented in a logical order, step by step, making sure the students have learned the preceding step before moving to the next step. In his work helping experienced pilots perfect basic skills, Dyer has seen that the process for re-learning primary skills late can be confusing and time consuming.  Note: If you think the four are climbs, descents, turns, and straight-and-level flight, you aren’t thinking deeply enough about what makes you a safe and competent pilot.

Join us for one flight instructor’s opinion on what skills you should challenge yourself to learn in your first 10 hours of training, or relearn as soon as you can.

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. 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.

VFR charts pack an extraordinary amount of material and represent a 3-dimensional world of terrain and airspaces in 2 dimensions. They describe graphically the earth as it looks to us pilots from the air.  And no matter how much we study them and how good we get at interpreting them there is always something new or some little nuance that we didn’t realize. Lastly, they are fun.  Who doesn’t enjoy looking at a map, especially an aviation one?

Join San Carlos Flight Center CFI Mari Baratto as she gives a ground school refresher on VFR charts.  She will entertain you while educating you about common as well as uncommon VFR charts symbology. After this seminar you will have knowledge of interesting facts that you use to impress your friends.

Mari May Baratto is a Certified Flight Instructor and an FAA Instrument Ground Instructor with experience teaching both Private and Commercial Pilot students. A commercial rated pilot both in Brazil and in the United States, Mari has a diverse background flying through different airspaces, especially through one of the country’s most intimidating areas, the Washington DC SFRA. Mari has been recognized as a 2018 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 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.

Join us as our Assistant Chief Pilot Brian Eliot discusses the use of supplemental oxygen systems and their usage in flight. In this seminar we will consider the provisioning of oxygen for flight, including both built-in and portable systems, preflight testing of oxygen, briefing and supervision of passengers, and proper dispensing of oxygen in flight. Brian will also examine the major classification of oxygen systems with a focus on the continuous-flow systems common to general aviation. Concluding with recommendations on assembling a personal oxygen kit that satisfies the aircraft and circumstances of the pilot and prospective passengers for flight in unpressurized aircraft.

If you have ever considered using or have used supplemental oxygen methods – don’t miss out on this seminar.

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 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.

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.