SCFC invites San Carlos Airport Manager Gretchen Kelly and Assistant Airport Manager Michael Byrne to update the pilot community on anything that can impact the safety of flight operations. They will talk about upcoming airport and runway closures, including the repavement project, as well as what changes pilots can expect to operating rules and procedures. San Carlos Airport procedures are constantly changing as a result of varying traffic levels, noise complaints, and changes to airspace. It is critical that all pilots pay special attention to procedures and operations around the airport environment.

If you fly to San Carlos Airport, this presentation will bring you the latest news and information for pilots coming from the SQL Airport Management office.

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 library of over 500 recorded safety seminars.

San Carlos Flight Center invites aircraft owner Dan Dyer joined by SCFC Owner Alessandro Franco to share the advantages of buying your own airplane. In this seminar, they will discuss how to choose the right airplane for your mission profile, how to navigate the purchase process, and what to consider when inspecting a potential airplane. The challenge of owning an airplane doesn’t end after the initial purchase. With the variety of variable costs and fixed costs, the cost of ownership can add up quickly. Offset these costs by putting your aircraft on leaseback with San Carlos Flight Center. After talking through leaseback opportunities they will conclude with how being an aircraft owner can help further a pilots understanding of their aircraft and maintenance.

If you ever considered purchasing your own airplane and want to hear firsthand about airplane ownership and learn from the experiences of others, join us for this unique opportunity to become enlightened about airplane ownership.

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

Alessandro Franco is a pilot and the Owner of the San Carlos Flight Center. Alessandro is the lead of all Flight Center operations, activities, and relations including it’s owner leaseback program.

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.

Interested in learning more about ground school related topics? Check out more of these seminars available on our growing Members Only Seminar Library which is available for viewing by Web Members. Click here to view.

Weather can play a huge factor in any pilots pre-flight planning and actual flight. Weather is a complex subject that can affect an aircraft’s performance, ability to generate lift, along with many other things. From the subtle forming of clouds, to thunderstorms and microbursts, how can you stay safe in the air?

San Carlos Flight Center invites CFI Nathanial Green to cover the topic of weather theory. In this seminar he will provide a general outlook on weather and how it is created, how the coriolis effect affects weather, how to detect adverse weather patterns, fog, and much more.  Be more confident on your next flight knowing that you have made the right decisions for your flight.

If you have ever had difficulties trying to grasp the complexities of weather, then this is the seminar for you.

Nathaniel Green is a CFI at San Carlos Flight Center. He attended Utah Valley University where he completed all his training and certificates, graduating with a Bachelors in Aviation Science. Nathaniel finds flying to be one of the most exhilarating and challenging decisions one can choose. Nathaniel is beyond excited to take students through a similar journey of learning how to fly and becoming a pilot.

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.

Interested in learning more advance topics? Check out our growing seminar library available to Web Members on our Members Only Seminar Library. Click here to view.

The flight instruments are a rich source of information for pilots. They are used both in visual weather conditions and instrument conditions, but are essential in instrument conditions. Most of the time they just work, but what happens when they don’t?

A key to understanding how flight instruments can fail is to first have knowledge of the underlying design and operation of the systems. The next step is to look at failure points and then understand how these failures will manifest themselves on the flight instruments.

This seminar will explore the inner workings of the flight instruments with a focus on points of failure and the resultant impact on the flight instruments. Join us to learn more about these essential systems and the failure modes.

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.

In this safety seminar, CFI Brian Eliot will review the selection of instrument departure procedures. He will provide a publication roadmap to these procedures and review the critical safety items, as well as what to typically expect in common practice. This program is a must for pilots working on their instrument rating, or working to stay current with instrument departures.

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.

San Carlos Flight Center invites Air Transport Pilot Ross Ferguson and Aerobatic Pilot Kamryn Lamperchet to share how to get started with aerobatic flying. In this seminar, learn how to begin your aerobatic flying journey, what to consider when selecting an instructor and aircraft, and gain valuable insights into venturing into the world of competition aerobatics.

Whether you are wanting to perform aerial maneuvers or are considering entering the competitive arena, this presentation is ideal for you. By tuning into this seminar, participants will gain a solid understanding of the initial steps required to embark on their aerobatic journey, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience.

Kamryn Lamperchet is a new IAC competitor in the Yak-52 competing in Primary and Sportsman aerobatics.

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.

Interested in learning more about advanced ground school topics? Check out more of these seminars available on our growing Members Only Seminar Library which is available for viewing by Web Members. Click here to view.

Anyone who has taken an interest in learning to land an aircraft has experienced the phenomenon of ground effect. Some try to describe the effect using the image of an air hockey table, where a disc of plastic levitates across the surface seemingly without drag. All aircraft experience this effect when near the ground due to an increase in lift and a decrease in drag. Combined, this results in a floating which extends the flare. But what really is happening?

San Carlos Flight Center invites SCFC Founder and former helicopter pilot Dan Dyer, who sees Ground Effect as the airplane version of an in-ground-effect hover. In this seminar, he will share how the surface of the earth gets in the way of airflow patterns around the airfoil in a predictable and understandable way. Although the diagrams that explain it involve a bit of vector math, it’s still something that any pilot can understand with a bit of effort.

If you’ve ever want to understand why your airplane floats the way it does, and are curious about the connection between ground effect, wake turbulence, and induced drag tune in for this ground school “deeper look” presentation.

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.

Interested in watching more of our safety seminars? Check out out growing library of over 500 Safety Seminars available for Members in our Members Only Seminar Library, available to view by clicking here.

San Carlos Flight Center was proud to work with Rabbit Aviation to be the first flight school in California to have aircraft running on unleaded fuel in its fleet. California and the SF Bay Area are often the leaders on environmental issues, and aviation fuel should be no different. Join us to find out what is happening in the quest to remove lead from aviation fuel.

A few years ago, San Carlos Airport received undeserved attention when reports of unusually high levels of lead were measured by improperly-placed monitors only a few feet from the aircraft runup area. The misunderstanding added momentum to efforts already underway by Rabbit and other at San Carlos Airport to speed the arrival of unleaded fuel for sale. San Carlos Flight Center participated in early testing and soon obtained the STCs to operate a portion of planes in its fleet on unleaded fuel. As awareness of the true situation at San Carlos Airport became known, the airport has gone from being falsely reprimanded about lead to being a recognized leader in the effort.

Dan will also discuss the safety and practicality of using unleaded aircraft fuel. Many planes will fly on both types of fuel, but authorization and inspection is required to make the switch. Obviously fuel is a critical component to safe engine operation and using the wrong type of fuel can cause serious engine damage. Improper fuel can even cause the engine to fail during flight. Knowing your fuel facts is a compulsory preflight inspection safety point, and something every pilot should consider important.

Dan DeMeo, owner of Rabbit Aviation, leads this discussion about the use of unleaded fuel in aircraft engines. He will review the history of why the aviation industry has been so slow to adopt unleaded fuel, what has happened so far in the unleaded fuel market, the future of leaded aviation fuel, and what San Carlos Airport has done to get ahead of the trend.

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.

Interested in the rest of our Radio Communications Series? More seminars like this are available to view in our Members Only Seminar Library. Click here to view more.

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 SCFC Founder 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.

Interested in more ground school-related topics? Check out our entire catalog of “Ground School Refresher” seminars available to view in our Members Only Seminar Library. Click here to view.

Let’s face it, airspace is an imaginary concept. It is just a shorthand way to talk about the set of Federal Aviation Regulations that apply by location and altitude, and the impact they have on VFR flight. As confusing as you think the rules are, with a quick refresher, you’ll be back to full knowledge in no time.

If it has been awhile since you sat through ground school, you may be due for an airspace refresher. In this safety seminar, we will review the different classes of airspace that are found in the United States.  We’ll cover their shapes, sizes, operating rules, and also cover special use airspace. Want an easy way to keep confusing Class G airspace rules memorized, use the Flight Center’s method that teaches there are 3 types of Class G airspace, Class G-low, Class G-mid, and Class G-high. Do you know the differences between them? Where would you look it up? What happens to Class D when the tower closes? How well do you know airspace?

This safety seminar is open to current and aspiring Private Pilots, and will be of particular interest to students pilots and those who are preparing for a flight review. You will leave the seminar with a renewed understanding, and probably a few memory aids to take with your on your next flight.

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.