Whether you’re eager to sharpen your skills or preparing for a checkride, the Air Safety Institute has you covered with its online Safety Spotlights—which make it a breeze to find ASI’s free aviation safety education programs, neatly arranged by subject.
Twenty spotlights pull together courses, accident case studies, Real Pilot Stories, quizzes, videos, and publications relevant to each topic, from aeromedical to aircraft ownership to runway safety and more. Let’s say your instrument proficiency check is coming up and you want to brush up on the regulations and refresh your knowledge of instrument approach procedures: There’s a spotlight for that. Or perhaps you’ve suffered bouts of mic fright and realize time has come to improve your communication skills: See the “Radio Communications and ATC” spotlight. With something for every experience level—whether certificated pilot, student pilot, flight instructor, or aircraft owner—honing your skills has never been easier.
Preflight weather briefings
Do you know the fine print?
The weather is clear and forecast to be VFR for a quick jaunt to your favorite hamburger joint 30 miles away. Should you be on record with a preflight weather briefing? It might be a good idea.
First, do you know the requirements to obtain information about the weather, airports, and notices to airmen? FAR 91.103 requires you to become familiar with “all available” information regarding the flight. But where do you find aviation-specific information about the weather? If you use the FAA Direct User Access Terminal (DUAT) system or a flight service station, you’re on the right track. What if you receive weather information via a third-party provider or a website that offers aviation weather? This is often the exact same information as provided by DUAT or flight service, but the question remains: Will you be on record as having obtained a weather brief before going flying?
If your weather briefing (including notams) isn’t recorded or “provable,” it’s difficult to defend yourself if, let’s say, you busted a temporary flight restriction or didn’t comply with a notam that had been issued affecting your route of flight.
Know when your briefing is recorded:
• Any call to an FSS briefer is recorded.
• Any briefing obtained through your individual DTC DUAT or CSC DUATS account is recorded.
• Briefings from websites or apps that require unique username and password logins will most likely be recorded.
• Get a weather briefing (including notams) that logs the event—even if the weather is clear and you’re just planning your favorite hamburger hop.
The Air Safety Institute published a safety message about this (www.airsafetyinstitute.org/wxbrief101).
New ASI Seminar coming to your area January 2015
Visit the website for dates and locations near you.
