Unbelievable that another year has already gone by!
At November's Safety Meeting in Santa Maria the FAAST Safety Officer, Rich Jensen, received the Wright Brothers' Master Pilot Award from the FAA. It was presented to him by the speaker, David Voelker. The award recognizes pilots who have demonstrated professionalism, skill and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations for 50 or more years. The presentation was very nice, more importantly though, it was a reminder that we have our very own Wright Brothers' Master Pilot Award recipient in our local chapter. Elizabeth Dinan received her award in December 2009, congratulations again, Elizabeth, on 57 years of safe flying.
November's Safety Meeting was an open forum. Mr. Voelker opened with a reminder that the“kinder gentler” FAA has a compliance philosophy – if you genuinely make a mistake, the FAA will work with you to remediate the deficiency so it doesn't happen again and you don't end up with a suspended or revoked pilot certificate. He commented that when he was doing some training he made 80 ramp inspections with his trainee and out of those 80 inspections not one pilot lost his/her license. Most of the violations pertained to odd things pilots had done to their aircraft.
Most of the meeting centered around the odd things pilots do to their aircraft. How to comply with the regulations regarding owner maintenance and what you must do if you fly your plane with an inoperable piece of equipment. That has to do with safety. Not necessarily the safety of the pilot, but the safety of“the people on the ground who are NOT participating in your activity”. Protecting the people on the ground is the purpose of the F.A.R.'s, which is why if you are reckless or negligent the FAA will go after your certificate.
January's meeting will feature Dennis Magdaleno, DPE, based in Santa Paula, and he will discuss the new Airman Certification Standards that were implemented June 15, 2016. For new pilots or pilots who are adding a rating this will probably be a very helpful program, and of course, these safety meetings all qualify for Wings credit.
Hope to see you at the Christmas Party on Friday December 9 at 6:00 p.m. at my office, 1290 Costa Brava, Pismo Beach – right behind City Hall & big McLintocks, and at Cookies to the Tower on Saturday, December 17 at 10:00 a.m.
Minutes of General Meeting
By Grace Crittenden
Chapter meeting November 2, 2016
We were so pleased to have two future women pilots join us, Regan Lee and Tiphani Sach. Their enthusiasm and excitement was contagious.
We reviewed a letter from Olivia Friedl, another future woman pilot that Julie Butler would like to help with a scholarship. Kathy Dannecker will talk to Julie about the specifics of how she would like to help.
We also discussed inviting a speaker, Karen Kahn, for an evening presentation for the aviation community. More details will be needed.
The Ninety Nines are offering a scholarship to be awarded by the Southwest Section to the chapter with the most Wings points. The website is not up yet so again more details are needed, but the members were excited about the competition and knowing we have members who could use the scholarship. There will be more information available soon.
The FAAST meetings are always fun(and may be another way to earn Wings points) and several of the members attend regularly.
The discussion turned to a possible fly-out to the new restaurant at the Paso Robles airport. It has just opened but the word is out that the food is good at the One Niner Diner.
The rest of the meeting was focused on the upcoming December activities. December 3 is the Toys for Tots fly-in at the Oceano Airport from 10:00 to 2:00.
Our annual Christmas party and gift exchange will be Friday, December 9, at Anele Brooks’ office/model home in Pismo Beach. It is a beautiful location with an amazing view. Then Saturday, December 17, we will meet for“Cookies to the Tower”. We will also take cookies to the fire station and the airport administration to express out appreciation for all they do.
The next regular meeting will be January 4, 2017!
Dates and Schedules
Comments, corrections, and suggestions are welcome. Fly-outs: any dates are flexible and we will confirm plans and set times at the chapter meeting before the scheduled fly-out. Seats will be available for non-pilots, students, and pilots without wings. We want every seat to be filled, so let us know if you want to come along.
December 9
Christmas party and gift exchange(see Minutes)
6:00 p.m. at Anele’s office, 1290 Costa Brava, Pismo Beach, CA
December 17
Cookies to the Tower(see Minutes)
January 4
Chapter Meeting at the Spirit of San Luis at 6 pm, social gathering starts at 5:30 pm.
Chairman’s Message
Minutes of General Meeting
Dates and Schedules