CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 11 Issue 2 - 37

CHIEF'S CORNER
If you've been flying throughout this pandemic,
awesome. I hope you were able to take
advantage of less crowded skies and roads and
really enjoy your flying. If you haven't been
flying and are getting back into it, the AOPA
Air Safety Institute has some suggestions for
you in the Return-to-Flight Proficiency Plan
for pilots, sponsored by Hartzell Propeller
(airsafetyinstitute.org/returntoflight). If
you are a flight school operator or FBO, review
AOPA's COVID-19 Flight Operations Guide:
Resuming and Sustaining Operations
(aopa.org/COVID19FlightOpsGuide).
What did you do while you weren't flying to
maintain your flying skills? Let us know by sending
your comments to cfinewsletter@aopa.org. I
hope to see you in the traffic pattern soon enjoying
our freedom to fly!

John Collins is the AOPA Air Safety Institute's
chief flight instructor and manager of aviation
safety programs. Before joining ASI, John was
AOPA's manager of airport policy. He earned his
flight instructor certificate in 1996 and enjoys
seeing students light up when they put it all
together and nail a maneuver.
Email: john.collins@aopa.org

The Flight!
Was it a big deal to add the preflight and postflight protective measures? On this flight, not
really. I arrived at AOPA's National Aviation
Community Center (NACC) to see that our
mechanic's car was out front and the door on the
smaller hangar was up. I was able to see that the
plane I had booked was right at the very front of
the hangar and I didn't have to move any other
aircraft out of the way. After speaking briefly to
the mechanic, I went to go get the aircraft book
and keys. I wiped down the surfaces I touched
in the dispatch office and left using a couple of
sanitizing wipes as "gloves" to minimize surface
contact with the door handle.
Preflight was straightforward, done in the
usual manner, and I was ready to pull the
plane out and position it for startup. No issues
there. One additional piece of laminated paper
left prominently on the seat was a Cessna
Disinfection Checklist created by our Flight Ops
department-it would come in very handy after I
landed and did my post-flight.
Preflight complete, I had a very nice flight
landing at several airports around the Northern
Shenandoah Valley. Got some self-serve gas
at one airport and eventually arrived back at
Frederick. The post-flight took a little longer

than normal. Once I got everything put away
and all the bugs (ugh!) cleaned off, it was time
to sanitize the aircraft. Thank goodness for a
checklist and some handy sanitizing wipes for
the surfaces and specific wipes for the Garmin
avionics in the panel. Closed the hangar, wiped
down those surfaces that I touched, and went
home feeling like a million bucks because I had a
great flight.
Part of our procedures currently call for us to
wear a mask inside the NACC, but not inside
the airplane as we're only flying solo (as of this
writing). I'm not going to discuss the efficacy
of masks-the inter-webs have all the various
arguments there, pick your poison-but it was
a very minor inconvenience in order to be able
to get back up in the air again. When we are at
the point of dual flights, I'm sure we'll probably
use them at least initially to minimize/mitigate
transmission risks. The sanitizing procedures are
thorough and I'm confident that if we all follow
them there is minimal risk. Of course, I washed
my hands before I left the NACC.
Bottom line: evaluate your risks, mitigate
all of them, determine if you can go fly,
and if you can-enjoy!
-JC

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/returntoflight http://www.aopa.org/COVID19FlightOpsGuide

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 11 Issue 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 11 Issue 2