President's Corner, March 2007
March has arrived in typical “Lion” fashion.  We have seen a lot of windy weather this winter and things don’t look to be calming down any time soon.  With spring only three weeks away and for most of us, a return to the air, it is time to review that dusty piece of paper you have stashed away somewhere in your flight bag called “Personal Minimums”. 

The FAA has been thoughtful enough to provide us with a great many limitations and restrictions regarding when we can fly and under what conditions.  But, with lack of use our skills get a little rusty and we should not delude ourselves into thinking just because the rules allow it, we can do it.

To ensure that we can continue to enjoy our love of flying, we must be ever diligent to the inevitable erosion of our skills and constantly review and update our personal minimums.  The link below is a good checklist to work from.  It has three parts, The Pilot, The Aircraft, and the Environment.  Like any other checklist it is only good if you use it.  Download and fill in the checklist.  The values you enter here need to be considered absolute limits.  These should be reviewed and updated as your proficiency dictates, for better or worse.  But on a given day never violate your minimums for the sake of expedience. Prior to each flight, review the checklist to make the go-no go decision.   It could keep you out of magazine articles entitled “What was he thinking?”.   

            Fly Safe!

            Jay Cates

 http://www.faa.gov/education_research/training/fits/guidance/media/personal%20minimums%20checklist.pdf

 And progress is being made!