Captain Elliott
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| Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:02 am September Briefings |
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Well folks, Summer's about gone and most of the kids (or grandkids) are back in school. The 101 Critical Days of Summer are just about over. However, the peak of hurricane season is nearly on us. One of our primary tasks in the event of a disaster, such as a hurricane, is support of the State of North Carolina. We are often tasked with photo-recon, high bird, damage assessment, and ELT search operations. When our help is needed, it's need right then.
No one expects us to leave our families during a disaster without having taken care of their needs first. Now is the time for all of you, Cadet and Officer, to make sure that your family and property is prepared for any such event. You're probably tired of seeing this, but here's the list (again) of disaster planning resources from the Cooperative Extension Service at NC State University and A&T State University.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/96-1.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/100.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/101.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/98.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/96.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/31.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/46.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/2A.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/factsheets/html/97.html
These links are chuck full of good ideas, checklists, and "how to's" to help you get your family through an emergency. Do your home work first, then come prepared to serve others.
On the pilot safety side for this month, let's dig back into the files and revive the pilot reporting process or PIREPs as they are more commonly known. This is an AOPA Air Safety Foundation course that will fulfill the safety seminar requirement for the FAA Wings program and, if you're insured through AOPA, it will qualify you for AOPA Accident Forgiveness. (I wonder if they have one of these for missed anniversaries and birthdays?)
http://www.aopa.org/asf/online_courses/skyspotter/
When you finish the program, print out a couple of copies of the certificate of completion. Keep one for your records and give the other to your safety officer. Get him to keep a record of the courses you have taken during the year. See if anyone else in the squadron can beat your total.
Safety Officers, if you have web access, see how good your pilots are with a Sporty's Safety Quiz concerning wake turbulence at this link:
http://www.aopa.org/asf/asfquiz/quizzes.cfm?SA=Quizzes&QuizId=66
Hint: here's a related AOPA article.
http://www.aopa.org/asf/asfarticles/sp9810.html
You can also refer to the FAR/AIM Chapter 7, Section 3 Wake Turbulence.
Have a Safe September. Pray for rain, but no hurricanes.
LtDan |
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