Modification of the WINGS Program Requirements

Jaybird180

Jaybird180

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FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through EducationModification of the WINGS Program Requirements
Notice Number: NOTC3173
We are pleased to announce an addition to the Basic Level requirements of the WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program. This change will take effect with the next launch of enhancements to http://www.faasafety.gov/, tentatively scheduled for the late evening of September 14th.
Based on a recent analysis of accidents in the years 2008, 2009, and 2010, and in accordance with paragraph 4 of Advisory Circular 61-91J, WINGS – Pilot Proficiency Program, we have revised the required subjects at the Basic level of the WINGS Program. By adding Preflight Planning, Risk Management, and Fuel Management as a major component of the Knowledge 3 subject area, we hope to generate increased emphasis and understanding of this vital part of flying. An increased level of awareness of Risk Management principles will have a positive impact on the number of accidents by General Aviation pilots.
One of the advantages of the automated WINGS Program on FAASafety.gov is the dynamic nature of the requirements. When an area that deserves greater focus is discovered, we can address that subject almost immediately.
Please note that all the current subjects are still valid; however, we are adding a new key subject area for the Basic Knowledge 3 slot. The new Basic Level lineup looks like this:
Knowledge 1 - Aeronautical Decision Making
Knowledge 2 - Performance and Limitations
Alternate Knowledge 2 – Runway Safety
Knowledge 3 - Preflight Planning, Risk Management, and Fuel Management
Alternate Knowledge 3 – Other Subjects (as listed on FAASafety.gov)
Flight 1 - Takeoffs and Landings
Flight 2 - Positive Aircraft Control
Flight 3 - Basic Flying Skills
​
A new syllabus has been written for training providers, course providers, and seminar presenters and is available now on FAASafety.gov. We will add additional activities, courses and seminars to the list of available credit items over the next several months.
Please provide the widest possible dissemination of this announcement as possible. Thank you!
Michael L. Costa, AFS-850
FAASTeam Manager
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I think this is a good change. What do you guys think?
 
The old WINGS was too easy, not much more than a BFR. Then they changed it a few years back and it became very complicated and confusing so I didn't bother. It got a little better the last year or two but I think this new version is better.
 
I have no idea about the latest changes. They lost me a few years ago when it became all complicated... :-/
Whatever. I'll just get a flight review or new rating.
 
I cared about the WINGS program for about 13 minutes, 10 years ago.

It seemed to be a whole bunch of something to accomplish a whole lot of nothing..
 
I did the Wings stuff this year to save on the ground school part of my BFR but couldn't find a recommended instructor in the area who is taking part in the scheme. I can't say it was a waste of time but I probably won't be doing it again.
 
I used to do the old Wings - just seemed likea decent way to get some extra credit for some extra training that I felt I needed anyway. When the new program came into play, I thought it had good intentions, but I had too much trouble trying to figure it out so I didn't bother with it. I guess I'll have to look more closely at the new-new Wings now.
 
I'm sorry that folks have had limited success with the new WINGS program. I and other FAASTeam reps on this board would be happy to help.

Chris, I'm sorry you didn't find an instructor who was willing to give you WINGS credit. Here's a way to work around that in the future:

Print off the syllabus from the FAAsafety.gov MYWINGS page for the flight credit(s) you're trying to earn. Take them to the CFI and say "I want to complete this". He'll read through the stuff and pick some tasks (i.e. crosswind landing) to work on. When you complete the tasks to PTS, he can endorse the syllabus or put a logbook entry in saying "Chris S, holder of pilot certificate 123456789, has satisfactorily completed WING syllabus S-1-B2405".

Then any FAASTeam Rep can grant you that credit. You could scan/fax it and send it to me and I'd issue you the WINGS credit.

When someone comes to me for a flight review, I cover WINGS as part of the ground work and I pick flight tasks from the syllabi anyway and assign WINGS credit for the flight, even if the pilot isn't yet enrolled.

ANY instructor can grant WINGS credit for work they do. It's not that hard.

Best wishes,
 
TMetzinger said:
I'm sorry that folks have had limited success with the new WINGS program. I and other FAASTeam reps on this board would be happy to help.
.........
ANY instructor can grant WINGS credit for work they do. It's not that hard.

Best wishes,
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You are correct, and I've appreciated the times you've validated my instruction received.

That said, it IS more complex than it was before. Chasing down the syllabii, printing the info for endorsements, making sure instructor covers approprate things, tracking down someone to validate if CFI does not "do" the internet thing, etc. takes roughly as long as the ground portion of the program.... and substantially more time than the old program.

From a pure efficiency standpoint, it's less time to do a BFR than it is to participate in Wings. Agree that you learn less, but it also takes less time. For those that want to meet minimum standards (i.e. BFR), Wings is now more complex.
 
I used to do the old wings. in fact i think i did one phase of them myself and also gave dual to a few people who preferred it over flight reviews. Once they went online i quit bothering and apparently so did the people who had done it previously since they didn't come back asking to do Wings.
 
wsuffa said:
You are correct, and I've appreciated the times you've validated my instruction received.

That said, it IS more complex than it was before. Chasing down the syllabii, printing the info for endorsements, making sure instructor covers approprate things, tracking down someone to validate if CFI does not "do" the internet thing, etc. takes roughly as long as the ground portion of the program.... and substantially more time than the old program.

From a pure efficiency standpoint, it's less time to do a BFR than it is to participate in Wings. Agree that you learn less, but it also takes less time. For those that want to meet minimum standards (i.e. BFR), Wings is now more complex.
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I guess I agree, unless you work with a CFI (like me) who'll give you a FR and the flight credits in one go. I can also (if you ask for an FR) give you the option of doing the WINGS knowledge stuff on your own, and then coming in to fly with me and completing the wings phase with less than two hours of my time. You get the WINGS instead of the FR for less money but you spend a little more of your own time getting the knowledge tasks done.

On the other hand, if you ask for a normal flight review, I've got to log (and bill you) for a minimum of an hour of ground instruction, and an hour of flight instruction.
 
TMetzinger said:
On the other hand, if you ask for a normal flight review, I've got to log (and bill you) for a minimum of an hour of ground instruction, and an hour of flight instruction.
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Unless you're a CFI, in which case you're exempt from the ground portion of a FR. I'm pretty sure the FAA made this exemption with the financial status of us younger CFIs in mind... :p
 
matthammer said:
Unless you're a CFI, in which case you're exempt from the ground portion of a FR. I'm pretty sure the FAA made this exemption with the financial status of us younger CFIs in mind... :p
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I'm ashamed to say I wasn't aware of this exemption... Where do I find the details?
 
I'm getting the distinct impression that the rule changes for flight schools are to extend a "carrot" to flight schools that get all of their CFIs to participate in Wings.

I'm sure they've gotten enough complaints about CFIs that won't or don't play Wings that they're trying to find a motivator to get the CFIs going on it.

But they'd really like to see all of us doing continuous recurrency training matrix-style than a single review every two years.

I like Tim's style but some older non-computer savvy CFIs avoid Wings like the plague. If the CFIs aren't on board then the program flounders.

The design of the website doesn't help. It tries to teach you about the Wings program on the same screens used to enter data.

Showing info on advanced levels when someone is at Level 1 doing data entry just confuses the hell out of non-techies. They want a step-by-step wizard that says "do this to finish".

The plethora of things that qualify is great but also adds confusion to the screens too.

People who aren't actively training for things don't get it that it's just a giant DB of qualified activities, that you just keep stuffing things into it that you've accomplished so you can then look and see "what's missing for this level" on a screen littered with other information totally irrelevant to what you're trying to get done.

Once you figure out it's built for "continuous learning" and you keep entering things until the jackpot light rings and you've completed a level (haha) it's a mixture of total information overload and to many, a hassle.

This is where the old system excelled. Do one thing, it qualifies and you get a doggie biscuit.

New system is a "matrix" of things and folks would rather just call up a CFI and do "ground" and "flight" which they see as only two items, to complete a BFR.

They like that the CFI has the "matrix of requirements" in *their* head/on their syllabus instead of having to poke at a computerized matrix over and over for their biscuit.

The training offered is very good. I bet they have lots of data on pilots going to training/briefings and never entering it into Wings, too. Data entry blows. ;)

Personally I "get it" but hate the website. And that "roll the dice" to see if a particular CFI even participates is kinda annoying sometimes.
 
I have rec'd WINGS credit for online things I've done and didn't find the too difficult. OTOH, I don't have a BFR due for a long time. Did I read it correctly that I can do WINGS in lieu of BFR (not that I would, just that I could, right)?
 
Jaybird180 said:
I have rec'd WINGS credit for online things I've done and didn't find the too difficult. OTOH, I don't have a BFR due for a long time. Did I read it correctly that I can do WINGS in lieu of BFR (not that I would, just that I could, right)?
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Yes... completing a WINGS phase satisfies the requirement for a flight review.
 
TMetzinger said:
I'm sorry that folks have had limited success with the new WINGS program. I and other FAASTeam reps on this board would be happy to help.

Chris, I'm sorry you didn't find an instructor who was willing to give you WINGS credit. Here's a way to work around that in the future:

Print off the syllabus from the FAAsafety.gov MYWINGS page for the flight credit(s) you're trying to earn. Take them to the CFI and say "I want to complete this". He'll read through the stuff and pick some tasks (i.e. crosswind landing) to work on. When you complete the tasks to PTS, he can endorse the syllabus or put a logbook entry in saying "Chris S, holder of pilot certificate 123456789, has satisfactorily completed WING syllabus S-1-B2405".

Then any FAASTeam Rep can grant you that credit. You could scan/fax it and send it to me and I'd issue you the WINGS credit.

When someone comes to me for a flight review, I cover WINGS as part of the ground work and I pick flight tasks from the syllabi anyway and assign WINGS credit for the flight, even if the pilot isn't yet enrolled.

ANY instructor can grant WINGS credit for work they do. It's not that hard.

Best wishes,
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Thanks for the advice and offer of help Tim. It's now 2 years in the future but I will consider your words when my next BFR comes around.
 
It really is a worthwhile program even if the website is awful. In a typical year I attend at least three or four things that qualify for ground credit of one sort or another in Wings. Easily. Anyone actively engaged in the aviation community usually does. Tons of the training on the AOPA Air Safety Foundation also qualifies, as do some things like Civil Air Patrol Form 5 annual checkrides.
 
I'm all in favor of the mission of WINGS and tend to be naturally interested in enhancing my own longevity. But, it's just not worth it to me to bother keeping track of my continuing education the WINGS way.

I'll continue to do what I do (investigating various learning opportunities) and then take the path of least resistance in documenting currency (or whatever the official word is for it) when required. It's just not worth the hassle to go through WINGS, even though I'd likely qualify for a WINGS phase when the time comes.
 
I go to seminars from time to time and play around with their on-line stuff. My CAP Form 5 rides also get entered.

What does it all mean? I have no idea. I appear to be both Basic and Advanced. The 32 page (!) instruction manual never actually explains what a "phase" is, but I apparently have a few of those as well. The web site does seem to keep kicking my BFR date forward, though, so that's good. Beyond that, I guess I don't care much.
 
Tim and I have discussed this before. I'm glad to see providers like SIMCOM assisting attendees again. I was Wings level 7 or 8 on the old program. Just quit with the new one when recurrent training providers didn't support it.
Now that SIMCOM assists again, I was a participant this year. Asking the pilot to do all this extra stuff isn't going to increase participation. Having recurrent providers know the rules and assist the pilot in complying will go a long way. It's hard for me to take a week off to attend SIMCOM already. With all they teach and the multiple approaches we do there, I couldn't believe we didn't get WINGS credit for a couple years. Seems to be straightened out now.

Best,

Dave
 
Thanks to WINGS (and checkrides) I've never had to do a BFR in the eight years I've been a rated pilot.

I find it fairly intuitive without having to bother reading a lot of instructions. Just search for activities that'll fit in certain slots and do them.
 
So, the generation gap shows...

First, I am old - really, really old....

Second, I am computer literate - I assume the ability to assemble a PC from parts and load an operating system and (ugh) Windoze 7, counts as literacy.... Including that I used to write programs in machine language... Real programs, that caused giant machinery to bend and weld pieces of steel - not some Wild Birds inanity (though someone got rich there :)

Third, I have not the slightest interest (zero, zip, zilch) in finding some reprobate CFI online to correspond and sign my papers... Especially a snot nosed, wet behind the ears kid, like Tim...

I just did a BFR... It's only been a year, but what the hey, it seemed like the thing to do... So, I drag my CFI out to the airport and he proceeds to do the third degree...
Adjusting his monocle and slapping his riding crop against the black board he snarls, "You vill answer question number three!. Beeil' dich".
SNAP goes the riding crop again...
I yawn and blink at the board... "What is the top of the airport traffic area over an uncontrolled airport in Class E airspace with a published instrument approach?" I slowly read, one syllable at a time... By now, he looks like the top of his head will explode...
I give him a slow smile... "You have been reading the AIM again, eh Herr V? Well, I could say 1200 feet"
An evil smile appears on his thin, twisted lips...
"But it is, as you well know because you have been reading the AIM under the blankets at night with a flashlight so as not to wake Brunhilda, that it is 700 feet."
I get the icey stare from him... "Very well, vee vill now proceed to zee Flugzeug und see vot you can do vit your pathetic flying skills."

I will spare the reader the excruciating details of the flight review, including steep turns under the hood, timed turning climbs and descents, take off and departure stalls (exciting in a twin), culminating in a one wheel, engine out, cross wind landing, except to note that the sabre scar on his cheek blanched white and before the plane rolled to a complete stop he bolted off the wing, dropped to his knees, and began kissing the oil stained tarmac, right on a white spot left by a seagull... Then he began to run for his car...
"See you next year, Baron.", I called...
Now the seagulls were laughing maniacally and the 25 knot, gusting 35, crosswind made it hard to hear but I could swear he said, "O'fer my dead body."
And then I could swear the nearest seagull looked at me, winked and in screechy gull language went, "heh, heh, heh..."

denny-o
 
Hey denny-o, if your flying skills match your writing skills, you don't need no stinkin' BFR.
 
I participate in the Wings program. Saves me 10% on my insurance!

I enjoy going to the local classes, Always informative and great to hear input from other local pilots.
Traveling for work sometimes I attend classes in other Cities/States.

At first I had some trouble getting the air work signed off, butt I heard they made it easier for CFIs to sign up (maybe it always was), anyway I finally got the CFI from our flying club to join and now I go up with him for the air work.
 
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