By Howard Deevers
In Pittsburgh, spring training meant that your team was going somewhere else. The Pittsburgh Pirates do spring training in Bradenton, Florida, right on Tampa Bay. Other northern teams have other locations, but they all travel for spring training.
Here in Arizona, we are already in the desirable area for spring training. The western teams travel to Arizona for spring training. The season starts at the end of April and goes into fall now.
In aviation, we don't really have a spring training” because we have regulations on how often we need a Flight Review. As we all know, we are required to have a Flight Review every 24 months. A long time between seasons for us. However, there is another way to do that Flight Review, called the WINGS Program. Actually, you can do a Flight Review any time. You do not have to wait 24 months, then worry about passing a Flight Review. And we also know that any new rating counts as a Flight Review. Completion of any phase of the WINGS, also counts as a Flight Review.
In Pittsburgh, the Safety Program Manager at the Pittsburgh FSDO would sponsor a WINGS WEEKEND each spring. I called it “John’s Spring Training Program.” John would recruit flight instructors to volunteer their time for a Saturday and or Sunday weekend to do the flying part of the WINGS, and he had safety seminars set up to operate both days. Any pilot could come to that WINGS WEEKEND, attend a seminar for the Ground Requirement, and then fly with an Instructor for free. All they had to do was provide their own airplane or rent one.
This was before the internet, and all of the modern notifications we have today. It was at a different airport each year. Posters would be placed at all local airports, and the turn out for the “Spring Training” was impressive. John even arranged for a “Temporary Tower” at the non-towered GA airports. But spring in Pittsburgh can bring a weather surprise at times, so some of our weekends were only one day. As we know, weather can be a factor for any flight, even here in Arizona, but less likely here.
In sports, Spring Training is used to get ready for a season, and for the coaches to see who the best players will be. In aviation, every flight should be considered spring training. We never stop learning and improving. The regulations are there for our protection. Some pilots do not fly every week. Others are even more active and fly every day.
At one of our “Spring Training” weekends, I was assigned a young man. We reviewed his logbook, and found that he had passed the Practical test for Private Pilot two years ago, and had flown only 2 hours since that time. Weather, time, money and family had gotten in the way of flying, but he still wanted to fly and knew that he needed to have that Flight Review. We flew in the rented plane that he had arranged at that airport. Unfortunately, he could not make an unassisted landing after many attempts. I had to tell him that he could not act as PIC until he had more instruction and a sign off by any instructor. He did not have to take another checkride, but could get current with some help from any instructor.
My move to Arizona came right after that Spring Training, so I never found out how that young man did on further training. Winters can be long and brutal to the weekend pilots in Pittsburgh, so the Spring Training event was a welcome chance to get a refresher for their summer flying.
Here in Arizona, it is almost a reverse of that. The summer heat will keep many weekend pilots on the ground, but winter flying is much more fun. Do think of your next “Spring Training” event and come to a Safety Seminar sponsored by your ARIZONA PILOTS ASSOCIATION, and the FAASTeam. They are free, and we want more safe pilots.
Check the website for a location near you. And don't forget to bring your wingman!