Flight Review and FAA Wings
Is your flight review an “Every two year, check-the-box” exercise? In airplanes, does your CFI/buddy give you a sign-off after reviewing part 91 over a cup of coffee at an airport 30 minutes away (conveniently a one-hour round trip in order to meet the Part 61 flight time requirement)? In gliders, three quick tows into the pattern? Is your recurrency an obligation to be met and not an opportunity for learning?
FAA Wings Program
If so, you are missing out on perhaps the single best opportunity to maintain proficiency and education throughout the entire year, not just at flight-review time. The FAA Wings Pilot Proficiency Program is a comprehensive educational and proficiency program designed to build a continuous feed of Activities, Courses, and Seminars to allow you to maintain proficiency, provide continuing education opportunities, and to also allow you to meet the regulatory requirements of 14CFR Part 61.56 as a byproduct of staying current and proficient.
The Wings Program is administered by the FAA at the FAAST (FAA Safety Team) website www.faasafety.gov. Any pilot (even students!) or technician can set up an account. By creating a profile of interests and their location, pilots can get a customized list of content tailored to their interests and the local area.
The Wings Program has been around for decades. However, in 2007 the program went from a locally administered paper program to a national FAA initiative which expanded its scope and effectiveness. As a result, there is a much greater variety of programs available to pilots, leading to many more opportunities to expand proficiency.
The Wings program is broken up into Flight Activities and Seminars/Courses. To earn a “Phase” of Wings and satisfy the 61.56 Flight Review requirement, a pilot needs to accomplish three flight activities and three courses in a 12-month period. The flight activities are proficiency-based and are typically taken from a PTS (or ACS) at the certificate level of the pilot being trained. So, if you are a commercial pilot, the three flight activities could include Slow Flight and Stalls, Commercial Maneuvers, and precision landings all at the Commercial level. The performance criteria for those topics are taken directly from the ACS Areas of Operation and can be accomplished in as few as one flight if the pilot performs to the ACS performance level.
FAASafety Seminars
Complementary to the Flight Activities are the seminars that the Wings Program is well known for. The FAA has a complete library of online courses, but the richest content comes from its in-person and online live seminars. Given by representatives from the FAASafety team, typically CFIs, the seminars can dive into specific topics of immediate or local interest like runway safety, local airspace, or special emphasis topics.
Make the Wings Program part of your ongoing commitment to knowledge and proficiency. Talk to your instructor about performing a phase of Wings, take a course, or attend a seminar. Make a commitment to lifelong aviation learning. To learn more about the Wings Program visit www.faasafety.gov, and read advisory circular AC-61-91J. The Wings Program is available to all pilots, including student pilots. In fact, it's great to get students signed up and using faasafety.gov early in their flying career to start good learning habits even before the private pilot checkride.
Multi-ratings and FAA Wings
Since participation in the Wings Program satisfies the flight review requirement of Part 61.56, there has been discussion in our community about completing a Wings phase in gliders for transitioning power pilots who may not have a current flight review so they can solo in gliders. The feedback I have gotten from the FAA is that Paragraph c.3 of Section 5 of AC61-91J precludes this.
“Pilots with multiple aircraft ratings select the category and class of aircraft in which they wish to receive training and demonstrate their flight proficiency. Pilots may demonstrate all proficiency requirements for any phase of the WINGS Program in the same category and class, or may demonstrate those skills in any category and class for which they are rated.”
The FAA recognizes that it’s the “For which they are rated” part of the AC that is problematic and is actually contrary to the concept of continuing education. Efforts are underway to remove that restriction. However, the Sport Pilot certification, where possible, can be completed with no solo flight time requirement and the Sport Pilot checkride, administered by a CFI, will meet the 61.56 requirements for transitioning power pilots to build solo time and to move beyond Sport Pilot to commercial and even CFIG!
Banner photo by Holger Weitzel, aufwind-luftbilder.de
Scott Ashton is the owner of Aerox Aviation Oxygen Systems, which he purchased in 2020. With more than 25 years of aerospace experience, Scott holds an ATP certificate with ratings for airplanes, gliders, and helicopters, and is a CFI/CFII/CFIG with more than 2,700 hours. Scott serves on the Board of Patient Airlift Services, a volunteer pilot organization.
Scott E. Ashton
President and CEO, Aerox Aviation Oxygen Systems
scott@aerox.com