All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2010!

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Trouble-Maker, Jim Campbell

Aero-Note: SORRY to keep dragging this process out... but for reasons that will become evident shortly, these are BUSY days at ANN. Still; I wanted to finish these before the end of January and I'm not quite there yet... though I hope to finish the last of these this week... we shall see.
In the meantime, wait til you see what we've been up to... -- Jim Campbell-ANN E-I-C

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace community has managed to accomplish.
 
Thankfully, 2010 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2010 were numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and actions.
 
It is ANN's honor to recognize persons/organizations or groups that qualify as our Aero-Heroes for 2010...  in something of an informal order -- Saving the 'best' for last. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us down.

ANN will finish our Top Choices over the next few day's, but let's wrap this up and enjoy another selection from our Heroes List for 2010...

Aero-Heroes: SAFE

In the coming days, we're going to pick up the conversation we started some weeks ago about all that was right or wrong in aviation... and one of the inescapable conclusions I keep coming to is the thought that so much of aviation's future is tied up in the quality (or lack thereof) of flight training available these days. Both from the standpoint of the individual instructors, as well as the schools that they may work with, aviation's future will rise or fall with the quality that both bring to our skies over the coming years.

That said, I have to tell you that we see very serious problems in the flight training industry... instructors are not getting the guidance they need, the way we teach aviation MUST change (along with the system that we work and fly in), the FAA has made the process virtually unworkable and DIRECTLY contributes to the industry's many safety problems, and EACH and EVERY flight school has to get their act together and be ready to make a better presentation each and every time that a prospective flyer walks in the door... and, mind you, there are so many other concerns, to boot...

Not so long ago, I'd have been far more worried (in terms of flight training) about our future than I am now... but with the melt-down that toppled NAFI (National Association of Flight Instructors) from prominence and the subsequent rise of SAFE (the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators), we see the potential for solid and serious change... and in a really good way. The folks who abandoned the tottering NAFI mess, and put their livelihoods on the line with the formation of SAFE, have proven to be flyers of conscience... men and women who have a strong sense of how important they are in the regrowth of aviation and the dedication to see it through. 

SAFE's mission statement notes, "The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) seeks to create a safer aviation environment through enhanced education. SAFE provides aviation educators with mentoring, support, and professional accreditation. By providing quality educational materials and other resources, we seek a reduction in aviation accidents, increased professionalism among aviation educators, and lifelong learning by everyone involved in aviation."

Lofty goals? Yes... but there is more to them than that... and in SAFE, I've seen a group of folks willing to think creatively, organize aggressively and work hard to seek NEW solutions to the issues that have allowed aviation to degrade slowly over the last few decades... becoming less safe, less popular, less useful, less affordable and with a future mired in uncertainty.

In our work with SAFE, we've met men and women with incredible skills, both as pilots as well as educators... AND they have a firm grasp of just how damned important their jobs are. Of all the primary SAFE folks I've met, there isn't a one that I wouldn't feel "safe" sending a family member to for flight training -- or seeing them serve a more pivotal role in the rebirth of aviation. I sure as hell would love to see any of them pay amore pivotal and public role in the aviaion world... and I have some ideas to help bring about just such a possibility (more on that VERY shortly).

SAFE has the right idea... and among them is their current plan to put together a massive confab in a few weeks, in order to gather together, and plot a new path for flight education... the organization is bringing critical fresh thinking to the business at a time when we've been doing the same old crap for so damned long that it's a wonder that we even have an industry to save.

I like the fact that SAFE was started by upstarts... folks who became unsatisfied with the status quo and took real risks to change their futures... and with all of our support, I want to see SAFE succeed in making our skies safer and far more accessible to all those who want and need to fly.

SAFE has our vote as one of the most hopeful steps we've seen, for flight training, in many years.

FMI: www.safepilots.org, Comments/Criticism for ANN???