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This week marks the the 10th Anniversary of Aviation Solutions’ first flight instructor refresher course (FIRC). In the past decade, Aviation Solutions has provided more professional development based flight instructor rating renewals than any other course provider in Canada — with over 700 re-certified flight instructors having graduated the program over nearly 50 courses.
During the 10th Anniversary course Feb. 20-21, 2020, Aviation Soloutions completed training for class 48, which also attended a celebration including many current and previous course presenters and supporters.
The FIRC allows flight instructors to renew their ratings (as required every one-to-four years, depending on qualifications) in lieu of a flight test. The professional development course includes a variety of topics applicable to aviation, and flight training in particular. Over 2,000 hours have been put into developing the program which now has a library of 21 different training modules from developing syllabi and supervising training; to threat and error management, and advanced avionics.
“I believe we’ve had a huge impact on the quality of training offered at flight schools in Canada” said Mike Schuster, chief instructor of the program. “Over the years we’ve welcomed 27 different industry experts to present for us representing 24 different air operators and flight schools, the Transportation Safety Board, NavCanada, and Transport Canada, combining for 400-plus years of experience. Plus the occasional lawyer, human factors researcher, maintenance engineer, and meteorologist.”
Because Aviation Solutions is a consultancy and not tied to any particular flight school, there is an ability to pass along best practices and not simply explain how one school teaches things.
“With attendees coming from across Canada and around the world, we have been able to incorporate their best practices into our program. Not only do we have great presenters, but I believe we have truly transformed into a world class program based the willingness of those presenters to search out the best way of doing things from our most valuable resource: the flight instructors who work hard everyday to ensure a safe and quality flight training system,” Schuster continued.
Further classes for 2020 are scheduled for Guelph, Ont., May 25-26 and Sept. 28-29.
