Getting Started With the New WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program. Timothy Metzinger Metzinger Air Services, LLC FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Representative

Transcription

1 Getting Started With the New WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program By Timothy Metzinger Metzinger Air Services, LLC FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Representative

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3 Contents Introduction and Usage... 5 Lesson 1 What You Will Need... 7 Lesson 2 Register and Manage Your Account... 9 Getting Registered... 9 First Time Login Forgot Password? Initial Password Change Exercise 1 System Log on Managing Your Account Lesson 3 Start the WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program Exercise 2 Enroll in WINGS and update your WINGS pilot profile The My WINGS information Lesson 4 Searching for WINGS Credits and Taking an Online Course Exercise 3 Find and Take the DC ADIZ Course Exercise 4 Find a WINGS FLIGHT Activity for Your Flight Credit Requirement Lesson 5 Get Your Activities Validated Exercise 5 Request Credit for an AOPA ASF Seminar Lesson 6 Get Your Certificate and Claim Your Reward! Exercise 6 Get your WINGS certificate Exercise 7 Claim Your Reward... 40

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5 Introduction and Usage This guide is intended to help you get started using the FAA Safety Team website, called FAASafety.gov, and to get you enrolled in the new WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program. Through a series of short lesson modules you ll learn how to register, how to enroll in WINGS, how to find credits that match your type of aviation activities, and how to ensure you get credit for those activities. The best way to use this guide is to print it out so you can refer to it while using your computer. It s formatted to fit on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper and to be printed double-sided. A single-sided version (without the blank page spaceholders) is also available. You may see screens that look a little different than shown here that will be normal because the web site can change from time to time, and some screens reflect the author s user settings which will be different than yours. Don t rush, and don t panic! Take your time and look at the entire screen and you ll generally be able to find what you are looking for. This guide was created by a volunteer, and reflects the content and processes in use at the time it was written. No guarantees are given. If you have a question about the content, or a problem, you can send the author an message to timothy.metzinger@metzair.com, and an effort will be made to assist you Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 5

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7 Lesson 1 What You Will Need This module discusses what you will need to use the FAA Safety Team web site and the new WINGS program. The first step is to understand and accept that the new system is completely computerized and internetbased. The FAA has worked to minimize the computer stuff you ll need to get good results, but you will have to have some basic computer skills. For those of us that aren t terribly computer-savvy, children and grandchildren can be very helpful. So, the basic things you ll need are: Internet Access either from your home, work, or a library. You won t need any special programs, just a web browser. A printer is useful but not required. Adobe Acrobat reader software is useful but is not required. An address/account that WORKS. The FAA will use your address as your User ID, and will send you to let you know of upcoming safety events and other good to know stuff as well. You can get an account for FREE from sites like or You can access this mail from any computer with a web browser no additional software is needed. The FAA makes this step easy by providing these links right on their site for you during the registration process. Patience! Just as in flying, a good attitude makes all the difference. If you apply the same persistence to working through these lessons as you did working towards your first solo flight, you ll be successful. Be sure to give yourself time to learn. Learning means making mistakes, correcting them, and moving on. Being rushed will only add to your frustration. Now, let s get started! The next module covers visiting the FAASTeam website and registering Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 7

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9 Lesson 2 Register and Manage Your Account This module covers the steps needed to create an account at the FAASafety.gov website. It also covers what to do if you forget your password or need to change it in the future. Getting Registered First, open your web browser. Then, type the address in the address box, and press the Enter key. You ll get to the web site, which should look similar to the screen below. This site is the home of the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam, a joint effort between the FAA, industry, and quite a few volunteers who work to improve aviation safety). On the left hand side of the screen, there s a box that says Get Registered with FAASafety.gov. Click on this box to start the registration process. You ll get a response page with information about the program, and a place to enter your address. This is a good time to mention that FAASafety.gov is designed with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.5 or higher in mind. While it will work with other web browsers you may find slight differences from those shown here Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 9

10 Enter your address in the box. The next step is to click on YES if you have an airman certificate and you are current to fly (meaning that if you need to have a medical certificate, you have a current medical certificate). You don t have to have an airman certificate OR a current medical to use the system, so don t be afraid to click on no. Student pilots should select NO. Once you ve made your choice, proceed to the next step by clicking on the Next Registration Step button. If you selected YES, proceed to CURRENT PILOT section. If you selected NO, skip ahead to the NON-CURRENT PILOT section. CURRENT PILOT If you chose YES during the previous step, you ll get a screen that will prompt you for your last name and your pilot certificate number. The system will use this information to query another FAA system to get your certificate and rating information, and populate your account profile. Your Pilot Certificate number is NOT stored on this system only your FAA releasable name (which is public information) is stored on FAASafety.gov. Entering this information and clicking the Next Registration Step button will complete the registration process. You re done! You ll get a screen informing you that your initial password has been sent to your address. Now it s time to check your address for your temporary password. Skip a page and go to the section on first time login. 10 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

11 NON-CURRENT PILOT If you chose NO in the previous step, you ll get a screen that will prompt you for your name and the type of certificate(s) you may hold. Once you ve filled out your certificate(s) to start, click on the Next Registration Step button. You re done! You ll get a screen informing you that your initial password has been sent to your address. Now it s time to check your address for your temporary password Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 11

12 First Time Login Checking your , you should see a message titled Your Account on When you open your message, you should see something like this: I suggest you print the message, or write down the temporary password, or mark and copy it using your mouse. You need it for your first sign-on Now, back to the FAASafety.gov website! If you closed your browser, just open it again and go to You ll see a spot for your address and password on the left hand side of the screen. Enter your address, then your password from the message you just got, and then click on the arrow pointing right, as shown below. Remember to enter your password EXACTLY as it was sent to you it s case-sensitive. If you successfully logged in, you ll be prompted to change your password. Skip the next section and go to Initial Password Change on the next page. If you can t log in, read on! 12 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

13 Forgot Password? If you DIDN T enter your password correctly, you ll get another screen that looks like this Try one more time, going back to the message you received to look up for your password. Once you get it, you ll be able to change your password. But take note here if you try and log-in in the future, and you just can t remember your password, the link that says Forgot your password? Click here to reset it. will you a new temporary password. Once you ve successfully logged on with a temporary password, you ll be prompted to change your password. Initial Password Change As a user of the system your password can be as simple as you like but must have at least 4 characters. I suggest using two words separated by a number, like rock3roll, or whatever else you can remember. While it s not a good idea to write down passwords, there s no personal information in this system, so don t worry if you have to write it down somewhere. Once you ve changed your password, you ll get a success message Click on the click here link and you ll get the initial screen. Rather than look around (that s in the next module), you should practice logging into the system until it s easy. Run through the exercise Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 13

14 Exercise 1 System Log on. This exercise will have you log on to your FAASafety.gov account. 1. Close your web browser(s). 2. Open a new web browser and go to the FAASafety.gov website. 3. Enter your address and password, and log in 4. Click on the Logout button in the upper right corner to exit the system 5. Repeat as needed until you are comfortable. 14 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

15 Managing Your Account. Now that you ve committed your password to memory, you may want to change it, or change other account settings. Let s log on to the system and see how we can change our account preferences. Open a browser and go to the FAASafety.gov website. Log into the system with your address and password. At the top of the screen there is a navigation bar (where you found Logout in the last exercise). There s another button there called My Preferences. Click on it and you ll get a very useful set of tools. The tabs at the top let you change various settings. The General & Settings tab lets you change your address (and you ll have to use the new one to login in the future), your zip code, and the type of you get, as well as the kind of notifications you ll get from the FAA safety systems. The Password tab will let you change your password, the Certificates & Ratings tab will let you change the kind of certificates you may have (or if you would like to receive information directed to these types of certificate holders), the My Home Page lets you specify additional zip codes and radius (so you can have events at your summer home, or your airport listed on the homepage when you log in), and finally, the Close Your Account Tab will remove your account from the system 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 15

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17 Lesson 3 Start the WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program One of the things you can do on the FAASafety.gov web site is participate in the new WINGS program, and earn knowledge and flight credits. Completing the Basic phase of the WINGS program counts as a flight review, and it also can qualify you for discounts on your aircraft insurance and other incentive programs. WINGS has three phases, and it s structured like a college course of study (don t panic!). Each phase has a set of credits you have to earn, and they re made up of core and elective credits. Core credits address top accident causes, like maneuvering for takeoffs and landings Elective credits address a wider range of topics. A phase will have both knowledge (ground) and flight credit requirements. There is a Basic Phase, an Advanced Phase, and a Master Phase. The Basic phase corresponds to Private Pilot levels of knowledge and pilot proficiency. The Advanced phase corresponds to Commercial and Instrument levels, and the Master Phase corresponds to ATP/CFI levels. You do NOT have to have the advanced certificates and ratings to complete the Advanced and Master Phases, but you will be held to those levels of proficiency as you complete the credits. So let s consider a basic phase. This phase consists of three credits of knowledge (two core, one elective) and three credits of flight proficiency (two core, one elective). There is NO minimum time requirement, you can complete the credits as quickly as you re capable, and a proficient pilot can generally complete a basic flight phase in one or two hours of flight with a CFI. The ground portions can be done with online training from the FAA Aviation Learning Center (ALC) as well as AOPA ASF courses, commercial courses from King Schools and others, and in-person seminars given by AOPA ASF, the FAA, and the FAASTeam partners. So let s get enrolled in WINGS! 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 17

18 Exercise 2 Enroll in WINGS and update your WINGS pilot profile. This exercise will have you log into the web site and sign up for the WINGS program. 1. To get started, log into the FAASafety.gov site. 2. Click on the WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program button on the left side of the screen, then click on WINGS Information 3. There s a really good video on the program that you can access with the click here link in the first paragraph. After you watch it (or if you choose not to watch it), click on the Begin Participating Now! button. 18 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

19 4. Now you ll have the opportunity to select the certificates and ratings you hold. Check all those you wish to use in the WINGS program, so the system can provide appropriate content later. 5. Scrolling down, there s a section where you can specify the date of your last flight review, and whether you participated in the old wings program 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 19

20 6. Click on the Save button when you re done. You ll get a confirmation that your selections were saved. 7. You re done! You ve created your profile. Log out of the system 20 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

21 The My WINGS information Now that you ve created your profile, you can use the system to keep track of the credits you ve earned. When you log in, your home page will come up, and you ll see any upcoming safety events in your area. Click on the My WINGS shortcut on the left side of the menu bar. Here you ll see your progress. Each time you complete a course or credit, you ll see the boxes get filled in. The online tutorial link is available here too. Next, you ll learn how to search for credits Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 21

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23 Lesson 4 Searching for WINGS Credits and Taking an Online Course The website allows you to search for activities that you can complete to earn WINGS credits. The good news is that you have very powerful search capabilities. This is also the bad news you need to pay attention to your search criteria to ensure you get the results you re looking for. We ll start by looking at the various screens in the application, and then have an exercise to find and take the DC ADIZ training course, as well as looking for a flight training syllabus. Log on to the web site. Once you re logged in, select WINGS from the left hand menu, then click on My WINGS you ll get a screen similar to the one shown below. The search icon is the easiest way to find things that match your preset profile. Clicking on it will show all matching activities. But if you re looking for something specific, you should click on the Activity Search or Validation link on the right section. This section is a little complicated. It allows you to search for all sorts of events online courses, in person seminars, and training offered by third parties. You can search by keywords, by activity codes, and other criteria. Finally, you can search for things that match your pilot profile, or expand your search to match other certificate/ratings. Here is the basic search screen: 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 23

24 It defaults to a 50 mile radius of your home zip code. By checking the Include non-location specific items box you ll see online courses, flight training syllabi, and other things that are not necessarily given in person. If you click on the WINGS box you ll be able to specify the type of WINGS credits you re looking for. This can be helpful if you re doing a search for a particular matching credit, but for now leave the box unchecked. Note the Categorizations portion of the page. We ll cover them next. By default, your search will be limited to items that match the certificates and ratings you list on your pilot profile. So you won t see helicopter or seaplane-related items if you haven t listed those ratings on your profile. Fortunately, if you click on the Customize search categorizations selection, you ll get a matrix that starts with your pilot profile and lets you add items of interest for this search. On the next page, we ll talk about the additional search options. 24 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

25 At the bottom, clicking on the Show Additional Search Options link gives you search boxes for keywords or activity number or other criteria Activity numbers are codes assigned to the various things you can do. They include FAA Aviation Learning Center (ALC) courses, online, FAASTeam courses covering seminars or flight training, AOPA seminars or online courses, and much more. The Syllabus number is a coding scheme that links to specific teaching goals and criteria. Keywords are a way to do free text searching on the activity. If you re looking for something related to Cessna Caravan operations, you could search on caravan or Cessna Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 25

26 You can put in partial entries in the fields. For example, putting in AOPAASF will return a list of AOPA Air Safety Foundation courses: So now that you ve got some experience with the searching tools, close your browser and try the exercises! 26 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

27 Exercise 3 Find and Take the DC ADIZ Course. This exercise will have you search for the course on the Washington DC ADIZ, which will be required of all pilots who fly under VFR within 60 NM of the Washington DC (DCA) VOR after February 9 th, This course also qualifies as a KNOWLEDGE course for WINGS. 1. Log on to 2. Go to WINGS, then My WINGS. 3. Click on the Activity Search or Validation link. 4. In the search window, be sure that the Include non-location specific items box is checked. Click to Show Additional Search Options, and put ADIZ in the keyword box as shown below Click on the Perform Search button 5. You ll get a list of courses back, and as luck will have it, the course you want is at the top ALC-41 is the course on Navigating the new DC ADIZ Click on the ALC-41 link. You ll be given an overview of the course and the option to review and enroll in the course Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 27

28 Congratulations, you ve found the course! If you choose to preview the course a new window will open and you ll have the option to enroll and complete the course. When you do complete the course (or any other ALC course online) you ll automatically be assigned credits (in this case, a half-credit) in your WINGS account. This automatic crediting only works for FAA ALC courses or FAA seminars for all other activities you ll need to request credit validation from a FAASTeam representative. Fortunately, that s covered in the next module! Before you jump ahead, however, try one more exercise to find a FLIGHT credit. If you will be flying under VFR within 60 NM of the DCA VFR, you MUST take this course. The rule (61.161) mandating this course goes into effect in February 2009, so please, take the course, and remind your fellow pilots! If you want to skip the course, go to Exercise 4 on page P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

29 Start the course by clicking on the Click here to view this online course with the option to enroll in this course link. You ll be taken to a preview of the course. To enroll, click on the Click here to enroll for this course now! link. You ll be taken to the My Courses page, and you ll see the course listed under Courses in Progress. You ll find the My Courses link on the left hand side of the screen whenever you sign on to the system, so you can always stop a course in the middle and come back to it. Click on the little icon to begin the course Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 29

30 We won t spend much time on the course content, but there are some features you should understand. At the top is a navigation bar. As you complete each chapter of the course, the chapter will get a check mark, so if you leave the course you can pick it up again later. In each chapter you may see related links to supplemental material (pictures, documents) that help explain the material At the bottom of the section is a bar that will allow you to advance to the next chapter or go back to the previous chapter When you complete the review section, you ll be able to take the exam and get credit for the course. The exam is a take-it- til-you-pass-it affair, and once you take it, you ll be given an opportunity to provide feedback, and then to a congratulations page where you can print out your completion certificate. The course will always show up on the My Courses page in your list of completed courses, and you can return to it for review, or to reprint your certificate if needed just click on the icon. 30 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

31 Exercise 4 Find a WINGS FLIGHT Activity for Your Flight Credit Requirement In this exercise you ll find matching activities to complete a flight exercise for the Basic phase, and print out the details to give to your CFI. 1. Logon to 2. Go to WINGS, then My WINGS. 3. Click on the Activity Search or Validation link. 6. In the search window, be sure that the Include non-location specific items box is checked. Check the WINGS box, then select F for flight, C for core, and B 1 for a basic task as shown Click on the Perform Search button 4. You ll get a list of possible activities based on your pilot profile (note that what you see may differ because of your pilot profile. If you re a rotorhead, you won t see the airplane stuff). Note that there are things like CAP Form 5 rides, 135 checkrides, and others that count towards this requirement. Let s pick a single engine land task (A-FAASTEAM-W F ) Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 31

32 5. Click on the A-FAASTEAM-W F link. A new window will open, and you ll get a listing of the tasks you must complete to the appropriate Practical Test Standards, and the endorsement your CFI should give you. There is a link to create a printer-friendly version down by the bottom of the page. Clicking on this link will open a new window from which you can print the task. Take this with you to your flight session to give to your CFI. When you ve completed the tasks to the PTS, your instructor should put the endorsement in your logbook, or he can sign the form (you ll need to keep the form for your logbook records if this is the method you choose). 32 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

33 Lesson 5 Get Your Activities Validated In this module we ll assume you completed some training. Perhaps you went to an AOPA seminar, or completed a flight activity with your CFI. Now you need to get that activity validated. The steps to get a credit validated will be pretty familiar you start by searching for the activity just like you did in the last module. If you haven t worked through that module before, please go do it now, the screens you ll see here will just be here to refresh your memory. Log on to the web site, then go to WINGS, My WINGS, and click on the Activity Search or Validation link on the right section. For this task you re trying to find an activity that matches what you ve done. Normally, this will either have an FAA activity number if it was an FAA syllabus or seminar, and you can just put that number in the activity number box. Many commercial courses will also have an FAA activity number. If it wasn t an FAA activity, or you don t have an activity number you can do a search on the keywords, as shown below doing a search on icing: Clicking on a link will take you to the activity description. Go ahead and click on the link for Cessna Aeronautical Decision Making (CAART-WE-ADM-1). You ll get all sorts of information on the class, but since we re assuming you ve taken it, the important link is the one that says: Click on the Request Credit link Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 33

34 Now you can submit your activity for validation. The way this works is that you will generate a request to be sent to a FAASTeam Rep, called a Validator. The validator will contact you if necessary to get whatever proof is needed that you completed the activity, then he will validate your activity and you ll receive credit. Let s look at the details of the application here: The first thing to enter is the date you completed the activity. Next, you have some options for picking a FAASTeam Rep, or any participating instructor of your choice. If you ve ever had things validated before, the most recent validators will be listed. Clicking on one of them will select them as your validator. But if you ve never had anything validated, you can still select a validator. You can enter an address if you know it for a FAASTeam rep. Mine (timothy.metzinger@metzair.com) is shown in the box; feel free to use me in the future! You can also search for CFIs, FAASTeam Reps, or FAASTeam Program Managers in your area. I ll caution you that some folks who are registered as CFI s in the system may not be fully up to speed on the application. For fastest results, look for a FAASTeam Rep. Finally, if you know the name of a rep, you can search on that name. Type in the last name and you ll be given a list of reps. Once you find a rep, click on the name to select him as the validator. 34 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

35 Then, you would click the Submit for Validation button (don t actually click the button at this time). Once you submit the credit for validation, you ll see a confirmation screen, and you and your validator will both receive messages. Your validator will contact you with any requests for information. Generally, you can fax or him your course completion certificate, your logbook endorsement, or other proof of completion. Once the validator approves your request, you ll get an message stating so, and your WINGS account will show the new credits Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 35

36 Exercise 5 Request Credit for an AOPA ASF Seminar. In this exercise, we ll go through all the steps to request validation for attending AOPA s Mastering Takeoffs and Landings seminar. We ll find the activity code, request credit, and select a validator. But we won t actually request the credit in the exercise. 1. Log on to 2. Go to WINGS, then My WINGS. 3. Click on the Activity Search or Validation link. 4. In the search window, be sure that the Include non-location specific items box is checked. Click to Show Additional Search Options, and now it s time to figure out how to search for the seminar. a. If the AOPA rep gave you the activity number (AOPAASF-TAKEOFFSLANDINGS-SEMINAR), you could put that into the Accredited Activity Number box as shown This would return just one entry. Don t use this option let s do it the hard way. b. Putting mastering takeoffs and landings in the keywords box would return quite a few results, since these words are used quite frequently in activity descriptions. You d be scrolling through pages of activities to find the seminar. For a better alternative, enter in AOPA in the Accredited Activity Number (since all AOPA activities will have AOPA in their activity number), and put mastering takeoffs and landings in the keywords section as shown below. Click on the Perform Search button You ll get a list of maybe 25 entries scroll through (and go to additional pages if necessary) until you find the proper entry Click on the link on the left, and you ll get the description. 5. Click on the link to request credit. 36 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

37 6. Enter today s date for completion 7. Select the tab and put in timothy.metzinger@metzair.com as your validator, and hit the Select button. 8. Success! You should see a screen similar to the one shown below: 9. Do NOT submit this for validation, just close the window Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 37

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39 Lesson 6 Get Your Certificate and Claim Your Reward! Once you ve completed a phase you ll get a notification message saying so. You can print out a certificate and order a cool pin as well. The certificate is useful for giving to FBOs or insurers as proof of the phase and as your Flight Review. Exercise 6 Get your WINGS certificate 1. Log on to the FAASafety.gov site 2. Under the My FAASafety.gov section on the left side, click on My WINGS. 3. You ll get your WINGS status page, and there will be a section showing you ve completed a phase, similar to the one shown below. 4. You ll see your completed WINGS phase, and when it expires (one year after completion). Your flight review based on the WINGS phase is also shown, notice that it expires at the end of the 24 th month after completion of the phase. 5. Click on the Get Your Certificate! link to bring up your certificate. Note that you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed for the certificate to display properly. It s free, and if your computer doesn t have it, you can get it at look for the button that says Get Adobe Reader. FAASafety.gov also has a link to this reader and other helpful viewers at the bottom of every page Readers & Viewers. If you do have the reader installed, a new window will pop up and you ll see your certificate. The typical certificate has two pages, the second page is a wallet-size version and a transcript.: 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 39

40 You can use the buttons at the top to save a copy of the acrobat file to your computer, or to print the certificate. 6. Once you re done, close the window. Now it s time to claim your reward a pin from Avemco Exercise 7 Claim Your Reward Avemco provides pins for each phase of the program, as shown below. You can request the appropriate pin once you ve completed a WINGS phase. 1. If you haven t already done so, log on to FAASafety.gov and select the My WINGS page. 40 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC

41 2. From the status block, click on Claim Your Reward! You ll get a listing of possible rewards Click on the WINGS check box and press on the Send button. You ll get a screen where you can enter your mailing address Metzinger Air Services, LLC Page 41

42 3. Enter your mailing address and click on the Send button to complete the process. Avemco will get a message, and you should see your WINGS pin show up in the mail in a few weeks. 42 P age 2008 Metzinger Air Services, LLC