For any of you Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue pilots who have spent endless hours gridding your sectionals, life is about to get a whole lot easier for you! The fine folks over at Sky Sectionals have just launched CAP Charts for CAP Pilots (or anyone flying Search and Rescue for that matter) at http://www.capcharts.com/.

These digital charts are the same as your typical FAA/NACO charts but insanely more manageable. What Sky Sectionals has done for us is provide the conventional grid overlay we use (15'x15') further subdivided into 7.5' grids (A,B,C,D). The grids are easily identified with semi-transparent lines and don't obscure key critical information on the chart. This is simply a Godsend to Search and Rescue Pilots and Aircrew. Now you can carry current and updated GRIDDED charts with you at ALL times. I still see some guys flying around with charts that are 10 years old because they don't want to grid a new one (granted they have current paper charts, but still...), all that is in the past! There's simply no excuse for not having up to date gridded charts anymore.

Other nice things about these charts are that they are perfect for folding up and putting them in your kneeboard. Just get your grid assignment ahead of time and print them out before you head out to fly your missions. I've gone the extra mile and printed out the entire Seattle Sectional, TAC and VFR Flyway and laminated each page. I carry them all in one giant spiral bound stack so that if we get reassigned to an unexpected grid, I've always got them with me. The laminated surface works great with a dry-erase marker as well for adding notes and outlining your grid.

If you're jumping up and down like I was to hear about this new product, you can get a full tour by heading over to: http://www.capcharts.com/tour

Last but not least, if you aren't already convinced you need to go order these charts, a portion of the proceeds of every CAP Chart they sell is donated to the Civil Air Patrol Foundation. You can make your life easier and contribute further to a great cause all in one! It's great to see a company that has taken the time to address the needs of an organization like the Civil Air Patrol and we should definitely make every effort possible to support them. Happy flying!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Assembly Bill 132 requires that employers with more than 11 permanent employees grant a leave of absence without pay for not more than five consecutive days or 15 days total to employees serving in an emergency service operation of the Civil Air Patrol. The bill also prevents employment discrimination based on participation in the Civil Air Patrol. Governor Doyle thanked Representatives Huebsch and Murtha, and Senators Kapanke and Vinehout for their work on the bill. I am thrilled to see so many states now jumping on the bandwagon to protect CAP members with the same rights afforded to our military reservists and National Guardsmen. CAP plays a vital role in our nations disaster preparedness and as a supporting role to the United States Air Force. I only hope every state in the nation adopts a similar policy.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From CA Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter's Office:

Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter's Civil Air Patrol Employment Protection Act - Assembly Bill 485 - was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger on Oct. 11. The measure assures that members of the all-volunteer Civil Air Patrol in the state of California will have employment protection after returning to their jobs from an authorized emergency mission.

AB 485 establishes a right to employment leave (up to 10 days a year) for members of the California Wing of CAP, which is an official Civilian Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. The protection applies only when members are called up for an emergency by the U.S. Air Force, the California Emergency Management Agency or any subdivision of the state with the authority to declare an emergency.

Emergency operational missions are those that involve the saving or protection of life and property. "To perform search and rescue flights for several days and find out you've lost your job is devastating to a volunteer whose main purpose is to save lives," Assemblymember Carter said. "Until my bill was signed into law, CAP members only had the job protection rights given to them by their employers," she added. "Fortunately, employers have generally been supportive of the Civil Air Patrol."

"This bill enables us to respond emergencies that will help save lives and properties without this threat of losing our employment if we do so," said Lt. Col. Carl Morrison, co-chair of the California Wing's Legislative Committee, which is the principal sponsor of the measure. Similar legislation has passed in nine states. "We're very very pleased that Assemblywoman Carter has been willing to author this bill."

Assemblymember Carter said, "Their payment, for a CAP volunteer, is in the personal reward of contributing countless hours of non-compensated time. But the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol can't be a consistent resource, unless they are fully supported for their patriotic service."

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every now and then you come across something and wonder "Why the hell didn't I think of that?" I just recently stumbled across a company called Sky Sectionals thanks to a buddy in Civil Air Patrol. All I can say is that THIS is the way the FAA should be distributing ALL charts these days!!! What a FANTASTIC product!

So for those of you that are not pilots and wondering why I'm ranting and raving about these guys, here's a little background. Aviation charts are typically these huge folded paper charts that are an insane nuisance and in my opinion a safety hazard in the cockpit. Sadly these are the FAA approved navigation charts and outside of products like Jepp charts (expensive), we don't have many options. To make matters worse, these charts are updated frequently and you end up having to buy them at least a couple times a year. Multiply that by the various number of charts we have to carry and this gets expensive and completely unruly in the cockpit.

In steps Sky Sectionals and puts technology to work for us. They take those very charts and have created digital versions that are distributed electronically. They are updated on the same schedule as the FAA certified NACO charts and they have even created a simple way to navigate the sectionals. You can print out an entire sectional or just the parts you need for your route of flight. I should point out that these are NOT approved by the FAA as your sole means of information so you should be cross referencing them with the certified FAA charts, but these are an absolute must in the cockpit in my opinion. They make managing your workload as a pilot a heck of a lot easier when in VFR flight.

For those of us who fly Search and Rescue, cockpit management becomes even more critical as we need to know precisely what grid we are in and searching. We need to manage flying the aircraft and looking out the window making sure we don't hit anything (especially here in WA where we fly low and slow through the mountains). Having these Sky Sectionals printed, laminated and spiral bound are the way to go. One drawback for us CAP pilots is having to take those paper charts and manually draw our search grids on them. It's super time-intensive and not always pretty or perfectly accurate. Again, in steps Sky Sectionals and gives us a lending hand by providing CAP pilots with gridded sectionals. Here's an example of a gridded sectional in the Seattle area:

If you are looking for a way to manage that workload in the cockpit and keep your charts handy and useful, give these guys a try! They have sectional and TAC charts covering the lower 48. For CAP gridded sectionals, contact them directly for the link to your area. Make sure you follow them on Twitter for updated news and coupon codes!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Predator sensor ball is mounted underneath the left wing of this Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182, turning the aircraft into a ‘Surrogate Predator’ suitable for pre-deployment training for Army and Marine forces. Photo courtesy L-3 Communications

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – With the conversion of a Civil Air Patrol plane into a “Surrogate Predator,” the U.S. Air Force is relying on its auxiliary in a most imaginative way.

“We’re using a manned aircraft to simulate an unmanned aircraft,” said CAP-U.S. Air Force Commander Col. Bill Ward, explaining that a sophisticated “Predator ball” placed under the left wing of a Cessna 182 belonging to CAP will give the plane the capability of mimicking the Air Force’s MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, unmanned aircraft that provide real-time data to U.S. warfighters.

The Air Force will use the Surrogate Predator to fill a critical training gap in support of Army and Marine forces as they prepare for deployment. “Due to the Air Force maximum surge effort to provide more MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper support to ground units in CENTCOM, there are no Predator or Reaper forces available to support pre-deployment exercises such as Green Flag, which focuses on air-to-ground operations,” said Maj. Matt Martin, chief of the Predator/Reaper Ops Branch of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va. “The Surrogate Predator is the solution.”

Air Combat Command (ACC), with the support of Joint Forces Command, secured $2.5 million for the Surrogate Predator Program, once it was determined that CAP could provide the needed training with its dedicated patriotic citizen volunteers at a fraction of the cost of the private contractor currently providing the training.

“We’ve seen nothing but enthusiasm and a willingness to help from the Civil Air Patrol, which is why we chose them to do this mission,” said Martin.

Continue reading "Civil Air Patrol pilots to fly ‘Surrogate Predators’" »

Posted by Frank Bisono at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)