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Aviation Solutions celebrates 10 years


March 3, 2020  By Wings Staff

With more than 700 re-certified flight instructors graduating from its program, Aviation Solutions celebrated its 10-year anniversary in mid-February. (Photo: Aviation Solutions)

Aviation Solutions of Guelph, Ontario, recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its first Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC). The company explains, that over the past decade, it has provided more professional development-based flight instructor rating renewals than any other course provider in Canada. This achievement amounts to more than 700 re-certified flight instructors graduating the program over nearly 50 courses.

During its 10-year anniversary week, Aviation Solutions completed training on February 20-21 for Class 48; which also attended a celebration including many current and previous course presenters and supporters. Further classes for 2020 are scheduled for May 25-26 and September 28-29 in Guelph.

Aviation Solutions explains 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 range of topics applicable to aviation, and flight training in particular. More than 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; from threat and error management to 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, NAV Canada, and Transport Canada, combining for 400-plus years of experience – Plus, the occasional lawyer, human factors researcher, maintenance engineer and meteorologist.”

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Schuster continues to explain, that 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,” he said. “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 every day to ensure a safe and quality flight training system.”

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