September in San Diego

For members of the aviation teaching and training community, a unique opportunity to share ideas and experiences with your peers from all over the country will come in September, when King Schools hosts its Aviation Education Symposium in San Diego.

The first of its kind event will kick off a year-long celebration of John and Martha King’s fifty-years in the aviation education field. Beginning as traveling ground school instructors, the Kings have built a worldwide business of video and online instruction that has helped tens of thousands of pilots and other aviation professionals realize their dreams.

The Aviation Education Symposium, which will take place on 21-22 September at the Coast Air Center at Montgomery Field (MYF), will feature presentations by the Kings themselves, as well as ones by King Schools CEO Barry Knuttila, FAA Designated Pilot Examiners Mary Schu and Roger, longtime aviation educator Brian Hough, and a host of other experts. Some of the subjects on the agenda will be improving the FAA exam and check ride pass rates, addressing the A&P shortage, the airline career pipeline and how to position students to succeed in it, and avenues and techniques of entrepreneurship in aviation education.

Attendance is free by invitation for representatives of flight schools and college and university aviation departments. In addition to a unique opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with colleagues and vendors, the Aviation Education Symposium will deliver straight talk from John and Martha King on two subjects of critical concern to flight schools and aviation departments: How to improve General Aviation safety -- the accident rate, after a long decline, has remained flat in recent years—and how to train novice pilots to exercise the kind of good judgment that seasoned pilots have learned through experience.

The Symposium will also host the introduction of King Schools’ new A&P courses and The KING Test Prep Companion App. As a unified online gateway to course content and progress tracking, KING Companion apps now seamlessly integrate all phases of King Schools teaching, from video tutorials to quizzes and practice FAA exams. The Test Prep App also introduces a challenging new Flashcards feature that encourages students to answer questions without relying on the multiple-choice format. Best of all, KING Test Prep apps can be used anywhere, at any time, even without access to Wi-Fi.

As a rare opportunity for aviation educators from all over the country to get together and share what they know, the Symposium will be a mother lode of ideas and experiences for attendees and an opportunity to make contacts and forge links with other aviation education professionals. It will also be fun, with plenty of breaks for schmoozing and, of course, door prizes. Besides, San Diego is a fabulous place to be in September. MCAS Miramar’s annual air show is the weekend of the 23-24, the World War II aircraft carrier Midway is open to visitors, and, for the adventurous, there’s paragliding and hang gliding at Torrey Pines. For the kids, there are some of the most beautiful beaches in California, as well as Sea World and the famous San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, which is the nearest thing to the Serengeti you’ll find on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

FMI: www.kingschools.com