GLASS NAMED MANAGER AT FSI’S COMMANDER
LEARNING CENTER
David Glass
David Glass has been named manager of FlightSafety International’s Houston Learning Center, where FSI’s Twin Commander pilot and maintenance training is conducted. Glass replaces Anthony Graham, who has left the company.
“I’m every bit as committed to the Twin Commander program and serving clients as Anthony and others have been in the past,” Glass said. “Our Twin Commander clients will not see any erosion in the quality of the program.”
Glass is familiar with the Houston Learning Center and the Twin Commander program. He was assistant manager at the center from January 2007 through April 2009, when he was promoted to manager of FSI’s Detroit Metro/Toledo Learning Center.
He has been with FlightSafety since 2004, initially serving as an Instructor and Training Center Examiner at the Airline Learning Center in St. Louis. He was promoted to Director of Standards in 2006.
Glass “has made a significant contribution to our centers in St. Louis and Toledo and we look forward to him returning to Houston as manager,” stated Greg McGowan, Vice President, Operations. “His experience and in-depth understanding of customer requirements and ability and commitment to provide outstanding support and leadership to our teammates in Houston, made him the ideal choice to lead this important center.”
Glass served in the United States Marine Corps on active duty for 12 years and in the Reserve for 10 more, including a tour in the Middle East during Desert Storm. He served as a joint staff officer, forward air controller, aircraft safety officer, and squadron standardization pilot, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Following military service he flew for Trans World Airlines and American Airlines. He also was an FAA Check Airman and a simulator instructor in the airline’s training center. He holds type ratings in the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 757/767, Embraer 170/190, and Cessna Citation 560XL.
Glass holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University and a Masters in Management from Troy State University. He also attended the Naval Post Graduate School.
The Houston Learning Center offers regional airline and business aviation training programs for a variety of aircraft manufactured by ATR, Bombardier, Twin Commander, Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, and Saab. The Center features 12 FlightSafety designed and manufactured simulators including Twin Commander 690A/B and JetProp Level A simulators, as well as recently renovated MATRIX-equipped classrooms and Customer Service areas.
NEW COURSEWARE FOR COMMANDER PROGRAM
FlightSafety’s Twin Commander training program at the Houston Hobby Learning Center has benefited from recent upgrades to courseware—manuals, notebooks, graphics, posters, and photos.
The revised materials begin online with a study guide that can be downloaded from www.myFlightSafety.com and read prior to attending the pilot initial or recurrent training course in Houston. The guide covers documentation that will be required, curriculum prerequisites, the course syllabus, and grading and evaluation standards.
Emergency procedures, memory items, and operating limitations also are included in the study guide. Students are expected to know these before checking in.
The ground school portion of the training has been enhanced with a new slide presentation that corresponds with a booklet given to each student in the class. All of the slides are reproduced in the booklet, which has ample space for notes.
The revised aircraft manual provided to students has a lay-flat binding—no more unwieldy ring binders to struggle with anymore.
Photos used to illustrate components, instruments, procedures, etc. on the aircraft are new, with crisp resolution. Animated graphics using computer modeling also are used in the slide presentation. Now it is possible to see switches move and systems operate on screen.
FSI’s two Twin Commander simulators also have been refurbished with new upholstery and improved fidelity.
Several instructors in the Twin Commander program speak Spanish, and several have extensive Twin Commander flight experience.
The Houston Center has been working on adding WAAS to the Garmin GPS Navigators in the two Twin Commander simulators. “We’ve identified this as something we need to do,” commented David Glass, the new manger of the Houston Learning Center. He also hopes to be able to provide customers with aircraft manuals on a flash drive or CD for portability and easy reference.
Instructors also are working on a revised checklist that will cover the same items but with a better flow, said John “Art” Shaddix, manager of the Twin Commander program.
Meanwhile, FSI will continue to offer authorized Twin Commander service centers with employee and customer discounts to any of its training programs including pilot initial and recurrent, and differences training. The Houston Center also offers maintenance training for Twin Commander service center technicians. If at least four technicians from a service center need training, FSI will send the maintenance instructor to the service center to teach the course.
For more information about FlightSafety International’s Twin Commander training programs, call 800-927-1521.
Discuss this article in the forums...
