WINGS Knowledge Requirements to Complete a Phase

Lon33

Lon33

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Lon
I am working on BASIC Phase 3, and I can't tell whether I have completed the three Knowledge requirements yet. In the last year, I have completed three online courses. Two of them were "Basic Knowledge Topic 1" courses, and the third was an "Advanced Knowledge Topic 2" course. I understand that I need to complete three Knowledge Topics, but the User Guide does not indicate whether the three topics must be "Topic 1," "Topic 2" and "Topic 3" courses, or whether it's OK to have more than one "Topic 1" course. Also, I understand the difference between the BASIC Wings level and the ADVANCED Wings Level, but the Guide does not indicate whether an Advanced Topic course may be used to satisfy a BASIC Level Knowledge course. I'm wondering whether despite the fact that I've completed and received credit for three courses, I nevertheless still need to take a "Basic Knowledge Topic 2" course and a "Basic Knowledge Topic 3" course. Hope someone can explain it to me.
 
This is absolutely not on point to your question, but here I go:

If you have time, why not suck in all the free coursework you can instead of worrying about the minimum amount. 'cause, it's free. And somewhat informative.
 
Ravioli said:
This is absolutely not on point to your question, but here I go: If you have time, why not suck in all the free coursework you can instead of worrying about the minimum amount. 'cause, it's free. And somewhat informative.
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I agree that the material is informative, and I have been doing what you suggest: taking a lot of those courses. But I've been selecting particular courses based on the type of flying I do, and on how interesting I think the courses will be. I have not been paying attention to the "Topic #" assigned to each course by WINGS, nor to whether the course is at the BASIC or ADVANCED Wings level. As a result, it now occurs to me that ignoring Topic numbers and Wings levels may result in my completing many courses but not enough of the "right" kind to complete a Phase. So if you know whether, in order to complete a BASIC Phase, it's necessary to have BASIC Knowledge courses labeled Topic 1, 2 and 3, please let me know. If you do, I'll thank for it, sincerely.
 
The first question - what is your motivation for completing a Wings phase?
 
Lon33 said:
I want to complete the knowledge portion of my next Flight Review.
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Last time I looked, you don't need to complete an entire phase, just take the online course ALC-25 Flight Review Prep unless your CFI wants something else or your CFI won't accept it as the ground part of the review.
 
murphey said:
Last time I looked, you don't need to complete an entire phase, just take the online course ALC-25 Flight Review Prep unless your CFI wants something else or your CFI won't accept it as the ground part of the review.
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Thanks. Do you, by any chance, remember where you looked, the last time you did? I ask, because the Flight Review Prep course introduction does not say that. And FAR 61.56(e)(e) says "A person who has, within the period specified in paragraph (c) of this section, satisfactorily accomplished one or more phases of an FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency award program need not accomplish the flight review required by this section."

To accomplish a "phase," it's necessary to complete three Knowledge Topics (as well as three flight activities). But the Flight Review Prep course counts for just one Knowledge Topic; I can't find (and I've looked) anything that says the Flight Review Prep course is sufficient, by itself, to satisfy the three Knowledge Topic requirements.

I wonder whether what you are recalling is that a Flight Review can be accomplished without using the WINGS program at all, and that some instructors will accept completion of the Flight Review Prep course in lieu of the 1 hour of Ground Instruction required for a Flight Review. But that's not what I'd like to do.

I'd like to satisfy my Flight Review requirement by completing a BASIC WINGS Phase. Hence, my question about whether I can select three Knowledge Topics, some of which have the same Topic number and one of which is an ADVANCED Topic.
 
You still have to take a flight with a CFI for a complete Phase. Which pretty much is a flight review.
 
murphey said:
You still have to take a flight with a CFI for a complete Phase. Which pretty much is a flight review.
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Yes. Exactly so. Which is why I (and others too, I'm sure) wondered what possible Flight-Review-related benefit the WINGS program offered. Then, I realized that if a WINGS Phase is completed, the in-air part of a Flight Review can be done in three separate segments, over time, rather than all at once. In any event, regardless of whether that's a benefit or not, I still can't figure out what's necessary to complete a Basic Phase, for any purpose. Is it three Knowledge courses with different BASIC Topic numbers, or three courses even if they have the same Topic numbers and one of them is an ADVANCED course?
 
Lon33 said:
Yes. Exactly so. Which is why I (and others too, I'm sure) wondered what possible Flight-Review-related benefit the WINGS program offered. Then, I realized that if a WINGS Phase is completed, the in-air part of a Flight Review can be done in three separate segments, over time, rather than all at once. In any event, regardless of whether that's a benefit or not, I still can't figure out what's necessary to complete a Basic Phase, for any purpose. Is it three Knowledge courses with different BASIC Topic numbers, or three courses even if they have the same Topic numbers and one of them is an ADVANCED course?
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Three courses with different topic numbers. The topic numbers (whether knowkedge of flight) generally reflect three different general areas and the FAA wants them all covered.

BTW, on your comment about flights at different times, that's the part I like best about the program. Having trouble with crosswind landings? Grab an instructor on a windy day and you've covered a topic, perhaps two. I've actually managed to get a surprise flight review that way and used it just a few weeks ago to avoid expiration of my last one,
 
It is confusing, I can't figure it out - thanks for posting.
I believe I read a poll recently where they are talking about improving its us usability.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
It is confusing, I can't figure it out - thanks for posting.
I believe I read a poll recently where they are talking about improving its us usability.
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Yes. I heard that too. I'm looking into it a it. I've done co-presented Wings seminars on the program where my piece was how to work the system. I was thinking of doing another but not until the changes if they are going to come soon.
 
RussR said:
@Lon33 , your post is the perfect example of what I talked about in the other recent thread, post 2:

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/new-faasafety-gov-on-the-way.125853/

It's this confusing aspect of the program that makes people say "screw it".
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It's this confusing aspect of the program which makes me want to do seminars on it :D The program is good in concept. The stats, such as they are, suggest those who do the program are less likely to get into regulatory or real difficulty, although there's probably a lot of chicken/egg there.

Unfortunately, the execution has historically been abysmal.

The underlying concept is pretty simple. The FAA has categorized accident causal factors into six "topics," three knowledge and three flight. Courses and flight activities are assigned a topic. Completing a phase involves doing one of each topic over a 12-month period. That's really all there is to it.
  • Knowledge 1 – Aeronautical Decision Making, Runway Safety
  • Knowledge 2 – Performance and Limitations
  • Knowledge 3 – Preflight Planning, Risk Management, and Fuel Management
  • Flight 1 – Takeoffs and Landings
  • Flight 2 – Positive Aircraft Control
  • Flight 3 – Basic Flying Skills
 
midlifeflyer said:
It's this confusing aspect of the program which makes me want to do seminars on it :D The program is good in concept. The stats, such as they are, suggest those who do the program are less likely to get into regulatory or real difficulty, although there's probably a lot of chicken/egg there.

Unfortunately, the execution has historically been abysmal.

The underlying concept is pretty simple. The FAA has categorized accident causal factors into six "topics," three knowledge and three flight. Courses and flight activities are assigned a topic. Completing a phase involves doing one of each topic over a 12-month period. That's really all there is to it.
  • Knowledge 1 – Aeronautical Decision Making, Runway Safety
  • Knowledge 2 – Performance and Limitations
  • Knowledge 3 – Preflight Planning, Risk Management, and Fuel Management
  • Flight 1 – Takeoffs and Landings
  • Flight 2 – Positive Aircraft Control
  • Flight 3 – Basic Flying Skills
Click to expand...

I wish it were only that simple. You also have Basic, Advanced and Master in there, and multiple levels of each. It's way too complicated.
 
RussR said:
I wish it were only that simple. You also have Basic, Advanced and Master in there, and multiple levels of each. It's way too complicated.
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Levels are no problem. They are all the same. Just means you did it again. You want advanced, just put it in the search parameters.
 
Mark/midlifeflyer,
Thank you very much. Now the reason for "Topic" classifications 1, 2 and 3 makes perfect sense to me, and now I see why courses or seminars from three different Topic numbers are necessary. I looked, but didn't find, the explanation or even the requirement, for three separate Topic numbers in the WINGS Guide or the FAA's AC about WINGS. So if anyone asks you what you did on this COVID 19 stay-away-from-other-people day, tell them you helped (online) another pilot understand something important that he was unable to figure out on his own.
 
midlifeflyer said:
It's this confusing aspect of the program which makes me want to do seminars on it :D The program is good in concept. The stats, such as they are, suggest those who do the program are less likely to get into regulatory or real difficulty, although there's probably a lot of chicken/egg there.

Unfortunately, the execution has historically been abysmal.

The underlying concept is pretty simple. The FAA has categorized accident causal factors into six "topics," three knowledge and three flight. Courses and flight activities are assigned a topic. Completing a phase involves doing one of each topic over a 12-month period. That's really all there is to it.
  • Knowledge 1 – Aeronautical Decision Making, Runway Safety
  • Knowledge 2 – Performance and Limitations
  • Knowledge 3 – Preflight Planning, Risk Management, and Fuel Management
  • Flight 1 – Takeoffs and Landings
  • Flight 2 – Positive Aircraft Control
  • Flight 3 – Basic Flying Skills
Click to expand...
Never knew this....
 
Lon33 said:
Mark/midlifeflyer,
Thank you very much. Now the reason for "Topic" classifications 1, 2 and 3 makes perfect sense to me, and now I see why courses or seminars from three different Topic numbers are necessary. I looked, but didn't find, the explanation or even the requirement, for three separate Topic numbers in the WINGS Guide or the FAA's AC about WINGS. So if anyone asks you what you did on this COVID 19 stay-away-from-other-people day, tell them you helped (online) another pilot understand something important that he was unable to figure out on his own.
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That's very kind of you. Thank you.
 
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